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CO2 conversion is gradually seen as a better way for society to effectively use carbon sources and avoid climate crisis associated with fossil CO2 emissions. And the decision to deploy CO2 technology scale should be relied on its environmental impact. In this work, life cycle assessment model evaluates the environmental performance of CO2 conversion by photocatalytic reaction process with two different catalysts (NiAl-LDH and Co-ZIF-9). Six impact categories considered in this analysis, including climate change, acidification potential, depletion of abiotic resources, eutrophication potential, ozone layer depletion potential, and photochemical oxidation potential. Results indicated that CO2 conversion with Co-ZIF-9 photocatalyst has a better environmental impact than the NiAl-LDH photocatalyst route. Moreover, the Co-ZIF-9 catalyst scenario also has a lower total environmental burden than the conventional CO production route. Sensitivity analysis shows that recycle performance of the catalyst is highly sensitive to the production process in two scenarios. This study could provide a framework for robust decisions in CO2 conversion by photocatalytic reaction, which is useful for policymakers to decide the feasibility of industrialization.

A type of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/SnIn4S8 (SIS) nanocomposites was successfully fabricated by a facile and efficient microwave-assisted method. Their morphology, structure, composition, and optical performance were investigated by different analytical techniques, respectively. The results indicated that rGO had an important effect on the structure of photocatalysts. As the content of rGO increases, the unchin-like microsphere structure of rGO/SIS evolved gradually into aggregated nanosheet structure. The photocatalytic degradation experiments were carried out under visible light irradiation. The results demonstrated rGO/SIS-2 nanocomposites exhibited higher photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of RhodamineB than that of SIS, rGO/SIS-1 as well as rGO/SIS-3. Meanwhile, the mineralization efficiency of Rhodamine B (RhB) can reach up to 73.8% within 30 min. Interestingly, rGO/SIS-2 nanocomposites exhibited excellent recycle stability with 96% removal efficiency of RhB after three cycles. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of rGO/SIS-2 nanocomposites should be attributed to the strong interaction of rGO and SIS, the decrease of band gap energy, the enhanced visible light absorption, and excellent electrons’ mobility of rGO, thereby promoting charge separation. Finally, the mechanism of rGO/SIS nanocomposites for the degradation of RhB has been also proposed. This work provides a facile and efficient pathway to prepare SIS-based nanocomposites with enhanced catalytic efficiency by combining the advantages of microwave-assisted heating and incorporating carbon-based nanomaterials for the degradation of organic pollutants in visible light irradiation.

Grain refinement is a crucial technique for enhancing the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys. In this study, the addition of 0.3 wt% CaO and 0.3 wt% CaCO3 successfully refined the AM60 alloy, resulting in a significant reduction in the average grain size from 326 μm to 96 μm (when adding CaCO3). The refined grain size of the as-cast AM60 alloy led to an increase in both tensile strength and yield strength to 118.2 MPa and 72.6 MPa, representing a respective increase of 35% and 23% compared to the alloy without the refiner. As results of EBSD, it is verified that the basal slip system (0001) has a higher Schmid factor after adding CaO, which indicates that this system has higher activity. The substitution reaction between CaO and Mg can produce synergistic effects from the solute effect of Ca and the nucleating effect of residual CaO, which play an important role in grain refinement. Due to the fine grain size and diffuse distribution of the second phase in the AM60-CaCO3 alloy and the thermal decomposition of CaCO3, which consumes the aluminum element in the matrix, the content of the β-phase (Mg17Al12) is reduced. Consequently, this reduces the electric coupling effect between the β-phase and the magnesium matrix. The AM60-CaCO3 alloy exhibited the most superior corrosion resistance, achieving a corrosion rate of only 1.01 mm y−1, representing a 48.9% reduction in corrosion rate compared to the AM60 alloy.

Objective To investigate the role and mechanism of NLRP3/Caspase-1/IL-1β inflammasome pathway in the formation of aortic dissection in mice. Methods Fifty male C57BL/6 mice (3 weeks old, body weight 10~13 g) were divided into control group (n=10, normal diet), β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) group [n=20, drink water containing 1 g/(kg·d) BAPN], and BAPN+ MCC950 group [n=20, drink water containing 1 g/(kg·d) BAPN and intraperitoneal injection of 20 mg/(kg·d) NLRP3 inhibitor, MCC950] by random sampling. Water intake, body weight, incidence of aortic dissection and aortic dissection-related mortality were recorded. The inflammatory infiltration in the aorta was observed with HE staining, elastic fiber breakage was observed by elastic Van Gieson (EVG) staining, average fluorescence intensity of NLRP3, IL-1β, α-SMA and OPN was detected by immunofluorescence assay, and protein expression levels of NLRP3, Caspase-1, ASC, IL-1β, α-SMA and OPN were measured with Western blotting. Results No aortic dissection or death was observed in the control group. The BAPN group had an incidence of aortic dissection of 80%, aortic dissection-related mortality of 35%, and obvious broken elastic fibers and inflammatory infiltrate in the aortic wall, and increased expression levels of NLRP3, Caspase-1, ASC and IL-1β, decreased contractile α-SMA and increased synthetic protein OPN when compared with the control group (P < 0.05). While MCC950 treatment decreased the incidence of aortic dissection (80% vs 35%, P=0.004) and aortic dissection-related mortality (35% vs 15%, P=0.144), alleviated the broken elastic fibers and inflammatory infiltrate in the aortic wall, and down-regulated the expression of NLRP3, Caspase-1, ASC and IL-1β, enhanced contractile α-SMA and decreased the synthetic protein when compared with the BAPN group (P < 0.05). Conclusion The occurrence of aortic dissection in mice is associated with activation of NLRP3/Caspase-1/IL-1β inflammasome pathway. NLRP3 inhibitor, MCC950, can reduce the occurrence of aortic dissection and show a protective effect on blood vessels.

Objective·To study early expression levels of serum heparin-binding protein (HBP) and its potential value in early alarming for prognosis and occurrence of sepsis in patients with severe burns.Methods·Retrospective analysis was performed on medical records of 52 severely burned patients admitted to the Department of Burn and Plastic, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine during January 2021 to May 2023. General data of patients on gender, age, total burn area, body mass index (BMI), and whether endotracheal intubation or incision was performed were collected. The level of HBP, serum procalcitonin (PCT), serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and the count of white blood cells within 48 h of admission were collected. The scores of acute physiological and chronic health assessment evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) within 48 h of admission were collected. Patients were divided into death group and survival group according to the status at discharge. According to whether sepsis occurred during hospitalization, the patients were divided into sepsis group and non-sepsis group. According to whether shock occurred, the septic patients were divided into sepsis without shock group and septic shock group. Risk factors for death, sepsis, and septic shock in severely burned patients were analyzed by using Logistic regression models. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was established to study risk factors, which may alarm the occurrence of poor prognosis, sepsis, and septic shock.Results·Compared with the survival group, patients in the death group were older, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.036). Differences in burn area and whether tracheal intubation or tracheotomy was performed were statistically significant in patients with or without sepsis (P=0.011, P=0.001). Compared with the survival group, the serum HBP levels were higher in the death group, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.002). Compared with the non-sepsis group, patients in the sepsis group had higher levels of serum HBP, APACHE Ⅱ scores, and SOFA scores, and the differences were statistically significant (all P