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The composition characteristics and health risks of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their effects on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) during polluted and clean periods in winter 2018 for Yuncheng, a typical city in North China, were studied. The average concentration of VOCs was 2.3 times higher during the polluted period (105.29 µg m–3) than the clean period (45.78 µg m–3), whereas the average concentrations of the alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics were 3.4, 2.1, and 3.9 times higher, respectively, during the polluted period than the clean period. In addition, the VOC concentration was significantly influenced by meteorological conditions. Using positive matrix factorization (PMF), seven sources of atmospheric VOCs were identified, with the largest factors being vehicle emission (27.89%), coal combustion (23.37%), liquefied petroleum gas/natural gas evaporation (18.30%), and industrial emission (15.51%). Vehicle emission (30.04%) was the primary contributor during the polluted period, whereas coal combustion (33.53%) was the primary contributor during the clean period. The SOA formation potential (which almost exceeded 80%) was influenced by industrial emission (28.80%), solvent usage (26.30%), and vehicle emission (24.85%). Additionally, an assessment of the health risks of six aromatics based on the health risk exposure model of the United States Environmental Protection Agency revealed that the non-cancer risk was higher during the polluted period (6.61 × 10–2) than the clean period (2.20 × 10–2) but still below the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit (1.00) and therefore negligible for the exposed population. However, the carcinogenic index of benzene (2.85 × 10–5 to 5 × 10–5) exceeded 10–6, suggesting a higher carcinogenic risk. Large-scale energy restructuring during recent years has sharply reduced coal combustion, but the VOC concentration has dramatically increased due to vehicle emission. Hence, regulating vehicle emissions is an effective strategy for controlling VOCs in Yuncheng.

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic metal ion in pig manure impacting on the ecosystem, and hence the immobilization of Cd by green synthesis of iron nanoparticles (G-nFe) is a potential approach. In this study, transformation of Cd (II) during the pig manure thermophilic aerobic composting process in the presence of G-nFe was investigated. The results show that the addition of G-nFe promoted the composting process and release of available phosphorus (AP). In all six experiments, obvious passivation of Cd occurred during 15 days' composting. Particularly when 500 mL kg−1 of G-nFe was added and Cd (II) was added at 0.6%(w/w%), residual Cd increased from 0.0016% to 55.70% and exchangeable Cd decreased from 98.54% to 7.21%. Batch experiments revealed that the G-nFe promoted the transformation of Cd into a larger passivation fraction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM-Mapping and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis was used to characterize residual samples, where indicated that the passivation of Cd in compost was highly correlated with the increase of P, it can be concluded that fixing with compost resulted in the formation of Cd phosphate precipitation or co-precipitation with other phosphates.

Implementation of analog RRAM technology for neuromorphic computing has faced unique challenges in terms of endurance and variability as compared to the conventional digital memories. In this work, we demonstrate the dual oxide layer RRAM devices with analog performance of low working current, and study the trade-off switching speed, and the on/off ratio. We evaluate the endurance characteristics and define the correlation of endurance degradation with variability behavior. Compromised specifications of switching speed, switching voltage, and working resistance range are suggested to achieve integrative performance for the hardware implementation of neuromorphic network.

Previous reports have suggested that many gut microbiomes were associated with the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), and could modulate response to numerous forms of cancer therapy, including checkpoint blockade immunotherapy. Here we evaluated the protective efficacy of Lactobacillus acidophilus (L. acidophilus) cell lysates combined with an anti-CTL antigen-4 blocking antibody (CTLA-4 mAb) in syngeneic BALB/c mice CRC models induce by a single intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg azoxymethane (AOM), followed by three cycles of 2% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in drinking water. In contrast to CTLA-4 mAb monotherapy, L. acidophilus lysates could attenuate the loss of body weight and the combined administration significantly protected mice against CRC development, which suggested that the lysates enhanced antitumor activity of CTLA-4 mAb in model mice. The enhanced efficacy was associated with the increased CD8 + T cell, increased effector memory T cells (CD44 + CD8 + CD62L+), decreased Treg (CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3+) and M2 macrophages (F4/80 + CD206+) in the tumor microenvironment. In addition, our results revealed that L. acidophilus lysates had an immunomodulatory effect through inhibition the M2 polarization and the IL-10 expressed levels of LPS-activated Raw264.7 macrophages. Finally, the 16S rRNA gene sequencing of fecal microbiota demonstrated that the combined administration significantly inhibited the abnormal increase in the relative abundance of proteobacteria and partly counterbalance CRC-induced dysbiosis in model mice. Overall, these data support promising clinical possibilities of L. acidophilus lysates with CTLA-4 mAb in cancer patients and the hypothesis that probiotics help shape the anticancer immune response.

Developing highly active photocatalysts for water treatment is of vital importance. A large-mesopore hierarchical WO 3 hydrate photocatalyst with exposed high energy facets was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method using sodium chloride as structure-directing agent. The forming model of the hierarchical structure was discussed, and photogenerated oxide species were investigated. It is shown that the orthorhombic WO 3 ·1/3H 2 O photocatalyst is of a hierarchical structure assembled by various 2-dimension nanosheets and that its average pore diameter reaches approximately 33.2 nm. Besides, it could decompose 92% of rhodamine B (Rh B) under visible light irradiation within four hours. The enhanced photocatalytic efficiency is attributed to the exposed high energy (002) crystal facets of hierarchical structure, and to the large mesopores existing between crossed nanosheets which help to charge carriers separation, adsorption of reactants and desorption of product molecules. Furthermore, the catalyst displays an excellent photocatalytic stability, indicating its broad application in water pollution treatment.

Developing highly active hydrogenation catalysts for deep aromatics saturation is of great importance in the production of ultraclean diesel fuel at a low cost. Toward this goal, we synthesized a mesoporous zeolite ZSM-5 (MZSM-5) that was cost-effective and available on a large scale, and used it as a support for the preparation of highly efficient metal sulfide catalysts (NiMoS/MZSM-5 and CoMoS/MZSM-5) for the deep hydrogenation of phenanthrene. The intrinsic activity of the NiMoS/MZSM-5 catalyst (7.4 × 10 −4 mol kg −1 s −1 ) was much higher than that of the alumina-supported NiMo catalyst (NiMoS/γ-Al 2 O 3 , 4.8 × 10 −4 mol kg −1 s −1 ), and the selectivity of the deep hydrogenation products over NiMoS/MZSM-5 (20.9%) was higher than for NiMoS/γ-Al 2 O 3 (15.2%). Compared with γ-Al 2 O 3 , the relatively weak metal–support interaction could facilitate the formation of polymolybdates on MZSM-5. After sulfidation, the more multistacked MoS 2 active phases were formed on the MZSM-5, enhancing the hydrogenation activity of the NiMoS/MZSM-5 catalyst.

Four novel double-stranded RNA segments were detected in a Verticillium dahliae Kleb. strain (V. dahliae isolate 0-21), a causal fungal agent of Verticillium wilt disease of cotton. Each dsRNA genome segment contains a single large open reading frame (ORF) that encodes a distinctive protein with modest levels of sequence similarities to the corresponding putative proteins in the genus Chrysovirus. These include an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), a coat protein, an undefined replication-related protein and an ovarian tumor domain peptidase. Phylogenetic analysis of the four putative proteins unanimously indicated that they are evolutionarily related to viruses in Chrysovirus. The 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions of the four dsRNAs share highly similar internal sequence and contain conserved sequence stretches of UGAUAAAAAA(/U)UG(/U)AAAAA- (in the 5′-UTR) and -UUUACUACU (in the 3′-UTR), indicating that they have a common virus origin. Indeed, isometric virus-like particles (VLPs) with a diameter of approximately 34 nm were extracted from the fungal mycelia, and the four dsRNA segments were also detected in the virus-like particle (VLP) fraction. These results suggest that the mycovirus with four different dsRNA genome segments from the fungal isolate 0-21 is a new member of the genus Chrysovirus. We named the virus Verticillium dahliae chrysovirus 1 (VdCV1).

Background: Tourniquet has been considered as a recognized cause of lower limb ischemia-reperfusion injury in the orthopedic field. This study investigates pulmonary function after tourniquet deflation and the protective effect of Shenmai injection (SMI), a traditional Chinese medicine. Methods: Twenty-eight patients undergoing lower extremity surgery were randomized into a control group (group C) and a SMI group (group S), 14 patients in each group. Blood gas and circulating indicators (malondialdehyde, interleukin [IL]-6, and IL-8) were measured immediately before tourniquet inflation and at 0.5 hour, 2 hours, 6 hours, and 24 hours after tourniquet deflation. Results: Plasma levels of malondialdehyde, IL-6, and IL-8 in group C were significantly increased over baselines from 2 hours to 24 hours after tourniquet deflation and the levels reached their peaks at 6 hours after tourniquet deflation, when arterial partial pressures of oxygen and arterial-alveolar oxygen tension ratio were decreased, whereas alveolar-arterial oxygen difference was increased significantly. Both the changes in blood gas variables and plasma mediators were attenuated in group S. Conclusion: Pulmonary gas exchange is impaired after lower limb ischemia-reperfusion induced by clinical tourniquet application. Pretreatment with SMI, a traditional Chinese medicine, attenuates lipid peroxidation and systemic inflammatory response and mitigates pulmonary dysfunction.