Faster Rate Research Articles

Effect of carbodiimides on the compatibility and hydrolytic behavior of PLA/PBAT blends

Blends of polylactic acid (PLA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) have great potential to replace conventional polyolefin and polyester materials. However, poor compatibility and fast degradation rate limit its development. In this paper, the effects of two monomer-type carbodiimides and one polymerized carbodiimide on the crystalline, thermal stability, hydrolysis properties, and mechanical properties of PLA/PBAT blends are investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, gel permeation chromatography, melt mass-flow rate, terminal carboxyl content, tensile properties, and rotational torque. It is found that all the three carbodiimide additives can improve the compatibility and enhance the mechanical, processing, and thermal stability properties of PLA/PBAT blends except for their reduced crystallization performance. Moreover, regarding the hydrolysis properties, the two monomeric carbodiimides exhibit little effect on the hydrolysis of PLA/PBAT blends, even accelerating the degradation rate under alkaline conditions. However, the antihydrolysis effect of polycarbodiimide is remarkable, which effectively improves the compatibility and antihydrolysis properties of PLA/PBAT blends.

A Self-Healing, Flowable, Yet Solid Electrolyte Suppresses Li-Metal Morphological Instabilities.

Lithium metal (Li0) solid-state batteries encounter implementation challenges due to dendrite formation, side reactions, and movement of the electrode-electrolyte interface in cycling. Notably, voids and cracks formed during battery fabrication/operation are hot spots for failure. Here, a self-healing, flowable yet solid electrolyte composed of mobile ceramic crystals embedded in a reconfigurable polymer network is reported. This electrolyte can auto-repair voids and cracks through a two-step self-healing process that occurs at a fast rate of 5.6µm h-1. A dynamical phase diagram is generated, showing the material can switch between liquid and solid forms in response to external strain rates. The flowability of the electrolyte allows it to accommodate the electrode volume change during Li0 stripping. Simultaneously, the electrolyte maintains a solid form with high tensile strength (0.28MPa), facilitating the regulation of mossy Li0 deposition. The chemistries and kinetics are studied by operando synchrotron X-ray and in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Solid-state NMR reveals a dual-phase ion conduction pathway and rapid Li+ diffusion through the stable polymer-ceramic interphase. This designed electrolyte exhibits extended cycling life in Li0-Li0 cells, reaching 12000 h at 0.2mA cm-2 and 5000 h at 0.5mA cm-2. Furthermore, owing to its high critical current density of 9mA cm-2, the Li0-LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) full cell demonstrates stable cycling at 5mA cm-2 for 1100 cycles, retaining 88% of its capacity, even under near-zero stack pressure conditions.

Spatio-temporal evolution of social-ecological system resilience in ethnic tourism destinations in mountainous areas and trend prediction: a case study in Wuling, China

Mountainous ethnic tourism lands are important social-ecological system types. With tourism as the main disturbance factor, the theory of social-ecological system resilience provides a new way to realize the sustainable development of ethno-tourism in mountainous areas. This study divides the social-ecological system into social, economic, and ecological subsystems. It constructs an evaluation index system to assess the resilience of ethnic tourism destinations in mountainous areas, considering vulnerability and adaptability. We investigate 64 counties in the Wuling Mountain area and use set-pair analysis to assess the resilience index of the social-ecological system from 2000 to 2020 and reveal the temporal and spatial characteristics. Obstacle degree models and a genetic algorithm-back propagation neural network are utilized to determine the influencing factors and predict future development trends. The following results were obtained: (1) Temporally, the resilience index shows a steady upward trend, reaching a moderate level. The resilience of the social subsystem fluctuates and rises; the economic subsystem exhibits slow, fast, and slow growth rates with occasional abrupt changes; and the ecological subsystem demonstrates a stable, slightly increasing trend. (2) Spatially, the resilience index is high at the edges and low in the central area, exhibiting a concave distribution. Most counties have moderate or higher resilience. The social and ecological subsystems have low resilience in the south and high resilience in the north. The resilience of the economic subsystem is high at the edges and low in the central area. (3) On the distribution of major obstacle factors, the first two are similar at the county level, and the last three are significantly different. The similarity of the barrier factors is related to the degree of regional proximity of the county, and overall, the similarity is decreasing from north to south and from west to east in the distribution pattern within the area. and to a certain extent, it is affected by terrain and geomorphology. (4) The spatial distribution of the resilience index is similar in 2025 and 2030. The index decreases slightly and then increases annually, with a lower growth rate in the south than in the north. Lower values occur in the northern and southwestern parts, whereas higher values are observed around high-value areas. The region as a whole will develop in a coordinated and integrated manner in the future.

Porosity Regulation of Surfactant‐Assisted Glycerol Organosolv Lignin Modified Hyper‐Cross‐Linked Polymers and Their Efficient Adsorption for Dyes From Water

ABSTRACTHere, we tried to use the natural biomass resources (lignin) to modify porous organic polymers (POPs) and expected to reduce the preparation cost and enhance the adsorption performance. Specifically, the surfactant‐assisted glycerol organosolv lignin (saGO lignin) was used as the modified agents to prepare lignin modified hyper‐cross‐linked polymers (LHCPs) by the copolymerization and Friedel‐Crafts reaction. We investigated the effect of synthesis conditions (the types and dosages of crosslinkers, the feeding amount of lignin, and so on) on the structure and adsorption performance of LHCPs. The results showed that divinyl benzene (DVB) crosslinked LHCP‐D (1041.3 m2/g) showed higher specific areas (SBET) than N,N′‐methylene diacrylamide (MBA) crosslinked LHCP‐M (183.1 m2/g), and the SBET had a certain increase with increasing the amount of DVB. Intriguingly, the SBET and micropore volume (Vmicro) of LHCPs appeared a linear decrease with the increase of lignin dosage, meanwhile, their morphology had a change from irregular block to agglomerated spherical particles, indicated their porosity and morphology can be well controlled. The Rhodamine B (RhB) adsorption experiments indicated that these LHCPs possessed fast adsorption rate (equilibrium time < 240 min) and good recycling performance, especially, LHCP‐D (lignin of 0.5 g, DVB of 1.0 g, catalyst of 3.0 g, reaction time of 10 h) showed the ultrahigh adsorption capacity, up to 743.7 mg/g. The adsorption mechanism was preliminarily investigated by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and adsorption models analysis, we found that the physical adsorption played the dominated roles by the π–π interaction, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic interaction. This work not only offered an important reference for the high‐value utilization of lignin, but also provided an effective sustainable adsorbent for environmental remediation.

A Detailed Reaction Mechanism for Thiosulfate Oxidation by Ozone in Aqueous Environments.

The ozone oxidation, or ozonation, of thiosulfate is an important reaction for wastewater processing, where it is used for remediation of mining effluents, and for studying aerosol chemistry, where its fast reaction rate makes it an excellent model reaction. Although thiosulfate ozonation has been studied since the 1950s, challenges remain in developing a realistic reaction mechanism that can satisfactorily account for all observed products with a sequence of elementary reaction steps. Here, we present novel measurements using trapped microdroplets to study the pH-dependent thiosulfate ozonation kinetics. We detect known products and intermediates, including SO32-, SO42-, S3O62-, and S4O62-, establishing agreement with the literature. However, we identify S2O42- as a new reaction intermediate and find that the currently accepted mechanism does not directly explain observed pH effects. Thus, we develop a new mechanism, which incorporates S2O42- as an intermediate and uses elementary steps to explain the pH dependence of thiosulfate ozonation. The proposed mechanism is tested using a kinetic model benchmarked to the experiments presented here, then compared to literature data. We demonstrate good agreement between the proposed thiosulfate ozonation mechanism and experiments, suggesting that the insights in this paper can be leveraged in wastewater treatment and in understanding potential climate impacts.

Crystallization‐correlated phase separation of polypropylene random copolymers

AbstractEthylene segments are incorporated into stereoregular propylene‐propylene‐propylene (PPP) homo‐sequences to create locally disordered ethylene‐propylene (EP) segments in polypropylene random copolymer (PPR) through a phase separation process, resulting in large quantities of spherical EP rubbery particles for improving impact toughness. However, the manipulation on size and distribution of these spherical EP rubbery phases remains insufficiently understood. In this study, the phase separation of PPR and the influence of crystallization on phase separation were investigated using rheological measurements and small‐angle x‐ray scattering (SAXS) methods. Combined with the isothermal crystallization method, phase separation was differentiated by the crystallization rate. The molecular chain states corresponding to different crystallization conditions were studied to interpret the varying rubbery particle sizes resulting from phase separation. The results showed that phase separation of EP segments from PPP is highly related to crystallization. Isothermal crystallization at temperatures ranging from 110 to 130°C leads to a high degree of phase separation due to the fast crystallization rate, as evidenced by the presence of small quantities of large pores in microscopic observations. This work provides insights into the phase separation of random copolymers and establishes correlations for manipulating the low‐temperature toughness of PPR.

Bibliometric and visual analysis of single-cell multiomics in neurodegenerative disease arrest studies

BackgroundNeurodegenerative diseases are progressive disorders that severely diminish the quality of life of patients. However, research on neurodegenerative diseases needs to be refined and deepened. Single-cell polyomics is a technique for obtaining transcriptomic, proteomic, and other information from a single cell. In recent years, the heat of single-cell multiomics as an emerging research tool for brain science has gradually increased. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the current status and trends of studies related to the application of single-cell multiomics in neurodegenerative diseases through bibliometrics.ResultA total of 596 publications were included in the bibliometric analysis. Between 2015 and 2022, the number of publications increased annually, with the total number of citations increasing significantly, exhibiting the fastest rate of growth between 2019 and 2022. The country/region collaboration map shows that the United States has the most publications and cumulative citations, and that China and the United States have the most collaborations. The institutions that produced the greatest number of articles were Harvard Medical School, Skupin, Alexander, and Wiendl. Among the authors, Heinz had the highest output. Mathys, H accumulated the most citations and was the authoritative author in the field. The journal Nature Communications has published the most literature in this field. A keyword analysis reveals that neurodegenerative diseases and lesions (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid beta) are the core and foundation of the field. Conversely, single-cell multiomics related research (e.g., single-cell RNA sequencing, bioinformatics) and brain nerve cells (e.g., microglia, astrocytes, neural stem cells) are the hot frontiers of this specialty. Among the references, the article “Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of Alzheimer’s disease” is the most frequently cited (1,146 citations), and the article “Cell types in the mouse cortex and hippocampus revealed by single-cell RNA-seq” was the most cited article in the field.ConclusionThe objective of this study is to employ bibliometric methods to visualize studies related to single-cell multiomics in neurodegenerative diseases. This will enable us to summarize the current state of research and to reveal key trends and emerging hotspots in the field.

Robust Metallized Liquid Crystal Elastomer Fiber Arrays Toward a Machine Learning‐Assisted Artificial Neuromuscular System with Perceptual Function

AbstractEndowing artificial muscles with perceptual function, as an octopus does, is highly desired but still suffering from interfacing mismatch between actuating and sensing units in a thin fiber. Herein, an artificial neuromuscular fiber capable of electrically responding to external strain/temperature and actuation path with power supply is reported by using polymer‐assisted metal deposition to firmly coat Cu nanoparticles on the surface of liquid crystal elastomer (LCE). The LCE core acts as an actuator, while the wrinkled Cu sheath provides environment interaction and actuation monitoring. Benefiting from the levodopa/polyethyleneimine interface design, this fiber exhibits large reversible contraction (47.61%), fast strain rate (370% s−1), high output power density (663.75 W kg−1) and reliable durability (1000 cycles) under electrical stimulation. Furthermore, by combining as‐made fiber arrays with electronic system and computing algorithm, this machine learning‐assisted artificial neuromuscular system can actuate the Chinese shadow puppetry and recognize its body movements with high accuracy. This work paves a revolutionary way for fabricating next‐generation flexible robots.

A novel iterative algorithm for nonlinear inelastic dynamic analysis of truss structures; MCB-Spline+Sp time integration method

The focus of this work is on the development of a novel algorithm for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of structures. In the sake of a general and easy-to-implement solution method, the tangential stiffness matrix is calculated by combining the Cauchy-Riemann equations derived from the differentiation of complex functions and using the nodal displacement perturbation vector. An implicit direct time integration method based on a cubic B-Spline is integrated with the incremental-iterative method using a quadrature rule based on the interpolation of spline functions, which is referred to as the MCB-Spline+Sp time integration method. A step-by-step algorithm for developing a computer code to implement this method is provided. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated through several nonlinear time history analyses, which demonstrate its accuracy and efficiency by observing less computational efforts and fast convergence rate. Moreover, a comparison is made between the developed method and well-established techniques such as the Newmark and Standard-Bathe time integration methods in combination with the iterative Newton-Raphson method.

Efficient Distributed Transfer Learning for Large‐Scale Gaussian Graphic Models

ABSTRACTA transfer learning for the large‐scale Gaussian graphical models (GGMs) is considered in a distributed architecture for fitting these target and auxiliary studies scattered across multiple sites. A distributed transfer learning algorithm, DisPower‐Trans‐CLIME, is proposed to learn the target GGMs by incorporating the data from similar and related auxiliary studies. The algorithm is communication efficient via the distributed power method for matrix decomposition. We show that DisPower‐Trans‐CLIME has a fast convergence rate comparable to the centred Trans‐CLIME algorithm. A debiased DisPower‐Trans‐CLIME is constructed and is proved to be element‐wise asymptotically normal for statistical inference. Thus, a multiple testing procedure is developed to detect edge of GGMs with false discovery rate (FDR) control. Extensive simulation experiments have been conducted to demonstrate superior numerical performance of our proposed learning algorithm on estimation and edge detection. It is also applied to infer the regional connection networks in brain regions of interest (ROIs) based on a target hospital site by leveraging the graph from multiple other hospital sites for autism spectrum disorder. We observe that the degrees of regional connectivity in the right brain are balanced, while the ones of the left brain region are extremely uneven because of the presence of multiple strong connections. However, the specific association, between the degrees of connectivity of these regions and ASD disease, is unknown.

6857 Adrenal Incidentaloma In A Patient With Surgically Treated Lung Adenocarcinoma A Decade After Complete Remission

Abstract Disclosure: L. Kaur: None. R. Kaur: None. F. Haider: None. A. Iqbal: None. N. Patel: None. Adrenal incidentaloma is an adrenal mass >1 cm in size commonly discovered incidentally in up to 5-7% of patients on imaging performed for reasons other than adrenal causes. Metastasis to the adrenal glands is common due to their rich blood supply, with lung cancer being the most common primary site, followed by the stomach, esophagus and the liver. Bilateral adrenal metastasis is common, however isolated metachronous or synchronous adrenal metastasis is rare, with an incidence of 1-6%. We present a case of incidentally discovered isolated right adrenal mass ten years after curative surgical resection of right lung adenocarcinoma. A 74 year old male with history significant for adenocarcinoma of the right upper lung lobe stage 1A , negative for metastasis status post lobectomy and no adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation 10 years ago presented to the hospital for his routine follow up evaluation. His vitals were within normal limits and physical examination was unremarkable. The follow up diagnostic CT imaging was done which showed an incidental 2.1 x 1.6 x 1.2 cm right adrenal mass without any pathological lesion or lymphadenopathy. A review of CT scan done one year ago revealed no prior adrenal mass or other suspicious findings. The patient was referred to endocrinology for evaluation of the adrenal mass. He denied abdominal or right flank pain, headaches, palpitations, elevated blood pressure, sweating, muscle weakness, weight gain/loss and was healthy appearing. Lab work up including biochemical studies for hormonal over production, including aldosterone-renin ratio, adrenocorticotropic hormone, plasma catecholamines with urine metanephrines and urine cortisol were within physiological ranges. CT scan was repeated after 2 months which revealed right adrenal mass of 3.2 x 1.8 x 1.7 cm in size with heterogeneity and high pre contrast density. Given the patient's history of lung cancer, imaging characteristics and rapid interval increase in size, there was high suspicion for metastatic disease. Other differentials considered due to fast growth rate included adrenocortical carcinoma and less likely adrenal adenoma. A decision was made to proceed with right adrenalectomy for definitive resection and histological diagnosis secondary to quickly growing adrenal mass with no lymphadenopathy. The patient underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy and the final pathological report was consistent with metastatic lung adenocarcinoma. Postoperatively the patient recovered well. At 2 week and 3 month follow up he reported no concerns. Isolated adrenal metastasis is unusual and rare but may occur in lung cancer patients years after curative resection of the primary tumor and hence long term annual follow up imaging and monitoring is recommended for prompt diagnosis and timely treatment. Presentation: 6/2/2024

Finite-Time Dynamic Event-Triggered Full-State Constraints Consensus Control for Multiagent Systems with Switching Topologies and Mismatched Disturbances

This paper investigates finite-time dynamic event-triggered full-state constraints consensus control for nonlinear multiagent systems with switching topologies and unknown disturbances. First, all the system states will not exceed the predefined range, which has guiding significance for the constraint control of velocity and position in multiagent systems. Second, to balance the control errors and event-triggered control, a novel finite-time dynamic event-triggered scheme is developed for multiagent systems, which can achieve fast convergence rates and save communication resources. Third, to improve the system performances, a finite-time command filter is designed to remove transient errors resulting from filtering errors and explosion of complexity. All closed-loop signals are proved to be bounded, and the tracking errors quickly converge into a narrow neighborhood of zero in finite-time. To sum up, the proposed control scheme balances the effects of unknown disturbances, unknown nonlinear dynamics, and limited communications bandwidth, which can improve the control performance for the multiagent systems under time-varying switching topologies. Finally, simulation results validate the suggested approach using a mechanical platform model.

Effect of Stocking Density on Stress-Related Gene Expression of Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) Infected with Infectious Myonecrosis Virus (IMNV)

The stress level of vannamei shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is affected by increased density and several genes are expressed under the condition. This study aimed to determine the expression of genes encoding white shrimp stress after density treatment and the infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) challenge test. A completely randomized design (CRD) was carried out with 6 treatment groups, i.e. 3 different stocking density groups without IMNV infection (100, 200, and 400 shrimp/m2) and 3 different stocking density groups + IMNV infection (100, 200, and 400 shrimp/m2). In addition, a shrimp density of 400 shrimp/m2 reported the fastest rate of developing the IMNV virus as seen from the clinical symptoms. The lowest cumulative number of shrimp deaths was at a density of 100 shrimp/m2 and was caused by the IMNV virus confirmed through RT-PCR. Expression of stress-coding genes was divided into upregulated and downregulated characteristics. The upregulated genes were lectin and translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP), while the downregulated gene was Toll Receptor. The results showed that the expression of genes related to immunity in L. vannamei was upregulated after pathogen challenges such as lectin and TCTP, meanwhile, the Toll receptor gene was downregulated. Further study should also be performed to measure the expression of the three genes in revealing the immune pathways.

High-Performance Electro-optical Dual-Mode Color-Changing and Energy Storage Device Based on Mo-Doped WO3 and TiO2/NiO Thin Films.

Under optical and electrical control, a multifunctional electro-optical dual-control color-changing and energy storage device not only realizes fast color conversion but also achieves good energy storage performance. In this work, Mo-doped WO3 (Mo-WO3) films were prepared by a one-step hydrothermal method, among which the 2 at. % Mo-doped WO3 film has the best electrochromic and energy storage performance. Meanwhile, TiO2/NiO composite films were prepared by the hydrothermal method and electrodeposition method. The TiO2/NiO/N719 photoanode was prepared by the dip-dyeing method on the TiO2/NiO composite film. The results show that the TiO2/NiO-10s/N719 composite film has excellent photoelectric conversion and energy storage properties. Finally, choosing Mo-WO3 as the cathode and the TiO2/NiO/N719 film as the anode, a multifunctional electro-optical dual-control Mo-WO3@TiO2/NiO/N719 color-changing and energy storage device was constructed. Under electrical control, it shows a fast color switching rate (the coloring/bleaching time is 4.1/2.9 s), excellent coloration efficiency (62.1 cm2/C), obviously improved area capacitance (90.4 mF/cm2), and excellent cycle stability. Under optical control, it shows a shortened optical response time (the coloring/bleaching is 70.3/158.9 s), excellent coloration efficiency (58.2 cm2/C), better area capacitance (51.1 mF/cm2), and excellent photoelectric conversion efficiency.

Eco-Friendly Microwave Synthesis of Sodium Alginate-Chitosan Hydrogels for Effective Curcumin Delivery and Controlled Release

In this study, we developed sodium alginate-chitosan hydrogels using a microwave-assisted synthesis method, aligning with green chemistry principles for enhanced sustainability. This eco-friendly approach minimizes chemical use and waste while boosting efficiency. A curcumin:2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin complex was incorporated into the hydrogels, significantly increasing the solubility and bioavailability of curcumin. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis confirmed the structure and successful incorporation of curcumin, in both its pure and complexed forms, into the polymer matrix. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed distinct thermal transitions influenced by the hydrogel composition and physical cross-linking. Hydrogels with higher alginate content had higher swelling ratios (338%), while those with more chitosan showed the lowest swelling ratios (254%). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) micrographs showed a porous structure as well as successful incorporation of curcumin or its complex. Curcumin release studies indicated varying releasing rates between its pure and complexed forms. The chitosan-dominant hydrogel exhibited the slowest release rate of pure curcumin, while the alginate-dominant hydrogel exhibited the fastest. Conversely, for curcumin from the inclusion complex, a higher chitosan proportion led to the fastest release rate, while a higher alginate proportion resulted in the slowest. This study demonstrates that the form of curcumin incorporation and gel matrix composition critically influence the release profile. Our findings offer valuable insights for designing effective curcumin delivery systems, representing a significant advancement in biodegradable and sustainable drug delivery technologies.

Bio-derived gel polymer electrolytes from zein and honey blends integrated with ammonium nitrate for electrical double layer capacitors

Although electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) are known to exhibit impressive power density, rapid charging/discharging, and long cycle life, their energy density remains a hurdle for broader use. Gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) offer an interesting approach to improve the energy density of EDLCs while maintaining their other desirable characteristics. This study investigates the development of novel GPEs based on zein, honey, and ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) for EDLC applications. The GPEs are prepared by incorporating zein, honey, and NH4NO3 in a dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent system through a solution casting method. The degree of crystallinity of zein successfully reduced from 33.0 % to 15.71 % with the addition of 20 wt% NH4NO3. The interaction between zein, honey and NH4NO3 is confirmed by observing the shifting of the hydroxyl band. The ambient ionic conductivity of zein-honey increases from (4.86 ± 0.36) × 10−4 S cm−1 to (4.19 ± 0.40) × 10−3 S cm−1 with the incorporation of 20 wt% NH4NO3 (ZH20), exhibiting the significantly lowest Tg value (77.53 °C). Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) demonstrates high electrochemical stability up to 2.6 V of ZH20. Additionally, the transference number (tion) of 0.989 indicates a dominant role of ionic charge carriers in this work. Finally, the ZH20-based GPE is used as both an electrolyte and separator to fabricate EDLC. Its electrochemical behavior has demonstrated stable results in terms of specific capacitance, energy, and power density, with fast rate performance observed through cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge techniques.

Co4-polyoxometalates in aqueous solutions. Stability, ion pairing and electron transfer: some insights from molecular modeling

Some qualitatively important features of the electrochemical behavior of Co(II)-based polyoxometalates (POM) are addressed by means of density functional theory and classical molecular dynamics. According to the results obtained, a subsequent oxidation of four Co(II) centers does not result in а chemical bond break, although the innersphere reorganization energy is significant. Standard electrode potentials are estimated; only the first Co(II)/Co(III) redox process seems to be feasible at usual electrochemical conditions and has a fast rate. Ion pairing in aqueous solution leads to the formation of Co4-POM/nNa+ associates (existing in both contact and solvent shared forms), which favours electron-transfer steps. The diffusion of water molecules and Na cations in two different solution regions is also investigated. Some equilibria describing initial steps of the Co4-POM degradation are modeled as well. It is shown that the polyoxometalate is the most stable in neutral aqueous solutions; the degradation becomes remarkably feasible in alkali media and a clear trend of decreasing the Co4-POM stability is observed in acid solutions. These findings are in qualitatively agreement with experiment.

Single cell transcriptomics reveals dysregulated immnue homeostasis in different stages in HPV-induced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

In order to explore the huge impact of impaired immnue homeostasis on the occurrence and development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), and investigate characterization of the cellular components and their changes which is crucial to understanding the pathologic process of HPV-induced cSCC, we diagnosed and followed up on a very rare HPV-induced cSCC patient who progressed at a very fast rate and transferred to death quickly. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of 11 379 cells from the skin tissues of this patient with four different skin statuses after HPV infection. Immunofluorescence experiments were used for validation. scRNA-seq identified that CD52+ HLA-DOA- macrophages only existed in paracancerous cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (pc-cSCC) and cSCC tissue. Besides, immune cells including CD8+ exhausted T cells and CD4+ regulatory T cells as well as matrix cells like MMP1+, and MMP11+ fibroblasts were gradually increased. Meanwhile, COMP+ ASPN+ fibroblasts gradually decreased. Cell interaction analysis revealed enhancement in interactions between monocytes/macrophages, fibroblasts and tumour-specific keratinocytes. scRNA-seq was performed in HPV-induced cSCC for the first time, to explore the correlation between infection and tumour. It is the first time to study the development of tumours from different stages of infection in HPV-induced cSCC. In this study, the tumour itself and the tumour microenvironment were both analysed and explored. And it was validated in clinical samples from different patients. Our findings reveal the dynamic immnue homeostasis from normal skinto cSCC tissue, this alteration might drive HPV-induced cSCC.

Hydrogenation process intensification of 2-nitro-4-acetylamino anisole by HiGee technology

The catalytic hydrogenation of 2-nitro-4-acetylamino anisole (NMA) is the main path to synthesize 2-amino-4-acetylamino anisole (AMA), belonging to a typical gas-liquid-solid system. However, the small mass transfer rate of traditional hydrogenation reactor can't match its intrinsic fast reaction rate, resulting in the low hydrogenation efficiency. In this work, a rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor with excellent mass transfer performance was applied for the hydrogenation process intensification of NMA. The characterization analysis of the commercial Raney-Ni catalyst shows that the liquid-solid mass transfer resistance during the reaction process can be ignored, and improving the gas-liquid mass transfer rate is the key to improve the macroscopic reaction rate. The effects of operating conditions (solvent, rotational speed, hydrogen pressure, temperature, and catalyst dosage) on NMA conversion and AMA selectivity were investigated. A macro-kinetic equation of NMA catalytic hydrogenation in the RPB reactor was proposed. Under optimized conditions, the NMA was completely converted in the RPB reactor within 30 min, while it took 4 h in the stirred tank reactor. The overall reaction efficiency of RPB reactor was increased by 87.5% in comparison with STR. This study provides practical guidance for the industrial application of RPB reactor for gas-liquid-solid hydrogenation.

Solvent-free synthesis of highly dispersed zinc-doped porous carbons as efficient dibenzothiophene adsorbents

Designing efficient adsorbents for the deep removal of refractory dibenzothiophene (DBT) from fuel oil is vital for addressing environmental issues such as acid rain. Herein, zinc gluconate and urea-derived porous carbons SF-ZnNC-T (T represents the carbonization temperature) were synthesized without solvents. Through a temperature-controlled process of “melting the zinc gluconate and urea mixture, forming H-bonded polymers, and carbonizing the polymers,” the optimal carbon, SF-ZnNC-900, was obtained with a large surface area (2280 m2 g), highly dispersed Zn sites, and hierarchical pore structures. Consequently, SF-ZnNC-900 demonstrated significantly higher DBT adsorption capacity of 43.2 mg S g−1, compared to just 4.3 mg S g−1 for the precursor. It also demonstrated good reusability, a fast adsorption rate, and the ability for ultra-deep desulfurization. The superior DBT adsorption performance resulted from the evaporation of residual zinc species, which generated abundant mesopores that facilitated DBT transformation, as well as the formation of Zn-Nx sites that strengthened the host-guest interaction (ΔE = −1.466 eV). The solvent-free synthesized highly dispersed Zn-doped carbon shows great potential for producing sulfur-free fuel oil and for designing metal-loaded carbon adsorbents.