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Abstract As a highly salt-resistant mangrove, Avicennia marina can thrive in the hypersaline water. The leaves of Avicennia marina play a crucial role in salinity stress adaptability by secreting salt. Although the functions of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in leaves remain unknown, they have emerged as regulators in leaf development, aging and salt response. In this study, we employed transcriptomic data of both short-term and long-term salt treated leaves to identify salt-associated lncRNAs of leaf tissue. As a result, 687 short-term and 797 long-term salt-associated lncRNAs were identified. Notably, both short-term and long-term salt-associated lncRNAs exhibited slightly longer lengths and larger exons, but smaller introns compared with salt-non-associated lncRNAs. Furthermore, salt-associated lncRNAs also displayed higher tissue-specificity than salt-non-associated lncRNAs. Most of the salt-associated lncRNAs were common to short- and long-term salt treatments. And about one fifth of the downregulated salt-associated lncRNAs identified both in two terms were leaf tissue-specific lncRNAs. Besides, these leaf-specific lncRNAs were found to be involved in the oxidation–reduction and photosynthesis processes, as well as several metabolic processes, suggesting the noticeable functions of salt-associated lncRNAs in regulating salt responses of Avicennia marina leaves.

Abstract Radiotherapy plays a vital role in cancer therapy. However, the hypoxic microenvironment of tumors greatly limits the effectiveness, thus it is crucial to develop a simple, efficient, and safe radiosensitizer to reverse hypoxia and ameliorate the efficacy of radiotherapy. Inspired by the structure of canonical nanodrug Abraxane, herein, a native HSA‐modified CaO2 nanoparticle system (CaO2‐HSA) prepared by biomineralization‐induced self‐assembly is developed. CaO2‐HSA will accumulate in tumor tissue and decompose to produce oxygen, altering the hypoxic condition inside the tumor. Simultaneously, ROS and calcium ions will lead to calcium overload and further trigger immunogenic cell death. Notably, its sensitizing enhancement ratio (SER = 3.47) is much higher than that of sodium glycididazole used in the clinic. Furthermore, in animal models of in situ oral cancer, CaO2‐HSA can effectively inhibit tumor growth. With its high efficacy, facile preparation, and heavy‐metal free biosafety, the CaO2‐HSA‐based radiosensitizer holds enormous potential for oral cancer therapy.

The escalating discharge of textile wastewater with plenty of dye and salt has resulted in serious environmental risks. Membranes assembled from two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials with many tunable interlayer spacings are promising materials for dye/salt separation. However, the narrow layer spacing and tortuous interlayer transport channels of 2D-material-based membranes limit the processing capacity and the permeability of small salt ions for efficient dye/salt separation. In this work, a novel sepiolite/vermiculite membrane was fabricated using Meyer rod-coating and naturally occurring clay. The intercalation of sepiolite Nanofibers between vermiculite Nanosheets provides additional transport nanochannels and forms looser permeable networks, producing composite membranes with remarkably enhanced flux. As a result, the optimized membranes with 80% sepiolite exhibit remarkable flux as high as 78.12 LMH bar−1, outstanding dye rejection (Congo Red~98.26%), and excellent selectivity of dye/salt of 10.41. In addition, this novel all-clay composite membrane demonstrates stable separation performance under acidity, alkalinity and prolonged operation conditions. The large-scale sepiolite/vermiculite membranes made by the simple proposed method using low-cost materials provide new strategies for efficient and environmentally-friendly dye/salt separation.

Abstract Background Periodontitis has become an increasingly important public health issue, coupled with a high economic burden for prevention and treatment. Exposure to essential trace heavy metals has been associated with various diseases; however, the relationships between essential trace heavy metals and periodontitis remain inconclusive. Objectives To investigate the association between essential trace heavy metals in tap water and periodontitis in a nationally representative sample in China. Methods We conducted a nationwide study including 1348 participants from the Fourth National Oral Health Survey in the 2015–2016 period. The trace heavy metals concentration was measured in the local pipeline terminal tap water. Periodontitis was diagnosed according to the classification scheme proposed at the 2018 world workshop on the classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases and conditions. We used weighted multivariable logistic regression to estimate the association between essential trace heavy metals and the risk of periodontitis. We additionally used spline analysis to explore the possible nonlinear dose-response associations. Results Periodontitis patients were exposed to higher concentrations of essential trace heavy metals. In adjusted models, for 1 SD increase in the concentration of iron, manganese, and copper in tap water, the risk of periodontitis increased by 30% (OR: 1.30, 95%CI: 1.12–1.50), 20% (OR: 1.20, 95%CI: 1.03–1.41), and 20% (OR: 1.20, 95%CI: 1.04–1.39), respectively. Stratified analyses demonstrated that the associations between essential trace heavy metals and periodontitis were higher in females, elders, and rural residents. Spline analysis revealed nonlinear exposure-response relationships between periodontitis and exposure to iron, manganese, and copper in tap water. Conclusions Exposures to essential trace heavy metals in drinking water were associated with greater odds of periodontitis. Given the growing burden of periodontitis, our study sheds light on tailored public health policies for improving drinking water standards to alleviate periodontitis impairment.

Abstract Application‐oriented assembly of two‐dimensional nanosheets with uniform nanochannels is critical for fabricating sophisticated, high‐performance membranes for water treatment. However, fabricating the desired membranes by a simple, fast, and effective method is a challenge as most of the previous methods are based on batch processes rather than a continuous roll‐to‐roll process. Here, a simple Meyer rod‐coating approach to continuously fabricate large‐size and flat MXene membranes at a scale up to 5 m is introduced. This study demonstrated that a high MXene concentration, above 10 mg mL−1, is critical in processability due to the desired viscosity, surface tension, and viscoelastic properties. The as‐made MXene membranes show that shearing and solutal‐Marangoni flow can considerably improve the ordering of the stacked MXene nanoflakes. Thus, the rod‐coated MXene membranes demonstrate a smaller surface roughness and interlayer distance compared to the MXene membranes fabricated by the most commonly vacuum‐assisted filtration. The rod‐costed MXene membranes show superior performance in dye and mono/divalent cation separation. The proposed roll‐to‐roll Meyer rod‐coating method can also be used to fabricate MXene‐based composites, such as MXene/carbon nanotubes and MXene/polymer, using the inks containing high concentration MXene and other desired compositions. This roll‐to‐roll method will promote an industry‐level fabrication and application of MXene‐based membranes.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the scanning time (ST) and accuracy of 10 repeated upper and lower dentition scans by four groups of operators with different professional backgrounds., Methods: There were a total of 32 participants, including dentists, nurses, postgraduates, and undergraduates (n=8). They received the same training about intraoral scanning and then performed 10 repeat scans on the plaster maxillary and mandibular dentition models in a manikin head, with the first five scans being the T1 phase and the last five scans being the T2 phase. Each ST was recorded. Trueness and precision were evaluated by root mean square (RMS) value gained from alignments of corresponding virtual models. For statistical analysis, the paired-sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation tests were employed (α=0.05)., Results: Limiting the comparison in scan phase and scan target the sequence of STs for the four groups was the same (p<0.05), by which undergraduates, postgraduates, nurses, and dentists were in descending order. Undergraduates gained the best precision, followed by postgraduates, dentists, and nurses, in both maxillary and mandibular scanning (p<0.05). Compared with corresponding items of the T1 phase, the trueness of the T2 phase was much higher (p<0.05), while the ST of the T2 phase was much shorter (p<0.05)., Conclusions: The operator's professional background affects the precision and scanning time but not the trueness. Most dental personnel have good access to the intraoral scanner. As the number of scans increased, the accuracy and scanning efficiency also improved., (©Operative Dentistry, 2023.)