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Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental estrogen in daily life, and it often appears in sewage, surface water and even drinking water. It will accumulate in the human body and threaten physical health. We prepared a visible light-driven N–F-TiO2/ZIF-8 photocatalyst through an in situ heterogeneous deposition method. The prepared samples were further analysed by XRD, SEM, TEM, PL spectroscopy and UV-vis DRS. Binary N–F-TiO2/ZIF-8 had a good effect on the degradation of BPA under visible light irradiation. It was determined through experiments that the optimal dosage of N–F-TiO2/ZIF-8 (7:3) was 10 mg with the highest observed photocatalytic activity (86.1%). The high adsorption capacity of ZIF-8 was due to its large specific surface area. The improvement of photocatalytic activity was mainly due to the high separation rate of electron–hole pairs of N–F-TiO2/ZIF-8. N–F-TiO2/ZIF-8 also had good stability after five cycles of photodegradation reaction. In addition, the free radical capture experiment confirmed that •OH was the main active substance for the photocatalytic degradation of BPA. In addition, the removal ability of bisphenol A by the binary composite in real water was studied using lake water.

Background Sleep deprivation can robustly affect vigilant attention. The insula is a key hub of the salience network that mediates shifting attention between endogenous and exogenous states. However, little is known regarding the involvement of insular functional connectivity in impaired vigilant attention after total sleep deprivation (TSD). The purpose of this study is to explore the alterations in insular functional connectivity and its association with vigilant attention performance following TSD. Methods Twenty-six adult men were enrolled in the study. Participants underwent two counterbalanced resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans, once in rested wakefulness (RW) and once after 36 h of TSD. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis was performed using rs-fMRI data for the left and right insula. The vigilant attention was measured using a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT). Furthermore, Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between altered insular functional connectivity and PVT performance. Results Compared to RW, enhanced functional connectivity was observed between the insula and prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, while reduced functional connectivity was observed between the insula and temporal, parietal, and occipital regions following TSD. Moreover, altered insular functional connectivity with the prefrontal cortex, ie superior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus, and inferior temporal gyrus was correlated with PVT performance after TSD. Conclusion Our results suggest that insular coupling with the prefrontal cortex and inferior temporal gyrus may act as neural indicators for vigilant attention impairment, which further reveals the critical role of the salience network in cognitive decline following TSD.

The circadian clock plays a critical role in synchronizing the inner molecular, metabolic and physiological processes to environmental cues that cycle with a period of 24 h. Non-24 h and shift schedules are commonly used in maritime operations, and both of which can disturb circadian rhythms. In this study, we first conducted an experiment in which the volunteers followed a 3-d rotary schedule with consecutive shift in sleep time (rotatory schedule), and analyzed the changes in salivary cortisol rhythms and blood variables. Next we conducted another experiment in which the volunteers followed an 8 h-on and 4-h off schedule (non-24-h schedule) to compare the changes in blood/serum variables. The rotatory schedule led to elevated levels of serum cortisol during the early stage, and the phase became delayed during the early and late stages. Interestingly, both of the schedules caused comprehensive changes in blood/serum biochemical variables and increased phosphate levels. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis of the plasma miRNAs from the volunteers following the rotatory schedule identified a subset of serum miRNAs targeting genes involved in circadian rhythms, sleep homeostasis, phosphate transport and multiple important physiological processes. Overexpression of miRNAs targeting the phosphate transport associated genes, SLC20A1 and SLC20A2, showed altered expression due to rotary schedule resulted in attenuated cellular levels of phosphate, which might account for the changed levels in serum phosphate. These findings would further our understanding of the deleterious effects of shift schedules and help to optimize and enhance the performances and welfare of personnel working on similar schedules.

Inspired by the wide applications of spinel oxide and metal–organic framework-modified narrow band gap materials, we herein report ZnFe2O4/UiO-66-NH2 nanocomposites synthesized by a two-step hydrothermal method in this study. Their structure, morphology and composition were characterized through XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM and XPS. UV–Vis DRS and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to explore the photochemical properties of ZnFe2O4/UiO-66-NH2. Among all composite materials with different ratios, ZnFe2O4/10%UiO-66-NH2 exhibited the best photocatalytic degradation efficiency in the presence of persulfate. The efficiency of degradation of the environmental contaminant antibiotic tetracycline was increased about 2 times. The improved photocatalytic activity of the composite material could be attributed to its wide light absorption range and the Z-type heterojunction scheme suppressed the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. A trapping experiment indicated that sulfate ions, hydroxyl radicals and holes were the main active species in the photocatalytic reaction system. When ZnFe2O4 reacted with persulfate, numerous Fe2+ were converted into Fe3+, and the cyclic reaction could activate persulfate to a greater extent. In addition, the material also showed high recycling performance. These results demonstrate ZnFe2O4/UiO-66-NH2 nanocomposites are expected to generate a promising photocatalyst for degradation of environmental antibiotics.

In this work, a ternary complex (g-C3N4/ZIF-8/AgBr) was prepared by modifying the surface of the protonated graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) with photosensitive AgBr and zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), and its physicochemical parameters, crystal morphology and electrochemical properties were characterized using a series of techniques. The modified g-C3N4 not only improves the ability to capture pollutants in water, but also efficiently catalyzes the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) in water by rapidly producing superoxide radicals (·O2− ), cavitation (h+) and hydroxyl radicals (·OH) in visible light, with the removal efficiency reaching 80.4%. The activity of catalytic degradation of BPA from strong to weak is g-C3N4/ZIF-8/AgBr, g-C3N4/AgBr, g-C3N4/ZIF-8, AgBr, g-C3N4, ZIF-8. After four cycles of experiments, it was found that g-C3N4/ZIF-8/AgBr had still considerable degradation ability (70.2%) and stability.

A novel sulfur-doped Prussian blue/graphene oxide (PB/GO-S) nanocomposite was designed and fabricated to remove cesium ions (Cs+) from water. Its maximum adsorption capacity was 175.72 mg g–1. And the adsorbent exhibited high selectivity to Cs+ in the presence of competing ions (sodium and potassium) and can reach adsorption equilibrium in less than 2 h. The adsorption behavior was consistent with Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. In the adsorption process, both temperature and pH affect the adsorption performance, while the physical and chemical properties of the nanocomposite were stable in the pH range of 4–10.

Considering the changes of permeability and Biot’s coefficients, the closed-form elastic-brittle-plastic solution of lined circular tunnels was proposed employing a Mohr-Coulomb non-associated flow...

A novel binary photocatalytic composite (BiOI/ZIF-8) was successfully constructed by solvothermal method. Its crystal morphology, chemical state of the elements and electrochemical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence analysis. Appropriate ZIF-8 doping enhanced the separation and utilization of photogenerated electrons, promoted the capture of contaminants and rapidly produces active species, thereby accelerating the photocatalytic degradation of contaminants. Degradation experiments on BPA showed that the photocatalytic property of BiOI/ZIF-8 (0.5) was significantly improved compared with the parent material. BiOI/ZIF-8 (0.5) showed the highest reaction rate constant (0.06061 min−1), 9.2 times that of BiOI (0.00659 min−1) and 23.3 times that of ZIF-8 (0.0026 min−1). In addition, five cycle tests showed that BiOI/ZIF-8 was highly efficient in recycling and stability. Through capture experiments, superoxide free radicals ·OH, h− and ·O2− play an important role in degrading BPA, among which superoxide free radicals h+ play a major role.

The novel ILCS/U-X powder materials were fabricated by depositing UiO-66 on ionic liquid modified chitosan, and different doping ratio materials were used to adsorb 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in aqueous solution. The samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infra-red, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, Barrette-Joyner-Halenda, Thermal gravimetric analyzer, Energy dispersive spectrometer and Zeta potential. Adsorption experiments revealed that temperature and pH have a great influence on adsorption, and all adsorbents have the highest adsorption at low temperature and weak acid. The dependence of ILCS/U-X on pseudo-second order model and Temkin model was observed. Compared to other ratios, the Micro-doped ILCS/U-10 has the largest adsorption capacity and can quickly complete adsorption within 60 min. ILCS/U-10 also has good stability and can be recycled many times. Hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction are the two most important forces that dominate adsorption.

Graves’ disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in children. The surgery treatment for children Graves’ disease with huge goiter is high risk and controversial. A 14-year-old girl suffered Graves’ disease with huge goiter and failed to the antithyroid drug therapy for nearly 4 years was surgically treated with total thyroidectomy. The excised thyroid weighed 449.1 g and heavier than any excised children goiter reported so far. After operation, the patient’s symptoms of Graves’ disease were significantly improved without any complication, including normal basal metabolic rate, relieved exophthalmia and euthyroidism. So, a children Graves’ disease with huge goiter was cured by total thyroidectomy, suggesting that a total/near-total thyroidectomy is a good option for children Graves’ disease with huge goiter.

A simple one-pot method was employed to synthesize C-dots modified TiO2 nanosheets (NS)/UiO-66-NH2 for enhancing photocatalytic activity. Anatase TiO2 NS and UiO-66-NH2 were closely combined and C-dots were well modified on their surfaces. The photocatalytic activities of catalysts were assessed through photodegrading ketoprofen (10 mg/L) under visible light. C-dots/TiO2 NS/UiO-66-NH2 degraded 90% of ketoprofen in 80 min, and owned the higher kinetic rate than TiO2 NS (24 times) or TiO2 NS/UiO-66-NH2 (2.1 times). The results indicated that C-dots/TiO2 NS/UiO-66-NH2 exhibited the most superb visible-light photocatalytic activity. Besides, C-dots/TiO2 NS/UiO-66-NH2 showed good stability and reusability in four runs of degrading ketoprofen. The improved photocatalytic performance was caused by the heterostructure of TiO2 NS and UiO-66-NH2 and photoelectrical performance of C-dots, effectively absorbing visible light and promoting photoelectrons transfer.

The aim of the present study was to establish an animal model of prostatic hyperplasia to explore the mechanisms of this disease. Sulpiride, a specific type 2 dopamine receptor antagonist, causes prostate toxicity by stimulating prolactin (PRL) production. Male Brown-Norway (BN) rats were treated intragastrically (i.g.) with sulpiride (40 and 120 mg/kg daily) and vehicle (i.g., daily) for 4 weeks. The results demonstrated that sulpiride-treatment resulted in increased prostate size, prostate lobe weight, epithelial height and acinar luminal area. Furthermore, prostate lobe weight, epithelial height and acinar luminal area of lateral lobes (LP) significantly increased. These effects were dose dependent. Sulpiride treatment increased serum PRL, follicle-stimulating hormone and testosterone levels, while serum luteinizing hormone levels were reduced. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that proliferating cell nuclear antigen and B-cell lymphoma-2 were significantly increased in certain sulpiride treated groups. Furthermore, estrogen receptor (ER)-α and androgen receptors were upregulated, while ERβ was downregulated in LP. The expression of stromal cell biomarkers, including vimentin, fibronectin and α-smooth muscle actin were significantly increased in LP following 40 mg/kg sulpiride administration. These results suggest that sulpiride causes LP hyperplasia in BN rats by promoting proliferation and inhibiting prostate cell apoptosis via ERα and AR signaling.

Stalk lodging presents a major constraint on maize (Zea mays L.) quantity and quality and hampers mechanized grain harvesting. Stalk diameter (SD) and rind penetrometer resistance (RPR) are crucial indicators of stalk lodging. To dissect the genetic architecture of these indicators, we constructed a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between maize inbred lines LDC-1 and YS501 to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling SD and RPR. Corresponding phenotypes of basal second, third, and fourth internodes in four environments were determined. By integrating QTL mapping results based on individual environments and best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) values, we identified 12, 12, and 13 QTLs associated with SD and 17, 14, and 17 associated with RPR. Each QTL accounted for 3.83–21.72% of phenotypic variation. For SD-related QTLs, 30 of 37 were enriched in 12 QTL clusters; similarly, RPR-related QTLs had 38 of 48 enriched in 12 QTL clusters. The stable QTL qSD9-2 for SD on chromosome 9 was validated and delimited within a physical region of 9.97 Mb. Confidence intervals of RPR-related QTLs contained 169 genes involved in lignin and polysaccharide biosynthesis, with 12 of these less than 500 kb from the peak of the corresponding QTL. Our results deepen our understanding of the genetic mechanism of maize stalk strength and provide a basis for breeding lodging resistance.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of zinc-dependent endopeptidases, which play critical roles in cancer progression and metastasis. In recent years, many researchers have been studying the relationship between MMP9 and breast cancer. However, it still remains indecisive. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to draw more accurate conclusions. A total of 21 relevant documents were retrieved, including 25 case-control studies. We quantitatively analyzed the data obtained. To clarify the relationship between MMP9 polymorphism and breast cancer susceptibility under different conditions, we also made a further subgroup analysis for each locus. In summary, we discovered that MMP9 rs3918242 rendered an increased risk for breast cancer, especially among Iranians and Indians. MMP9 rs3787268 could be a protective factor. MMP9 rs17576 and MMP9 rs2250889 have no association with breast cancer risk.

Background: Sleep deprivation can markedly influence vigilant attention that is essential to complex cognitive processes. The hypothalamus plays a critical role in arousal and attention regulation. However, the functional involvement of the hypothalamus in attentional impairments after total sleep deprivation (TSD) remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the alterations in hypothalamic functional connectivity and its association with the attentional performance following TSD.Methods: Thirty healthy adult males were recruited in the study. Participants underwent two resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans, once in rested wakefulness (RW) and once after 36 h of TSD. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis was performed using rs-fMRI for the left and right hypothalamus. Vigilant attention was measured using a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT). Furthermore, Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between altered hypothalamic functional connectivity and PVT performance after TSD.Results: After TSD, enhanced functional connectivity was observed between the left hypothalamus and bilateral thalamus, bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, right amygdala, and right insula, while reduced functional connectivity was observed between the left hypothalamus and bilateral middle frontal gyrus (AlphaSim corrected, P < 0.01). However, significant correlation between altered hypothalamic functional connectivity and PVT performance was not observed after Bonferroni correction (P > 0.05).Conclusion: Our results suggest that TSD can lead to disrupted hypothalamic circuits, which may provide new insight into neural mechanisms of attention impairments following sleep deprivation.

It is commonly believed that alertness and attention decrease after sleep deprivation (SD). However, there are not enough studies on the changes in psychomotor vigilance testing (PVT) during SD and the corresponding changes in brain function and brain structure after SD. Therefore, we recruited 30 healthy adult men to perform a 36 h acute SD experiment, including the measurement of five indicators of PVT every 2 h, and analysis of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and grey matter volume (GMV) changes, before and after SD by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The PVT measurement found that the mean reaction time (RT), fastest 10% RT, minor lapses, and false starts all increased progressively within 20 h of SD, except for major lapses. Subsequently, all indexes showed a significant lengthening or increasing trend, and the peak value was in the range of 24 h-32 h and decreased at 36 h, in which the number of major lapses returned to normal. MRI showed that CBF decreased in the left orbital part of the superior frontal gyrus, the left of the rolandic operculum, the left triangular part, and the right opercular part of the inferior frontal gyrus, and CBF increased in the left lingual gyrus and the right superior gyrus after 36 h SD. The left lingual gyrus was negatively correlated with the major lapses, and both the inferior frontal gyrus and the superior frontal gyrus were positively correlated with the false starts. Still, there was no significant change in GMV. Therefore, we believe that 36 h of acute SD causes alterations in brain function and reduces alert attention, whereas short-term acute SD does not cause changes in brain structure.

Background This study was to explore the potential effect of different liver enzymes on elevated blood glucose with the use of a more detailed blood glucose grouping. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled 144,135 participants who had biochemical examinations from 2014–2018. Participants were classified by sex and different blood glucose levels (

Background: Circadian clock plays a critical role in synchronizing the inner molecular, metabolic and physiological processes to the environmental cues with a period of 24 h. Misalignment in the circadian rhythms leads to decreased adaptation and performance and increased risk of associated disorders. The non-24-h schedules and shift schedules are commonly used in maritime operations, both of which could result in disturbance of circadian rhythms.Methods: In this study, we recruited volunteers and conducted two experiments: in one experiment 15 subjects followed an 8-h on and 4-h off schedule (non-24-h schedule), and in the second experiment 12 subjects followed a 3-d rotary schedule with consecutive shift in sleep time (phase-changing schedule). The serum/blood biochemical variables were measured and the serum miRNAs of the volunteers in the second experiment were subjected to transcriptomic miRNA sequencing.Results: The results show both of the schedules caused comprehensive changes in the blood/serum biochemical variables. Notably, significant elevation in serum phosphate was observed in both experiments: 1.210 ± 0.141 in control and 1.330 ± 0.117 in recovery (P = 0.014) in the first experiment and 1.193 ± 0.152 in control and 1.343 ± 0.099 in recovery (P = 0.007) in the second experiment. In addition, a subset of serum miRNAs targeting genes involved in circadian rhythms, sleep homeostasis, phosphate metabolism and multiple critical physiological processes or pathways were identified in the second experiments.Conclusions: This study reveals that non-24-h and shift schedules lead to changes in a large spectrum of blood/serum biochemical variables due to circadian misalignment. Schedules with frequent shift may cause remarkable changes in serum miRNAs which are involved in multiple physiological pathways. These findings would help understand the deleterious effects of shift schedules and develop optimized strategy to enhance welfare and performance of the shift workers.

Accelerated degradation test (ADT) is one of the most common methods to assessing product reliability life. Compared with a constant-stress accelerated degradation test (CSADT), the step-stress accelerated degradation test (SSADT) has more significant advantages in reducing experiment costs and shortening the total time; and compared with a sequential accelerated degradation test, it has better operability and controllability. Therefore, SSADT has a wide application prospect. However, the previous research of SSADT does not consider the impacts caused by the stress conversion, or assumes there are no effect. In this paper, an experiment using LED samples to observe the degradation at the moment of stress conversion was designed and conducted. The results show that the impacts of instantaneous stress conversion should be considered in SSADT degradation trajectory modeling.

Circadian clocks have important physiological and behavioral functions in humans and other organisms, which enable organisms to anticipate and respond to periodic environmental changes. Disturbances in circadian rhythms impair sleep, metabolism, and behavior. People with jet lag, night workers and shift workers are vulnerable to circadian misalignment. In addition, non-24-h cycles influence circadian rhythms and cause misalignment and disorders in different species, since these periods are beyond the entrainment ranges. In certain special conditions, e.g., on submarines and commercial ships, non-24-h watch schedules are often employed, which have also been demonstrated to be deleterious to circadian rhythms. Personnel working under such conditions suffer from circadian misalignment with their on-watch hours, leading to increased health risks and decreased cognitive performance. In this review, we summarize the research progress and knowledge concerning circadian rhythms on submarines and other environments in which non-24-h watch schedules are employed.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a distributed directional torsion sensor based on an optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR) using a helical multicore fiber (MCF). A theoretical model is first established to reveal that the ability of the torsion direction discrimination stems from the fiber design of the central-offset cores with helical structure and the shorter helical pitch holds higher sensitivity. Such a distributed torsion sensor is then experimentally realized by using an OFDR system with an adjacent sensing distance of 9.4 mm. Comparative experiments with three different MCFs fully prove the theoretical predication. Finally, a distributed directional torsion sensor is realized with a linear sensitivity of 1.9 pm/(rad/m) by using the helical MCF with a helical pitch of 6 mm. Such a torsion sensing system would find potential applications in the fields of bionic robotics, 3-D shape sensing, oil drilling and so on.

Objective To research the protective effects of different extracts from Compound Houttuyniae Herba (CHH) and its mechanism through JAK/STAT-SOCS-1 signaling pathway. Methods The normal group comprised db/m mice (n = 8). db/db mice were randomly divided into seven groups with eight mice in each group according to the applied treatment method: model group, metformin hydrochloride (MH) group, AG490 group, water extract (WE) group, ethanol extract (EE) group, volatile oil (VO) group, and mixture (MG) group (mixture of above three extract) of CHH. After 8 weeks, the general status, biochemical indicators, and renal histological changes in the mice were evaluated, the total RNA and protein were collected and RT-PCR method was used to examine the effect on mRNA expression of JAK2, STAT3, SOCS1, and Western blot method was used to detect the protein expression of JAK2, P-JAK2, STAT3, P-STAT3, SOCS1, c-fos, and c-jun. Immunofluorescence was used to observe the protein expression of c-fos and c-jun in kidney tissue. Results Compared with normal group, the serum level of TGF-β1, FN of EE, VO, and MG groups were decreased (P Conclusion CHH has beneficial effects on diabetic renal injury, which may protect and improve the kidney function and reduce urinary protein, maintain the integrity of the kidney structure and function.

Gas-to-liquid fuels technology has been deemed as an important implement to address the domestic oil shortage with the conversion of syngas into liquid fuel through Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. In this study, we propose a more effective approach (a novel carbon looping cyclic reforming) to aid such necessity based on quantifying the benefits of such process by comparison with conventional steam methane reforming. Our approach is underpinned by using a reformer with a water-gas shift reactor that enables the acquisition of an optimal H2/CO ratio. As such, adjustment of H2/CO ratio in syngas can be easily attained, beneficial to downstream Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, ultimately minimizing exergy destruction. We find that, with conventional steam methane reforming as reference, the exergy efficiency of this novel process could be increased by 4.34 percentage points, with simultaneously reducing exergy destruction in syngas production unit by 5.17 kJ/mol CH4. Further, the exergy destruction in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is cut down by 13.98 kJ/mol by adoption of one-through pass of unreacted gas.

In this work, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) was loaded onto Ti-modified BiOI (Ti–BiOI) by in-situ synthesis to prepare novel binary photocatalytic materials (Ti–BiOI/ZIF-8), its physical parameters, chemical parameters, crystal structure and electrochemical properties were characterized. A novel photocatalytic oxidation system (Ti–BiOI/ZIF-8/PMS/Vis) consisting of Ti–BiOI/ZIF-8 and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) could efficiently remove BPA under visible light. In the first 2 ​min of the photocatalytic reaction, Ti–BiOI/ZIF-8 and PMS were excited to generate a large number of active groups (•O2−, •OH, •SO4− and h+), more than 90% of BPA was removed, and the degradation rate of Ti–BiOI/ZIF-8/PMS/Vis was 3.5 times higher that of monomer BiOI, and the removal rate of total-organic-carbon reached about 60%. In addition, the effects of PMS dosage and catalyst dosage on the removal of BPA were also investigated. The stability and reusability of the Ti–BiOI/ZIF-8 were verified through four cycles of degradation of BPA.

In this study, novel MnO2/UIO-66 composite material was constructed via oil bath heating. MnO2 was prepared from KMnO4 and UIO-66 was prepared from C8H6O4 and ZrCl4. The MnO2/UIO-66 activated peroxymonosulfate (PMS) with high efficiency for oxytetracycline (OTC) decomposition under UV-light which was much more effective than adding MnO2/UIO-66 without PMS. Characterization analysis was carried out by means of XRD, SEM, TEM and XPS, etc. The effects of reaction system and catalyst addition on the degradation of OTC were also studied. Degradation of OTC with MnO2, UIO-66 and MnO2/UIO-66 was inhibited in the H2O2 system and promoted in the PMS and H2O2/PMS system. The MnO2/UIO-66 also displayed prominent stability and recyclability. The effect of initial pH on OTC degradation was studied. The effects of inorganic anions such as CO32−, HCO3−, SO42−, Cl− and NO3− on the degradation of OTC was also being studied. This study showed that MnO2/UIO-66 composite had great potential in antibiotic-contaminated wastewater treatment. Most importantly, reliable free radical attack sites were proposed based on density functional theory (DFT) calculation.

Background Sleep deprivation can markedly influence vigilant attention. The nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM), the main source of cholinergic projections to the cortex, plays an important role in wakefulness maintenance and attention control. However, the involvement of NBM in attentional impairments after total sleep deprivation (TSD) has yet to be established. The purpose of this study is to investigate the alterations in NBM functional connectivity and its association with the attentional performance following TSD. Methods Thirty healthy adult males were recruited in the study. Participants underwent two resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans, once in rested wakefulness (RW) and once after 36 h of TSD. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis was performed using rs-fMRI data for the left and right NBM. The vigilant attention was measured using a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT). Furthermore, Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between altered NBM functional connectivity and changed PVT performance after TSD. Results Compared to RW, enhanced functional connectivity was observed between right NBM and bilateral thalamus and cingulate cortex , while reduced functional connectivity was observed between left NBM and right superior parietal lobule following TSD. Moreover, altered NBM functional connectivity with the left anterior cingulate cortex was negatively correlated with PVT performance after TSD. Conclusion Our results suggest that the disrupted NBM-related cholinergic circuit highlights an important role in attentional performance after TSD. The enhanced NBM functional connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex may act as neural signatures for attentional deficits induced by sleep deprivation.

Gene data on infiltrative hepatocellular carcinoma (iHCC) are still unknown. This study aims to identify the gene expression signature of iHCC compared with single nodular (SN)-type HCC according to the gross classification. The whole-exome sequencing was performed in six matched HCC tumor/normal pairs (three infiltrative type and three single nodular type) from six patients who received curative hepatectomy. Subsequent validation using Sanger sequencing and real-time PCR was performed in 30 HCC tumor samples (15 infiltrative type and 15 single nodular type). Following whole-exome sequencing, Sanger sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis, it revealed significant difference of iHCC from SN-type HCC in gene patterns. Particularly, a typical growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase FGFR3 was predominantly mutated in iHCC. One nonsynonymous variant c.G285T (p.Q95H) and five additional mutations (c.G938A:p.G313D, c.G1291A:p.A431T, c.C1355G:p.T452R, c.C1377T:p.L459L, and c.A1445T:p.E482V) were investigated by whole-exome and Sanger sequencing, respectively. Immunohistochemical studies confirmed the specific expression of FGFR3 in iHCC samples. Our studies indicated that FGFR3 may be a candidate oncogene in tumor progression and a promising therapeutic target in iHCC patients who had early recurrence.

N-K2Ti4O9 and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have a wide range of application in the field of photocatalysis and adsorption. Here, N-K2Ti4O9/ZIF-8 as visible-light-driven photocatalysts was successfully synthesized by a simple in-situ heterogeneous deposition method. The synthesized samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM(SAED), EDS, Mapping, BET, PL spectra and UV–vis DRS. The photocatalytic performance was investigated through the degradation of Bisphenol A (BPA) under visible-light irradiation within 90 min. The composite exhibited higher photocatalytic activity, as the rate constant (k) for BPA degradation was almost 9 times that of N-K2Ti4O9. The improved photocatalytic activity was mostly caused by the great adsorption capacity of ZIF-8 and high separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs through interfaces between N-K2Ti4O9 and ZIF-8. The work is expected to provide new insight into the photocatalytic mechanism for composites, and rationally design and synthesis of highly efficient photocatalysts for environmental application.

This paper presents a fully coupled hydraulic-mechanical strain-softening model considering Biot’s effective stress. Both the hydraulic and mechanical parameters are considered as functions of the confining pressure and plastic shear strain. Using the proposed fully coupled hydraulic-mechanical model, the displacement, stress and pore-water pressure around a circular tunnel in both Mohr-Coulomb and Hoek-Brown strain-softening rock masses are derived using a non-associated flow rule. The proposed solutions are validated by the conventional hydraulic-mechanical elasto-brittle-plastic and strain softening rock mass using analytical and numerical methods, and the examples of the fully coupled hydraulic-mechanical strain-softening rock mass are investigated. The results show that the seepage force enlarges the displacement, residual and plastic radii. With the increase in the initial pore-water pressure, the displacement, water inflow, residual and plastic radii increase in an approximately linear manner. The increasing bulk modulus of the solid constituent increases the above four variables, which reach the approximate limit values, corresponding to the Darcy’s effective stress solutions, when Ks = 10 K0. The increasing permeability of the plastic rock mass reduces the increasing rate of the pore-water pressure but increases the water inflow. For the proposed fully coupled examples, both the hydraulic parameters of permeability and Biot’s coefficient show a non-linear decrease with the increasing radius.

Folic acid (FA) intake has increased to high levels in many countries for the prevention of neural tube defects. However, the impact of excess FA intake, particularly before and during pregnancy, requires further investigation. Our aim was to investigate the effect of maternal folic acid supplementation on prostatitis risk in the rat offspring. Female SD rats were administrated with different doses of FA by oral gavage from 2 weeks prior to mating to GD14: 0 mg/kg (distilled water), 0.2 mg/kg FA and 2.0 mg/kg FA respectively. The male rat offspring from each maternal FA group were castrated on PND56 and injected different doses of 17β-estradiol (E2) subcutaneously for 30 days to induce prostatitis: 0 mg/kg (corn oil) and 1.25 mg/kg E2 respectively. At necropsy, the prostates were collected for histopathological analysis. Fasting blood was collected for the determination of serum E2, T, DHT, and folic acid levels. The expression of TNF-α, COX-2, and ER-α was determined by immunohistochemistry. High-dose (2.0 mg/kg) maternal folic acid supplementation significantly increased the proportion of prostatitis in FA(2.0) + E2(1.25) group (87.5%) compared with FA(0) + E2(1.25) group (25%). The inflammation was focal and severe, and large amounts of inflammatory cells appeared in different regions of the prostate in FA(2.0) + E2(1.25) group. The serum T, DHT, and FA levels in FA(2.0) + E2(1.25) group were significantly higher than those in FA(0) + E2(1.25) group. The expression of TNF-α, COX-2, and ER-α in three 1.25 mg/kg E2 groups presented positive, and the number and distribution of positive cells increased as FA dosage increased. Our findings suggest that high-dose (2.0 mg/kg) maternal folic acid supplementation significantly increases the proportion of prostatitis and the prostatic inflammation is more obvious and severe in the rat offspring.

A novel photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with an elliptical tellurite core is proposed to realize high birefringence and high nonlinearity simultaneously as well as low confinement loss at the wavelength of 1.55 μm. The guiding properties, such as the birefringence, the nonlinearity, and the confinement loss, have been investigated by using the full vectorial finite element method. The results show that the birefringence and the nonlinear coefficient can be up to 7.57×10−2 and 188.39 W−1 Km−1, respectively, and the confinement loss can be only 10−9 dB/m. The proposed PCF can find potential applications in optical fiber sensing, polarization-maintaining transmission, and super-continuum generation.

To investigate the risk factors of cognitive impairment in post-intensive care syndrome patient (PICS-CI).A retrospective study was conducted. The patient who transferred from post-intensive care unit (ICU) to the general ward for more than 7 days, and with the age ≥ 18 years old in the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University from October 2015 to November 2016 were enrolled. The gender, age, marital status, education, occupation, salary, economic income, smoking, alcohol drinking, previous of history, mechanical ventilation, the length of ICU stay, sedative and delirium, and initial diagnosis were recorded. According to mini-mental state examination (MMSE), the patients were divided into cognitive impairment (CI) group and non-CI group. Univariate analysis was performed to identify the risk factors of PICS-CI, and variables with statistical difference were selected to do multivariate binary logistic regression analysis for the confirmable independence risk factors.104 of the 290 patients developed CI, and the incidence was 35.86%. Univariate analysis showed that the gender, age, education, financial situation, smoking, alcohol drinking, previous of history, mechanical ventilation, the length of ICU stay, sedative and delirium, and initial diagnosis were recorded of ICU were main predictors of PICS-CI patients. It was shown by multivariate binary logistic regression analysis that the age60 years old [odds ratio (OR) = 7.523, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 2.572-37.851, P = 0.001], mechanical ventilation (OR = 8.773, 95%CI = 2.588-36.344, P0.001), sedation (OR = 9.376, 95%CI = 2.661-42.011, P = 0.002), and delirium (OR = 13.201, 95%CI = 2.502-41.433, P0.001) were PICS-CI independence risk factors.Nurse staffs should strength care and attention on ICU transferred out patients. In order to minimize PICS impairment, special precaution should be implemented according to different aspects.