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Objective: Several clinical studies have shown an association between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and asthma; however, the molecular link between these conditions remains unclear. In this study, we conducted a reanalysis and repurposing of existing databases in order to depict the common key genes, related signaling pathways, and similarity of the immune microenvironment between PCOS and asthma. Methods: PCOS and asthma data sets were downloaded, and common signal pathways were identified by using gene set enrichment analysis. Identified common susceptibility genes were explored by intersecting the weighted gene coexpression network analysis module genes for both diseases. Then, we performed protein–protein interaction, Gene Ontology, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses of the common susceptibility genes. Finally, we analyzed the immune environment of PCOS and asthma. Results: We identified five hub genes, namely, MMP9, CDC42, CD44, CD19, and BCL2L1, and uncovered that these five hub genes showed a tendency to be upregulated in both PCOS and asthma and possessed good diagnostic ability. In addition, we revealed that both PCOS and asthma were significantly enriched in the FcεRI‐mediated signaling pathway. Moreover, we found that both PCOS and asthma exhibited infiltration of similar types of immune cells, such as monocytes, suggesting that the two diseases have similar pathological features. Conclusion: PCOS and asthma share common causative genes with a similar immune environment. Taken together, we uncovered previously unsuspected traits for comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of PCOS and asthma in the future. Synopsis: Polycystic ovary syndrome and asthma share common characteristic genes and related signaling pathways and have a similar immune microenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweet potato leaves (SPLs) containing abundant functional components are consumed primarily as fresh vegetables worldwide. This study investigated the physical properties of superfine grinding SPLs powder, and their effects on cooking, texture, and sensory properties, micro‐ and molecular structures of starch noodles were also explored. The results showed that the bulk and tapped density (from 0.34 to 0.28 g/mL3 and from 0.69 to 0.61 g/mL3), repose and slid angle (from 42.15 to 30.96° and from 48.67 to 22.00°), water‐holding capacity and swelling capacity (from 8.66 to 4.94 g/g and from 10.03 to 7.77 mL/g) of SPLs powders were decreased with milling time increased. The cooking loss, swelling index, texture, and sensory properties of SPLs sweet potato starch noodles (SPLSNs) were improved as the particle size of SPLs decreased. XRD and FT‐IR showed that SPLSNs contained less complete crystallites (from 28.85% to 14.19%) and lower proportion of crystalline region (R1047/1017 from 0.96 to 0.81, R1017/994 from 0.41 to 0.43). SEM revealed that SPLSNs exhibited fewer ordered arrays and smooth cross sections. Our findings provide a foundation for utilizing SPLs and developing functional starch noodles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • GO dispersions do have good antimicrobial activity. • GO nanosheets lost their antimicrobial activity once they were assembled into GO membranes. • Layered GO membranes exhibit excellent stability in a 14-day test. • Antifouling properties of GO membranes need to be improved. Abstract GO is of great interesting for membrane materials due to its unique properties including antimicrobial activity and antifouling property. However, the differences between GO nanosheets and layered GO membranes gained little attention. Herein, we fabricated GO membranes that have a thickness of around 30 nm and a void d-spacing of 0.67 nm (wet state) with single layer GO nanosheets of 10–75 nm in lateral size and investigated their antimicrobial and antifouling potential for practical use. It exhibits typical nanofiltration performance, with the rejections of 65.23%, 17.79%, 42.10% and 12.47% to Na 2 SO 4 , NaCl, Mg 2 SO 4 and MgCl 2 , respectively. The antimicrobial test demonstrated that GO nanosheets lose their antimicrobial activity after they stacked together. A 14-day test showing that GO membrane has excellent resistance for organic fouling, with reversible fouling of more than 98%. But when it comes to tapwater, the proportion of irreversible fouling is surging to more than fifty percent even after cleaning with 2000 mg/L of sodium hypochlorite. Thus, we suggested that there are more details should be investigated before put layered GO membrane into practical use. Surprisingly, GO membrane exhibits excellent mechanical stability during the 14-day test, showing its exciting potential in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane desalination has become an important solution to global water problems. Graphene-based materials have excellent advantages in the desalination process due to their intriguing features, including single atomic layer structure, large specific surface area, hydrophobic property, rich modification approaches, etc. After an introduction of membrane, graphene and graphene oxide (GO), this review systematically summarizes the current progress and gives an insight into the graphene-based separation membranes (GBSMs). The applications of the pressure-driven graphene-based membranes are introduced and their performances are listed and analyzed. By molecular dynamics simulation (MDS), the researchers predict the excellent performances of GBSMs, including high water flux, good salt rejection, etc. which have been verified in subsequent experiments. We believe that the application of graphene-based materials in pressure-driven membrane is worthy of further exploration. Several researchers have prepared electric-driven membranes with graphene-based materials, since their good stabilities and water-retention. However, graphene is not efficient in forward osmosis membrane area for now. In spite of the shortcomings like weak mechanical strength of single layer graphene, difficult to prepare nanopores on graphene film and hard to integrate with polymer, we hold the opinion that graphene-based films still have great research value especially in the membrane separation technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical porous silicate cements with lamellar/dendritic morphology were prepared by combination of ice-templating and hydration reaction routes. The macropores with multimodal pore distributions are found to be interconnected through intrinsic mesopores resulting from ice crystals growth and hydration products generation. As the slurry concentration increased from 40 to 60 wt%, the BET surface area decreased from 86.744 m 2  g −1 to 70.707 m 2  g −1 , the porosity decreased from 61.8% to 47.62%, whilst the compressive strength increased from 10.76 Mpa to 16.67 Mpa. Low-cost starting material and eco-friendly technique probably endow ordered porous cement with potential in a variety of applications including membrane separation and adsorption process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freeze casting liquid dispersions of solid particles is an effective method for preparing porous composites, thus creating strong and lightweight materials with “designed” microstructures for various applications. This work illuminates that tert-butyl alcohol (TBA)/water (H 2 O) mutually miscible system can be used as template to prepare aligned porous silicate cement supports with unique pore structures via directional freezing. The resulting pore morphology of porous cement substrates changes from prismatic to needle-like, dendritic, coralline, graininess and lamellar structure with the increasing of TBA-H 2 O ratio in cement slurry. Pore size distributions (macropores and mesopores) demonstrate the hierarchical pore structure of porous cement. The BET surface area ( S BET ) of porous cement support increases with the decreasing TBA content in cement slurry, until the pore forming agent was pure water. Porous cement that are fabricated from mixed slurries with relatively high TBA-H 2 O ratio show better mechanical strength. Porous cement support prepared from cement slurry with 90 wt% TBA exhibits the best permeation performance due to its well-distributed and oriented pore structure. These findings demonstrate how an aligned and hierarchical porous inorganic support with desirable properties can be prepared, under mild conditions, with the combination of advanced casting technique and most ancient construction material on earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modified three-compartment electrodialysis (MTED), a novel process containing intermediate compartment with fluorinated ion exchange membrane, has been applied to the recovery of petroleum sulfonate from petrochemical dispersion. The fluorinated ion exchange membrane has higher degree of crosslinking than heterogeneous ion exchange membrane. The petroleum sulfonate is separated from the petrochemical dispersion during anion migration by the different steric effect of ion exchange membranes. In order to reduce the membrane fouling and increase the current efficiency, the 50 nm ceramic membrane was utilized as the pretreatment of MTED. The result indicated that in total of 99.4 wt% of petroleum sulfonate in the petrochemical dispersion could be recovered at the applied voltage 25 V, flux rate 30 L/h, temperature 40 °C and initial concentration 7.5 wt% (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 . Simultaneously, the (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 solution without petroleum sulfonate was received in concentrate compartment of MTED. The results verified the feasibility of MTED on separating the petroleum sulfonate and inorganic salt in petrochemical dispersion, and provided important technical basis for a large-scale procedure of MTED in petrochemical dispersion treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) is an avian retrovirus that causes immunosuppression, growth retardation, and oncogenesis in a variety of birds. REV infection is epidemic in many countries. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing to identify microRNAs (miRNAs) associated with REV infection. A total of 88 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified in samples collected on days 21 and 28 post-REV infection. Possible target genes of the differentially expressed miRNAs were analyzed. We observed that expression of proapoptotic, proto-oncogene, and carcinogenic cytokine mRNAs was highly upregulated, whereas expression of antiapoptotic cytokine mRNAs was significantly downregulated. Our findings provide a potential link between miRNA expression and the pathogenesis of REV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haemophilus parasuis is an important pathogen causing severe infections in pigs. However, the specific bacterial factors that participate in pathogenic process are poorly understood. VacJ protein is a recently discovered outer membrane lipoprotein that relates to virulence in several pathogens. To characterize the function of the vacJ gene in H. parasuis virulent strain HS49, a vacJ gene-deletion mutant Δ vacJ and its complemented strain were constructed. Our findings supported that VacJ is essential for maintenance of cellular integrity and stress tolerance of H. parasuis , by the demonstrations that the Δ vacJ mutant showed morphological change, increased NPN fluorescence and, and decreased resistance to SDS-EDTA, osmotic and oxidation pressure. The increased susceptibility to several antibiotics in the Δ vacJ mutant further suggested that the stability of the outer membrane was impaired as a result of the mutation in the vacJ gene. Compared to the wild-type strain, the Δ vacJ mutant strain caused a decreased survival ratio from the serum and complement killing, and exhibited a significant decrease ability to adhere to and invade PK-15 cell. In addition, the Δ vacJ mutant showed reduced biofilm formation compared to the wild-type strain. Furthermore, the Δ vacJ was attenuated in a murine (Balb/C) model of infection and its LD 50 value was approximately fifteen-fold higher than that of the wild-type or complementation strain. The data obtained in this study indicate that vacJ plays an essential role in maintaining outer membrane integrity, stress tolerance, biofilm formation, serum resistance, and adherence to and invasion of host cells related to H. parasuis and further suggest a putative role of VacJ lipoprotein in virulence regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The desalting performance of graphene oxide (GO) membranes was further optimized using one-step carboxylation via nucleophilic substitution reactions between epoxy groups of graphene oxide (GO) and amino groups of glycine. GO and GO-COOH membranes with highly ordered structure were prepared by pressure-assisted self-assembly technique. The performance of GO and GO-COOH membranes was investigated and compared. The results showed that GO-COOH membranes exhibited not only higher permeability but also better salt rejections compared with pristine GO membranes. The surface physicochemical properties of GO-COOH membrane including negativity and hydrophilicity were improved as well. The transport mechanism revealed that the improvement of desalting properties was attributed to enhanced electrostatic repulsion by inducing effective negative charge. The higher permeability of GO-COOH membranes resulted from increased water nanochannels and improved surface hydrophilicity. Overall, GO-COOH membranes show great potential in the separation field due to prominent permeation performance and desirable separation property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reverse electro-dialysis (RED) is a potentially available technology to harvest salinity gradient power, which can be extracted from high-salinity wastewater in industrial processes. This study proposes a hybrid RED/ED system to simultaneous osmotic energy recovery and complete desalination in the phenol-containing wastewater treatment process. Experimental investigation on standalone ED system reveals that the high stack resistance, resulting from the salinity difference between both feed streams, accounts for the inefficient desalination performance in early stages, which implies potential implication of RED as a pre-desalination process with natural driving force to reduce the salinity difference. Pre-desalination rate is related to power generation in RED stage and energy saving in ED stage under optimal operation conditions. Compared with artificial seawater, greater power generation is produced by using phenol-containing wastewater as the high-salinity stream. Economic analysis suggests that average power generation and limiting wastewater treatment capacity can provide insightful guidelines for the design and improvement of the hybrid system. Control conditions are listed as a fundamental criterion to search for potentially applicable wastewater systems in the hybrid system. Therefore, hybrid RED/ED system can realize triplex advantages of salinity energy usage, high-valued resource reclamation, and low-energy desalination in high-salinity wastewater treatment processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forward osmosis has motivated practical applications in seawater desalination and agricultural irrigation due to its potential advantage of osmotic dilution. However, water flux decline accompanies with continuous dilution of the DS, which will cause extra membrane expenditure, until final osmotic equilibrium. Without the help of additional driving force, it is impossible to reduce driving force loss in OD. In this study, concentration-dependent hydraulic pressure is exactly introduced as an auxiliary driving force. Investigations on water flux decline behavior in OD showed that water fluxes at lower initial concentration difference, lower initial solution volume and AL-DS orientation suffered more severe decline; furthermore, it implied that additional hydraulic pressure could alleviate adverse effects of greater concentration difference variation generated by pressure-induced water flux increment on water flux. For given dilution of the DS, minimized change in bulk FS concentration was conducive to ensure the effectiveness of constant hydraulic pressure on reducing water flux decline. Validation experiments demonstrated that current model equations were more appropriate under lower hydraulic pressures, and stable water flux also relied on concentration difference variation corresponding to applied hydraulic pressure. Potential implications were highlighted in the context of technical progress of membrane preparation and application potential of OD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report our successful fabrication of graphene quantum dots shell-isolated Ag nanoparticles (Ag@GQDs NPs) which size was in the range of 40–80 nm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to fabricate Ag@GQDs NPs of less than 100 nm in particle sizes, particularly with monodispersion characteristic and smooth surface. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images reveal that Ag NPs cores are completely encapsulated by 2–4 layers of GQDs. More importantly, Ag@GQDs NPs show a significantly higher Raman signal for the absorbed crystal violet molecules as compared to Ag NPs, suggesting that the Ag@GQDs NPs can act as a new type substrate for surface enhancement of Raman scattering (SERS) substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work studied the feasibility of ultrasonic-assisted (US-assisted) chemical cleaning of nanofiltration (NF) membranes that fouled with inorganic scales. We carried out US-assisted acid cleaning experiments by filter arsenic-rich brackish water to investigate the influencing conditions of US-assisted cleaning technology. We first optimized the proper ultrasonic power intensity (1 W/cm 2 ) in avoiding of membrane damage. US-assisted water flushing can recover the membrane water flux by around 75%, which suggested that the removal of inorganic scales was inadequate. However, US-assisted acid cleaning is efficient for removing the inorganic scales on membrane surface, and cleaning time was significantly shortened by 1/3 to 2/3 when compared with acid cleaning. It is worth to note that US-assisted acid cleaning can be carried out at a lower pH value of 3.0, while traditional acid cleaning usually conducted at pH of 2.0.This would reduce disposal amount of chemical contaminants by up to 90%. Additionally, our investigation suggests the optimal temperature for US-assisted acid cleaning was around 30 °C. This study revealed that the US-assisted acid cleaning method is an effective and environmental-friendly method for NF membrane cleaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The culprit of biofouling is the reproduction of viable microorganisms on the membrane surface. Recently, functionalization of membrane surface with natural antibacterial agents has drawn great attention. This work presents the fabrication of antibiofouling polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes by UV-assisted photo grafting of capsaicin derivative (N-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzyl)-acrylamide, HMBA) and itaconic acid (IA) on the surface of PES membrane. Results of FTIR-ATR, water static contact angle (WSCA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis confirmed the successful grafting of HMBA and IA on the membrane surface. We investigated the antifouling and antibacterial properties of these membranes using BSA and Escherichia coli as the test model, respectively. During a 150-min test, the modified membranes show much lower flux decline (42.7% for PES-g-1H0I, 22.2% for PES-g-1H1I and 7.7% for PES-g-1H5I) when compared with the pristine membrane (flux declined by 77%). The modified membranes exhibit excellent antibacterial activity (nearly 100%) when UV irradiation time was 6 min. The morphological study suggested that the E. coli on the pristine membrane showed a regular and smooth surface while that on the modified membrane was disrupted, which validated the antibacterial activity of the modified membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanofiltration (NF) is an effective technology for fluoride rejection in drinking water which has characteristics of high water flux, high water recovery rate and low operation pressure, etc. However, high fluoride concentration severely influences the quality of its product water. Herein, nature diatomite was chosen to adsorb fluoride prior to NF process. The characterization of diatomite was investigated by SEM and XRD, and the feasibility was studied by XPS and FT–IR. The influences of diatomite dosage, pH, ionic strength and anions concentration were researched by batches of adsorption experiments. The presence of HA enhanced the adsorption of fluoride at pH < 5 while reduced fluoride adsorption at pH > 5. The adsorption process fitted the Langmuir isotherm and the adsorption kinetics fitted the pseudo-second-order rate equation. In addition, the combination of adsorption process and NF treatment was studied, which confirmed that the nature diatomite can ensure the permeate water of the NF system to meet the standard. Results of this study demonstrated that the nature diatomite was viable and effective to be used as the pretreatment adsorbent for NF system to defluorinate high fluoride water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the effect of increasing nanofiltration (NF) permeate recovery ( R NF ) by recirculation and dosage of chemicals on NF separation performance, concentration polarization ( CP ) and accumulation of scaling-prone ion concentration on NF membrane surface. The related coupling effect on seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination was also evaluated. The results show that when R NF for a single NF membrane element increased from 40% to 65%, pH of NF retentate and recycling ratio ( R r) increased from 5.02 and 0.75 to 5.10 and 3.58, respectively, with the dosage of both acid and antiscalant. In the same R NF range, the rejection of Ca 2 + , CO 3 2 − , SO 4 2 − , TDS and total hardness decreased from 35.1%, 78%, 96.3%, 18.2% and 56.1% to 28%, 76.9%, 96.1%, 10.9% and 33.9%, respectively, for NF in without chemical dosage. The CO 3 2 − and SO 4 2 − ion concentrations both in SWRO brine and on SWRO membrane surface were only around 0.12, 98, 0.12 and 99 mg·L − 1 , respectively, which were much lower than those in typical SWRO brine. Higher rejection for SO 4 2 − ion and higher selectivity of divalent ions over monovalent ions by the NF element were demonstrated in this study, which indicates that ESNA3 membrane yields a relatively higher efficiency of seawater pretreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The voltage drop follows the orders: U BP-A-C-BP > U BP-A-BP > U BP-C-BP. [•] Concentration follows the orders: C BP-C-BP > C BP-A-C-BP > C BP-A-BP. [•] Current efficiency follows the orders: ŋ BP-A-C-BP > ŋ BP-C-BP > ŋ BP-A-BP. [•] Energy consumption follows the orders: E BP-A-BP > E BP-A-C-BP > E BP-C-BP. [•] It is wise to choose BP-A-C-BP configuration for preparation the succinic acid. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Regenerating spent acid produced by HZSM-5 zeolite preparation is proved feasible by BMED. [•] The pure sodium hydroxide in the base chamber can be recycled. [•] The recycled acid solution can replace the pure acid solution completely. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Because of the demand for acid solutions in seawater desalination pretreatment and the difficulty of transporting sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid, seawater concentrate from an RO system was used as the feed for the production of mixed acid by bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) after the removal of calcium ions and magnesium ions. In this experiment, the feasibility of the process was tested using a laboratory ED-cell with an effective area of 88cm2. Based on the configuration of the BP-C-A-BP, the mixed acid solution was produced in the acid compartment, and the base solution was produced in the base compartment. The results showed that 1mol/L mixed acid and sodium hydroxide could be produced continuously at a constant current density of 57mA/cm2 and a flow rate of 0.30L/h in the continuous-mode BMED. After the production of the acid and base solution, membrane fouling was inspected by measuring the stack resistance and using electron microscopy and surface elemental analysis. No visible fouling deposits on the surface of the CEMs (AEMs) were observed, and there was an increased stack resistance, thus proving that the BMED process for mixed acid production with pretreated RO concentrate is suitable for a long-term run. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Pilot-scale experiments were carried out on a nanofiltration (NF)–seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) integrated membrane system (IMS) to evaluate scaling potential on NF and SWRO membrane surface using a kind of loosen NF membrane and costal seawater. The effect of NF permeate recovery (R NF ) increasing on the occurrence of scaling in the NF and SWRO module was investigated in term of concentration polarization modulus (CP) of scalant ions, Stiff and Davis Stability Index (S&DSI), as well as Supersaturation Index (SI) of CaCO3 and CaSO4. The results show that the salt rejection by the loosen NF module is only about 10%, while the rejection of SO4 2− is higher than 95%; S&DSI is always less than zero, indicating that CaCO3 scaling could not form on the NF membrane surface when R NF was less than 35%. is much higher than ; and at R NF of higher than 30%, SI of CaSO4 on NF membrane surface increased gradually higher than 1.0, which indicated that CaSO4 scale is more apt to form on the NF membrane surface than CaCO3 at that NF permeate recovery. This scaling sequence in the loose NF module was different from that in traditional SWRO desalination processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Graphene oxide (GO) membranes have been developed by stacking the nanosheets together for using as molecular sieve due to its two-dimensional (2D) capillaries. However, this technology is still far from being ready for large-scale production. Specifically, pure GO membranes exhibit poor resistance to cross-flow process, and the commonly used preparation techniques pose scale-up difficulties. Here, we report a durable membrane developed using dip-coating polydopamine (PDA), followed by spray-coating multi-layered GO (MLGO). The fast preparation speed of ~0.2 s cm−2 and large preparation area of 1400 cm2 per preparing cycle demonstrated the scalability of the method. Acting as a binder and stabilizer, PDA developed MLGO-substrate interaction and crosslinked the MLGO sheets. The modified oriented MLGO layer contributed up to 95.0% retention of Na 2 SO 4 and showed enhanced stability in a 263-days soaking test and a nearly 800-h cross-flow test with the test area of 29.2 cm2. This work expands the possibilities for the GO membranes in practical applications. [Display omitted] • Multi-layered graphene oxide membrane was obtained by a fast and scalable method. • Modified MLGO membrane showed 95% retention of Na 2 SO 4. • Modified MLGO membrane exhibited high performance stability in long-term tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ascorbic acid (AsA) is a multifunctional phytonutrient that is essential for the human diet as well as plant development. While much is known about AsA biosynthesis in plants, how this process is regulated in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits remains unclear. Here, we found that auxin treatment inhibited AsA accumulation in the leaves and pericarps of tomato. The auxin response factor gene SlARF4 is induced by auxin to mediate auxin-induced inhibition of AsA accumulation. Specifically, SlARF4 transcriptionally inhibits the transcription factor gene SlMYB11 , thereby modulating AsA accumulation by regulating the transcription of the AsA biosynthesis genes l -galactose-1-phosphate phosphatase, l -galactono-1,4-lactone dehydrogenase, and dehydroascorbate. By contrast, abscisic acid (ABA) treatment increased AsA accumulation in tomato under drought stress. ABA induced the expression of the mitogen-activated protein kinase gene SlMAPK8. We demonstrate that SlMAPK8 phosphorylates SlARF4 and inhibits its transcriptional activity, whereas SlMAPK8 phosphorylates SlMYB11 and activates its transcriptional activity. SlMAPK8 functions in ABA-induced AsA accumulation and drought stress tolerance. Moreover, ABA antagonizes the effects of auxin on AsA biosynthesis. Therefore, auxin- and ABA-induced regulation of AsA accumulation is mediated by the SlMAPK8–SlARF4–SlMYB11 module in tomato during fruit development and drought stress responses, shedding light on the roles of phytohormones in regulating AsA accumulation to mediate stress tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This work describes the covalently binding of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate(DMAEMA) brushes onto the poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane surfaces via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Prior to ATRP, PVDF was coated with 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA). The hydroxyl groups on the polyDOPA-coated PVDF membrane surface and pore surface were used for the immobilization of alkyl halide ATRP initiator. The grafting yield of poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) and poly((dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) was determined by weight gain which was linearly increased with the polymerization time. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) were used to characterize the chemical composition and surface morphology of PVDF membrane and modified membrane, respectively. Water contact angles and water intake measurements indicated that the introduction of PHEMA graft chains promoted remarkably the surface hydrophilicity of PVDF membranes. It was also found that PHEMA graft chains provided higher pure water flux and better anti-protein absorption ability to PVDF membranes. Water flux decreased with increasing polymerization times, while the BSA rejection curves shifted to lower molecular weight cutoff values. The quaternized PVDF-g-PDMAEMA, PVDF-g-PDMAEMA-b-PHEMA membranes exhibited excellent antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus aureus. This study not only introduces a modification approach to obtain a PVDF membrane grafting hydrophilic PHEMA, but also provides the antibacterial properties for PVDF membrane with PDMAEMA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As the oil and gas (O&G) industry is increasing the focus on petroleum exploration and development in the Arctic region, it is becoming increasingly important to design exploration and production facilities to suit the local operating conditions. The cold and harsh climate, the long distance from customer and suppliers’ markets, and the sensitive environment may have considerable influence on the choice of design solutions and production performance characteristics such as throughput capacity, reliability, availability, maintainability, and supportability (RAMS) as well as operational and maintenance activities. Due to this, data and information collected for similar systems used in a normal climate may not be suitable. Hence, it is important to study and develop methods for prediction of the production performance characteristics during the design and operation phases. The aim of this paper is to present an approach for prediction of the production performance for oil and gas production facilities considering influencing factors in Arctic conditions. The proportional repair model (PRM) is developed in order to predict repair rate in Arctic conditions. The model is based on the proportional hazard model (PHM). A simple case study is used to demonstrate how the proposed approach can be applied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cholesterol secoaldehyde (3β-hydroxy-5-oxo-5,6-secocholestan-6-al or ChSeco) is an oxysterol known to be formed in reactions of ozone with cholesterol and also when cholesterol-5α-hydroperoxide undergoes Hock cleavage. In view of its widespread occurrence and atherogenic potential, we examined the effects of ChSeco on mouse J774 macrophage viability and events associated with apoptosis. A dose-dependent decrease in cell viability, disruptions in mitochondrial transmembrane potential (64±5.5%; mean±SD, n =3), increased levels of cytosolic cytochrome c (8.8±0.84ng/ml; mean±SD, n =3), activation of caspase-3 (ca. 3.6-fold) and caspase-9 (ca.1.8-fold), and increased DNA fragmentation (ca. 5-fold), all indicative of apoptosis, were observed in response to exposure to ChSeco. The apoptotic nature of cell death in macrophages was confirmed by dual staining with acridine orange and ethidium bromide. However, unlike the case with cardiomyoblasts and neuronal cells, the apoptotic process in these immune cells was not mediated by increased levels of reactive oxygen species as indicated by a minimal or no increase in 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein fluorescence. It is suggested that the apoptotic process is mediated via the mitochondrial pathway and that ChSeco formed in biological environments contributes to the initiation, progression, and culmination of atherosclerotic plaque formation, as these processes are critically dependent on macrophage apoptosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cholesterol secoaldehyde (ChSeco), a putative product of the reaction of ozone with cholesterol in aqueous environments, has been shown to induce apoptosis in H9c2 cardiomyoblasts. This study further investigated the involvement of apoptotic-related proteins and gene expression using RT-PCR, Western blot, and appropriate biochemical assays. The RT-PCR analysis revealed that ChSeco activates the expression of genes involved in the death receptor (extrinsic) pathway. The significance of this pathway was also evident from the increased activity of caspase-8. The overexpression of Apaf-1, loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome c, and increased activity of caspase-9 provide further evidence for the involvement of a mitochondrial (intrinsic) pathway. Time-course analysis of ChSeco-exposed H9c2 cells showed an upstream increase in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and an associated decrease in the intracellular glutathione. N-acetyl-L-cysteine and Trolox significantly attenuated the ChSeco-induced ROS formation and cytotoxicity and also down-regulated the expression of the genes of all the players in either pathway. This study clearly shows that ChSeco induces apoptosis in H9c2 cells through ROS generation and the activation of both the intrinsic and the extrinsic pathway. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Triethanolamine (TEA) has been broadly used as the organic amine conditioning agent to modify the workability of cement-based materials. However, the effect of TEA on the structure and property of porous silicate cement membranes has not been reported. In this paper, TEA was applied to study its effect on parameters of porous silicate cement membranes based on the preparation method combining freeze casting and heat-dry curing, because it is easy to form complexes with cement particles. The effect and acting mechanism of TEA on porous silicate cement membranes were researched using a series of characterizations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Results showed that TEA significantly improved the performance of porous silicate cement membranes. The addition of TEA changed the pore morphology of porous silicate cement membranes from lamellar structures to cellular structures, with mesoporous size distribution focusing on 2.5–4.5 nm at TEA doping ratio of 0.16 wt%. The oil-water separation performance could reach up to 99.6 %. Through comprehensive comparison, the porous silicate cement membrane with 1.0 wt% TEA showed better holistic preponderance of oil-water separation and permeation flux. Quantum chemistry calculation and MD simulation were used to briefly explain the influence of TEA on phase transformation. MD showed that adding TEA changed the morphology and structure of ice crystals. The percentage of the Ih structure significantly increased from 53 % to 86 % after adding TEA. This study might expand the application of TEA in other aspects and enlighten relevant workers in new experimental designs. [Display omitted] • TEA noticeably changed the pore morphology form lamellar to cellular structures. • Cement membranes doped TEA showed excellent separation performance and stability. • Effects of TEA on crystals were analyzed via quantum chemistry and MD simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparation of porous cement-based materials via freeze casting is a process with great potential. However, freeze-drying and steam curing complicate the preparation process and increase the preparation period. To simplify the process, heat-dry curing was used for replacing freeze-drying and steam curing during operation. The new preparation method combined freeze casting and heat-dry curing possesses characteristics of low-energy, simplicity, and time-saving. Compared with the traditional preparation method of porous cement-based materials, the novel preparation process can shorten preparation time by at least 16 % and retrench energy consumption by at least 18 %. As the improvement condition, temperature of heat-drying curing has great influence on the structure and performance of the samples. Therefore, it is of great significance to discuss the relationship between heat-dry temperatures and structural parameters by SEM, N 2 -adsorption/desorption, TG, and ATR-FTIR. Lamellar pores of membranes can be easier observed at low temperatures than that at 100 °C. The separation performance of oil-water is generally improved with the increase of temperature. Meanwhile, the molecular dynamics simulation was operated to illustrate the reaction mechanism of hydration with three temperatures. This study probably provides more theoretical basis for expanding the application of porous silicate cement membranes. [Display omitted] • Novel coupled method simplifies the fabricating process complexity of cement-based samples. • Influences of heat-dry curing temperatures on porous silicate cement membranes are discussed. • Silicate cement membranes own excellent permeation, oil-water separation and mechanical strengths. • Influences of heat-dry curing temperatures are illustrated by using molecular dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparation of porous cement-based materials via freeze casting is a process with great potential. However, freeze-drying and steam curing complicate the preparation process and increase the preparation period. To simplify the process, heat-dry curing was used for replacing freeze-drying and steam curing during operation. The new preparation method combined freeze casting and heat-dry curing possesses characteristics of low-energy, simplicity, and time-saving. Compared with the traditional preparation method of porous cement-based materials, the novel preparation process can shorten preparation time by at least 16 % and retrench energy consumption by at least 18 %. As the improvement condition, temperature of heat-drying curing has great influence on the structure and performance of the samples. Therefore, it is of great significance to discuss the relationship between heat-dry temperatures and structural parameters by SEM, N 2 -adsorption/desorption, TG, and ATR-FTIR. Lamellar pores of membranes can be easier observed at low temperatures than that at 100 °C. The separation performance of oil-water is generally improved with the increase of temperature. Meanwhile, the molecular dynamics simulation was operated to illustrate the reaction mechanism of hydration with three temperatures. This study probably provides more theoretical basis for expanding the application of porous silicate cement membranes. [Display omitted] • Novel coupled method simplifies the fabricating process complexity of cement-based samples. • Influences of heat-dry curing temperatures on porous silicate cement membranes are discussed. • Silicate cement membranes own excellent permeation, oil-water separation and mechanical strengths. • Influences of heat-dry curing temperatures are illustrated by using molecular dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Poly (I: C) treatment inhibits REV replication in HD11. • Poly (I: C) switches HD11 into M1-like popularization post REV infection. • Poly (I: C) promotes IFN-β secretion from HD11 post REV infection. • Poly (I: C) increases TLR-3 expression in HD11 post REV infection. Reticuloendothelial virus (REV) is widely found in many domestic poultry areas and results in severe immunosuppression of infected chickens. This increases the susceptibility to other pathogens, which causes economic losses to the poultry industry. The aim of our study was to determine whether polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid [Poly (I: C)] treatment could inhibit REV replication in chicken macrophage-like cell line, HD11. We found that Poly (I: C) treatment could markedly inhibit REV replication in HD11 from 24 to 48 h post infection (hpi). Additionally, Poly (I: C) treatment could switch HD11 from an inactive type into M1-like polarization from 24 to 48 hpi. Furthermore, Poly (I: C) treatment promoted interferon-β secretion from HD11 post REV infection. Moreover, Toll-like receptor-3 (TLR-3) mRNA and protein levels in HD11 treated with Poly (I: C) were markedly increased compared to those of HD11 not treated with Poly (I: C). The above results suggested that Poly (I: C) treatment switches HD11 into M1-like polarization to secret more interferon-β and activate TLR-3 signaling, which contributes to block REV replication. Our findings provide a theoretical reference for further studying the underlying pathogenic mechanism of REV and Poly (I: C) as a potential therapeutic intervention against REV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the challenge of promoting directional axonal regeneration in a hostile astrocytic scar, which often impedes recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI), remains a daunting task. Cell transplantation is a promising strategy to facilitate nerve restoration in SCI. In this research, a pro‐regeneration system is developed, namely miR‐26a@SPIONs‐OECs, for olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), a preferred choice for promoting nerve regeneration in SCI patients. These entities show high responsiveness to external magnetic fields (MF), leading to synergistic multimodal cues to enhance nerve regeneration. First, an MF stimulates miR‐26a@SPIONs‐OECs to release extracellular vesicles (EVs) rich in miR‐26a. This encourages axon growth by inhibiting PTEN and GSK‐3β signaling pathways in neurons. Second, miR‐26a@SPIONs‐OECs exhibit a tendency to migrate and orientate along the direction of the MF, thereby potentially facilitating neuronal reconnection through directional neurite elongation. Third, miR‐26a‐enriched EVs from miR‐26a@SPIONs‐OECs can interact with host astrocytes, thereby diminishing inhibitory cues for neurite growth. In a rat model of SCI, the miR‐26a@SPIONs‐OECs system led to significantly improved morphological and motor function recovery. In summary, the miR‐26a@SPIONS‐OECs pro‐regeneration system offers innovative insights into engineering exogenous cells with multiple additional cues, augmenting their efficacy for stimulating and guiding nerve regeneration within a hostile astrocytic scar in SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean residue is an underutilized, nutrient‐rich by‐product of soybean processing. To enhance its value, we subjected soybean residue to superfine grinding and measured the resulting physiochemical properties and antioxidant activities. We prepared powders with particle sizes of 115.35, 77.93, 39.38, 25.01, and 20.44 μm. As particle size decreased, the surface area (from 96.46 to 198.32 m2/kg) and swelling capacity (from 2.05 to 10.62 ml/g) increased. Conversely, we observed decreases in the surface‐number mean (from 23.07 to 11.20 μm), volume‐surface mean (from 141.70 to 27.96 μm), angles of repose (from 48.30° to 31.46°), water holding capacity (from 7.86 to 4.39 g/g), and oil binding capacity (from 1.78 to 1.42 g/g). The water solubility index and antioxidant activity (reducing power and free radical scavenging activities of 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′‐azino‐di‐(3‐ethylbenzthiazoline sulfonic acid)) improved as particle size decreased. In conclusion, superfine grinding improved some properties of soybean residue. Additionally, our findings provide theoretical support for using superfine grinding in industrial food applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects and mechanism of Lactobacillus on ameliorating ulcerative colitis chicks induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). There are three groups in this study, control, Lactobacillus and ulcerative colitis groups. 1-day-old chicks were fed with microcapsules containing Lactobacillus LA-5 daily for Lactobacillus group and clustered with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) to make the model of ulcerative colitis at ten-day-old. Chicks in control and ulcerative colitis groups were fed with empty microcapsules daily at 1-day-old and then chicks in ulcerative colitis group were induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) for preparation of ulcerative colitis model at 10-day-old. We detected the changes of mRNA and protein expression of TNF-α and IL-10 in the colon by Real-Time PCR and Western Blot. Histopathology evaluation on colon was conducted. Results showed that chicks pretreated with Lactobacillus had striking injury improvement compared with ulcerative colitis group in histopathology. Compared with ulcerative colitis group, down-regulation of TNF-α and up-regulation of IL-10 were observed in Lactobacillus group chicks. Therefore, Lactobacillus could improve the injury of intestinal mucosa and reduce inflammatory response by regulating mRNA and protein expression levels of TNF-α and IL-10, respectively. In conclusion, Lactobacillus could ameliorate the effects on chicks of TNBS-induced ulcerative colitis by reducing the inflammation and regulating the expression of TNF-α and IL-10, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance the water flux and salt rejection of reverse osmosis membranes, thin film nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes were prepared by incorporating functionalised single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The functionalised SWNTs were obtained by chemical process such as mixed acid oxidation and substitution reaction. The SWNTs were characterised by HRTEM, FTIR, TGA, Raman spectra, UV-Vis and XPS, etc. The surface morphology and structure of membrane were characterised by SEM and contact angle measurement, respectively. The results showed that carboxyl, acyl, amide and amine were successfully grafted on the tip and inner wall of the single-walled carbon nanotubes. The dispersity of the functionalised SWNTs in water was tested, indicating a good hydrophilic property. The polyamide/modified CNT nanocomposite reverse osmosis membrane was prepared. Compared with the bare polyamide membrane, the SWNT-polyamide thin film nanocomposite membranes showed higher property in hydrophilic surface and its water flux, as along with salt rejection, improved dramatically. The experimental results revealed that the modified SWNTs (especially those containing hydrophilic groups such as carboxyl groups and amino groups) well dispersed in the polyamide thin film layer, and hence improved the water permeation, and the salt rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Resolution of the global fresh-water crisis requires advanced separation systems and hence the search for perfect separation materials is being undertaken vigorously. The ideal membrane material should be capable of being easily fabricated and modified to obtain a controllable performance. Graphene oxide (GO) is a graphene-based material with oxygen-containing functional groups. In recent years, GO-based separation membranes have received a lot of attention in the field of separation technology. In this review, we discuss the methods to fabricate or modify multilayered GO membranes. GO membranes and conventional separation membranes are compared and discussed. Further, we compared the molecular dynamics simulation results and the applications of GO membranes. Finally, we summarize the challenges and point out possible future research directions. This review is expected to help researchers obtain a quick idea of multilayered GO membranes and aid in future research for designing and fabricating multilayered GO membranes. Graphical abstract The graphical abstract includes some vary representative schematic views for permeation route in multilayered GO membrane [1–2], a new structure of multilayered GO membrane [3], and three kinds of crosslinked GO nanosheets [4]. Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous silicate cement membranes (PSCMs) fabricated by the freeze casting method show great potential to be utilized in seawater pretreatment, fermentation broth separation, and industrial wastewater treatment due to its merit of high-temperature resistance, low-cost, and hierarchically ordered porous structures, while the freeze casting method is complex and time-consuming. In this work, a combination of freeze casting and heat-dry curing was initially applied to generate PSCMs. The preparation periods of PSCMs could be shortened by simplifying preparation processes and reducing curing time. The resulting membranes presented double-layer structures, containing a nucleation zone (N-zone) with dense structures and a stability zone (S-zone) with lamellar pore structures. The X-ray diffraction pattern of membranes displayed the mixed hexagonal and rhombohedral structures. This novel method could save more than half of energy consumption compared with the traditional preparation technology of silicate cement samples. The membranes with a mesopore size of 3.794 nm showed high permeation performance with pure water flux reaching 207.23 L m−2 h−1 under 0.15 MPa and room temperature. The separation efficiency of oil-water was 78.05% under operating pressure of 0.05 MPa. Molecular dynamics simulation was applied to narrate the microscopic process of transformation during heat-dry curing, and obtained a good similarity of consequences between the computational method simulation and experimental operation. [Display omitted] • Freeze casting combined with heat-dry curing to fabricate porous silicate cement membrane. • Freeze drying and steam curing were replaced using heat-dry curing. • Porous silicate cement membranes showed lamellar porous structures. • Molecular dynamics simulation was used to elucidate the hydration process of heat-dry curing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been recognized as one of the prominent contributors to global warming. Current urban waste regulations, however, face increasing challenges from stakeholders' trade-offs and hierarchic management. A combined method, i.e., life cycle inventories and scenario analysis, was employed to investigate waste-related GHG emissions during 1995–2015 and to project future scenarios of waste-driven carbon emissions by 2050 in a pilot low carbon city, Xiamen, China. The process-based carbon analysis of waste generation (prevention and separation), transportation (collection and transfer) and disposal (treatment and recycling) shows that the main contributors of carbon emissions are associated with waste disposal processes, solid waste, the municipal sector and Xiamen Mainland. Significant spatial differences of waste-related CO 2e emissions were observed between Xiamen Island and Xiamen Mainland using the carbon intensity and density indexes. An uptrend of waste-related CO 2e emissions from 2015 to 2050 is identified in the business as usual, waste disposal optimization, waste reduction and the integrated scenario, with mean annual growth rates of 8.86%, 8.42%, 6.90% and 6.61%, respectively. The scenario and sensitivity analysis imply that effective waste-related carbon reduction requires trade-offs among alternative strategies, actions and stakeholders in a feasible plan, and emphasize a priority of waste prevention and collection in Xiamen. Our results could benefit to the future modeling of urban multiple wastes and life-cycle carbon control in similar cities within and beyond China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The annual regrowth of deer antlers provides a valuable model for studying organ regeneration in mammals. We describe a single-cell atlas of antler regrowth. The earliest-stage antler initiators were mesenchymal cells that express the paired related homeobox 1 gene (PRRX1+ mesenchymal cells). We also identified a population of “antler blastema progenitor cells” (ABPCs) that developed from the PRRX1+ mesenchymal cells and directed the antler regeneration process. Cross-species comparisons identified ABPCs in several mammalian blastema. In vivo and in vitro ABPCs displayed strong self-renewal ability and could generate osteochondral lineage cells. Last, we observed a spatially well-structured pattern of cellular and gene expression in antler growth center during the peak growth stage, revealing the cellular mechanisms involved in rapid antler elongation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene oxide (GO), prepared using Hummers method, is used to fabricate nanofiltration membranes by pressure-assisted self-assembly method. The reasons for the formation of wrinkles on the surface of GO membranes are analyzed in this paper. GO membranes have serious flux attenuation and obvious changes in surface morphology due to hydraulic pressure. At 1.0 MPa, the water flux of GO membranes decreases about 75%, while at 1.5 MPa, sodium sulfate rejection increases from 21.32% to 85.84%. GO membranes were compacted and wrinkles became narrower under the influence of hydraulic pressure. By comparing flux decline between support membranes and GO membranes and analyzing the structure of GO laminate, we concluded that flux decline is due to the changes in the support membrane and GO laminate synergistically. This study reveals a defect of GO membranes and provides a profound analysis of water permeation through GO membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tubular porous silicate cement compacts with hierarchical porosity were successfully fabricated via a tert-butyl alcohol (TBA)-based freeze-casting technique in one single step. These samples were characterized by unidirectional aligned pore channels and completely open porosity. Various experimental parameters affecting the macropore size, mesopore size, porosity, and compression strength were investigated, including the initial solids loading, freezing temperature and curing period. Both the research findings of microstructure observations and property tests show that the pore size decreased significantly with decreasing freezing temperature and increasing solids loading. The porosity increased significantly with decreasing solids loading, while the compressive strength decreased remarkably. In addition to their tunable physical characteristics, these brand-new inorganic porous materials with oriented aligned pore channels and dense layer surface showed high permeation performance and desirable separation ability. These results endow the silicate cement, a kind of low-cost and high-performance architecture material, with great potential as a novel ordered porous inorganic material for numerous applications, especially in separation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a facile and novel strategy for constructing tunable antimicrobial NF membrane surface was developed by a simple electrostatic assembly of polycation–copper(II) complex on the polyacrylonitrile substrate surface followed by cross-linking. Polycation–copper(II) complex with high stability and charge density, using polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a capping ligand, was formed by exquisitely manipulating the pH and Cu 2+ concentration for strong assembly on the surface. We confirmed that PEI–copper(II) complex assembly was a good way to significantly improve the Cu 2+ loading efficiency in terms of loading time and loading amount with AAS and EDS measurements. We also demonstrated that cross-linking had a significant influence not only on the strong assembly of PEI–Cu(II) complex to the substrate surface but also on the controllable Cu 2+ release, which was confirmed by SEM, EDS and AAS measurements after exposing the NF membrane to bath sonication and real seawater. The NF membrane exhibited significant antimicrobial activity with antibacterial efficiency of more than 95% and prevented effectively the formation of biofilms for up to 6-month test. For real seawater softening, the NF membrane achieved approximately 32.3 L/m 2 h flux and 43.5%, 68.3%, 98.1%, 19.1% and 18.7% rejection of salt, SO 4 2− , Mg 2+ , Na + and Cl − , respectively, with a high softening efficiency (low S value) compared to other commercial NF membranes. We hope that the present method can be developed as a competitive technology for the fabrication of robust and versatile antimicrobial membrane, leading to the high efficiency of seawater softening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cosolvent-assisted interfacial polymerization (CAIP) has garnered significant attention due to its capacity to easily and effectively modify the performance of polyamide (PA) reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. To gain deeper understanding of the mechanism of a specific type of cosolvents on the IP reaction, namely N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), and N,N-dimethylpropionamide (DMPr) were used as aqueous-phase cosolvents to systematically investigate their effects on the membrane structures and properties under different conditions. Amide cosolvents in the aqueous phase facilitated the diffusion of the amine monomer and the formation of nanovoids within the PA layer as the C-chain length of amides increased. When 1,2-dichloroethane was also included in the organic phase, the extent of the two-phase miscible zone was further increased with its assistance, which contributed to generating the larger nanovoids within the layer, thicker PA layer and extensive exterior PA layers, as well as significantly enhancing the water permeability and selectivity of membranes. Importantly, this study successfully prepared high-performance RO membranes with multilayer nanovoid structures in situ by introducing cosolvents in the IP reaction with permeability up to 2.26 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1, providing theoretical and experimental bases for further enrichment of CAIP. [Display omitted] • Exploring the effects of different amides on the diffusion of amine monomers. • Longer chain DMPr contributes to the formation of multilayered nanovoid structures. • Correlating amine monomer diffusion rate with PA layer evolution. • TFC a-o -DMPr shows water permeability of 2.26 LMH/bar and NaCl rejection of 98.38 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The robust correlation between the performance of thin-film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis membranes and the polyamide (PA) active layer determines the necessity of precise design of the PA layer, and this regulation primarily involves the surface morphology and internal characteristics of the PA layer. In this study, we fabricated honeycomb Turing structure or nanovoid-rich TFC series membranes using polar/nonpolar organic phase additives. Characterization and simulation results confirmed that the enhancement of membrane performance relied more on the abundant nanovoids within the PA layer rather than the ordered honeycomb lattice surface. Notably, the TFC-nDCE membrane with multilayer nanovoids exhibited an approximately 89 % improvement in water permeability while maintaining satisfactory salt rejection (98.29 %). We emphasized the significant role of nanovoids in the diffusion process of amine monomers and investigated the potential relationship between nanovoids and the degree of surface cross-linking. Building upon this, a new insight into the formation of nanovoids induced by PA anisotropic growth was presented through a careful analysis of the amine monomer diffusion rate and the morphological evolution of nanovoids. The structure-property relationship between internal structures, surface morphologies, and performances was systematically and thoroughly investigated, pointing out the direction for the rational design of TFC membranes. [Display omitted] • Revealed effects of nanovoids on the water/salt flow in honeycomb Turing PA layer. • Impacts of nanovoids on the physicochemical structure of PA layer were emphasized. • New insights on the anisotropic growth of PA were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • NF-like iTFC FO membrane was paired with a high-valence food additive. • C 6 H 5 K 3 O 7 was identified as the optimal draw solute for pre-concentrating fruit juice. • MgSO 4 was found to be suitable for further concentration of fruit juice. • One dual-stage and dual-cycle FO was proposed without the need of DS recovery. • A hybrid system can establish a relationship between fruit and juice production. The technology of forward osmosis (FO) has garnered increasing research interest for its excellent advantages in producing high-quality concentrated juice. However, the practical application of FO to concentrate juice is hindered by the lack of an appropriate FO membrane and matched draw solution. To address this challenge, several additives containing high-valence ions were investigated to improve the feasibility of the FO process for juice concentration, using a nanofiltration(NF)-like FO membrane with an interlayer constructed by MOFs-based nanoparticles. The prepared NF-like FO membranes exhibited negative potential, superior hydrophilicity, and uneven crosslinking, which matched well with five selected additives (C 6 H 8 O 7 , K 2 SO 4 , C 6 H 5 K 3 O 7 , MgSO 4 , and KH 2 PO 4), potentially preventing bacterial growth on the membrane surface during the concentration process and contributing to the growth of plants. A comprehensive comparison of selected five additives indicated that, with the exception of MgSO 4 , these additives at their saturated concentration exhibited marginally higher osmotic pressure than that of the fresh juice, indicating their limited suitability for further concentration of the fresh juice. However, during the pre-concentration phase of the fresh juice, the juice concentration is lower than that of the fresh juice due to the additional water incorporated during the juice production process. C 6 H 5 K 3 O 7 was the optimal draw solution for pre-concentrating apple juice, while MgSO 4 was better suited for further concentrating fresh juice. The concentrations of C 6 H 5 K 3 O 7 and MgSO 4 in the final juice were well below their limit value. Based on these results, a proposal for a dual-stage and dual-cycle FO process has demonstrated to achieve highly efficient concentration of fruit juice and seamless integration of juice production and fertigation of fruit trees, without the need to consider draw solution recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For nanofiltration (NF) membranes, constructing the interlayer between the substrate and polyamide (PA) layer could balance the trade-off effect between the selectivity and permeability. However, the influencing mechanism of the interlayer to the PA layer is mostly indirect, and how to regulate the physicochemical properties of the PA layer to improve the membrane property remains to be investigated. In this study, porous Zn-TCPP nanosheets with active reaction sites were used to construct interlayer and directly participated in interfacial polymerization (IP) reaction through the edge COOH of nanosheets reacting with piperazine (PIP) to further regulate PA layer physicochemical properties. Controlling the amount of nanosheets involved in the reaction, NF membranes with striated Turing structures, higher negatively charged surface and larger effective filtration area were obtained. The NF membrane permeability with Zn-TCPP interlayer was significantly improved by 123 % while the Cl−/ SO 4 2 − selectivity was greatly enhanced to 72.69, meanwhile it showed excellent performance stability. This study presents a new perspective that the interlayer can modulate the NF membrane physicochemical properties to improve its performance by directly participating in the IP reaction. [Display omitted] • Porous Zn-TCPP interlayer directly participates in the IP reaction via peripheral carboxyl groups. • Zn-TCPP interlayer reduces the pore size of substrate and inhibits the downward growth of polyamide. • Surface morphology of NF membranes is changed, and hydrophilicity and electronegativity are enhanced. • Zn-TCPP interlayer improves the selectivity of NF membrane for mono-/di-anions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Postharvest deterioration is among the major challenges for the fruit industry. Regulation of the fruit softening rate is an effective strategy for extending shelf‐life and reducing the economic losses due postharvest deterioration. The tomato myoinositol monophosphatase 3 gene SlIMP3, which showed highest expression level in fruit, was expressed and purified. SlIMP3 demonstrated high affinity with the L‐Gal 1‐P and D‐Ins 3‐P, and acted as a bifunctional enzyme in the biosynthesis of AsA and myoinositol. Overexpression of SlIMP3 not only improved AsA and myoinositol content, but also increased cell wall thickness, improved fruit firmness, delayed fruit softening, decreased water loss, and extended shelf‐life. Overexpression of SlIMP3 also increased uronic acid, rhamnose, xylose, mannose, and galactose content in cell wall of fruit. Treating fruit with myoinositol obtained similar fruit phenotypes of SlIMP3‐overexpressed fruit, with increased cell wall thickness and delayed fruit softening. Meanwhile, overexpression of SlIMP3 conferred tomato fruit tolerance to Botrytis cinerea. The function of SlIMP3 in cell wall biogenesis and fruit softening were also verified using another tomato species, Ailsa Craig (AC). Overexpression of SlDHAR in fruit increased AsA content, but did not affect the cell wall thickness or fruit firmness and softening. The results support a critical role for SlIMP3 in AsA biosynthesis and cell wall biogenesis, and provide a new method of delaying tomato fruit softening, and insight into the link between AsA and cell wall metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]