Search

Thermal deformation behavior of Cu-Cr-Sn alloy ingots under deformation temperatures ranging from 600 °C to 950 °C and strain rates from 0.01 s -1 to 10 s -1 was investigated in detail. The thermal deformation constitutive equation and thermal processing map of the alloy were established, respectively. The activation energy Q was determined as 430.61 KJ/mol. The optimal deformation system corresponding to the hot working diagram was a deformation temperature of 900 °C and strain rate of 0.1 s -1 . Under these deformation conditions, twin dynamic recrystallization (TDRX), continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX), and discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) occurred simultaneously, with the twinning process causing the stress-strain curve to exhibit a wavy change. The thermal deformation microstructure of the alloy is co-regulated by different recrystallization mechanisms, with DDRX occurring mainly at low deformation temperatures, and both CDRX and DDRX occurring at high deformation temperatures.

In this study, a zero-gap flow-through microfluidic reactor was constructed for the degradation of tetracycline and norfloxacin in water using a porous Ti/RuO 2 -IrO 2 @Pt electrode as the anode and porous titanium plate as the cathode. The operation parameters included electrolyte type, electrolyte concentration, current density, initial concentration of pollutants and pH, were investigated. The degradation efficiency and energy consumption were calculated and compared with traditional electrolyzer. In the zero-gap flow-through microfluidic reactor, 100 % of both tetracycline and norfloxacin can be decomposed in 15 min, and high mineralization rate were achieved under the optimized reaction condition. And the reaction was consistent with pseudo-first-order kinetics with k value of 0.492 cm -1 and 1.010 cm -1 , for tetracycline and norfloxacin, respectively. In addition, the energy consumption was 28.33 kWh ⋅ kg -1 TC and 8.36 kWh ⋅ kg -1 NOR, for tetracycline and norfloxacin, respectively, which was much lower than that of traditional electrolyzer. The LC-MS results showed that tetracycline underwent a series of demethylation, dehydration and deamination reactions, and the norfloxacin went through ring opening reaction, decarboxylation and hydroxylation reaction, and finally both produced CO 2 and H 2 O., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Electrochemically converting nitrate, a widely distributed nitrogen contaminant, into harmless N 2 is a feasible and environmentally friendly route to close the anthropogenic nitrogen-based cycle. However, it is currently hindered by sluggish kinetics and low N 2 selectivity, as well as scarce attention to reactor configuration. Here, we report a flow-through zero-gap electrochemical reactor that shows a high performance of nitrate reduction with 100% conversion and 80.36% selectivity of desired N 2 in the chlorine-free system at 100 mg-N·L -1 NO 3 - while maintaining a rapid reduction kinetics of 0.07676 min -1 . More importantly, the mass transport and current utilization efficiency are significantly improved by shortening the inter-electrode distance, especially in the zero-gap electrocatalytic system where the current efficiency reached 50.15% at 5 mA·cm -2 . Detailed characterizations demonstrated that during the electroreduction process, partial Cu(OH) 2 on the cathode surface was reconstructed into stable Cu/Cu 2 O as the active phase for efficient nitrate reduction. In situ characterizations revealed that the highly selective *NO to *N conversion and the N-N coupling step played crucial roles during the selective reduction of NO 3 - to N 2 in the zero-gap electrochemical system. In addition, theoretical calculations demonstrated that improving the key intermediate *N coverage could effectively facilitate the N-N coupling step, thereby promoting N 2 selectivity. Moreover, the environmental and economic benefits and long-term stability shown by the treatment of real nitrate-containing wastewater make our proposed electrocatalytic system more attractive for practical applications.

Despite the high prevalence of snoring in Asia, little is known about the genetic etiology of snoring and its causal relationships with cardiometabolic traits. Based on 100,626 Chinese individuals, a genome-wide association study on snoring was conducted. Four novel loci were identified for snoring traits mapped on SLC25A21, the intergenic region of WDR11 and FGFR, NAA25, ALDH2, and VTI1A, respectively. The novel loci highlighted the roles of structural abnormality of the upper airway and craniofacial region and dysfunction of metabolic and transport systems in the development of snoring. In the two-sample bi-directional Mendelian randomization analysis, higher body mass index, weight, and elevated blood pressure were causal for snoring, and a reverse causal effect was observed between snoring and diastolic blood pressure. Altogether, our results revealed the possible etiology of snoring in China and indicated that managing cardiometabolic health was essential to snoring prevention, and hypertension should be considered among snorers., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In this study, the performance of a zero-gap flow-through reactor with three-dimensional (3D) porous Ti/RuO 2 -TiO 2 @Pt anodes was systematically investigated for the electrocatalytic oxidation of phenolic wastewater, considering phenol and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) as the target pollutants. The optimum parameters for the electrochemical oxidation of phenol and 4-NP were examined. For phenol degradation, at an initial concentration of 50 mg/L, initial pH of 7, NaCl concentration of 10.0 g/L, current density of 10 mA/cm 2 , and retention time of 30 min, the degradation efficiency achieved was 95.05%, with an energy consumption of 15.39 kWh/kg; meanwhile, for 4-NP, the degradation efficiency was 98.42% and energy consumption was 19.21 kWh/kg (at an initial concentration of 40 mg/L, initial pH of 3, NaCl concentration of 10.0 g/L, current density of 10 mA/cm 2 , and retention time of 30 min). The electrocatalytic oxidation of phenol and 4-NP conformed to the pseudo-first-order kinetics model, and the k values were 0.2562 min -1 and 0.1736 min -1 , respectively, which are 1.7 and 3.6-times higher than those of a conventional electrolyzer. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was used to verify the intermediates formed during the degradation of phenol or 4-NP and a possible degradation pathway was provided. The extremely narrow electrode distance and the flow-through configuration of the zero-gap flow-through reactor were thought to be essential for its lower energy consumption and higher mass transfer efficiency. The zero-gap flow-through reactor with a novel 3D porous Ti/RuO 2 -TiO 2 @Pt electrode is a superior alternative for the treatment of industrial wastewater.

Background: Information on the association between physical activity (PA) and the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is limited. We aimed to explore the associations of total, domain-specific, and intensity-specific PA with CKD and its subtypes in China., Methods: The study included 475,376 adults from the China Kadoorie Biobank aged 30-79 years during 2004-2008 at baseline. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the information about PA, which was quantified as metabolic equivalent of task hours per day (MET-h/day) and categorized into 4 groups based on quartiles. Cox regression was used to analyze the association between PA and CKD risk., Results: During a median follow-up of 12.1 years, 5415 incident CKD cases were documented, including 1159 incident diabetic kidney disease (DKD) cases and 362 incident hypertensive nephropathy (HTN) cases. Total PA was inversely associated with CKD risk, with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR, 95% confidence interval (95%CI)) of 0.83 (0.75-0.92) for incident CKD in the highest quartile of total PA as compared with participants in the lowest quartile. Similar results were observed for risk of DKD and HTN, and the corresponding HRs (95%CIs) were 0.75 (0.58-0.97) for DKD risk and 0.56 (0.37-0.85) for HTN risk. Increased nonoccupational PA, low-intensity PA, and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA were significantly associated with a decreased risk of CKD, with HRs (95%CIs) of 0.80 (0.73-0.88), 0.85 (0.77-0.94), and 0.85 (0.76-0.95) in the highest quartile, respectively., Conclusion: PA, including nonoccupational PA, low-intensity PA, and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA, was inversely associated with the risk of CKD, including DKD, HTN, and other CKD, and such associations were dose dependent., (Copyright © 2023. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Previous observational studies established a positive relationship between snoring and stroke. We aimed to investigate the causal effect of snoring on stroke., Methods: Based on 82,339 unrelated individuals with qualified genotyping data of Asian descent from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), we conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis of snoring and stroke. Genetic variants identified in the genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) of snoring in CKB and UK Biobank (UKB) were selected for constructing genetic risk scores (GRS). A two-stage method was applied to estimate the associations of the genetically predicted snoring with stroke and its subtypes. Besides, MR analysis among the non-obese group (body mass index, BMI <24.0 kg/m 2 ), as well as multivariable MR (MVMR), were performed to control for potential pleiotropy from BMI. In addition, the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was applied to estimate the causal association with genetic variants identified in CKB GWAS., Findings: Positive associations were found between snoring and total stroke, hemorrhagic stroke (HS), and ischemic stroke (IS). With GRS of CKB, the corresponding HRs (95% CIs) were 1.56 (1.15, 2.12), 1.50 (0.84, 2.69), 2.02 (1.36, 3.01), and the corresponding HRs (95% CIs) using GRS of UKB were 1.78 (1.30, 2.43), 1.94 (1.07, 3.52), and 1.74 (1.16, 2.61). The associations remained stable in the MR among the non-obese group, MVMR analysis, and MR analysis using the IVW method., Interpretation: This study suggests that, among Chinese adults, genetically predicted snoring could increase the risk of total stroke, IS, and HS, and the causal effect was independent of BMI., Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Kadoorie Charitable Foundation Hong Kong, UK Wellcome Trust, National Key R&D Program of China, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology., Competing Interests: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Self-assembly of subnanometer (sub-1 nm) scale polyhedral building blocks can yield some superstructures with novel and interesting morphology as well as potential functionalities. However, achieving the self-assembly of sub-1 nm polyhedral building blocks is still a great challenge. Herein, through encapsulating the titanium-substituted polyoxometalate (POM, K 7 PTi 2 W 10 O 40 ) with tetrabutylammonium cations (TBA + ), we first synthesized a sub-1 nm rhombic dodecahedral building block by further tailoring the spatial distribution of TBA + on the POM. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations demonstrated the eight TBA + cations interacted with the POM cluster and formed the sub-1 nm rhombic dodecahedron. As a result of anisotropy, the sub-1 nm building blocks have self-assembled into rhombic dodecahedral POM (RD-POM) assemblies at the microscale. Benefiting from the regular structure, Br - ions, and abundant active sites, the obtained RD-POM assemblies exhibit excellent catalytic performance in the cycloaddition of CO 2 with epoxides without co-catalysts. This work provides a promising approach to tailor the symmetry and structure of sub-1 nm building blocks by tuning the spatial distribution of ligands, which may shed light on the fabrication of superstructures with novel properties by self-assembly., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Precision medicine depends on high-accuracy individual-level genotype data. However, the whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is still not suitable for gigantic studies due to budget constraints. It is particularly important to construct highly accurate haplotype reference panel for genotype imputation. In this study, we used 10 000 samples with medium-depth WGS to construct a reference panel that we named the CKB reference panel. By imputing microarray datasets, it showed that the CKB panel outperformed compared panels in terms of both the number of well-imputed variants and imputation accuracy. In addition, we have completed the imputation of 100 706 microarrays with the CKB panel, and the after-imputed data is the hitherto largest whole genome data of the Chinese population. Furthermore, in the GWAS analysis of real phenotype height, the number of tested SNPs tripled and the number of significant SNPs doubled after imputation. Finally, we developed an online server for offering free genotype imputation service based on the CKB reference panel (https://db.cngb.org/imputation/). We believe that the CKB panel is of great value for imputing microarray or low-coverage genotype data of Chinese population, and potentially mixed populations. The imputation-completed 100 706 microarray data are enormous and precious resources of population genetic studies for complex traits and diseases., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)

Compartmentalization is a crucial feature of a natural cell, manifested in cell membrane and inner lumen. Inspired by the cellular structure, multicompartment polymersomes (MCPs), including membrane-compartmentalized polymersomes and lumen-compartmentalized polymersomes (polymersomes-in-polymersomes), have aroused great expectations for biological applications such as biocatalysis and cell mimics in the past decades. Compared with traditional polymersomes, MCPs have advantages in encapsulating multiple enzymes separately for multistep enzymatic cascade reactions. In this review, first, the design principles and preparation methods of membrane-compartmentalized and lumen-compartmentalized polymersomes are summarized. Next, recent advances of MCPs as nanoreactors and cell mimics to mimic subcellular organelles or artificial cells are discussed. Finally, the future research directions of MCPs are prospected.

Background & Aims: Evidence is sparse and inconclusive on the association between long-term fine (≤2.5 μm) particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) exposure and esophageal cancer. We aimed to assess the association of PM 2.5 with esophageal cancer risk and compared the esophageal cancer risk attributable to PM 2.5 exposure and other established risk factors., Methods: This study included 510,125 participants without esophageal cancer at baseline from China Kadoorie Biobank. A high-resolution (1 × 1 km) satellite-based model was used to estimate PM 2.5 exposure during the study period. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% CIs of PM 2.5 with esophageal cancer incidence were estimated using Cox proportional hazard model. Population attributable fractions for PM 2.5 and other established risk factors were estimated., Results: There was a linear concentration-response relationship between long-term PM 2.5 exposure and esophageal cancer. For each 10-μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 , the HR was 1.16 (95% CI, 1.04-1.30) for esophageal cancer incidence. Compared with the first quarter of PM 2.5 exposure, participants in the highest quarter had a 1.32-fold higher risk for esophageal cancer, with an HR of 1.32 (95% CI, 1.01-1.72). The population attributable risk because of annual average PM 2.5 concentration ≥35 μg/m 3 was 23.3% (95% CI, 6.6%-40.0%), higher than the risks attributable to lifestyle risk factors., Conclusions: This large prospective cohort study of Chinese adults found that long-term exposure to PM 2.5 was associated with an elevated risk of esophageal cancer. With stringent air pollution mitigation measures in China, a large reduction in the esophageal cancer disease burden can be expected., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NitRR) affords a sustainable way for nitrate mitigation and ammonia synthesis, but there are still some problems such as poor nitrate conversion, low ammonia selectivity, and slow reaction kinetics. A clear structure-performance relationship is essential for designing efficient catalysts and understanding the reaction mechanisms. Herein, ultrathin nickel metal-organic framework (Ni-MOF) nanosheets supported on Ni foam featuring a well-defined stable structure, large electrochemically active surface area, and low electron transport resistance were prepared by a one-step solvothermal process. At -1.4 V, the nitrate reduction, rate constant, ammonia selectivity, and yield reached 96.4%, 0.448 h -1 , 80%, and 110.13 ug·h -1 ·cm -2 , respectively. Experimental and theoretical studies demonstrated that the hydroxyl-ligated Ni atoms exhibited higher nitrate adsorption properties and lower activation energy towards NitRR compared to carboxylic acid-ligated Ni atoms. Mechanism investigations revealed a nitrate-to-ammonia reaction pathway involving multiple intermediate species on Ni-MOF nanosheet catalysts. This work offers a new avenue to construct highly efficient electrocatalysts for the selective transformation of nitrate to valuable ammonia., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Electrocatalytic oxidation (ECO) has attracted attention because of its high efficiency and environmental friendliness in water treatment. The preparation of anodes with high catalytic activity and long service lifetimes is a core part of electrocatalytic oxidation technology. Here, porous Ti/RuO 2 -IrO 2 @Pt, Ti/RuO 2 -TiO 2 @Pt, and Ti/Y 2 O 3 -RuO 2 -TiO 2 @Pt anodes were fabricated by means of modified micro-emulsion and vacuum impregnation methods with high porosity titanium plates as substrates. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that RuO 2 -IrO 2 @Pt, RuO 2 -TiO 2 @Pt, and Y 2 O 3 -RuO 2 -TiO 2 @Pt nanoparticles were coated on the inner surface of the as-prepared anodes to form the active layer. Electrochemical analysis revealed that the high porosity substrate could result in a large electrochemically active area, and a long service life (60 h at 2 A cm -2 current density, 1 mol L -1 H 2 SO 4 as the electrolyte, and 40 °C). The degradation experiments conducted on tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) showed that the porous Ti/Y 2 O 3 -RuO 2 -TiO 2 @Pt had the highest degradation efficiency for tetracycline, reaching 100% removal in 10 min with the lowest energy consumption of 167 kWh kg -1 TOC. The reaction was consistent with the pseudo-primary kinetics results with a k value of 0.5480 mol L -1 s -1 , which was 16 times higher than that of the commercial Ti/RuO 2 -IrO 2 electrode. The fluorospectrophotometry studies verified that the degradation and mineralization of tetracycline were mainly ascribed to the •OH generated in the electrocatalytic oxidation process. This study thus presents a series of alternative anodes for future industrial wastewater treatment.

The relationship between microstructure evolution and properties of a Cu-Cr-Sn alloy during aging and high-temperature softening was investigated in detail in the present work. The results show that the addition of Sn refines obviously the size of the Cr phase and enhances the thermal stability of the alloy, which improves the peak-aged hardness of the Cu-Cr-Sn alloy reaching 139 HV after aging at 450 °C for 240 min. In addition, the recrystallization behavior of the Cu-Cr alloy with the 0.12 wt.% of Sn at high temperature is also significantly inhibited. Lots of precipitated Cr phases and a high density of dislocations are found in the Cu-Cr-Sn alloy annealed at high temperature, resulting in the softening temperature of the Cu-Cr-Sn alloy reaching 565 °C, which is higher than (about 50 °C) that of the Cu-Cr alloy.

Background: Little is known about the effects of maintaining healthy sleep patterns on frailty transitions., Methods: Based on 23,847 Chinese adults aged 30-79 in a prospective cohort study, we examined the associations between sleep patterns and frailty transitions. Healthy sleep patterns included sleep duration at 7 or 8 h/d, without insomnia disorder, and no snoring. Participants who persisted with a healthy sleep pattern in both surveys were defined as maintaining a healthy sleep pattern and scored one point. We used 27 phenotypes to construct a frailty index and defined three statuses: robust, prefrail, and frail. Frailty transitions were defined as the change of frailty status between the 2 surveys: improved, worsened, and remained. Log-binomial regression was used to calculate the prevalence ratio (PR) to assess the effect of sleep patterns on frailty transitions., Results: During a median follow-up of 8.0 years among 23,847 adults, 45.5% of robust participants, and 10.8% of prefrail participants worsened their frailty status, while 18.6% of prefrail participants improved. Among robust participants at baseline, individuals who maintained sleep duration of 7 or 8 h/ds, without insomnia disorder, and no-snoring were less likely to worsen their frailty status; the corresponding PRs (95% CIs) were 0.92 (0.89-0.96), 0.76 (0.74-0.77), and 0.85 (0.82-0.88), respectively. Similar results were observed among prefrail participants maintaining healthy sleep patterns. Maintaining healthy sleep duration and without snoring, also raised the probability of improving the frailty status; the corresponding PRs were 1.09 (1.00-1.18) and 1.42 (1.31-1.54), respectively. Besides, a dose-response relationship was observed between constantly healthy sleep scores and the risk of frailty transitions (P for trend < 0.001)., Conclusions: Maintaining a comprehensive healthy sleep pattern was positively associated with a lower risk of worsening frailty status and a higher probability of improving frailty status among Chinese adults., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Anxiety might be a potentially modifiable risk factor of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Evidence relating anxiety symptoms and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) to CVDs from prospective cohort study was still lacking in China., Methods: Participants aged 30 to 79 years old from 10 areas across China were recruited during 2004-2008 and were followed up until 2017. 487,209 participants without CVDs at baseline remained for analyses. Anxiety symptoms (panic attacks and continuous anxiety) during the past 12 months were identified in a face-to-face interview. Participants with continuous anxiety were further assessed for GAD using Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form. The primary outcomes were incident CVD, ischaemic heart disease (IHD), haemorrhagic stroke (HS), and ischaemic stroke (IS)., Results: During 4.7 million person-years of follow-up, we documented 140,365 incident cases of CVD. For panic attacks, the multivariable-adjusted HRs (95 % CI) were 1.08 (1.04-1.13), 1.10 (1.02-1.19), 1.20 (1.05-1.38) and 1.20 (1.11-1.30) for CVD, IHD, HS and IS, respectively. Continuous anxiety was positively associated with incident CVD and IHD, and the corresponding HRs were 1.12 (1.04-1.20) and 1.21 (1.07-1.37)., Limitations: Anxiety symptoms were examined according to self-reported questionnaires, which could constitute key study limitations., Conclusions: Among the Chinese adults, those with anxiety symptoms or GAD might be important at-risk population of CVD., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Chronic neuropathic pain often leads to cognitive impairment, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. Gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptors (GABA A Rs) are the major inhibitory receptors in the brain, of which the α5-containing GABA A Rs (GABA A Rs-α5) are implicated in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders with cognitive deficits. However, whether GABA A Rs-α5 are involved in chronic neuropathic pain-related cognitive impairment remains unknown. In this study, the rats with chronic neuropathic pain induced by right sciatic nerve ligation injury (SNI) exhibited cognitive impairment with declined spontaneous alternation in Y-maze test and discrimination index in novel object recognition test. The GABA A Rs-α5 expressing on parvalbumin and somatostatin interneurons increased remarkably in hippocampus, resulting in decreased mean frequency of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents in hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Significantly, antagonizing the GABA A Rs-α5 by L655708 rescued weakened inhibitory synaptic transmission and cognitive impairment induced by chronic neuropathic pain. Taken together, these data suggest that the GABA A Rs-α5 play a crucial role in chronic neuropathic pain-induced cognitive impairment by weakening inhibitory synaptic transmission, which may provide insights into the pharmacologic treatment of chronic neuropathic pain-related cognitive impairment., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Electrocatalytic oxidation is regarded as an effective technique for decomposing refractory organic compounds like perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). However, achieving highly efficient and long-life electrodes is still a great challenge. Herein, Ti/RuO 2 -IrO 2 @Pt anodes consisting of Pt 4+ and Pt 0 species were fabricated by combining modified microemulsion technology with a calcination process, in which Pt nanoparticles were highly dispersed and encapsulated in Ru-Ir composite oxides to form a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) structure. The as-constructed SMSI layer on the Ti/RuO 2 -IrO 2 @Pt anode resulted in the improvement of the charge transfer capability and also increased the degradation (99.30%) and mineralization (91.32%) of PFOA during the electrochemical oxidation process. Notably, the service lifetime of Ti/RuO 2 -IrO 2 @Pt anodes was remarkably improved from 24 to 42.3 h compared to commercial Ti/RuO 2 -IrO 2 anodes. Moreover, the possible degradation mechanism of PFOA was also speculated through the detection of short-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids and reactive radicals. These results not only revealed that the concept and methodology of SMSI could be an effective way for constructing highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts but also greatly advanced fundamental understanding.

Self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) is a next-generation vaccine platform, but like all nucleic acids, requires a delivery vehicle to promote cellular uptake and protect the saRNA from degradation. To date, delivery platforms for saRNA have included lipid nanoparticles (LNP), polyplexes and cationic nanoemulsions; of these LNP are the most clinically advanced with the recent FDA approval of COVID-19 based-modified mRNA vaccines. While the effect of RNA on vaccine immunogenicity is well studied, the role of biomaterials in saRNA vaccine effectiveness is under investigated. Here, we tested saRNA formulated with either pABOL, a bioreducible polymer, or LNP, and characterized the protein expression and vaccine immunogenicity of both platforms. We observed that pABOL-formulated saRNA resulted in a higher magnitude of protein expression, but that the LNP formulations were overall more immunogenic. Furthermore, we observed that both the helper phospholipid and route of administration (intramuscular versus intranasal) of LNP impacted the vaccine immunogenicity of two model antigens (influenza hemagglutinin and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein). We observed that LNP administered intramuscularly, but not pABOL or LNP administered intranasally, resulted in increased acute interleukin-6 expression after vaccination. Overall, these results indicate that delivery systems and routes of administration may fulfill different delivery niches within the field of saRNA genetic medicines., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The biomedical applications of polyesters and polycarbonates are of interest due to their potential biocompatibility and biodegradability. Confined by the narrow scope of monomers and the lack of controlled polymerization routes, the biomedical-related applications of polyesters and polycarbonates remain challenging. To address this challenge, ring-opening copolymerization (ROCOP) has been exploited to prepare new alternating polyesters and polycarbonates, which would be hard to synthesize using other controlled polymerization methods. This review highlights recent advances in catalyst development, including the emerging dinuclear organometallic complexes and metal-free Lewis pair systems. The post-polymerization modification methods involved in tailoring the biomedical functions of resultant polyesters and polycarbonates are summarized. Pioneering attempts for the biomedical applications of ROCOP polyesters and polycarbonates are presented, and the future opportunities and challenges are also highlighted., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Liang, Tan and Zhu.)

Inspired by cell membrane structures, synthetic polymer vesicles caused great expectations for the preparation of biomedicine for decades. However, in contrast to bio-membranes, which consist of inhomogeneous features, conventional synthetic polymer vesicles usually consist of a homogeneous membrane which is purely made out of hydrophobic components. This significantly limited the versatility of synthetic polymer vesicle membranes. Fortunately, polymer vesicles with inhomogeneous membranes were recently developed to address this limitation. These new inhomogeneous membrane features introduced secondary functions to the vesicle membrane. Indeed, the membrane of polymer vesicles no longer only serves as a simple barrier that separates the interior from the exterior environment. Introduced membrane features can act as a versatile platform for tailorable nanoparticle functionalities, which allow functions such as biomacromolecule transportation, diabetes treatment, and cancer theranostics. This review highlights recent advances made with polymer vesicles with inhomogeneous membrane structures. More specifically, design principles, biomedical applications, and the future perspectives of such vesicles are summarized., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest There are no conflicts to declare., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Precision functionalized polyesters, with defined monomer sequences, are prepared using an orthogonal post-polymerization strategy. These polyesters can be synthesized from bio-derived monomers and are targeted to degrade, by hydrolysis processes, to biocompatible diols and diacids; the new structures enabled by this methodology would be very difficult to synthesize by alternative strategies. A series of 9 well-defined highly alternating AB-type copolyesters, containing terminal and internal alkene functionalities, are synthesized in high conversions by the ring-opening copolymerization of epoxides and cyclic anhydrides. Firstly, the polyesters are functionalized by a selective hydroboration-oxidation reaction to exclusively and quantitatively hydroxylate the terminal alkenes, leaving the alternating internal alkenes unreacted. Subsequently, the internal alkenes are quantitatively transformed into carboxylic acid, amine, alkyl and oligo-ether groups, by thiol-ene reactions, to afford AB polyesters with alternating functional substituents. Three polyesters showing alternating hydrophilic/hydrophobic side-chain sequences self-assemble in solution to form nanostructures that are characterized using transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering methods ( R h = 100-300 nm). The selective patterning methodology provides facile, efficient and orthogonal functionalization of alternating polyesters with near-quantitative (AB) n repeat sequences. The method is expected to be generalizable to other polymers and provides access to completely new AB alternating structures with the potential to exploit ligand multi-valency and adjacency to enhance properties., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2019.)

The synthesis and aqueous self-assembly of a new class of amphiphilic aliphatic polyesters are presented. These AB block polyesters comprise polycaprolactone (hydrophobe) and an alternating polyester from succinic acid and an ether-substituted epoxide (hydrophile). They self-assemble into biodegradable polymersomes capable of entering cells. Their degradation products are bioactive, giving rise to differentiated cellular responses inducing stromal cell proliferation and macrophage apoptosis. Both effects emerge only when the copolymers enter cells as polymersomes and their magnitudes are size dependent., (© 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.)

2, 4-dichlorophenol (2, 4-DCP) is considered to be a highly toxic, mutagenic, and possibly carcinogenic pollutant. This study is focused on the electrochemical oxidation of 2, 4-DCP on nanostructured 3D-porous Ti/Sb-SnO 2 -Gr anodes, with the aim of presenting a comprehensive elucidation of mineralization process through the investigation of influential kinetics, the reactivity of hydroxyl radical's and analysis of intermediates. High efficiency was achieved at pH of 3 using Na 2 SO 4 electrolytes at a current density of 30 mA cm -2 . Under the optimized conditions, a maximum removal of 2, 4-DCP of up to 99.9% was reached, whereas a TOC removal of 81% was recorded with the lowest EC TOC (0.49 kW h g -1 ) within 40 min of electrolysis. To explore the stability of the 3D-Ti/Sb-SnO 2 -Gr electrodes, a continuous electrochemical operation was established, and the consistent mineralization results indicated the effectiveness of the 3D-Ti/Sb-SnO 2 -Gr system concerning its durability and practical utilization. EPR studies demonstrated the abundant generation of OH radicals on 3D-Ti/Sb-SnO 2 -Gr, resulting in fast recalcitrant pollutant incineration. From dechlorination and the reactivity of the OH radicals, several intermediates including six cyclic byproducts and three aliphatic carboxylic acids were detected, and two possible degradation pathways were proposed that justify the complete mineralization of 2, 4-DCP., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Nanostructured highly porous 3D-Ti/Sb-SnO 2 -Gr electrode, based on 3D porous graphene hydrogel was fabricated via a fast-evaporation technique through layer by layer (LBL) deposition. The 3D pores are uniformly distributed on the high fidelity of substrate with pore sizes of 7-12 nm, as confirmed by SEM analysis. Compared to Ti/Sb-SnO 2 electrode, the fabricated 3D porous electrode possesses high oxygen evolution potential (2.40 V), smaller charge transfer resistance (29.40 Ω cm -2 ), higher porosity (0.90), enhanced roughness factor (181), and larger voltammetric charge value (57.4 mC cm -2 ). Electrocatalytic oxidation of Rhodamine B (RhB) was employed to evaluate the efficiency of the fabricated 3D-Ti/Sb-SnO 2 -Gr anode. The results show that the electrochemical reaction follows pseudo first order kinetics with rate constant (k) value of 4.93 × 10 -2 min -1 , which is about 3.91 times higher compared to flat Ti/Sb-SnO 2 . The fabricated electrode demonstrates better stability and low specific energy consumption signifying its potential usage in electrocatalysis., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Renewable resources are used increasingly in the production of polymers. In particular, monomers such as carbon dioxide, terpenes, vegetable oils and carbohydrates can be used as feedstocks for the manufacture of a variety of sustainable materials and products, including elastomers, plastics, hydrogels, flexible electronics, resins, engineering polymers and composites. Efficient catalysis is required to produce monomers, to facilitate selective polymerizations and to enable recycling or upcycling of waste materials. There are opportunities to use such sustainable polymers in both high-value areas and in basic applications such as packaging. Life-cycle assessment can be used to quantify the environmental benefits of sustainable polymers.

Background: Insulin Autoimmune Syndrome (IAS) is a rare condition characterized by the combination of recurrent severely spontaneous hypoglycemia without evidence of exogenous insulin administration, high concentration of total serum insulin, and the presence of a high titer of insulin autoantibody (IAA). But now we describe a case with IAS caused by gliclazide and hardly occuring hypoglycemia., Case Report: A 70-year-old man with type 2 diabetes presented to our department with poor glycemic control without evidence of hypoglycemia, but the levels of serum insulin and IAA were very high. He had no exogenous insulin administration history. Switching antidiabetic therapy from gliclazide to acarbose and metformin, the patient's serum insulin level and IAA decreased gradually. Accordingly, the glycemic control improved and there was no episode of hypoglycemia., Conclusion: Hence, clinicians should pay more attention to type 2 diabetic patients treated with gliclazide and detect their serum insulin concentration and IAA to exclude or diagnose IAS and perform the best therapeutic regimen to these patients., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.)

A facile hydrothermal approach has been developed to prepare defective TiO2-x nanocrystals using Ti(III)-salt as a precursor and L-ascorbic acid as reductant and structure direction agent. The prepared TiO2-x nanocrystals are composed of a highly crystallized TiO2 core and a disordered TiO2-x outer layer, possessing high surface area, controlled oxygen vacancy concentration and tunable bandgap via simply adjusting the amount of added L-ascorbic acid. The defective TiO2-x shows high photocatalytic efficiency in methylene blue and phenol degradation as well as in hydrogen evolution under visible light, underlining the significance of the present strategy for structural and bandgap manipulation in TiO2-based photocatalysis.