Water-Soluble Synthetic Polymers: Their Environmental Emission Relevant Usage, Transport and Transformation, Persistence, and Toxicity

Water-soluble synthetic polymers (WSPs) are distinct from insoluble plastic particles, which are both critical components of synthetic polymers. In the history of human-made macromolecules, WSPs have consistently portrayed a crucial role and served as the ingredients of a variety of products (e.g., flocculants, thickeners, solubilizers, surfactants, etc.) commonly used in human society. However, the environmental exposures and risks of WSPs with different functions remain poorly understood. This paper provides a critical review of the usage, environmental fate, environmental persistence, and biological consequences of multiple types of WSPs in commercial and industrial production. Investigations have identified a wide market of applications and potential environmental threats of various types of WSPs, but we still lack the suitable assessment tools. The effects of physicochemical properties and environmental factors on the environmental distribution as well as the transport and transformation of WSPs are further summarized. Evidence regarding the degradation of WSPs, including mechanical, thermal, hydrolytic, photoinduced, and biological degradation is summarized, and their environmental persistence is discussed. The toxicity data show that some WSPs can cause adverse effects on aquatic species and microbial communities through intrinsic toxicity and physical hazards. This review may serve as a guide for environmental risk assessment to help develop a sustainable path for WSP management

Manipulating Coherent Plasmon–Exciton Interaction in a Single Silver Nanorod on Monolayer WSe₂

Strong coupling between plasmons and excitons in nanocavities can result in the formation of hybrid plexcitonic states. Understanding the dispersion relation of plexcitons is important both for fundamental quantum science and for applications including optoelectronics and nonlinear optics devices. The conventional approach, based on statistics over different nanocavities, suffers from large inhomogeneities from the samples, owing to the nonuniformity of nanocavities and the lack of control over the locations and orientations of the excitons. Here we report the first measurement of the dispersion relationship of plexcitons in an individual nanocavity. Using a single silver nanorod as a Fabry-Pérot nanocavity, we realize strong coupling of plasmon in single nanocavity with excitons in a single atomic layer of tungsten diselenide. The plexciton dispersion is measured by in situ redshifting the plasmon energy via successive deposition of a dielectric layer. Room-temperature formation of plexcitons with Rabi splittings as large as 49.5 meV is observed. The realization of strong plasmon–exciton coupling by in situ tuning of the plasmon provides a novel route for the manipulation of excitons in semiconductors

Syntheses, Crystal Structure, Characterization, and Properties of Two Novel Superamolecular Phosphotungstate-Pyridine Complexes

<div><p>Two new inorganic-organic compounds constructed from phosphotungstate and pyridines have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. The formulas of the two compounds are (C₅H₇N₂)₃(C₅H₆N₂)₃(PW₁₂O₄₀)·2H₂O (<b>1</b>) and (C₆H₈N)₃(C₆H₇N)(PW₁₂O₄₀)·9H₂O (<b>2</b>). They have been characterized by IR, UV-vis, TG-DTA, FL, CV, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The two compounds both show three-dimensional networks. These compounds exhibit good catalytic activity for catalytic oxidation of methanol over a continuous-flow fixed-bed microreactor, when the initial concentration of methanol is 5.37 g⋅m⁻³, and flow rate is 4.51 mL⋅min⁻¹. 0.2 g compound <b>1</b> (or compound <b>2)</b> as the catalyst can eliminate methanol completely at 150°C (175°C for compound <b>2</b>).</p></div

Two multifunctional organic-inorganic hybrid complexes based on polyoxometalates, BiEDTA and sodium linker: crystal structures, photochromic, and catalytic performances

<p>Two 3-D organic–inorganic hybrid supermolecular complexes, Na(BiHEDTA·2H₂O)₃(PW₁₂O₄₀)·2H₃O (<b>BiPW</b>) and Na(BiHEDTA·2H₂O)₃(PMo₁₂O₄₀)·2H₃O·2H₂O (<b>BiPMo</b>) ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) have been synthesized by solution method and characterized by ultraviolet visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis, photoluminescence, cyclic voltammetry, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD analysis reveals that <b>BiPW</b> and <b>BiPMo</b> are isostructural with 3-D architectures assembled by 2-D layer tetranuclear cation and a Keggin-type polyoxoanion. Although these two hybrids exhibit similar structures, the properties depend on the nature of polyoxoanion [PM₁₂O₄₀]³⁻ (<i>M</i> = <i>W</i>, Mo). Under UV irradiation, <b>BiPW</b> and <b>BiPMo</b> show fast response of reversible and irreversible photochromism, respectively. <b>BiPW</b> exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity in degradation of methyl orange dyes under irradiation of UV–visible light. It can be reused for at least six cycles without obvious loss of activity in the degradation experiments; <b>BiPMo</b> shows catalytic activity in elimination of methanol. The elimination rate of methanol reaches 56.9% when the concentration of methanol is 2.3 g·m⁻³ and the flow velocity is 10 mL·min⁻¹ at 100 °C.</p

Data_Sheet_1_Dregs of Cardamine hupingshanensis as a feed additive to improve the egg quality.docx

Natural plant herbs have many active compounds to prevent poultry diseases and improve poultry products. However, most herbs are supplied for human medicine. Thus, for economic and sustainable development purposes, the dregs of Cardamine hupingshanensis (DCH) were developed as a feed additive to improve the egg quality of laying hens in this work. Results showed that the contents of selenium in hen serum and eggs were increased under DCH feeding. Subsequently, DCH also promotes the antioxidant capacity and immunity of laying hens through the increase of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and immunoglobulin G (IgG) by ELISA detection. Finally, production performance and egg quality were further graded by monitoring the product condition and scoring the indexes of egg quality, which also displayed that DCH as a feed additive significantly improved the egg quality by enhancing yolk color, eggshell thickness, and egg shape index.</p

Association between LASP-1 expression and clinical characteristics in ccRCC patients.

<p>Abbreviations: ccRCC, clear cell renal cell cancer; LASP-1, LIM and SH3 protein 1.</p

LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP-1) overexpression in clear cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC) is associated with poor overall survival (A) and recurrence free survival (B).

<p>LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP-1) overexpression in clear cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC) is associated with poor overall survival (A) and recurrence free survival (B).</p

LASP-1 silencing inhibited RCC cell migration in vitro.

<p>Western blotting was used to verify knock-down of LASP-1 expression in 786–0 cells by siRNA transfection (A). An unpaired t-test was used to assess differences in the number of invaded cells per field between the 786–0 and si786–0 cell lines (B). Transwell results for the 786–0 and si786–0 cell lines are shown (C).</p

Substrate-Dependent Mechanism Switch in the Desaturation Reactions of the Mononuclear Nonheme Iron Enzyme PtlD

PtlD, a multifunctional mononuclear nonheme iron and α-ketoglutarate-dependent (NHFe/α-KG) dioxygenase involved in neopentalenoketolactone biosynthesis, catalyzes hydroxylation, desaturation, and olefin epoxidation reactions. Investigating desaturation reactions of nonactivated carbons mediated by NHFe/α-KG enzymes is intriguing, especially for understanding the fate of the substrate radicals formed after hydrogen atom abstraction by FeIVO species. Here, we investigate the desaturation reaction mechanism of PtlD using two distinct substrates: neopentalenolactone D (1) features a lone pair-containing oxygen atom adjacent to the olefin-forming carbon atoms, whereas pentalenolactone D (7) harbors a carbonyl group at the corresponding position. For substrate 1, our isotope effect measurement and protein mutagenesis experiments suggest the formation of a carbocation intermediate, which is subsequently deprotonated by a base to generate the desaturation products. Residue K288 serves as the base, while Y113 likely stabilizes the carbocation via a π-cation interaction. For substrate 7, oxygen incorporation patterns indicated that a carbocation intermediate is also formed but is unstable, leading to hydroxylation due to H2O quenching. Notably, substrate 7’s desaturation exhibits a temperature-dependent large kinetic isotope effect (KIE) and an inverse solvent isotope effect (SIE), suggesting that hydrogen tunneling contributes to the electron–proton transfer (EPT) process. These findings collectively reveal the cases of NHFe/α-KG enzymes, where distinct desaturation mechanisms switch with different substrates

LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP-1) expression in clear cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC) tissues and cell lines.

<p>LASP-1 protein expression in paraffin-embedded ccRCC tissues (A) and adjacent nontumorous tissues (B) using immunohistochemistry (magnification, 100×), in which positive LASP-1 immunostaining showed brown color. Wilcoxon analysis demonstrated that tumor tissues showed significantly higher LASP-1 expression than nontumorous tissues (C, n = 216). Western blot (D) and real-time PCR (E, n = 20) analyses confirmed the findings in immunohistochemistry analysis. Western blot analysis also showed differential LASP-1 expression in human embrynal kidney cells (HEK-293) and ccRCC cell lines (F). T refers to tumor tissues, whereas P refers to peritumor (nontumorous) tissues in panel D.</p