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Celecoxib is a sulfanilamide nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug that can selectively inhibit cyclooxygenase‐2 to inhibit prostaglandin production, achieving anti‐inflammatory and analgesic effects. This study investigated the pharmacokinetics, safety, and bioequivalence of a single oral dose of celecoxib capsule (the test or reference preparation) in healthy volunteers under fasting and fed conditions. A single‐center, randomized, open, single‐dose, double‐cycle crossover self‐control design was conducted: 40 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the fasting and fed groups, respectively. A completely randomized method was used, with one group taking the test celecoxib preparation (T) and the other taking the reference celecoxib preparation (R). During the administration period, the safety of the drug was evaluated simultaneously, and venous blood was collected at the corresponding time points. The concentration of celecoxib in plasma was measured by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The main pharmacokinetic parameters were logarithmically converted and analyzed for variance. The 90% confidence interval for the bioavailability of the T compared to the R was calculated using maximum drug plasma concentration, area under the plasma concentration–time curve from time zero to the last quantifiable concentration point, and area under the plasma concentration–time curve from time zero to infinity for a single oral dose in volunteers, and the data obtained were all between 80% and 125%, indicating that the T and R have bioequivalence and good safety during fasting and fed administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defect engineering has been widely used in experiments to modulate the electrocatalytic properties of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). However, the effect of vacancy concentration on the vacancy distribution, electronic properties, and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity remains elusive. Herein, we perform density functional theory (DFT) studies to investigate defective MoS2 with different numbers of sulfur vacancies. In the case of low S-vacancy concentration, the vacancies prefer to agglomerate rather than being dispersed, while at the higher-vacancy concentration, the combination of local point defect and clustered vacancy chain is preferred. The coupling between S-vacancies leads to decreased band gap and increased Mo–H adsorption strength with increasing vacancy concentration. The optimal HER activity is identified to occur below vacancy concentration of 12.50%. Our work provides an atomic-level understanding about the role of S-vacancies in the HER performance of MoS2, and offers useful guidelines for the design of defective MoS2 and other TMDs electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasingly serious energy crisis and environmental pollution caused by the excessive use of fossil fuels have been prompting China to aggressively seek a clean and self-sufficient energy source in the future. In the past decades, hydrogen has emerged as a promising alternative due to its advantages of cleanliness, abundance, high energy density, and high conversion efficiency. However, several challenges have to be overcome for China's successful transition to hydrogen economy. In this paper, the hydrogen supply chain is firstly described to help the readers to clearly understand the hydrogen economy. Subsequently, the feasibility of hydrogen economy is discussed by reviewing viewpoints from the literature. Finally, the challenges of China's transition to hydrogen economy are detailed summarized and discussed, and the strategies for China to develop hydrogen economy were compared with that of Japan and Australia. • Hydrogen economy is feasible with many challenges. • Hydrogen and electricity should clearly have the same strategic position in China. • Geographic differences in resources and demands should be addressed. • It is necessary to diversify the application of hydrogen. • CCS technology is significance to the medium-term development of China's hydrogen economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comprehensive evaluation of ammonia production systems is of great significance for improving the sustainability of energy management and food supply. Therefore, an important contribution could be provided by developing a generic decision‐making framework for prioritizing multiple ammonia production systems and identifying the best one. In this view, this paper aims to propose an integrated fuzzy MADM (multiattribute decision making) framework combining fuzzy BWM (best‐worst method), fuzzy CRITIC (Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation), and fuzzy GRP (gray relational projection) approaches for the sustainability assessment of ammonia production systems under hybrid information. Comparing with the previous MADM‐based frameworks for sustainability assessment, this framework adopts the TFN (triangular fuzzy number) to deal with the hybrid information (ie, crisp numbers, interval values, and fuzzy numbers) that arise from real‐world decision‐making issues. Accordingly, the weights of criteria can be comprehensively determined by integrating the fuzzy BWM and fuzzy CRITIC, which balance experts' subjective preferences and system's objective properties under uncertainties in the determination of the weights, while the sequence of alternatives can be reliably prioritized by extending the GRP into fuzzy conditions, which escalates the ranking capability under hybrid information via considering the relationships and relative balance among the alternatives' performances regarding the multicriteria. Seven alternative systems were studied by the proposed framework, indicating that ammonia generated from hydropower‐electrolysis and coal gasification would be more preferable than the others, by considering 12 criteria from the concerns of technological, environmental, economic, and social‐political. Additionally, sensitivity analysis and result comparison were conducted to verify the rationality and feasibility of the framework. This work makes a methodological contribution to the MADM‐based sustainability research and serves as a reference for developing the ammonia economy in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Martin-Hou (MH) equation is a widely used equation of state in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and refrigeration technology design. It has pronounced advantages in calculations of liquid volume and enthalpy-entropy of high pressure gases and polar liquids. However, the determination of parameter B4 of the MH equation by using the conventional method is very time- and computation-consuming, which significantly restricts the application of the MH equation in engineering calculations. This article proposes an empirical equation to conveniently calculate B4 at different temperatures according to B4(0.7) (B4 at reduced temperature = 0.7). The accuracy of the MH equation to calculate volume of pure liquids by using the proposed equation was verified by comparing tcalculated data with literature data. The proposed equation can remarkably decrease the time to determine parameter B4, which would boost the application of the MH equation in engineering calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Di-(2-ethylhexyl) ammonium phosphate (DEHAP)/octanol reverse micellar extraction was demonstrated to be an effective method to separate glutathione (GSH) from yeast fermentation broth. The effect of several important factors including pH, DEHAP concentration, and types and concentration of cations was investigated, and the optimum operating conditions were obtained by orthogonal experiments, for forward extraction: pH 2.5, DEHAP concentration=0.16mol/L, W 0 =10, phase ratio (organic/aqueous, v/v)=2:1, K+ concentration=0.1mol/L, and extraction time=15min. For back extraction: pH 10.5, Ca2+ concentration=0.6mol/L, phase ratio (aqueous/organic, v/v)=3:1, back extraction time=45min. Under the optimum operating conditions, the yield of GSH can reach 65% after one forward and three back extractions. No protein and only a small portion of amino acids were detected in the lyophilized product of GSH. The study on the extraction kinetics showed that the volumetric mass transfer rates of the forward and back extraction are around 0.209s−1 and 0.054s−1, respectively, which is very close to the literature results of electrostatic force-based reverse micellar extraction of protein. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The instabilities of a channel Couette flow composed of two layers of immiscible fluids were investigated experimentally and compared with the theoretical predictions of a linear instability analysis. The results show that in the shortwave instability regime, the experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions of the linear instability analysis. However, we can find shortwaves even in the range of the depth ratios when the linear instability predicts only longwaves are unstable. The reasons are believed to be the dimensional limitation of the experimental apparatus and the existence of the outside and inside wall. In addition, we studied the dependence of the onset of the shortwaves on the viscosity and density of the fluids. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Our measurements of the surface tension of charge-stabilized TiO2 and SiO2 dispersions show that the surface tension of the dispersions is a function of the particle concentration. At lower concentrations, the adsorption of particles to the interface decreases the total free energy of the system which causes a decrease in the surface tension. At higher particle concentrations, the attractive capillary forces between particles at the surface increases the amount of work it takes to deform the surface, which increases the surface tension. Compared with the surface tension of TiO2 dispersions, the decrease of the surface tension of SiO2 dispersions is slightly less and the minimum surface tension occurs at a higher particle concentration. The reason is believed to be the larger particle size of the SiO2 particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In previous work, we have shown that a dilute suspension of colloidal particles will spontaneously flow when placed in a container. The flow is caused by interfacial tension gradients created by aggregates of the colloidal particles on the interface. In this paper, we present some results that show the interfacial tension of charged stabilized titania suspensions significantly decreases within certain volume fractions. The data show that the interfacial tension is indeed a strong function of the particle concentration and help explain the unusual results seen in the flow experiments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

HLA-B*57:01 is an HLA allelic variant associated with positive outcomes during viral infections through interactions with T cells and NK cells, but severe disease in persons treated with the anti-HIV-1 drug abacavir. The role of HLA-B*57:01 in the context of HSV infection is unknown. We identified an HLA-B*57:01-restricted CD8 T-cell epitope in the ICP22 (US1) protein of HSV-2. CD8 T cells reactive to the HSV-2 ICP22 epitope recognized the orthologous HSV-1 peptide, but not closely related peptides in human IFNL2 or IFNL3. Abacavir did not alter the CD8 T-cell recognition of the HSV or self-derived peptides. Unexpectedly, a tetramer of HSV-2 ICP22 epitope (228–236) and HLA-B*57:01 bound both CD8 T cells and NK cells. Tetramer specificity for KIR3DL1 was confirmed using KIR3DL1 overexpression on non-human primate cells lacking human KIR and studies with blocking anti-KIR3DL1 antibody. Interaction with KIR3DL1 was generalizable to donors lacking the HLA-B*57:01 genotype or HSV seropositivity. These findings suggest a mechanism for the recognition of HSV infection by NK cells or KIR-expressing T cells via KIR3DL1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoscience and nanotechnology have been undergoing the most explosive growth. However, well-controlled synthesis for manufacturing nanostructures still remains a challenge. In this work, we report a facile procedure to successively prepare the molybdenum dioxide (MoO2), molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanodots on carbon nanotubes (CNT). The prepared samples all possess super fine size. The electrocatalytic properties towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) of the three samples are investigated. The results indicate that the MoO2/CNT sample still exhibits very poor HER property, with 420 mV to drive a current density of 10 mA cm−2, while the Mo2C/CNT and MoS2/CNT samples show highly efficient HER performance, requiring overpotentials of 103 mV and 134 mV to accomplish the same current density, respectively. This work provides a very simple method for preparation of Mo-based nanodot catalysts which can be easily promoted for large-scale production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dividing-wall column (DWC) is a promising thermally coupled distillation technology for separating multicomponent mixtures. However, the difficulty of controlling vapor split ratio in DWC affects its energy consumption and so limits its wider application in industrial practice. The liquid-only side-stream distillation (LSD) process not only eliminates the vapor split in DWC but also shows comparable economic and thermodynamic efficiency with DWC. This study systematically optimizes and compares the economic performance of DWC and double LSD (DLSD) process for separating ethanol-propanol-butanol ternary mixture, and then analyzes exergy flows in these two processes in detail. Results indicate that TAC of DLSD process is 11.47% lower than that of DWC process, and exergy efficiency of DLSD and DWC processes is 10.81% and 8.57%, respectively. However, both processes exhibit similar exergy destruction in condensers, columns, coolers and reboilers. • Double liquid-only side-stream distillation (DLSD) and dividing-wall column (DWC) are presented and optimized. • Both economic assessment and exergy analysis of DLSD and DWC are carried out. • DLSD has lower annual total cost and higher efficiency than DWC. • DWC and DLSD exhibit similar exergy destruction distributions in columns and heat exchangers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational design and controlled synthesis of semiconducting metal oxide materials with nanoscopic structures and unique properties have been an interesting area. In this work, a large scale of tin dioxide nanowires (SnO2 NWs) on Ti foils are synthesized through a simple hydrothermal method at 180 °C. The results show that SnO2 NWs have a single crystalline structure with an average diameter of 40 nm and a large surface area. The SnO2 NWs exhibit excellent performance in both adsorption and degradation of methylene blue due to the high surface area and photocatalytic property. The photochemical sensing of glucose by the as-obtained material presents a low detection limit and high sensitivity, ranging from 0.01 to 0.05 mM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteroatom doping has been demonstrated to be an effective way to tune the properties of nanomaterials including chemical reactivity and electronic and optical performance. In this study, rGO/g-C3N4 and boron doped rGO/g-C3N4 (B-rGO/g-C3N4) nanocomposites were fabricated via a rapid plasma treatment method, and their photocatalytic performance under visible light radiation was examined. The results showed that the photocatalytic efficiency of B-rGO/g-C3N4 for rhodamine B degradation can be 50% higher than that of rGO/g-C3N4 at an optimum rGO loading of 5 wt%. XPS and FTIR analyses indicated the enhanced C–O–C covalent bonding between rGO and g-C3N4 in B-rGO/g-C3N4, and the optical characterization demonstrated that it could further improve the separation of the photo-generated chargers and narrow the bandgap of the nanocomposite. This work provides an idea that boron doping could be an effective way to promote the chemical interaction between different components in composite materials, which is important in designing and developing new functional nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a mathematical framework was developed for the sustainability prioritization of alternative low-carbon ammonia production routes. In the framework, a four-dimensional assessment system that can incorporate both quantitative and qualitative criteria from the environmental, economic, social-political, and technical concerns was firstly established. Subsequently, a hybrid Entropy-FANP method was employed to determine the criteria's weight by combining the objective data and subjective opinions; a novel PRSRV approach was developed to rigorously rank the alternative routes by aggregating the absolute sustainability performance and relative sustainability balance of each alternative. The proposed framework was applied to prioritize five promising low-carbon routes for ammonia production, i.e. wind turbine electrolysis (WGEA), solar photovoltaic electrolysis (PVEA), hydropower electrolysis (HPEA), biomass gasification electrolysis (BGEA), and nuclear high temperature electrolysis (NTEA), yielding the sustainability ranking of HPEA > BGEA > WGEA > PVEA > NTEA. The robustness and effectiveness of the proposed framework were verified by conducting the sensitivity analysis and comparing the results determined by the proposed framework with those determined using the previous approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When deep learning-based models are employed for the fault diagnosis of chemical processes, problems of poor calculation accuracy and efficiency often occur in the scenarios of high-dimensional, nonlinear, and time-varying data, which affects the overall robustness of the fault diagnosis model. This study proposes a novel Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) - enhanced deep convolutional neural network (EDCNN) model for the improved fault detection and diagnosis of chemical processes. In the GRU-EDCNN model, a maximum smooth function (MSF) is developed and presented to replace the classical activation function for better matching the input data format, which can significantly improve the calculation accuracy and the overall efficiency of DCNN models. Moreover, the convolutional layers in DCNN are optimized by a decentralized convolutional structure, thereby reducing the problem of parameter redundancy. The issue of gradient disappearance is tackled by the embedment of GRU, whose ability to control time series features and gateway information can ensure that no overfitting occurs in the GRU-EDCNN training processes. In two case studies, the GRU-EDCNN model was applied to the benchmark Tennessee Eastman (TE) process and an acid gas absorption process, and the corresponding data of fault diagnosis rate (FDR), false positive rate (FPR), and fault diagnosis time (FDT) of the GRU-EDCNN model were analyzed and compared with those of the other deep learning-based models, verifying the effectiveness of the GRU-EDCNN model for fault diagnosis in both simulated and real-time industrial processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Principal component analysis (PCA) is a classic fault diagnosis method widely used in chemical process data modeling. However, the limitation of PCA to handle dynamic and time-variant data has been progressively exposed with the ever-increasing development of artificial intelligence technologies and applications of automation systems in the chemical industry. In this paper, an enhanced temporal algorithm-coupled optimized adaptive sparse PCA (ETA-OASPCA) methodology is proposed with the aim to improve the conventional PCA method by introducing temporal state computation and dynamic adaptive sparsity. The ETA is constructed to extract the state transitions of the time-variant process data by introducing the "Transition" and "Hold", acquire the region of interest by employing a Maximum Fuzzy c-means (MFCM) method, and then use the region time prediction automaton to label the possible abnormal states. The introduction of dynamic adaptive sparsity in PCA, achieved by presenting an iterative interior point optimization method to update the dynamic sparse penalty term, can impose sparsity constraints on dynamic data calculations, thus enhancing the interpretability of the PCA model. The effectiveness of the proposed method was validated through its application in the Eastman Tennessee process, showing that an average fault detection rate, false alarm rate, and latency of 99.4%, 0.37%, and 4.11 mins can be achieved, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quick and accurate characterization of commercial electrochemical double-layer capacitor (EDLC) cells, especially their capacitance and direct-current equivalent series internal resistance (DCESR), is of great significance for the design, maintenance, and monitoring of EDLCs used in areas of energy, sensors, electric power, construction machinery, rail transit, automobile transportation, and military. In this study, the capacitance and DCESR of three commercial EDLC cells with similar performance were determined and compared by following the three commonly-used standards of IEC 62391, Maxwell, and QC/T741-2014, which are significantly different in test procedures and calculation methods. The analysis of the test procedures and results demonstrated that the IEC 62391 standard has the disadvantages of a large testing current, long testing time, and a complex and inaccurate DCESR calculation, whereas the Maxwell standard has the disadvantages of a large testing current, a small capacitance, and large DCESR testing results, and furthermore the QC/T 741 standard has the disadvantages of a high resolution requirement for the equipment and small DCESR results. Therefore, an improved method was proposed to determine the capacitance and DCESR of EDLC cells by short-time constant voltage charging and discharging interruption methods, respectively, with the advantages of high accuracy, low equipment requirements, short testing time, and the easy calculation of DCESR over the original three standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The separation of water-in-oil emulsion is of great significance, but some difficulties remain in the present study. Herein, a COF-coated polyamide membrane (PA@COF) was prepared by vapor-assisted conversion at room temperature. The TFB-BD(Me)2 COF, with blocks of 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxaldehyde (TFB) and 3,3′-dimethyl-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4,4′-diamine (BD(Me)2), is highly hydrophobic, making the COF-coated membrane display hydrophobicity with a contact angle of around 100°. The PA@COF membrane showed good separation ability for filtering various water-in-oil emulsions. The separation efficiency for different water-in-oil emulsions can be as high as 99.7% and the flux could reach 4583 L m−2 h−1. Overall, the vapor-assisted conversion exhibits good potential for fabricating functional membranes for applications such as oil/water separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an improved algorithm for identification of the excess loss statistical parameter to get more accurate prediction of multiple harmonic magnetic hysteresis and loss properties of grain-oriented silicon steel sheets. Magnetic hysteresis characteristics of a specimen are measured on a magnetic measurement platform. Static hysteresis property can be simulated accurately by the Preisach model. The excess loss field expression under multiple harmonic magnetizations is constructed based on an extraction algorithm for the statistical parameters of excess loss. According to the equivalence of loss separation and field separation, a new dynamic model is established. In the case of different multiple harmonic magnetizations, the magnetic hysteresis characteristics obtained by predictions are compared with the test results. Also, the influences of peaked flux density, harmonic order, and harmonic content upon the total iron loss are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of non-noble metal catalysts for selective hydrogenation still remains a challenge. Herein, NiCu@carbon core–shell nanoparticles supported on Al2O3 (NiCu@C/Al2O3) were prepared, which showed enhanced catalytic performance of acetylene-selective hydrogenation in comparison with NiCu/Al2O3 without carbon encapsulation. In detail, NiCu@C/Al2O3 displayed high ethylene selectivity (>86%) even at an acetylene conversion of 100% and excellent stability (>90 h). Thus, NiCu@C/Al2O3 exhibited great potential as an alternative to Pd-based catalysts for acetylene-selective hydrogenation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Al F at channel intersection of HZSM-5 was identified by toluene adsorption. • The affinity of toluene/Al F was enhanced by the ion exchange of H+ by Na+. • Stepwise TPD (STPD) method was designed to quantitate the toluene desorbed from Na+. • The toluene-STPD method is not affected by the coexistence of Al pair and single Al. Precise analysis of the framework Al (Al F) at channel intersections of HZSM-5 zeolite is the basis of fine tuning of the spatial distribution of active sites within different pores which is critical to promote the catalytic performance in various applications. However, existing technologies cannot provide reliable quantitative results either in theory or practice due to the co-existence of Al pair and single Al. Here we report a new method based on toluene adsorption–desorption. As a promising probe, toluene can be preferentially adsorbed on Al F at channel intersection under low loading (≤4 molecules/unit cell) due to spatial matching and energetic heterogeneity. After strengthening the toluene/Al F affinity through replacing H+ by Na+ and designing a new stepwise TPD technique (toluene-STPD), the contents of Al F atoms at channel intersections of HZSM-5 samples were successfully calculated by counting the desorbed toluene molecules based on the 1:1 stoichiometric relationship between adsorbed toluene and Al F. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maximizing daily freshwater yield on the ocean surface necessitates all‐day water harvesting technologies and materials. This is realizable by taking advantage of the natural sunlight and humid air, which can drive daytime solar desalination and nighttime fog collection, respectively. To this end, two types of hierarchically porous microneedle array structures, which demonstrate superior capabilities for efficient fog capturing and photothermal evaporation, respectively, are prepared. The gel‐forged microneedle arrays with Janus wettability are fabricated via a simple and controllable top‐down micro‐molding process on a porous platform, and porosity within microneedles is further achieved readily by additional freeze‐drying treatment. The developed microneedle structure shows an ultrahigh fog harvesting rate up to 30.5 kg m−2 h−1, enabling high flux water droplet harvesting from moisture during nighttime. In the daytime, a solar evaporation rate of 2.46 kg m−2 h−1 is realized due to the increased evaporative area of the porous microneedle arrays and enhanced photothermal conversion. By uniting these two water‐harvesting routes, a daily cycle can ideally deliver an overall water yield close to 200 kg m−2, which will offer a promising solution for sustaining future low‐cost and decentralized clean water production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, single bond directly linked COF-like conjugated microporous polymer NDTT is constructed via Stille coupling with thiophene-substituted naphthalene diimides and triazine, showing fair crystallinity. NDTT is utilized as an electrode for supercapacitor applications, exhibiting promising performance with excellent capacitance reaching 425.3 F g−1 under a current of 0.2 A g−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silica-coated LaNiO 3 nanoparticles (LaNiO 3 @SiO 2 NPs) were prepared by the modified Stöber method for the conversion of methane with carbon dioxide into syngas in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor (DBD) under ambient conditions. The synergistic effect of LaNiO 3 @SiO 2 NPs and DBD plasma toward the dry reforming of methane was investigated as a function of flow rate of feed gases, input power, and molar ratio of CH 4 /CO 2 . The results indicated that the Ni–La 2 O 3 @SiO 2 produced from LaNiO 3 @SiO 2 NPs showed high catalytic activity for the plasma-assisted dry reforming of methane due to the creation of a silica shell. The Koros–Nowak criterion test demonstrated that the catalytic activity of Ni–La 2 O 3 @SiO 2 sample was independent of the transport phenomenon. A semi-empirical power-law rate equation was applied to investigate the kinetic behavior of Ni–La 2 O 3 @SiO 2 catalyst for the plasma-assisted dry reforming of CH 4 and evaluate its kinetic parameters, including activation energy, rate constant, and reaction orders. Compared to the activation energy estimated for CO 2 consumption, lower value of CH 4 conversion corresponded to its higher reaction rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinel nickel ferrite nanoparticles (NiFe 2 O 4 NPs) embedded in silica (NiFe 2 O 4 #SiO 2 ) was prepared to enhance the reaction performance of the dry reforming of methane in a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge reactor. NiFe 2 O 4 NPs of around 10 nm were effectively embedded in porous SiO 2 NPs (∼100 nm in diameter). Compared to the supported Ni-based catalysts (Ni/γ-Al 2 O 3 , Ni–Fe/γ-Al 2 O 3 , Ni–Fe/SiO 2 , and NiFe 2 O 4 ), the NiFe 2 O 4 #SiO 2 catalyst placed at the discharge zone exhibited excellent catalytic performance and high resistance to carbon formation during dry reforming under ambient conditions without the involvement of extra heat. The synergetic effect between the non-thermal plasma and the NiFe 2 O 4 #SiO 2 catalyst favored the conversion of CH 4 and CO 2 into syngas. The results indicated that the special structure of the as-synthesized NiFe 2 O 4 #SiO 2 catalyst was capable of restraining the aggregation of Ni–Fe alloy and suppressing the carbon formation in the reforming process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A model for life cycle energy efficiency analysis of biofuel is developed. [•] DEA is used to identify the wasteful use energy in biofuel production. [•] Recommendations are proposed for improving energy efficiency. [•] Life cycle perspective is incorporated in the analysis process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Catalytic hydrogenation of 2,4-dinitroethylbenzene over Ni/HY catalysts in different solvents was studied, which demonstrated that the reaction exhibits the best performance in protic solvents. The reason is hypothesized to be the strong hydrogen-bond interaction between the protic solvents with the reactant, intermediates and product due to their excellent hydrogen-bond donating capability, which favors the desorption of the adsorbed intermediates and product from the catalysts and helps to polarize the N O bonds of the reactant and intermediates. Subsequently, the hydrogenation in the mixed solvents of water and ethanol was investigated, which showed that the reaction can be significantly accelerated by adding water into ethanol and the optimum volume percentage of water is verified to be 40%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

LaFeO 3 /MgFe 2 O 4 heterojunctions were prepared via the sol-gel route to enhance solar-light induced photo-persulfate degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). LaFeO 3 /MgFe 2 O 4 exhibited the better removal efficiency of TCH in comparison to LaFeO 3 and MgFe 2 O 4. The photo-persulfate activity of LaFeO 3 /MgFe 2 O 4 was intensively affected by LaFeO 3 content, pH, and inorganic salts. Under the optimal conditions, 2-LaFeO 3 /MgFe 2 O 4 with a nominal LaFeO 3 content of 10 wt % presented the removal efficiency of 97.01 %, while declined to 85.40 % after ninth-cycle test. The lattice defects formed in LaFeO 3 and MgFe 2 O 4 acted as the active sites for TCH adsorption and photon capture. The oxygen-defected tight interface between LaFeO 3 and MgFe 2 O 4 was favorable for the separation and migration of photo-induce e-/h+ pairs, boosting solar-light response for photo-persulfate activity of LaFeO 3 /MgFe 2 O 4. However, the long-term photo-corrosion inevitably induced to the change in valance states of surface compositions, weakening the photo-persulfate performance in TCH elimination. [Display omitted] • LaFeO 3 /MgFe 2 O 4 hybrids were prepared via the sol-gel approach. • LaFeO 3 /MgFe 2 O 4 had the strong solar-light photo-persulfate activity for TCH degradation. • The tight interface favored the transfer and migration of photo-induced e-/h+ pairs. • Photo-induced radicals and Fe2+/Fe3+ couples promoted the persulfate oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal oxides-based heterojunction fabrication is a promising strategy to eliminate antibiotics from wastewater via adsorption-photocatalysis. ZnLa x Bi 2−x O 4 hybrids with various La/Bi molar ratios were fabricated for enhancing the adsorption-photocatalytic elimination of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). Oxygen-defected ZnLa x Bi 2−x O 4 composites provided the sufficient sites for photon capture and pollutants adsorption. In addition, the tight p-n-p type interface among oxygen-defected La 2 O 3 , ZnO, and spinel ZnBi 2 O 4 favored the rapid transfer and migration of photo-excited e-/h+ pairs, enlarging the visible light utilization. Hence, ZnLa x Bi 2−x O 4 samples had the better adsorption-photocatalytic activity than ZnLa 2 O 4 and ZnBi 2 O 4 for TCH removal. Langmuir and second-order models well described the adsorption isotherms and kinetics of ZnLa x Bi 2−x O 4 samples, respectively. The adsorption capacity of optimal ZnLa 1.75 Bi 0.25 O 4 with a La/Bi molar ratio of 7:1 was 406.85 mg g−1, and its removal efficiency of 210 mg L−1 TCH solution was 98.04 % within 150 min. The change in valence states of surface compositions induced to the declined removal efficiency of ZnLa 1.75 Bi 0.25 O 4 to 91.95 % after five cycle times. [Display omitted] • ZnLa x Bi 2−x O 4 heterojunctions had the excellent adsorption-photocatalytic activities. • The adsorption capacity of optimal of ZnLa 1.75 Bi 0.25 O 4 was 406.85 mg g−1. • The removal efficiency of 210 mg L−1 TCH solution over ZnLa 1.75 Bi 0.25 O 4 was 98.05 %. • Langmuir and second-order models well fitted with the adsorption behaviors of ZnLa x Bi 2−x O 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selective hydrogenation of acetylene is a vital process to for the purification of crude ethylene in petroleum industry. Achieving high activity and selectivity simultaneously over Ni-based catalysts is still challenging. Herein, a partial encapsulation strategy is proposed by fabricating carbon-encapsulated Ag nanoparticles and un-encapsulated Ni nanoparticles on Al 2 O 3 surface (Ni-Ag@C/Al 2 O 3) toward the enhanced selectivity without loss of activity. In particular, the Ni-Ag@C/Al 2 O 3 exhibits higher ethylene selectivity of 81% at the complete acetylene conversion along with excellent stability for 30-h, in sharp with the Ni/Al 2 O 3 (6%) and Ni-Ag/Al 2 O 3 (54%) catalyst. The enhanced selectivity is attributed to the promotion of hydrogen spillover by the carbon species on Al 2 O 3 surface and the inhibition of oligomer formation by a steric hindrance formed by the carbon layer on the Ag surface. This study provides a new structural design avenue of bifunctional bimetallic catalyst for selective hydrogenation reaction. [Display omitted] • Separated Ag@C nanoparticles and Ni nanoparticles were fabricated on Al 2 O 3 surface. • High activity and selectivity were achieved simultaneously over Ni-Ag@C/Al 2 O 3. • The high activity is due to that the non-encapsulation of Ni with carbon layer. • Hydrogen spillover was enhanced over Ni-Ag@C/Al 2 O 3 by the carbon species on Al 2 O 3. • The carbon layer suppresses oligomer formation, thus resulting in high stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1) serves as a crucial tumor marker in the context of lung cancer patients, playing a pivotal role as a calibrator in the realm of in vitro diagnostics. Nevertheless, during practical application, it has come to light that the recombinantly synthesized full-length CYFRA21-1 antigen exhibits suboptimal stability at the requisite concentration, while the utilization of natural antigens incurs a substantial cost. To address this issue, our investigation harnessed a strategic approach whereby the soluble fragment of cytokeratin 19 (Aa244-400) was integrated into the pET32a vector, subsequently being expressed within E. coli through a fusion with the TrxA protein. This process involved induction of protein expression through 0.2 mM IPTG at 16 °C for a duration of 16 h. After induction, the target protein was purified through Ni affinity and ion exchange chromatography. Subsequent characterization of the targeted protein was executed through the SEC-HPLC technique. The attained CYFRA21-1 antigen, as generated within this study, was effectively incorporated into a chemiluminescence-based in vitro diagnostic detection kit. The results indicate that the fusion protein exhibited commendable reactivity and stability, manifesting a deviation of less than 10 % following incubation at 37 °C for 7 days. Importantly, the production yield achieved a notable magnitude of 300 mg/L, thus rendering it a cost-effective and scalable alternative to natural antigens for clinical diagnostic applications. • Enhanced Stability: Fusion expression with TrxA significantly improves the stability of CYFRA21-1, addressing suboptimal stability concerns at working concentrations, with less than a 10 % deviation after a 7-day incubation at 37 °C. • Increased Expression Yield: Fusion expression with TrxA enhances CYFRA21-1 expression, achieving a notable yield of 300 mg/L, ensuring efficient and cost-effective protein production. • Diagnostic Kit Integration: Successfully integrated into in vitro diagnostic kits, the fusion protein proves to be a feasible alternative to natural antigens, demonstrating its versatility in clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Pervaporation membranes for alcohols/water separation is important to alleviate the fossil energy crisis. • MOFs and COFs based pervaporation membranes with excellent performance have received widespread attention. • This review provides general guidance on the MOFs and COFs based pervaporation membranes for alcohols/water separation. High-performance pervaporation membrane has great application and development potential in alcohols/water separation industry due to its high efficiency and economy. It is an important pathway to alleviate the fossil energy crisis and obtain various alcohols scientifically. As a new type of porous crystal material, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with controllable pore structure and rich chemical functions are promising for constructing high-performance alcohols/water separation membranes for future manufacturing development. There are different types of MOFs and COFs based pervaporation membranes, including MOFs polycrystalline membranes, MOFs based mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), COFs continuous membranes, and COFs based MMMs. In this review, we firstly discuss the classification of membranes, describe the process mechanism and evaluation indicators of pervaporation, select decisive criterions for MOFs and COFs, summary the preparation strategies and separation performance of these four membranes, and discuss in detail the impact of operating conditions. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of these four kinds of membranes are summarized, the challenges faced are identified, and the future development direction is pointed out, aiming to provide slight guidance for the design and development of high-performance MOFs and COFs based membranes for alcohols/water separation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the preparation of a two-dimensional superhydrophobic covalent organic framework (COF)-coated cotton fabric via a rapid one-step method at room temperature. The COF-coated fabric was found to have stable superhydrophobicity and remarkable water-in-oil emulsion separation capacity with ultra-high flux under only gravity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The recovery of butyl acetate (BA) from lovastatin wastewater was studied by using the method of solvent extraction with liquid paraffin (LP) as the extractant. The effect of several key factors on the extraction efficiency including lysozyme content, initial BA concentration, equilibration time, and phase ratio was investigated. The results showed that the extraction efficiency of BA can reach 98% in 15min at room temperature when the initial concentration of BA is 7000mg/L. The loading capability of LP was demonstrated to be high by reusing the loaded LP to extract the fresh wastewater. Moreover, BA in the LP phase can be effectively recovered by vacuum evaporation and the regenerated LP has a very good reusability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Extraction of phytic acid from HCl extract of rapeseed meal using Alamine 336/n-octanol/sulfonated kerosene was investigated. The results showed that the addition of n-octanol can significantly enhance the extraction of phytic acid by Alamine 336/sulfonated kerosene, indicating the synergetic effect between Alamine 336 and n-octanol. The key affecting factors of the extraction include pH and the concentration of the extractants, whose effects on the distribution ratio were quantitatively analyzed. Phytic acid extracted into the organic solutions can be well strip extracted back by using a dilute NaOH solution. At the optimum operating conditions, the extraction efficiency from a 0.03 mol/L phytic acid solution can reach 85.4%, and the corresponding single strip-extraction efficiency is 74.6%, while the total strip-extraction efficiency after three strip extractions can reach 96.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Isobaric vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data for water+n-propanol+n-butanol ternary system have been extensively measured at 99.2kPa using a recirculating still. The experimental data were then correlated using the extended UNIQUAC model, in which the binary interaction energy parameters between the three components were obtained through a simplex fitting method. The results showed that the calculated data by the extended UNIQUAC model using the same interaction energy parameters agree well with both the experimental data and the literature data. It demonstrated that the experimental data are very consistent with the literature data; and the extended UNIQUAC model is reliable to predict the VLE of the ternary system using the obtained interaction energy parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, di-(2-ethylhexyl) ammonium phosphate (DEHAP)/octanol reverse micellar extraction was investigated and demonstrated to be an effective method to separate GSH from yeast fermentation broth. The effect of several important factors i.e., pH, DEHAP concentration, and type & concentration of cations on both extraction and strip-extraction was investigated. The optimum operating conditions for both extraction and strip-extraction were obtained by two groups of orthogonal experiments. At the optimum operating conditions, the yield of GSH can reach 68%. In the lyophilized product, the purity of GSH was higher than 75%, all the proteins can be separated, and only a small portion of amino acids were left. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A mouse model was employed to evaluate protective cellular immune responses induced by an immediate early antigen of HSV-2. Particle-mediated DNA vaccination of mice with a DNA plasmid-encoding ICP27 resulted in the induction of ICP27-specific IFN-γ and TNF-α production in Balb/c mice, but little protection to intranasal challenge with wild type HSV-2. However, when the DNA vaccine was supplemented with as little as 50ng of a vector encoding the A and B subunits of the Escherichia coli heat labile enterotoxin (LT), animals were profoundly protected from morbidity and mortality. The ICP27+LT-mediated protection was correlated with a large increase in ICP27-specific IFN-γ and TNF-α production but cytokine-specific monoclonal antibody treatment at the time of challenge showed that protection was mediated predominantly by IFN-γ. Furthermore, depletion of T cell subsets prior to infectious challenge demonstrated that removal of either CD8+ or CD4+ T cells impaired protection with CD8+ T cells appearing to play a direct effector role. These data demonstrate that augmented cellular immune responses resulting from LT vector plus antigen vector administration to the skin are biologically significant, leading to enhanced protection against mucosal pathogenic challenge. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Stable Zr-UiO-67 is prepared by introducing a fluorine-containing layer on its surface through a polymeric network assisted post-synthetic modification (PSM) strategy. The stability of the MOFs in acidic, alkaline and saline environments is improved because of the existence of a protective layer. The MOFs are superlyophobic towards liquids with a surface tension threshold of over 48 mN m−1, making them a potential choice for separating various liquid–liquid mixtures and emulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The Al 2 O 3 supported carbon coated NiCuCo alloy were prepared via a simple method. • The trade-off between activity and selectivity was overcome on NiCuCo@C/Al 2 O 3. • The electron-rich Ni species weaken the desorption of acetylene and ethylene. • The reduced formation of green oil results in excellent stability. Achieving high ethylene selectivity and activity simultaneously for acetylene selective hydrogenation still remains challenging. Here, the challenge of the trade-off between activity and selectivity was solved by synergizing electronic effects and spatial confinement, which was achieved by confining the Ni-Co-Cu trimetallic nanoparticles in a carbon layer (Ni x Cu y Co z @C/Al 2 O 3). Compared to the catalyst without carbon encapsulation (Ni x Cu y Co z /Al 2 O 3), Ni x Cu y Co z @C/Al 2 O 3 showed superior catalytic performance in terms of enhanced activity, selectivity and stability. Under optimal conditions, acetylene conversion of 100% and ethylene selectivity of 89% were achieved, whereas Ni x Cu y Co z /Al 2 O 3 exhibited lower acetylene conversion (92%) and ethylene selectivity (21%). Detailed characterizations reveal that the electronic structure can be regulated flexibly by controlling the composition of Ni-Co-Cu nanoparticles. The enhanced activity and selectivity were attributed to the weakened adsorption of acetylene and ethylene on the electron-rich Ni. The improved stability was related to the carbon layer, which suppressed the acetylene coupling by the acidic sites on the Al 2 O 3 surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction for ‘Boosted visible light photodegradation activity of boron doped rGO/g-C3N4 nanocomposites: the role of C–O–C bonds’ by Shaobo Li et al., New J. Chem., 2018, 42, 17644–17651. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harnessing renewable energy (RE) sources to power desalination systems can migrate the pressures of freshwater scarcity and fossil fuel depletion. In this paper, a novel mathematical framework was developed to assess the sustainability of different RE-powered desalination systems, which is very essential for their portfolio selection, by resorting to the fuzzy multi-attribute decision making (MAMD) methods. In the framework, an evaluation system including ten attributes from four dimensions is introduced, while fuzzy triangular numbers and interval values are employed to capture the epistemic and aleatory uncertainties of decision information, respectively. More importantly, three fuzzy MADM methods were proposed in the framework to make the following methodological contributions: (1) fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory-based analytic network process (DANP) offers a reliable weighting result by addressing the interrelationships among the attributes; (2) fuzzy full consistency method (FUCOM) can easily but rigorously quantify the qualitative attributes by using the simplified pair-wise comparisons; (3) interval vector-aided technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (VATOPSIS) generates a rational ranking sequence by incorporating the balance among multi-attributes. To illustrate the proposed framework, six RE-powered desalination systems were studied, showing that the solar thermal-powered multi-effect distillation would be the best option under current conditions. Finally, the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed framework were verified by results comparison and discussion. Image 1 • A framework was proposed to assess the sustainability of RE-powered desalination. • The mathematical framework can address both the epistemic and aleatory uncertainties. • A fuzzy DANP approach was used to assign the weights to the interrelated attributes. • A fuzzy FUCOM method was developed to easily quantify the qualitative attributes. • An interval VATOPSIS method was introduced to rationally rank the alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen has attracted considerable attention as a clean and renewable energy carrier to potentially solve the increasingly serious problems of energy security and environmental pollution. As it can be produced from diverse feedstocks by using a variety of technologies, this study aims to develop a novel multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) mathematical framework for the sustainability assessment of multiple hydrogen production technologies (HPTs). In the proposed method, the criteria weights were determined by combining the grey relational analysis (GRA) and DEMATEL method, which can realize a relatively objective weighting process by considering the causal relationships among criteria. Moreover, the alternatives are also ranked by using the GRA approach to attain the grey correlation coefficients as indicators, which measures the closeness of the corresponding alternative with the ideal scheme. Finally, the developed MCDM method was illustrated by the sustainability prioritization of 9 HPTs. • A MCDM method was established for more objective sustainability assessment of HPTs. • An GRA-incorporated DEMATEL method was developed for determining the criteria weight. • The GRA approach was adopted for ranking the sustainability of HPTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel two-stage multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method is proposed with the aim to select the most sustainable hydrogen production technology (HPT) by considering the preference information on both attributes and alternatives. In the first stage of the method, the initial sustainability ranking of the alternative HPTs was achieved by using the FBWM (Fuzzy Best-Worst Method) to determine the weights of the criteria and the fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method to prioritize the sustainability of alternative HPTs. While, in the second stage, a novel Preference Ranking Linear Programming Method (PRLPM) was used to acquire the final sustainability ranking according to the alternative preference information by following the principle of the outranking method. The proposed method was illustrated by a case study with 8 HTPs, demonstrating that the developed two-stage MCDM method can reflect the alternative preference of the decision-maker more accurately for selecting the most preferred alternative among various HTPs. • The MCDM framework divides the sustainability decision-making into two stages. • Fuzzy best-worst method and fuzzy TOPSIS were used in the first stage. • A novel method based on preference information on alternatives is proposed. • The framework combines preference information on attributes and alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen has emerged as one of the most promising players in the future energy system for a better life due to multiple advantages, it is important to identify the most sustainable technology for producing hydrogen among several alternatives. This study aims to propose a novel multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) framework for prioritizing hydrogen production technologies under data uncertainties by combining the methods of interval best-worst method (IBWM), interval entropy technique (IET), and interval best-worst projection (IBWP). In the framework, the IBWM and the IET methods were integrated to offer a comprehensive weighting result by capturing both the uncertain subjective judgments and uncertain objective information regarding the importance of multiple criteria; the IBWP approach was introduced to offer a rigorous ranking result by aggregating both the absolute performance and relative balance of the alternatives regarding the multi-criteria system in uncertain conditions. An illustrative case considering five hydrogen production technologies was studied to verify the feasibility of the proposed framework, while results comparisons and sensitivity analysis were implemented to indicate the necessities and advantages of the developed MCDM methods. • A novel framework was proposed for selecting hydrogen production technology. • Uncertainties were incorporated into the sustainability assessment framework. • The interval BWM and the interval entropy were combined for weighting the criteria. • A novel IBWP method was developed for ranking technology alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COFs were synthesized by a microwave‐assisted solvothermal route, with the building blocks containing 1,3,5‐tris(4‐aminophenyl) benzene and 2,3,5,6‐tetra‐fluoroterephthalaldehyde (or 1,4‐phthalaldehyde). The −F groups introduced into the benzene ring promoted hydrophobicity and stability of the COFs. The universality and long effectiveness of oil adsorption can be realized when applying COFs as adsorbent. The powder also exhibited excellent water‐in‐oil emulsions separation performance, with the separation efficiency no lower than 99.5%. In this work, the use of microwave solvothermal synthesis of superhydrophobic COFs is potential to replace the conventional synthesis process and more suitable for industrial scale‐up production. Furthermore, the findings provide a new strategy for solving the problem of oil spill treatment and industrial water‐in‐oil emulsions separation by using the emerging 2D COFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our study, Co(OH) 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene materials with layered 2D/2D heterojunction structures were synthesized as model systems, and their performance for pseudocapacitive energy storage was inverstigate. The results demonstrated that the coupling of Co(OH) 2 and Ti 3 C 2 T x can increase both the redox and intercalation pseudocapacitance of the as-prepared composite materials. Consquently, a total pseudo-capacitance of 153.0 F g−1 can be achieved for the Co(OH) 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x sample with a Ti 3 C 2 T x loading of 25 wt%, which is twice of that of the bare Co(OH) 2 , and an excellent stablility with only 1% decrease in capacitance after 1000 cycles has also been accomplished. Moreover, the quantitative kinetic analysis demonstrated that the dominant pseudocapacitive contribution for the as-prepared Co(OH) 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x materials can be tuned from surface capacitance into intercalation pseudocapacitance by adjusting the Ti 3 C 2 T x loading. This work may provide a new approach for designing MXene based pseudo-capacitive electrode materials with better rate capability and stability. • Co(OH) 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x composites with 2D/2D heterojunction structures were firstly prepared by growing Co(OH) 2 on Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene sheets. • Ti 3 C 2 T x facilitat the formation of 2D/2D structures and enchance the charge trasfer, which result in raising pseudocapacitance of the as-prepared composite materials. • The dominant pseudocapacitive contribution for the Co(OH) 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x composites can be tuned by adjusting the Ti 3 C 2 T x loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel label- and immobilization-free RNA aptamer-modified riboswitch-based biosensor was developed by using RNA aptamer modified secondary-structural scaffolds to control the identity of the ribosomal binding sequence (RBS). In the developed sensor, the duplex RNA aptamers-modified cis -repressor sequence is introduced upstream to the RBS of the indicating gene (gfp gene), leading to formatting an RNA bubble due to the none-complementary state of the RNA aptamers in the hairpin structure of the cis -repressor sequence. Without the presence of the target molecule, the ribosome cannot identify the RBS of the indicating gene as the RBS is hidden by the introduced cis -repressor, consequently, the indicating gene in the sensor would not be expressed, demonstrating the absence of the target. On the contrary, with the presence of the target molecule, the binding of aptamer with the target would induce the enlargement of the RNA bubble, leading to the separation of the cis -repressor sequence and RBS. Hence, the indicating gene would be expressed, manifesting the existence of the target. In addition, the developed sensor can quantitatively report the target concentrations by measuring the gfp gene-encoded GFP (green fluorescent protein) concentration. The approach proposed in this study can be used to construct sensors for detecting various chemicals by introducing the corresponding aptamers, therefore, this strategy can potentially provide a new set of analytical tools in the field of analytical chemistry. Image 1 • The target would induce the conformational changes of RNA aptamer-modified cis -repressor sequences. • The sensor can play its role to inhibit the expression of indicated gene without the target, and quickly responds to its target once the target arises. • The sensitivity of the sensor has been significantly improved with fewer number of sequestered RBS sequences included in the crRNA. • The developed sensor can fulfill the quantitative detection of the target chemical molecule via the GFP concentration encoded by the gfp gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The separation of a ternary mixture of methyl acetate (MeAc), tetrahydrofuran (THF), and methanol (MeOH) produced from chemical or pharmaceutical plants can not only recover the valuable chemicals but also reduce the environmental pollution caused by the emission of waste organics. In this study, a two-step extractive distillation process with four columns (FCED) with dimethyl sulfoxide and p -xylene serving as the entrainers was firstly proposed to separate the ternary mixture by using Aspen Plus simulation. The vapor recompression heat pump (VRHP) technology was introduced to improve the thermodynamic efficiency of the proposed FCED process. Subsequently, a multi-objective optimization using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II was employed to optimize the designed processes to accomplish a Pareto front trade-off in three crucial indicators, i.e., total annual cost (TAC), CO 2 emission, and exergy efficiency. A Pareto ranking method, i.e., the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solutions combined with entropy weighting approach, was used to choose the best solution from the Pareto front. The results indicate that, compared to the FCED process, TAC (8-year payback period) and CO 2 emissions of the VRHP-assisted FCED are reduced by 8.75% and 33.26%, respectively, while the exergy efficiency is increased by 8.06% from 3.67% to 3.96%, demonstrating that the introduction of VRHP can significantly improve the performance of the FCED process. [Display omitted] • THF/isopentyl acetate and THF/ p -xylene vapor-liquid equilibrium data are measured. • Dimethyl sulfoxide and p -xylene are chosen as the entrainers. • The novel processes for separating methyl acetate/THF/methanol are proposed. • Multi-objective optimization framework is applied to optimize the processes. • Heat pump can increase economic, environment, and exergy efficiency performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]