Efficient Bias-Free Degradation of Sulfamethazine by TiO₂ Nanoneedle Arrays Photoanode and Co₃O₄ Photocathode System under LED-Light Irradiation

Solving high electrical-energy input for pollutants degradation is one of the core requirements for the practical application of photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) technology. Herein, we developed a self-driven dual-photoelectrode PEC system (TiO2 NNs-Co3O4) composed of a TiO2 nanoneedle arrays (TiO2 NNs) photoanode and Co3O4 photocathode for the first time. Under light-emitting-diode (LED) illumination, the bias-free TiO2 NNs-Co3O4 PEC system exhibited excellent PEC performance, with an internal bias as high as 0.19 V, achieving near complete degradation (99.62%) of sulfamethazine (SMT) with a pseudo-first-order rate constant of 0.042 min−1. The influences of solution pH, typical inorganic anions, natural organic matter, and initial SMT concentration on the PEC performance were investigated. Moreover, the main reactive oxygen species (h+, •OH, •O2−) in the dual-photoelectrode PEC system for SMT decomposition were elaborated. The practical application feasibility for efficient water purification of this unbiased PEC system was evaluated. It was proved that the TiO2 NNs photoanode provided a negative bias while the Co3O4 photocathode provided a positive bias for the photoanode, which made this system operate without external bias. This work elucidated the cooperative mechanism of photoelectrodes, providing guidance to develop a sustainable, efficient, and energy-saving PEC system for wastewater treatment

Device and Method Suitable for Matching and Adjusting Reel Speed and Forward Speed of Multi-Crop Harvesting

In order to meet the requirements of multi-crop harvesting, reduce the loss of harvesting, and improve the quality of harvesting, the device and method of matching and adjusting the rotation speed and forward speed of the pulling reel were designed. On the premise of satisfying the matching regulation, the parameters of the rotary wheel and the cutting table were adjusted so that the rotational speed ratio λ of the harvest crop was in the suitable range of the rotational speed ratio of the crop. The speed ratio was designed as a suitable interval of different crops by experiments and experience, and, in order to meet the requirements, it was designed to optimize the wheel speed. The speed-matching was designed, and through the experiments on the wheel-speed-adjustment error, which was less than 2%, it was designed to meet the design requirements. Crop-harvesting experiments were carried out under rotational speed-matching and a random speed, and the experimental results showed that the loss rate under rotational speed-matching was significantly lower than that under random speeds; the tests showed that the wheel speed designed with speed-matching can effectively reduce the loss rate

Device and Method Suitable for Matching and Adjusting Reel Speed and Forward Speed of Multi-Crop Harvesting

In order to meet the requirements of multi-crop harvesting, reduce the loss of harvesting, and improve the quality of harvesting, the device and method of matching and adjusting the rotation speed and forward speed of the pulling reel were designed. On the premise of satisfying the matching regulation, the parameters of the rotary wheel and the cutting table were adjusted so that the rotational speed ratio λ of the harvest crop was in the suitable range of the rotational speed ratio of the crop. The speed ratio was designed as a suitable interval of different crops by experiments and experience, and, in order to meet the requirements, it was designed to optimize the wheel speed. The speed-matching was designed, and through the experiments on the wheel-speed-adjustment error, which was less than 2%, it was designed to meet the design requirements. Crop-harvesting experiments were carried out under rotational speed-matching and a random speed, and the experimental results showed that the loss rate under rotational speed-matching was significantly lower than that under random speeds; the tests showed that the wheel speed designed with speed-matching can effectively reduce the loss rate

Prevalence and associated factors of psychological distress in tuberculosis patients in Northeast China: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Psychological distress, a major comorbidities of tuberculosis (TB) patients, has posed a serious threat to the progress being made in global TB programs by affecting treatment adherence and health outcomes. However, the magnitude and associated factors of psychological distress have not been fully studied in China. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence of psychological distress in TB patients and to further determine the effects of socio-demographic characteristics, health-related variables, substance use status, social support, and experienced stigma on psychological distress. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among TB patients attending three medical institutions in Dalian, Liaoning Province, Northeast China from November 2020 to March 2021. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect data on patients’ socio-demographic characteristics, health-related information, substance use status, psychological distress, family function, doctor-patient relationship, policy support, experienced stigma and so on. The binary logistics regression model was used to determine the associated factors of psychological distress. Results A total of 473 TB patients were enrolled in this study, and the prevalence of psychological distress was 64.1%. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that patients with a middle school education level or above (OR: 0.521, 95%CI: 0.279–0.974), no adverse drug reactions (OR: 0.476, 95%CI: 0.268–0.846), and regular physical exercise (OR: 0.528, 95%CI: 0.281–0.993) were more likely to stay away from psychological distress. However, patients who had a high economic burden (OR: 1.697, 95%CI: 1.014–2.840), diabetes (OR: 2.165, 95%CI: 1.025–4.573), self-rated illness severe (OR: 3.169, 95%CI: 1.081–9.285), perceived poor resistance (OR: 2.065, 95%CI: 1.118–3.815), severe family dysfunction (OR: 4.001, 95%CI: 1.158–13.823), perceived need for strengthen psychological counseling (OR: 4.837, 95%CI: 2.833–8.258), and a high experienced stigma (OR: 3.253, 95%CI: 1.966–5.384) tended to have a psychological distress. Conclusions The study found that the proportion of psychological distress among TB patients was high in Northeast China, and it was influenced by a variety of factors. Effective interventions to reduce psychological distress in TB patients urgently need to be developed, and greater attention should be given to patients with risk factors

An engineered Cas12i nuclease that is an efficient genome editing tool in animals and plants

Summary: The type V-I CRISPR-Cas system is becoming increasingly more attractive for genome editing. However, natural nucleases of this system often exhibit low efficiency, limiting their application. Here, we used structure-guided rational design and protein engineering to optimize an uncharacterized Cas12i nuclease, Cas12i3. As a result, we developed Cas-SF01, a Cas12i3 variant that exhibits significantly improved gene editing activity in mammalian cells. Cas-SF01 shows comparable or superior editing performance compared to SpCas9 and other Cas12 nucleases. Compared to natural Cas12i3, Cas-SF01 has an expanded PAM range and effectively recognizes NTTN and noncanonical NATN and TTVN PAMs. In addition, we identified an amino acid substitution, D876R, that markedly reduced the off-target effect while maintaining high on-target activity, leading to the development of Cas-SF01HiFi (high-fidelity Cas-SF01). Finally, we show that Cas-SF01 has high gene editing activities in mice and plants. Our results suggest that Cas-SF01 can serve as a robust gene editing platform with high efficiency and specificity for genome editing applications in various organisms