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Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is a 33 kDa serine protease primarily responsible for hydrolyzing 2-arachidonoylglycerol into the proinflammatory eicosanoid precursor arachidonic acid in the central nervous system. Inhibition of MAGL constitutes an attractive therapeutic concept for treating psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Herein, we present the design and synthesis of multiple reversible MAGL inhibitor candidates based on a piperazinyl azetidine scaffold. Compounds 10 and 15 were identified as the best-performing reversible MAGL inhibitors by pharmacological evaluations, thus channeling their radiolabeling with fluorine-18 in high radiochemical yields and favorable molar activity. Furthermore, evaluation of [18F]10 and [18F]15 ([18F]MAGL-2102) by autoradiography and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in rodents and nonhuman primates demonstrated favorable brain uptakes, heterogeneous radioactivity distribution, good specific binding, and adequate brain kinetics, and [18F]15 demonstrated a better performance. In conclusion, [18F]15 was found to be a suitable PET radioligand for the visualization of MAGL, harboring potential for the successful translation into humans.

Continuous graphene fibers (GFs) and graphene/SiC fibers (G/SiCFs) are fabricated from silicon carbide (SiC) fibers through vacuum annealing. The transformation gradually happens from the surface to the core of the fiber until complete conversion. Graphene sheets are in-situ formed after Si sublimation of 3C–SiC grains in the SiC fiber. Although porous structure is formed inevitably, the fiber shape is well maintained with circular cross section. The continuous GFs exhibit low density (1.63 g/cm3), excellent electric conductivity (53,900 S/m), high tensile strength (0.22 GPa) and elastic modulus (23 GPa, gauge length: 25 mm). Good properties can be probably attributed to interconnected graphene sheets. GFs have great electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of 62.8 dB, while G/SiCFs have outstanding microwave absorption properties. The minimum reflection loss (RL) value of −54.86 dB is achieved with sample thickness of 2.1 mm. When sample thickness is 1.4 mm, the effective absorption bandwidth of G/SiCFs can reach 4.4 GHz. Excellent flexibility is also possessed by a bundle of 1000 graphene filaments. Taking advantages of the facile conversion of silicon carbide fibers, the method demonstrated in this work can be further extended to prepare metal-containing GFs (Ti, Al, Zr, et.) and achieve large-scale production.

Recently, the SARS-CoV-2 variants from the United Kingdom (UK), South Africa, and Brazil have received much attention for their increased infectivity, potentially high virulence, and possible threats to existing vaccines and antibody therapies. The question remains if there are other more infectious variants transmitted around the world. We carry out a large-scale study of 506,768 SARS-CoV-2 genome isolates from patients to identify many other rapidly growing mutations on the spike (S) protein receptor-binding domain (RBD). We reveal that essentially all 100 most observed mutations strengthen the binding between the RBD and the host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), indicating the virus evolves toward more infectious variants. In particular, we discover new fast-growing RBD mutations N439K, S477N, S477R, and N501T that also enhance the RBD and ACE2 binding. We further unveil that mutation N501Y involved in United Kingdom (UK), South Africa, and Brazil variants may moderately weaken the binding between the RBD and many known antibodies, while mutations E484K and K417N found in South Africa and Brazilian variants, L452R and E484Q found in India variants, can potentially disrupt the binding between the RBD and many known antibodies. Among these RBD mutations, L452R is also now known as part of the California variant B.1.427. Finally, we hypothesize that RBD mutations that can simultaneously make SARS-CoV-2 more infectious and disrupt the existing antibodies, called vaccine escape mutations, will pose an imminent threat to the current crop of vaccines. A list of most likely vaccine escape mutations is given, including S494P, Q493L, K417N, F490S, F486L, R403K, E484K, L452R, K417T, F490L, E484Q, and A475S. Mutation T478K appears to make the Mexico variant B.1.1.222 the most infectious one. Our comprehensive genetic analysis and protein-protein binding study show that the genetic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 on the RBD, which may be regulated by host gene editing, viral proofreading, random genetic drift, and natural selection, gives rise to more infectious variants that will potentially compromise existing vaccines and antibody therapies.

Treatment resistance of the tumors to photodynamic therapy (PDT) owing to O2 deficiency largely compromised the therapeutic efficacy, which could be addressed via modulating oxygen levels by using O2 self-enriched nanosystems. Here, we report on augmenting the O2-evolving strategy based on a biomimetic, catalytic nanovehicle (named as N/P@MCC), constructed by the catalase-immobilized hollow mesoporous nanospheres by enveloping a cancer cell membrane (CCM), which acts as an efficient nanocontainer to accommodate nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) and protoporphyrin IX (PpIX). Inheriting the virtues of biomimetic CCM cloaking, the CCM-derived shell conferred N/P@MCC nanovehicles with highly specific self-recognition and homotypic targeting toward cancerous cells, ensuring tumor-specific accumulation and superior circulation durations. N-GQDs, for the first time, have been evidenced as a new dual-functional nanoagents with PTT and PDT capacities, enabling the generation of 1O2 for PDT and inducing local low-temperature hyperthermia for thermally ablating cancer cells and infrared thermal imaging (IRT). Leveraging the intrinsic catalytic features of catalase, such N/P@MCC nanovehicles effectively scavenged the excessive H2O2 to sustainably evolve oxygen for a synchronous O2 self-supply and hypoxia alleviation, with an additional benefit because the resulting O2 bubbles could function as an echo amplifier, leading to the sufficient echogenic reflectivity for ultrasound imaging. Concurrently, the elevated O2 reacted with N-GQDs and PpIX to elicit a maximally increased 1O2 output for augmented PDT. Significantly, the ultrasound imaging coupled with fluorescence imaging, IRT, performs a tumor-modulated trimodal bioimaging effect. Overall, this offers a paradigm to rationally explore O2 self-supply strategies focused on versatile nanotheranostics for hypoxic tumor elimination.

In recent years, solar desalination and water evaporation/purification with various artificial architectures have drawn significant attention. Herein, we introduce a rational design structure for efficient solar water evaporation and purification, focusing on the balance between water transportation and thermal insulation. Natural wood after a simple flame treatment on the surface was utilized as the solar absorber, with a high solar absorbance (∼90 %), good hydrophilicity, and excellent heat localization abilities. Besides, a thermal insulator (polystyrene foam) was used to further reduce the thermal loss, and the optimized ratio between the water path and thermal insulator was obtained. A set of floating foam-flamed-wood (F-F-wood) devices were fabricated with a high evaporation rate of 3.92 kg m−2 h−1, exhibiting photothermal purification abilities from seawater and wastewater containing organic dyes and heavy metals. This study sheds light on the rational design of scalable and low-cost devices for solar water evaporation and purification.

The accurate distribution of countercations (Rb+ and Sr2+ ) around a rigid, spherical, 2.9-nm size polyoxometalate cluster, {Mo132 }42- , is determined by anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering. Both Rb+ and Sr2+ ions lead to shorter diffuse lengths for {Mo132 } than prediction. Most Rb+ ions are closely associated with {Mo132 } by staying near the skeleton of {Mo132 } or in the Stern layer, whereas more Sr2+ ions loosely associate with {Mo132 } in the diffuse layer. The stronger affinity of Rb+ ions towards {Mo132 } than that of Sr2+ ions explains the anomalous lower critical coagulation concentration of {Mo132 } with Rb+ compared to Sr2+ . The anomalous behavior of {Mo132 } can be attributed to majority of negative charges being located at the inner surface of its cavity. The longer anion-cation distance weakens the Coulomb interaction, making the enthalpy change owing to the breakage of hydration layers of cations more important in regulating the counterion-{Mo132 } interaction.

A common approach to computing protein pKas uses a continuum dielectric model in which the protein is a low dielectric medium with embedded atomic point charges, the solvent is a high dielectric medium with a Boltzmann distribution of ionic charges, and the pKa is related to the electrostatic free energy which is obtained by solving the Poisson–Boltzmann equation. Starting from the model pKa for a titrating residue, the method obtains the intrinsic pKa and then computes the protonation probability for a given pH including site–site interactions. This approach assumes that acid dissociation does not affect protein conformation aside from adding or deleting charges at titratable sites. In this work, we demonstrate our treecode-accelerated boundary integral (TABI) solver for the relevant electrostatic calculations. The pKa computing procedure is enclosed in a convenient Python wrapper which is publicly available at the corresponding author’s website. Predicted results are compared with experimental pKas for several proteins. Among ongoing efforts to improve protein pKa calculations, the advantage of TABI is that it reduces the numerical errors in the electrostatic calculations so that attention can be focused on modeling assumptions.

Currently, there is neither effective antiviral drugs nor vaccine for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to its high conservativeness and low similarity with human genes, SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) is one of the most favorable drug targets. However, the current understanding of the molecular mechanism of Mpro inhibition is limited by the lack of reliable binding affinity ranking and prediction of existing structures of Mpro–inhibitor complexes. This work integrates mathematics (i.e., algebraic topology) and deep learning (MathDL) to provide a reliable ranking of the binding affinities of 137 SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitor structures. We reveal that Gly143 residue in Mpro is the most attractive site to form hydrogen bonds, followed by Glu166, Cys145, and His163. We also identify 71 targeted covalent bonding inhibitors. MathDL was validated on the PDBbind v2016 core set benchmark and a carefully curated SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor dataset to ensure the reliability of the present binding affinity prediction. The present binding affinity ranking, interaction analysis, and fragment decomposition offer a foundation for future drug discovery efforts., By integrating algebraic topology and deep learning, we provide a reliable ranking of binding affinities, binding site analysis, and fragment decomposition for 137 SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors.

Background: Dairy safety has caused widespread concern in society. Unsafe dairy products have threatened people's health and lives. In order to improve the safety of dairy products and effectively prevent the occurrence of dairy insecurity, countries have established different prevention and control measures and safety warnings. Objective: The purpose of this study is to establish a dairy safety prediction model based on machine learning to determine whether the dairy products are qualified. Methods: The 34 common items in the dairy sampling inspection were used as features in this study. Feature selection was performed on the data to obtain a better subset of features, and different algorithms were applied to construct the classification model. Results: The results show that the prediction model constructed by using a subset of features including “total plate”, “water” and “nitrate” is superior. The SN, SP and ACC of the model were 62.50%, 91.67% and 72.22%, respectively. It was found that the accuracy of the model established by the integrated algorithm is higher than that by the non-integrated algorithm. Conclusion: This study provides a new method for assessing dairy safety. It helps to improve the quality of dairy products, ensure the safety of dairy products, and reduce the risk of dairy safety.

Macroions, as soluble ions with a size on the nanometer scale, show unique solution behavior different from those of simple ions and large colloidal suspensions. In macroionic solutions, the counterions are known to be important and well-explored. However, the role of co-ions (ions carrying the same type of charge as the macroions) is often ignored. Here, through experimental and simulation studies, we demonstrate the role of co-ions as a function of co-ion size on their interaction with the macroions (using {Mo72Fe30} and {SrPd12} as models) and the related self-assembly into blackberry-type structures in dilute solutions. Several regimes of unique co-ion effects are clearly identified: small ions (halides, oxoacid ions), subnanometer-scaled bulky ions (lacunary Keggin and dodecaborate ions), and those with sizes comparable to the macroions. Small co-ions have no observable effect on the self-assembly of fully hydrophilic {Mo72Fe30}, while due to hydrophobic interaction and intermolecular hydrogen bonds, the small co-ions show influences on the self-assembly of hydrophobic {SrPd12}. Subnanometer ions, a.k.a. "superchaotropic ions", are still too small to assemble into a blackberry by themselves, but they can coassemble with the macroions, showing a strong interaction with the macroionic system. When the co-ion size is comparable to that of the macroions, they assemble independently instead of assembling with the macroions, leading to the previously reported unique self-recognition phenomenon for macroions.

Yunnan, located in southwestern China, harbors more than 19,000 higher plants, which represents the highest plant diversity in the country. However, plant diversity in Yunnan faces enormous threats today, including habitat destruction and fragmentation, environmental pollution, and over-exploitation of natural resources. Despite recent efforts to protect biodiversity, there are still thousands of threatened species, some of which have become extinct. We analyzed available data to gain a greater understanding of plant diversity and the status of plant conservation in Yunnan. We found that southern, southeastern, and northwestern Yunnan are hotspots of total species, endemic species, specimens, new species and threatened species, whereas southeastern Yunnan is a hotspot for plant species with extremely small populations. Moreover, we found that there are still conservation gaps and poorly protected areas in central, eastern, and northeastern Yunnan. We conclude that conservation of plant diversity in Yunnan requires modern field investigation, systematic research, the development of comprehensive databases, and government support. We recommend that conservationists pay more attention to building and improving functional protection systems and popularizing science.

Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in the generation of smog and ozone. Although great efforts have been made to determine NO by using o-phenylenediamine (OPD)-based fluorescent probes, more simple and reliable colorimetric assays for detection of NO are extremely scarce because a single OPD structure cannot produce enough optical absorption for chromogenesis. In this study, we report an innovative two-in-one visual colorimetric methodology. Commercially available 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) with two OPD structures in a single molecule is selected as the colorimetric probe, and it reacts with NO via diazo-coupling reaction to generate 1H,3’H-[5,5′]bibenzotriazolyl because of the increase of conjugated double bonds, accompanying a distinct color change from colorless to brownish yellow. This two-in-one colorimetric assay can determine NO at a concentration as low as 3 ppm by the naked eye and 40 ppb by UV-vis spectrometry, which is the lowest limit of detection (LOD) among reported colorimetric assays for NO. Moreover, the present two-in-one visual colorimetric assay also has good selectivity toward NO over other common potential gas interferents such as CO2, NO2, NH3, N2, O2, and SO2. This present study provides a new insight for the design and development of assays for NO.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is a promising metal-free photocatalyst for solar photocatalytic hydrogen gas (H2) generation from water. In particularly, high-crystalline g-C3N4 (GCN-HC) material with fewer structural defects possesses the fast photoexcited electron-hole pair's separation efficiency as comparison with bulk g-C3N4 (GCN-B) powders, leading to the drastic improvement of photocatalytic activity. However, the fabrication of such GCN-HC photocatalyst by a simple and economical synthesis approach still remains a challenge. Herein, we firstly develop a one-step rapid polymerization strategy for synthesizing the GCN-HC, that is direct calcination of melamine at 550 °C not only without the early heating process, but also without the assistance of any additive or salt intercalation. As a result, the GCN-HC exhibits an obviously boosting visible-light-induced photocatalytic H2-generation performance, which is over 2.06-folds much greater than that of GCN-B. Our work provides an available one-step synthetic strategy for the large-scale preparation of high performance GCN-HC towards sustainable solar-to-chemical energy conversion.

Tremendous advancements in proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology have been made in recent years. However, whether a covalent inhibitor-based PROTAC can be developed remains controversial. Here, we successfully developed chimeric degraders based on covalent inhibitors to degrade BTK and BLK kinases, demonstrating that covalent inhibitor-based PROTACs are viable and useful tools.

We report on the disparity in the assembly behavior of four types of nano-sized macroions induced by isotopic substitution of protium (H) to deuterium (D) in solvents. Macroions with modest charge density can self-assemble into single-layer, hollow, spherical "blackberry"-type structures, with larger assembly sizes representing stronger attractions among the macroions. Kinetically, all assembly processes become slower in D2 O than in H2 O. Thermodynamically, the polyoxometalate {SrPd12 }, the uranium cage {U60 } with alkali metal counterions, and the metal-organic cationic cage {Pd12 L24 } demonstrate similar assembly sizes in both H2 O and D2 O, whereas the metal oxide cluster {Mo72 Fe30 } as a weak acid shows an unusually large assembly size in H2 O-suggesting a stronger contribution from the hydrogen bonding in the last case.

Transition-metal (TM)-ion-doped TiO2 materials are of great importance for photocatalysis- and photoelectrochemical (PEC)-related applications. We introduced a facile, low-cost, and scalable doping method of TM ions (Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, etc.) into TiO2 nanotubes (NTs), while maintaining their high-ordered tubular structures (with ∼120 nm outside diameter). Both crystallization and doping processes were simultaneously accomplished in aqueous solution at a temperature as low as ∼90 °C, and the fastest doping process could be accomplished in 30 min for Fe doping. Besides, the surface areas of the doped TiO2 NTs were increased to 129.0 m2/g, and their absorption ranges could be expanded from 380 to >500 nm. This study shed light on a facile method for doping TM ions that is extendable to other semiconductors in the field of PEC water splitting and could improve their efficiencies as well.

To meet the ever-growing clean energy technology, developing effective catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is imperative for boosting the efficiency of electrochemical water splitting. This work reports Pd nanoparticle-interspersed nickel cobalt hydroxide carbonate nanothorn-coated copper hydroxide nanotube arrays grown on a copper foam (CH@NCHC NT-Pd/CF) as highly efficient OER electrocatalytic electrodes. The nanothorns and open-structured nanotubes have large surface areas and plenty of active sites. Particularly, the interfacial interaction between Pd nanoparticles and NCHC nanothorns causes charge transfer and redistribution, which are highly beneficial to promoting OER. The unique 3D integrated construction also can accelerate the electron and mass transfer and improve structural stability. Owing to the above merits, CH@NCHC NT-Pd/CF shows excellent OER electrocatalytic activity and stability in alkaline solution, delivering a current density of 100 mA cm–2 at a low overpotential of 20...

Quick and on-demand oil/water separation by superwetting materials has attracted wide attention in recent years. Herein, an underoil superhydrophobic and underwater superoleophobic cotton fabric was used for highly efficient and versatile oil/water separation, such as heavy oil/water separation, light oil/water separation, water-in-oil emulsion separation and oil-in-water emulsion separation, and even immiscible organic solvents separation. The fabric was fabricated via a simple two-step approach, including a vapor-liquid sol-gel process to deposit silica with thiols (SiO2-SH) particles, and a followed thiol-ene click reaction to graft 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and shows an underoil water contact angle (UOWCA) of 162° and an underwater oil contact angle (UWOCA) of 162°. Importantly, the fabric is able to maintain its high UOWCA and UWOCA after 120 h UV irradiation, 1000 g sand impact and after separately immersed in acid, base, neutral and NaCl solution for 168 h as well as various organic solvents for 240 h. The fabric with simple fabrication, excellent durability and versatile separation abilities might has potential application in various liquids separation.

With the miniaturization, high power density, and high integration of modern electronics, heat accumulation has emerged as a critical issue that affects their performance and reliability. The application of thermal interface materials is a common thermal management strategy. Herein, we report thermally conductive and insulating thermal interface materials composed of core-shell structured Al@Al2O3 and epoxy resin. The composites exhibit thermal conductivity of 0.92 W m−1 K−1 at 60 wt% filler contents, which is about 4.2 times higher than that of the epoxy resin. The oxidation of Al particles results in the formation of dense nanoscale insulating Al2O3 shell, which effectively restricts the electron transfer, thus leading to a very high electrical resistivity and puncture voltage of the composites. The polymer composites filled with Al@Al2O3 particles have excellent insulation property, high thermal conductivity and outstanding thermos-mechanical performance, which could be a potential thermal interface material in advanced electronic packaging techniques.

Understanding the morphology and flow behavior of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) dispersed in organic solvents can improve the process of fabricating new cellulose-based nanocomposites. In this study,...

An electrolyte composed of lithium difluoro(oxalate)borate (LiDFOB) as lithium salt, N-propyl-N-methylpiperidinium bis(trifuoromethansulfonyl) imide (PP13TFSI) ionic liquid and dimethylcarbonate (DMC) as co-solvent and fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) as additive is reported in this study. It is found that the resulted ionic liquid-based electrolyte demonstrates high ionic conductivity, low polarization and high safety performance. The Li/Li1.1Ni0.25Mn0.65O2 and Li/Graphite half-cells with the electrolyte exhibit excellent electrochemical performance, retaining capacities of more than 186 mA h g−1 and 361.6 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles, respectively. Such outstanding energy storage performance is ascribed to the joint oxidative decomposition of LiDFOB and FEC, which can form stable and low impedance solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the Li-rich cathode and graphite anode. Besides, the SEI layer can prevent transition metal dissolution, enabling excellent cycling stability for the high voltage graphite/Li1.1Ni0.25Mn0.65O2 full cell. As a result, the full cell with the ionic liquid based electrolyte maintains a discharge capacity and capacity retention of 180 mAh g−1 and 87.54% after 100 cycles at 0.5 C and 40 °C, far superior to that obtained for commercial electrolyte. All these characteristics make the electrolyte a promising candidate for safe, high performance lithium-ion battery electrolyte.

Steroidal saponins, one of the most diverse groups of plant-derived natural products, elicit biological and pharmacological activities; however, the genes involved in their biosynthesis and the corresponding biosynthetic pathway in monocotyledon plants remain unclear. This study aimed to identify genes involved in the biosynthesis of steroidal saponins by performing a comparative analysis among transcriptomes of Paris polyphylla var. chinensis (PPC), Ypsilandra thibetica (YT), and Polygonatum kingianum (PK). De novo transcriptome assemblies generated 57,537, 140,420, and 151,773 unigenes from PPC, YT, and PK, respectively, of which 56.54, 47.81, and 44.30% were successfully annotated, respectively. Among the transcriptomes for PPC, YT, and PK, we identified 194, 169, and 131; 17, 14, and 26; and, 80, 122, and 113 unigenes corresponding to terpenoid backbone biosynthesis; sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis; and, steroid biosynthesis pathways, respectively. These genes are putatively involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol that is the primary precursor of steroidal saponins. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that lanosterol synthase may be exclusive to dicotyledon plant species, and the cytochrome P450 unigenes were closely related to clusters CYP90B1 and CYP734A1, which are UDP-glycosyltransferases unigenes homologous with the UGT73 family. Thus, unigenes of β-glucosidase may be candidate genes for catalysis of later period modifications of the steroidal saponin skeleton. Our data provide evidence to support the hypothesis that monocotyledons biosynthesize steroidal saponins from cholesterol via the cycloartenol pathway.

Unique octahedral yolk‐shell Cu2O@Co(OH)2 nanocages are synthesized by a facile Cu2O self‐templated strategy as efficient glucose oxidation electrocatalysts. Amorphous Co(OH)2 nanoflakes are formed as octahedral shells through coordinating etching conversion from part of Cu2O templates. The un‐etched crystalline Cu2O octahedrons are then remained as cores and voids exist between the cores and shells. The special structure endow these yolk‐shell heterostructure nanocages with abundant active sites, large surface area, and synergistic effect between Cu2O and Co(OH)2. The octahedral yolk‐shell Cu2O@Co(OH)2 nanocages demonstrate superior electrocatalytic activity for glucose oxidation in terms of high sensitivity of 1340 μA cm−2 mM−1, low detection limit of 2 μM, wide linear sensing range, and long‐term stability. This strategy might shed lights on the synthesis of various yolk‐shell heterostructure nanocages with controllable structures and enhanced catalytic performances.

Exploring the process of structure evolution and mechanism of controllable luminescence in the solid solution phosphors is meaningful but still challenging. Herein, new solid solution phosphors of Ca9Al1-xYx(PO4)7:Eu2+ were selected as examples to address the challenging via the construction of bi-directional relationships between structure evolution and photoluminescence property. In Ca9Al1-xYx(PO4)7, the structure evolution caused the redistribution of Eu2+ in the multiple cationic sites, accompanied by the changes of emission color from blue (0.1828, 0.1192) to cyan (0.1723, 0.3305), which were investigated by Gaussian fitting, decay time, and bond energy theory. Conversely, the Gaussian fitting peaks displayed different blue or red shifts in the process of structure evolution, which could reversely reflect the specific changes of bond lengths in each cationic site and were helpful for exhaustive understanding the process of structure evolution in Ca9Al1-xYx(PO4)7. Besides, the thermal stability behaviors of Ca8.95Al1-xYx(PO4)7:0.05Eu2+ exhibited that the decline rate of low energy bands were faster than that of high energy bands due to the thermally active phonon-assisted effect. The constructed bi-directional relationships pave a feasible way to investigate the variations of structure evolution and emission properties, which will be helpful for the design of new kinds of phosphors.

An unprecedented NH4I-promoted N-formylation and N-acetylization of various amines with dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethylacetamide (DMA) has been developed. This protocol shows broad substrate scope for aromatic, aliphatic, and heterocyclic amines, which provides a metal-free strategy for N-acylation featuring mild reaction conditions, as well as inexpensive and readily available starting materials.

Recently, a variety of artificial structures have been designed and fabricated to improve energy conversion efficiency. Lotus leaf, a kind of living organism, is famous for its hydrophobic structure on the surface, but here it’s used for solar thermal conversion by changing its surface structure. SEM, XRD, HRTEM, FLIR, Raman and BET results demonstrated that carbonized lotus leaf became hydrophilic. In the evaporation process under a lamp illumination, the mass changed as high as 3.10 kg/(m2h), and the temperature increased to 60.1 °C. These findings not only reveal the potential to treat lotus leaf as a low-cost material for solar water evaporation, but also provide inspiration for the future development of high-performance solar thermal conversion devices.

In this paper, we proposed an idea to construct a general multivariate public key cryptographic (MPKC) scheme based on a user’s identity. In our construction, each user is distributed a unique identity by the key distribution center (KDC) and we use this key to generate user’s private keys. Thereafter, we use these private keys to produce the corresponding public key. This method can make key generating process easier so that the public key will reduce from dozens of Kilobyte to several bits. We then use our general scheme to construct practical identity-based signature schemes named ID-UOV and ID-Rainbow based on two well-known and promising MPKC signature schemes, respectively. Finally, we present the security analysis and give experiments for all of our proposed schemes and the baseline schemes. Comparison shows that our schemes are both efficient and practical.

Two-dimensional (2D) graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets, as the promising photocatalyst with fascinating properties, have become a “rising star” in the field of photocatalysis. Although g-C3N4 nanosheets exfoliated from the bulk g-C3N4 powders are extensively emerged, developing a simple synthetic approach is still full of challenge. To this end, here we report a direct polymerization strategy to fabricate the ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets, that is only heating treatment of thiourea in air without addition of any template. The photocatalytic activities of as-prepared samples were evaluated by photoreduction of water to hydrogen (H2) using triethanolamine as sacrificial agent and Pt as co-catalyst under visible-light irradiation (λ > 420 nm). As a result, our few-layered g-C3N4 nanosheets with an average thickness of 3.5 nm exhibit a superior visible-light photocatalytic H2 evolution rate (HER) of 1391 μmol g−1 h−1 and a remarkable apparent quantum efficiency of 6.6% at 420 nm. Eventually, the HER of as-fabricated ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets is not only much higher than the dicyandiamide-derived g-C3N4 or melamine-derived g-C3N4, but also greater than the thermal-oxidation etched g-C3N4 nanosheets under the same condition.

The development of high-performance and cost-effective electrocatalysts is of great significance for hydrogen production by water splitting but remains challenge. Herein, a metal organic frameworks (MOFs) templating approach is proposed to synthesize Co incorporating FeP nanotubes (Co-Fe-P nanotubes) for efficient for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The MOFs-derived tubular structure with in situ Co substitution lead to abundant catalytic sites, fast mass and charge transport pathways, and desirable electronic configuration. These beneficial effects enable Co-Fe-P nanotubes efficient HER catalytic activity in a wide pH range, achieving small overpotentials of 86, 138, and 66 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH, 1 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS), and 0.5 M H2SO4, respectively. The catalytic activity of Co-Fe-P nanotubes outperforms most of the reported FeP-based electrocatalysts. Density functional theory calculations further reveal that Co substitution results in increased density of states near Fermi level, boosting the intrinsic electrocatalytic activity of Co-Fe-P nanotubes. This work affords a feasible way to the synthesis of cheap and efficient FeP-based electrocatalysts for HER.

A simple and convenient approach for the construction of 2-acetyl trisubstituted furans with acetylenic ketones and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds via Cu-mediated unstrained C(sp3)–C(sp2) bond cleavage has been described. Mechanistic studies indicate that this transformation proceeds via a sequence of addition, cyclization, and C–C bond cleavage to afford the corresponding products in moderate to good yields.

The appearance of a cyan cavity is unavoidable in the 480–520 nm wavebands when combining n-UV LED chips (380–420 nm) with trichromatic phosphors to obtain white-light-emitting devices. Here, a concentration perturbation effect is proposed to improve the properties of phosphors via trace substitution of Mn2+, Mg2+ or Zn2+ cations for Ba2+ and Y3+ in Ba0.97Y2Si3O10:Eu. Based on local structure distortion or electron cloud interaction, the emission band corresponding to Eu2+ is broadened with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) more than 125 nm due to redistribution of Eu2+ and the emission color can be tuned to the cyan region. The coexistence of the above two effects on the photoluminescence can be further evidenced by the shifts of emission energy for the two sites in these systems. The quenching temperature for all the samples is observed over 473 K and even higher than that for the non-substituted Ba0.97Y2Si3O10:0.03Eu and it is discussed combined with Pauling's principles, average Uiso and the distortion degree of polyhedra, which could provide some references for improvement of thermal stability. Moreover, the valence mismatch between Mn2+/Mg2+/Zn2+ and Y3+ ions leads to the coexistence of Eu2+–Eu3+, which thus realizes color selective manipulation and even white light emission in Ba0.98−nMg0.02Y2Si3O10:nEu. Our results demonstrate that the concentration perturbation effect-assisted synthesis strategy has potential in improving the properties of phosphors for WLEDs, and it can also be extended to adjusting the coordination environment of activators whose properties are sensitive to local lattice variations and electronic surroundings.

The development of flexible three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured electrodes has been regarded as a promising strategy to fulfill high-performance supercapacitors. Herein, we report a cost-effective method for fabricating flexible supercapacitor electrodes consisting of NiCo-LDH nanosheets electrodeposited on 3D porous Ni arrays/conductive cloth (NiCo-LDH@3D Ni/CC). The hierarchical 3D porous Ni arrays with high conductivity and large specific area not only provide effective interconnected conductive networks, but also enable a high mass loading of active materials. The resultant NiCo-LDH@3D Ni/CC electrode exhibits a high mass capacitance of 2248 F g−1 and a high areal capacitance of 3260 mF cm−2 at 5 mA cm−2. Ultimately, the symmetric solid-state supercapacitor assembled with NiCo-LDH@3D Ni/CC displays a high areal capacitance of 116.7 mF cm−2 at 5 mA cm−2, and excellent cycling stability (full capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 10 mA cm−2). This work demonstrates a facile and low-cost strategy for flexible energy storage applications.

A superhydrophobic/superoleophilic copper mesh with CuCl crystals for oil/water separation has been fabricated by immersing copper mesh in acidic CuCl2 solution and then grafting with 1-dodecanethiol. The mesh exhibits superhydrophobicity, with a water contact angle (WCA) of 151° and a water sliding angle of 4°. The mesh was used to separate various oil/water mixtures, including isooctane/water, petroleum ether/water, n-hexadecane/water, n-hexane/water and chloroform/water, with separation efficiencies over 95%. The mesh still kept separation efficiency above 99% and a WCA of 146° even after 20 separation cycles for chloroform/water mixture. In addition, the mesh could not only maintain high hydrophobicity after 50 g sand impact but also resist water droplets with different pH, indicating it has good mechanical and chemical durability.

We recently developed a treecode-accelerated boundary integral (TABI) solver for solving Poisson–Boltzmann (PB) equation [1] . The solver has combined advantages in accuracy, efficiency, memory, and parallelization as it applies a well-posed boundary integral formulation to circumvent many numerical difficulties associated with the PB equation and uses an O ( N log ⁡ N ) treecode to accelerate the GMRES iterative solver. However, as observed in our previous work [2] , occasionally when the mesh generator produces low quality triangles, the number of GMRES iterations required to solve the discretized boundary integral equations A x = b could be large. To address this issue, we design a preconditioning scheme using preconditioner matrix M such that M − 1 A has much improved condition while M − 1 z can be rapidly computed for any vector z. In this scheme, the matrix M carries the interactions between boundary elements on the same leaf only in the tree structure thus is block diagonal with many computational advantages. The sizes of the blocks in M are conveniently controlled by the treecode parameter N 0 , the maximum number of particles per leaf. The numerical results show that this new preconditioning scheme improves the TABI solver with significantly reduced iteration numbers and better accuracy, particularly for protein sets on which TABI solver previously converges slowly. In addition, this preconditioning scheme potentially can improve the condition number of various multipole method accelerated boundary elements solvers in scattering, fluids, elasticity, etc.

The accumulation of calcium nitrate [Ca(NO3)2] in the edible part of vegetables is one of the main reasons for the reduction of production and is harmful to human health, but so far, there is no effective method to solve environmentally problem. In this study, an environmentally friendly hydrogen-rich water (HRW) was used to study its effect on alleviating the growth inhibition of Brassica campestris spp. chinensis L. seedlings exposed to excessive Ca(NO3)2. The results of Chinese cabbage seedlings exposed to excessive Ca(NO3)2 showed that the nitrate content in edible parts of seedlings was reduced by exogenous HRW by promoting seedling growth, reducing oxidative stress, and reducing the excess of 80 mM Ca(NO3)2 which was toxic effects in the edible part of the seedlings. The conclusion was supported by the following results: (1) when Ca(NO3)2 was added excessively, HRW could effectively reduce the growth inhibition of Chinese cabbage seedlings by increasing root lengths and leaves and roots weights; (2) HRW inhibited the accumulation of the O2·−, H2O2, MDA and the conductivity of relative electrical under Ca(NO3)2 through increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD, CAT, APX); (3) HRW was processed by transporters (BcNRT1.5 and BcNRT1.8), which allowed more nitrates to be stored in the roots and reduces transport to the ground.

Consensus and transaction are the main parts in a blockchain system. However, most cryptographic protocols used in these parts of current blockchains are vulnerable to rapid development of quantum computers. Besides, traditional proof of work (PoW) based consensus protocols such as Bitcoin can not supply memory mining. And the transaction capacity of each block in a blockchain is limited that need to be expanded. In this paper, a new post-quantum poof of work (PoW) consensus algorithm is proposed, which can be used to not only protect the blockchain under the quantum computing attack over existing classical hash based PoW algorithms but also can supply memory mining. Meanwhile, a identity-based post-quantum signature is embed into a transaction process so as to construct lightweight transactions. We thereafter give a detailed description on how the post-quantum lightweight transaction in a blockchain runs. All in all, this work can help to enrich the research on the future post-quantum blockchain (PQB).

As a region known for its high species richness, southwest China plays an important role in preserving global biodiversity and ensuring ecological security in the Yangtze, Mekong, and Salween river basins. However, relatively few studies focus on the response of tree species richness to climate change in this part of China. This study determined the main tree species in southwest China using the Vegetation Map of China and the Flora of China. From simulations of 1970 to 2000 and three forecasts of future benign, moderate, and extreme climate warming anticipated during 2061 to 2080, this study used a maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) to simulate main tree species richness in southwest China. Regions with a peak species richness at intermediate elevations were typically dominated by complex mountainous terrain, such as in the Hengduan Mountains. Likewise, regions with the smallest richness were low-elevation areas, including the Sichuan Basin, and the high-elevation Sichuan-Tibet region. Annual precipitation, minimum temperature of the coldest month, temperature seasonality, and elevation were the most critical factors in estimating tree species richness in southwest China. During future 2061 to 2080 climate scenarios, tree species tended to migrate towards higher elevations as mean temperatures increased. For climate change scenarios RCP2.6-2070 (benign) and RCP4.5-2070 (moderate), the main tree species richness in the study area changed little. During the RCP8.5-2070 extreme scenario, tree species richness decreased. This study provides useful guidance to plan and implement measures to conserve biodiversity.

Monte Carlo (MC) methods are important computational tools for molecular structure optimizations and predictions. When solvent effects are explicitly considered, MC methods become very expensive due to the large degree of freedom associated with the water molecules and mobile ions. Alternatively implicit-solvent MC can largely reduce the computational cost by applying a mean field approximation to solvent effects and meanwhile maintains the atomic detail of the target molecule. The two most popular implicit-solvent models are the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) model and the Generalized Born (GB) model in a way such that the GB model is an approximation to the PB model but is much faster in simulation time. In this work, we develop a machine learning-based implicit-solvent Monte Carlo (MLIMC) method by combining the advantages of both implicit solvent models in accuracy and efficiency. Specifically, the MLIMC method uses a fast and accurate PB-based machine learning (PBML) scheme to compute the electrostatic solvation free energy at each step. We validate our MLIMC method by using a benzene-water system and a protein-water system. We show that the proposed MLIMC method has great advantages in speed and accuracy for molecular structure optimization and prediction.

We report the mechanism of hydrogel formation in dilute aqueous solutions (15 mg/mL) by 2 nm metal-organic cages (MOCs). Experiments and all-atom simulations confirm that with the addition of small electrolytes, the MOCs self-assemble into 2D nanosheets via counterion-mediated attraction because of their unique molecular structure and charge distribution as well as σ-π interactions. The stiff nanosheets are difficult to bend into 3-D hollow, spherical blackberry type structures, as observed in many other macroion systems. Instead, they stay in solution and their very large excluded volumes lead to gelation at low (∼1.5 wt %) MOC concentrations, with additional help from hydrophobic and partial π-π interactions similar to the gelation of graphene oxides.

Short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) increases thrombotic risk particularly in obese individuals, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to compare the effects of PM2.5 on inflammation and platelet activation in obese versus normal-weight adults, and investigate potential causal pathways. We conducted a panel study measuring blood markers in 44 obese and 53 normal-weight adults on 3 separate occasions in 2017-2018. Associations between PM2.5/black carbon (BC) and biomarkers were estimated using mixed-effect models. An interaction analysis compared PM2.5/BC-related effects between subgroups. Biomarker combinations and mediation analysis were performed to elucidate the biological pathways. There was a significant "low-high-low" trend of PM2.5 levels across the 3 study periods. Increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines and changes of platelet activation and aggregation markers were associated with PM2.5/BC in obese subgroup only. Among obese subjects, the combination of pro-inflammatory cytokines and that of platelet markers increased 26.8% (95% CI: 16.0%, 37.9%) and 14.7% (95% CI: 1.9%, 27.0%) per IQR increase in PM2.5 over 5-day and 7-day averages. Inflammation mediated 24.5% of the pathways through which PM2.5 promoted platelet activation. This study suggested obese people are susceptible to pro-thrombotic impacts of PM2.5 exposures. PM2.5 may aggravate thrombosis through obesity-related inflammation.

Identifying the contours and correlates of species turnover is central to understanding the nature of biogeographical regions. The Hengduan Mountains region of south-central China (HMR) is well known for its high diversity of plants, but its boundaries and internal floristic structure are poorly understood, especially in relation to geographical and environmental factors. With data on occurrences and elevational ranges of seed plants across the HMR and adjacent areas of the greater Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, we identified motifs (distinct species assemblages) by Grade of Membership models, and characterized relative contributions of geography, elevation, and climate to their spatial patterns. Motifs segregate primarily by latitude, elevation, and correlated environmental variables, most sharply across the tropical-temperate divide. Secondarily, they segregate by longitude and geographical features, and reveal a novel divide across the Jinsha River. A core set of motifs corresponds to previous delineations of the HMR. The HMR biodiversity hotspot is more a mosaic of floristic elements than a cohesive entity. Grade of Membership models effectively reveal the geographical contours of biotic structure, and are a valuable new tool for biogeographical analysis.

The role of chiral counterions on the attraction and self-assembly of chiral Pd12L24 metal organic cages (MOCs) with NO3- being the original counterion is studied by laser light scattering and isothermal titration calorimetry. Nitrates can trigger the self-assembly of macrocationic Pd12L24 into hollow spherical blackberry-type supramolecular structures via counterion-mediated attraction. Although chiral counteranions, such as N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-alanine (Boc-Ala), have weaker interaction with the MOCs compared to NO3-, they can induce different assembly behaviors between two enantiomeric MOCs by inhibiting the MOC-nitrate binding and weakening the interaction between them. The d-counterions are capable of selectively suppressing and slowing down the assembly of l-MOCs and also considerably decreasing their assembly size due to the much weaker MOC-nitrate interaction. The same scenario is observed for l-counterions when interacting with the d-MOCs. This study unveils the role of weakly associated chiral counterions on the central chiral macroions, especially their supramolecular structure formation, and provides additional evidence on the mechanism of the homochirality phenomenon.

Aquatic products are favored by people all over the world, but the potential quality and safety issues cannot be ignored. To determine the risk of veterinary drug residues in aquatic products in the Yangtze River Delta, this study used geographic information system method to analyze Chinese veterinary drugs in aquatic products in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui (Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomerations) from 2017 to 2019. A study of the spatial distribution pattern, hot spot detection and analysis, and spatiotemporal cluster analysis of the residual excess rate and detection rate showed a random spatial distribution in the overall excess rate and detection rate of veterinary drug residues in aquatic products from 2017 to 2019. The results of hot spot analysis and spatiotemporal cluster analysis showed that the rate of detection of veterinary drug residues and the rate of detection of residues in excess of regulatory standards were clustered. This study provides a scientific basis for food safety evaluation and risk management suggestions. HIGHLIGHTS

Controlling the dynamics of quantum systems has been a long-standing goal of quantum physics. To understand the controllability of a finite-dimensional quantum system is a fundamental problem in quantum control theory, but can be very challenging in many cases. In particular, results on controllability of open-loop coherently controlled closed quantum systems under symmetry constraints have been elusive. In this paper, we study the controllability of spin systems with some specific symmetry where spins are coupled via Ising interaction and manipulated collectively by a global control field. Based on Lie group and Lie algebra techniques, we find the conditions under which the system is universally controllable in its irreducible subspaces. We believe that the results obtained here will contribute to quantum controlling on symmetric quantum systems.

The protein corona influences and determines the biological function of nanoparticles (NPs) in vivo. Analysis and understanding of the activities of proteins in coronas are crucial for nanobiology and nanomedicine research. Misfolded proteins in the corona of NPs theoretically exist, and a protein denaturation-related cellular response might occur in this process as well as in related diseases. The exact evaluation of protein denaturation in the corona is valuable to assess the bioactivities of NPs. Here, we found that the level of adsorbed heat shock protein 90 kDa α class B member 1 (Hsp90ab1) by the denatured protein in iron-cobalt-nickel alloy NPs (FeCoNi NPs) and iron oxide NPs (Fe3O4 NPs) was correlated with circular dichroism (CD) analysis and 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS) analysis. The content of Hsp90ab1 in the corona could be easily analysed by western blotting (WB). Further analysis suggested that the method could precisely show the time-dependent protein denaturation on Fe3O4 NPs, as well as the influence of the size and the surface modification. More importantly, this method could be applied to other proteins, like lysozyme, other than albumin. Based on the results and the correlation analysis, incubation and detection of Hsp90ab1 in the NP-corona complex can be used as a new and feasible method to evaluate protein denaturation induced by NPs.

We report a feasible method to control self-recognition during the self-assembly of a hydrophilic macroion, phosphate-functionalized γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD-P), though host-guest interactions. We confirmed that γ-CD-P can form a host-guest complex with a super-chaotropic anion, namely the B12 F122- borate cluster, by using NMR spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry. The loaded γ-CD-P, which has a higher charge density, can be distinguished from the uncomplexed γ-CD-P, leading to self-sorting behavior during the self-assembly process, confirmed by the formation of two types of individual supramolecular structures (Rh of ca. 57 nm and 18 nm, determined by light scattering) instead of hybrid structures in mixed dilute solution. This self-recognition behavior is accounted for by the difference in intermolecular electrostatic interactions arising from the loading.

This study is part of the “Air Polluion Impacts on Cardiopulmonary disease in Beijing: an integrated study of Exposure Science, Toxicologenomics & Environmental Epidemiology (APIC-ESTEE)” project under the UK-China joint research programme “Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in a Chinese Megacity (APHH-China)”. The aim is to capture the spatio-temporal variability in people's exposure to fine particles (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC) air pollution in Beijing, China. A total of 120 students were recruited for a panel study from ten universities in Haidian District in northwestern Beijing from December 2017 to June 2018. Real-time personal concentrations of PM2.5 and BC were measured over a 24-h period with two research-grade portable personal exposure monitors. Personal microenvironments (MEs) were determined by applying an algorithm to the handheld GPS unit data. On average, the participants spent the most time indoors (79% in Residence and 16% in Workplace), and much less time travelling by Walking, Cycling, Bus and Metro. Similar patterns were observed across participant gender and body-mass index classifications. The participants were exposed to 33.8 ± 27.8 μg m−3 PM2.5 and to 1.9 ± 1.2 μg m−3 BC over the 24-h monitoring period, on average 24.3 μg m−3 (42%) and 0.8 μg m−3 (28%) lower, respectively, than the concurrent fixed-site ambient measurements. Relative differences between personal and ambient BC concentrations showed greater variability across the MEs, highlighting significant contributions from Dining and travelling by Bus, which involve potential combustion of fuels. This study demonstrates the potential value of personal exposure monitoring in investigating air pollution related health effects, and in evaluating the effectiveness of pollution control and intervention measures.

Structure and rheological properties of myosin in myofibrillar protein (MP) after single frequency pulsed ultrasound (SFPU, G1-G2) and dual frequency pulsed ultrasound (DFPU, G3) were compared for the first time. Results showed SFPU and DFPU induced “stress response” through the action of cavitation on multiple myosin. In addition, there may be a certain quorum sensing among myosin, inducing a more stable β-antiparallel structure to resist negative effects of cavitation force. Results of particle size and synchronous fluorescence indicated that structure of myosin in MPs changed through stress. The increase in pH also assisted in the ultrasound process (G5-G7). Notably, DFPU induced stronger quorum sensing and formed a more stable structure. More so, effects of (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and baicalein (BN) on the emulsion and gel properties of DFPU treated and non-treated MPs were also investigated. Results showed that ultrasound increased the stability of emulsion. Additionally, the texture and expressible moisture content (EMOC) of the gel were also improved after treatment.

Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) exerts its main function in the catabolism of the endogenous chemical messenger anandamide (AEA), thus modulating the endocannabinoid (eCB) pathway. Inhibition of FAAH may serve as an effective strategy to relieve anxiety and possibly other central nervous system (CNS)-related disorders. Positron emission tomography (PET) would facilitate us to better understand the relationship between FAAH in certain disease conditions, and accelerate clinical translation of FAAH inhibitors by providing in vivo quantitative information. So far, most PET tracers show irreversible binding patterns with FAAH, which would result in complicated quantitative processes. Herein, we have identified a new FAAH inhibitor (1-((1-methyl-1H-indol-2-yl)methyl)piperidin-4-yl)(oxazol-2-yl)methanone (8) which inhibits the hydrolysis of AEA in the brain with high potency (IC50 value 11 nM at a substrate concentration of 0.5 µM), and without showing time-dependency. The PET tracer [11C]8 (also called [11C]FAAH-1906) was successfully radiolabeled with [11C]MeI in 17 ± 6% decay-corrected radiochemical yield (n = 7) with >74.0 GBq/μmol (2 Ci/μmol) molar activity and >99% radiochemical purity. Ex vivo biodistribution and blocking studies of [11C]8 in normal mice were also conducted, indicating good brain penetration, high brain target selectivity, and modest to excellent target selectivity in peripheral tissues. Thus, [11C]8 is a potentially useful PET ligand with enzyme inhibitory and target binding properties consistent with a reversible mode of action.

Background Ozone is a highly oxidative gaseous pollutant associated with adverse health outcomes, but markers for internal exposure to ambient ozone are not well-established. Methods We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and suitability of the markers in oral microbiome for ambient ozone exposure. Between March and May in 2018, 97 healthy adults were examined on 2 or 3 occasions for oral swab sampling. Hourly concentrations of ambient ozone 1–7 days preceding sampling were collected. Mixed-effect models were fitted to examine the associations between ambient ozone and the diversity and taxon abundances of oral microbiome. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves estimated the accuracies of markers to delineate between samples exposed to different concentrations of ambient ozone. The associations between the makers and lung function were further examined by linear mixed effect models. Results The averages of daily mean concentrations of ambient ozone (O3-daily), maximum 8-h means (O3-8hmax) and 1-h maximums (O3-1hmax) were respectively 72 μg/m³, 123 μg/m³ and 144 μg/m³. O3-daily was positively associated with α-diversity of oral microbiome, but the exposure-response curves only yielded positive associations in the range of O3-daily from 60 μg/m³ to 75 μg/m³. Results of O3-8hmax and O3-1hmax were consistent with these of O3-daily. With an interquartile range increase in O3-daily at lag04, the abundance of Proteobacteria decreased by 3.1% (95% CI: −4.0%, −2.2%) and Firmicutes increased by 3.3% (95% CI: 2.3%, 4.3%), whilst the Proteobacteria:Firmicutes ratio (P/F) decreased by 0.9 (95% CI: −1.5, −0.4). The areas under ROC curves for Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and P/F were 0.8535, 0.7569 and 0.8929, respectively. Proteobacteria and P/F were associated with forced expiratory volume in the first second and fractional exhaled nitric oxide significantly. Conclusion Ambient ozone disturbs oral microbial homeostasis. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and their ratio may be potential markers for short-term ambient ozone exposure, and indicators of airway inflammation or lung function decline.