Charged-Controlled Separation of Nitrogen from Natural Gas Using Boron Nitride Fullerene

Natural gas (the main component is methane) has been widely used as a fuel and raw material in industry. Removal of nitrogen (N₂) from methane (CH₄) can reduce the cost of natural gas transport and improve its efficiency. However, their extremely similar size increases the difficulty of separating N₂ from CH_4. In this study, we have performed a comprehensive investigation of N₂ and CH₄ adsorption on different charge states of boron nitride (BN) nanocage fullerene, B₃₆N₃₆, by using a density functional theory approach. The calculational results indicate that B₃₆N₃₆ in the negatively charged state has high selectivity in separating N₂ from CH₄. Moreover, once the extra electron is removed from the BN nanocage, the N₂ will be released from the material. This study demonstrates that the B₃₆N₃₆ fullerene can be used as a highly selective and reusable material for the separation of N₂ from CH₄. The study also provides a clue to experimental design and application of BN nanomaterials for natural gas purification

Straw input can parallelly influence the bacterial and chemical characteristics of maize rhizosphere

The effects of straw input, including three strategies: chopped straw, straw-derived compost and biochar, on bacterial communities and chemical composition in maize rhizosphere were investigated according to a three-year field experiment. Illumina MiSeq sequencing showed that biochar input increased bacterial richness but decreased bacterial diversity in rhizosphere when compared with the results from no straw control. The functional prediction of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome pathways confirmed that soil subjected to straw input changed the abundance of microbiomes involved in carbohydrate metabolism significantly. Metabolomics analysis showed that straw input changed the metabolite profile of the rhizosphere soil of maize, which was most evident in the treatment of chopped-straw input. The match between the global metabolic profiles and bacterial distribution patterns was weak by performing Procrustes analysis (m2 = 0.851, R = 0.386, P P < 0.05).</p

Strongly Cooperative Nano-CoO/Co Active Phase in Hierarchically Porous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Microspheres for Efficient Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis

The development of highly efficient, non-noble-metal-based bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts with low cost for both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the key for the commercialization of rechargeable metal-air batteries and regenerative fuel cells. In this work, a non-noble-metal-based, hierarchically porous CoO/Co@N–C microsphere electrocatalyst with low cost and earth-abundance was created by directly reducing carbonized glucose-coated urchin-like Co3O4 microspheres through the carbon-thermal processing with NH3 reducing environment. Urchin-like Co3O4 microspheres provided a Co source for the creation of nano-CoO/Co active phase and served as the template without a removal requirement for the creation of hierarchically porous N-doped carbon microsphere matrix with abundant macropores and mesopores for efficient mass diffusion. Among its three major components, CoO played the leading role to provide both ORR and OER active sites, a porous N-doped carbon microsphere matrix mainly provided the conductive catalyst support, and the metallic Co component mainly acted as a “bridge” between CoO and graphic carbon to reduce the electron transfer resistance for the enhancement of its conductivity. Thus, their synergetic effect within its unique structure endowed a superior bifunctional performance toward both ORR and OER to the CoO/Co@N–C electrocatalyst over the commercially available Pt/C and Ir/C electrocatalysts

Table1_Pesticide residues risk assessment and quality evaluation of four characteristic fruits in Zhejiang Province, China.DOCX

Miaoxi yellow peach, lanxi loquat, qingyuan sweet spring tangelo and haining pear are characteristic fruits in Zhejiang Province, China. This study investigated the levels of pesticides in these fruits in Zhengjiang Province, China, along with the associated risk of dietary exposure for consumer. In total, 25 pesticides were detected in the 68 samples. The pesticide detection rate of the samples was 95.59%, and the level of prochloraz in a pear sample was found to be higher than the maximum residue limit (MRL) in China. Overall, the pesticide residues were very low, and residue levels ranged from 0.001 to 1.06 mg/kg, of which 80.88% simultaneously occurred with 2–8 mixed residues. Acetamiprid (54.55%), carbendazim (64.71%), prochloraz (94.74%) and pyraclostrobin (85.71%) had the highest detection rate in the four fruits, respectively. A risk assessment of human exposure to pesticides via the intake of the four fruit types was performed, and the chronic intake risk (HQc) and acute intake risk (HQa) of a single pesticide and the hazard index (HI) of the mixture of pesticides for adults and children from the four fruit types were found to be less than 1, the exposure assessment showed that the levels of pesticides in the four fruit types were safe for human consumption. In addition, the quality of the four fruit types was analyzed and found to be not stable enough. We suggest strengthening standardized planting and management technology to improve product quality and safety, in particular, cultivators should use pesticides reasonably and control the pre-harvest interval (PHI) in order to better protect consumer health.</p

Postillumination Activity in a Single-Phase Photocatalyst of Mo-Doped TiO₂ Nanotube Array from Its Photocatalytic “Memory”

Several composite photocatalysts with photocatalytic “memory” effect had recently been developed, which could possess postillumination activity for an extended period of time in the dark for many potential applications. Here, a single-phase photocatalyst of Mo-doped TiO2 nanotube array was developed for the first time with the postillumination photocatalytic memory effect, which could eliminate the requirement of building composite photocatalysts with heterojunctions and largely broaden the material selection for this interesting photocatalytic memory effect. Because of the proper electronic band gap structure and variable valences of Mo dopants, photogenerated electrons could transfer from TiO2 to Mo dopants and be trapped there by reducing Mo6+ to Mo5+ under UV irradiation. When UV irradiation was switched off, these trapped electrons could be released from Mo dopants and react with O2 through the two-electron O2 reduction process to produce H2O2 in the dark. Thus, Mo-doped TiO2 nanotube array could remain active in the dark as demonstrated by its effective disinfection of Escherichia coli cells when UV irradiation was turned off. This work demonstrated that photocatalysts with postillumination photocatalytic memory effect were not limited to composite photocatalysts with heterojunctions. Various single-phase photocatalysts could also possess this interesting photocatalytic memory effect through doping metal elements with variable valences

DataSheet1_Bidirectional causal link between inflammatory bowel disease and celiac disease: A two-sample mendelian randomization analysis.PDF

Background: Observational research has shown a correlation between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) [comprising ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD)] and celiac disease. However, the relationship between these two diseases remains uncertain.Methods: We utilized two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to estimate the bidirectional causal relationships between IBD and celiac disease. This study utilized data on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Heterogeneity, pleiotropy, and sensitivity analyses were also performed to evaluate the MR results.Results: There was a significant causal relationship between IBD and CD and celiac disease (e.g., IBD and celiac disease, inverse variance weighting (IVW) odds ratio (OR) = 1.0828, 95% CI = 1.0258–1.1428, p = 0.0039; CD and celiac disease, IVW OR = 1.0807, 95% CI = 1.0227–1.1420, p = 0.0058). However, in the reverse direction, we found only suggestive positive causality between celiac disease and CD (e.g., IVW OR = 1.0366, 95% CI = 1.0031–1.0711, p = 0.0319). No evidence of heterogeneity between genetic variants was found (e.g., IBD vs. celiac disease, MR-Egger Q = 47.4391, p = 0.6159). Horizontal pleiotropy hardly influenced causality (e.g., IBD vs. celiac disease, MR-Egger test: p = 0.4340). Leave-one-out analysis showed that individual SNPs did not influence the general results.Conclusion: Our MR analysis revealed a positive causal link between IBD and celiac disease in the European population. In addition, several recommendations for disease prevention and clinical management have been discussed.</p

2 Year Wencheng Waxy Yam Pesticide Residue Investigation and Quality Evaluation

Wencheng waxy yam is famous for its glutinous and resilient taste, similar to waxy rice, but there is currently a lack of systematic research on the quality of this featured product, and little is known about its pesticide residues. We carried out a 2 year investigation of Wencheng waxy yam at seven sites from 2021 to 2022 to determine the oxidase content and phytochemical characteristics, namely, amylose, amylopectin, protein, reducing sugar, and mineral contents, such as K, Fe, and Zn, including the status of pesticide residues. The results showed that the oxidase content was affected by rainfall, and adequate water reduced the production of oxidase, including polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase, during the late growth stage of waxy yam, which was beneficial for reducing browning in yam processing. Radar map analysis showed that, with comprehensive evaluation, standardized production sites 1 and 2 had a relatively higher quality than 3–7 with small farmers. The results of pesticide multiresidue testing showed that no pesticides were detected in 64.29% of the samples, and the detected residues in the samples were very low, making the consumption of yam safe for consumers. These findings could be beneficial for the exploitation of the health benefits of waxy yam tubers and the innovation of yam-based functional products

Near Infrared-II Photothermal and Colorimetric Synergistic Sensing for Intelligent Onsite Dietary Myrosinase Profiling

Myrosinase (Myr) is a type of critical β-thioglucosidase enzyme activator essential for sustaining many functional foods to perform their health-promoting functions. An accurate and reliable Myr test is meaningful for food quality and dietary nutrition assessments, whereas the currently reported methods do not guarantee specificity and have high reliance on instrumentation, which are not suitable for rapid and onsite Myr screening especially in complex systems from various sources. Herein, we present a unique NIR-II absorption-based photothermal-responsive colorimetric biosensor for anti-interference onsite Myr determination and realization of rapid visualized outputs with the aid of smartphone calculation. Typically, assisted by glucose oxidase (GOx), Myr specifically converts the sinigrin substrate into hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) that can oxidize 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) catalyzed by AuNPs to form a charge transfer complex (CTC) with NIR-II absorption and photothermal characters. Delightfully, such a proposed method is able to determine Myr within a wide range of 0 to 172.5 mU/mL with a detection limit down to 2.96 mU/mL. Moreover, simple, rapid, and real-time visual Myr identification in actual food-sourced samples could also be readily achieved by smartphone readout processing, with the promising advantages of anti-interference, high accuracy, and low cost as well as labor-saving and intelligence engagement, thus providing great feasibility for precise measurement in complex and dynamic dietary sample analysis. Overall, our proposed method presents a novel technology for onsite dietary Myr enzyme profiling, which is promising to be applied in the food industry for nutritional composition profiles, freshness evaluation, and quality assessment

Cohering Plasma into Adhesive Gel by Natural Biopolymer–Nanoparticle Hybrid Powder for Efficient Hemostasis and Wound Healing

Hemostatic powder is commonly used in emergency bleeding control due to its suitability for irregularly shaped wounds, ease of use, and stable storage. However, traditional powder often has limited tissue adhesion and weak thrombus support, which makes it vulnerable to displacement by blood flow. Herein, we have developed a tricomponent hemostatic powder (MQS) composed of mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticle (MBG), positively charged quaternized chitosan (QCS), and negatively charged catechol-modified alginate (SADA). Upon application to the wound, MBG with its high specific surface area quickly absorbs plasma, concentrating the blood coagulation factor. Simultaneously, the water-soluble QCS and SADA interact with each other and form a net, which can be further cross-linked by MBG. This network efficiently binds and entraps clustered blood coagulation factors, ultimately resulting in the formation of a durable and robust thrombus. Furthermore, the formed net adheres to the injury site, offering protection against thrombus disruption caused by the bloodstream. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of these three components, MQS demonstrates superior hemostatic performance compared to commercial hemostatic powders like Celox in both arterial injuries and noncompressible liver puncture wounds. Furthermore, MQS can effectively accelerate wound healing. In addition, MQS exhibits excellent antibacterial activity, cytocompatibility, and hemocompatibility. These advantages of MQS, including strong blood clotting, wet tissue adherence, antibacterial activity, wound healing ability, biosafety, ease of use, and stable storage, make it a promising hemostatic agent for emergency situations

Novel Strategy of Polymers in Combination with Silica Particles for Reversible Control of Oil–Water Interface

Hybrid smart emulsification systems are highly applicable in manipulating oil-in-water (O/W) droplets. Herein, novel switchable block polymers containing both zwitterionic and tertiary amine pendent groups were designed and synthesized to combine with charged silica particles to stabilize the O/W emulsion responsive to pH. This study was carried out in O/W emulsions stabilized with the polymer and silica particles under different pH conditions. The emulsion system was also simulated using molecular dynamics simulation to reveal the mechanism at molecular levels, thus gaining insight into the relationships between the emulsifying properties and the molecular interaction of the mixed system. Upon acidification of the continuous aqueous phase, protonated polymers with excellent hydrophilicity were induced by charged silica particles to cause rapid emulsion coalescence. In alkaline media, the mixed system conversely stabilized the O/W emulsions, cutting polymer consumption by over three-quarters. The emulsification and demulsification can be switched alternately by tuning the pH conditions. The applications exhibited excellent efficiency in separating heavy oil/water emulsions and proved the high conversion rate in emulsion polymerization. Overall, with this novel strategy to relieve tedious modifications on particle surfaces and massive consumption of polymers, the designed responsive emulsification systems can impart intelligent and controllable chemical reactivity to emulsions on demand in a more affordable and sustainable way