COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge facing humanity after the 1918 Flu pandemic. The pandemic also poses a massive challenge to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Meeting ...this challenge requires a comprehensive investigation of the impact of the pandemic on sustainability. In this work, publications related to the impact of COVID-19 on sustainability in the Web of Science database were explored systematically by using bibliometrics techniques and meta-analysis approach. The results show the research scope is extensive, covering many subjects, whereas the research depth is not enough. Research in developed countries is dominant, although the pandemic poses more significant challenges to the sustainable development of developing countries than of developed countries. Developed countries are committed to studying education sustainability, while developing countries have shown greater attention to economic sustainability during the epidemic. The cluster analysis also shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought negative effects on 17 SDGs goals, whereas the pandemic may also bring opportunities to another 14 SDGs goals. At the end of the article, we put forward relevant suggestions for achieving sustainable development goals in the post-epidemic era.
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•Environmental sustainability is the focus of sustainable development research during the epidemic.•Developed countries are more concerned about sustainable development during pandemic.•COVID-19 epidemic brings opportunities to 14 SDGs.
Radiotherapy is one of the most common countermeasures for treating a wide range of tumors. However, the radioresistance of cancer cells is still a major limitation for radiotherapy applications. ...Efforts are continuously ongoing to explore sensitizing targets and develop radiosensitizers for improving the outcomes of radiotherapy. DNA double-strand breaks are the most lethal lesions induced by ionizing radiation and can trigger a series of cellular DNA damage responses (DDRs), including those helping cells recover from radiation injuries, such as the activation of DNA damage sensing and early transduction pathways, cell cycle arrest, and DNA repair. Obviously, these protective DDRs confer tumor radioresistance. Targeting DDR signaling pathways has become an attractive strategy for overcoming tumor radioresistance, and some important advances and breakthroughs have already been achieved in recent years. On the basis of comprehensively reviewing the DDR signal pathways, we provide an update on the novel and promising druggable targets emerging from DDR pathways that can be exploited for radiosensitization. We further discuss recent advances identified from preclinical studies, current clinical trials, and clinical application of chemical inhibitors targeting key DDR proteins, including DNA-PKcs (DNA-dependent protein kinase, catalytic subunit), ATM/ATR (ataxia-telangiectasia mutated and Rad3-related), the MRN (MRE11-RAD50-NBS1) complex, the PARP (polyADP-ribose polymerase) family, MDC1, Wee1, LIG4 (ligase IV), CDK1, BRCA1 (BRCA1 C terminal), CHK1, and HIF-1 (hypoxia-inducible factor-1). Challenges for ionizing radiation-induced signal transduction and targeted therapy are also discussed based on recent achievements in the biological field of radiotherapy.
The changeable molecular dynamics of flexible polar cations in the variable confined space between inorganic chains brings about a new type of two‐step nonlinear optical (NLO) switch with genuine ...“off–on–off” second harmonic generation (SHG) conversion between one NLO‐active state and two NLO‐inactive states.
Sustainability assessment is informative for both policy-making and public communication. This study aims to evaluate and compare the sustainability of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) ...countries, a region of great geopolitical significance that has not yet received sufficient attention. An aggregate index in the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is constructed. The entropy weight method, equal weight method, and principal component analysis are used to ensure the reliability of the outcomes. The progress toward the SDGs across countries is further examined. The results show that the Balkan countries have a lower level of sustainability than other CEE countries, but they have a higher score on the progress index, reflecting their high potential for sustainable development. However, Serbia's sustainability performance and development potential are both poor. This study further discusses the relationship between sustainability levels and geopolitical risks in CEE countries, where countries with high geopolitical risks have low sustainability. This study can stimulate awareness of sustainability in CEE countries and promote sustainable development policy as a top priority. The results have important practical implications for facilitating cooperation between CEE countries and other economies in sustainable development.
•A composite index of sustainability based on the SDG framework was constructed.•The sustainability performance and progress of CEE countries were assessed and compared.•The Balkans, and Serbia in particular, are under greater pressure to achieve SDGs.
Two‐dimensional (2D) materials and ultrathin nanosheets are advantageous for elevating the catalysis performance and elucidating the catalysis mechanism of heterogeneous catalysts, but they are ...mostly restricted to inorganic or organic materials based on covalent bonds. We report an electrochemical/chemical exfoliation strategy for synthesizing metal–organic 2D materials based on coordination bonds. A catechol functionalized ligand is used as the redox active pillar to construct a pillared‐layer framework. When the 3D pillared‐layer MOF serves as an electrocatalyst for water oxidation (pH 13), the pillar ligands can be oxidized in situ and removed. The remaining ultrathin (2 nm) nanosheets of the metal–organic layers are an efficient catalyst with overpotentials as low as 211 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a turnover frequency as high as 30 s−1 at an overpotential of 300 mV.
MOF slicing: A pillared‐layer metal–organic framework (MOF), in which the catechol functionalized pillars can be oxidized and removed in an electrochemical process, gives ultrathin nanosheets (2 nm). These are efficient electrocatalysts for water oxidation at pH 13 with a low overpotential and high turnover frequency (TOF).
Organic crystals are generally brittle and tend to crack under applied stress. Doped organic crystals are even more brittle because of lattice defects. Herein, the first doped organic crystals 1d@2d, ...which display elastic bending ability under applied stress, are reported. Moreover, the potential applications of elastic‐doped crystals 1d@2d in flexible optoelectronics are impressively demonstrated. The elastic crystals 1d@2d with high quality and large size are crystalized by a simple and unique “self‐doping” process, which is a regular solution evaporation of crude product 1d (2,5‐dihydro‐3,6‐bis(octylamino)terephthalate) containing a minute amount of 2d (3,6‐bis(octylamino)terephthalate) as the oxidized byproduct. The host 1d is easily crystallized to form elastic crystals but is nonfluorescent, while the guest 2d has poor crystallinity and is highly emissive. The doping approach integrates the advantages of both 1d and 2d, and thus endows doped crystals 1d@2d with good elasticity as well as intense orange fluorescence. Taking these advantages, the application potentials of these doped crystals 1d@2d are evaluated by measuring optical waveguide and amplified spontaneous emission in both the straight and bent states.
Elastic‐doped organic crystals 1d@2d are crystalized by a simple and unique “self‐doping” process. Taking advantage of the good elasticity and intense fluorescence, a flexible optical waveguide and amplified spontaneous emission are realized in bent crystals 1d@2d, highlighting the feature of elasticity and the potential applications in flexible optoelectronics.
Efficient adsorptive separation of propylene/propane (C3H6/C3H8) is highly desired and challenging. Known strategies focus on either the thermodynamic or the kinetic mechanism. Here, we report an ...interesting reactivity of a metal–organic framework that improves thermodynamic and kinetic adsorption selectivity simultaneously. When the metal–organic framework is heated under oxygen flow, half of the soft methylene bridges of the organic ligands are selectively oxidized to form the more polar and rigid carbonyl bridges. Mixture breakthrough experiments showed drastic increase of C3H6/C3H8 selectivity from 1.5 to 15. For comparison, the C3H6/C3H8 selectivities of the best‐performing metal–organic frameworks Co‐MOF‐74 and KAUST‐7 were experimentally determined to be 6.5 and 12, respectively. Gas adsorption isotherms/kinetics, single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, and computational simulations revealed that the oxidation gives additional guest recognition sites, which improve thermodynamic selectivity, and reduces the framework flexibility, which generate kinetic selectivity.
Tailoring with O2: When a flexible metal–organic framework is heated in a flow of oxygen, half of the organic ligands are selectively oxidized, thereby adding guest recognition sites and reducing the flexibility of the pores. As a result, the thermodynamic and kinetic selectivity for propylene/propane separation improve simultaneously.
Sorghum is an important source of food, feed and raw material for brewing, and is expected to be a promising bioenergy crop. Sorghum is well known for its strong resistance to abiotic stress and wide ...adaptability, and salt tolerance is one of its main characteristics. Increasing sorghum planting acreage on saline-alkalien land is one way to effectively use this kind of marginal soil. In this paper, domestic and overseas research on plant tolerance to soil salinity and alkalinity in sorghum, including salt-tolerant genetics and breeding, physiology, cultivation, and identification of tolerant germplasms, are reviewed. Suggestions for further studies on salinity and alkalinity tolerance in sorghum are given, and the prospects for sorghum production in saline-alkalien land are discussed.
Abstract
Water pollution has become a serious problem in recent years, and firms are one of the main culprits for this environmental issue. Encouraging companies to improve water management behavior ...is necessary to protect water resources. Based on panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies in water-sensitive industries, this study used text analysis techniques to study the impact of corporate water information disclosure on pollutant emissions, strategy on firm value, and the U-shaped moderating role of local governments’ environmental regulation. The results show that (1) an increase in the amount of emission information texts to confess the water status can help enhance firm value. (2) The increase in the amount of strategic information texts, both the tone of emission, and strategic information texts have negative impacts on firm value, which help enterprises greenwash. Further analyses find a U-shaped moderating effect of governments’ environmental regulation on the relationships between emission information disclosure, strategic information disclosure and firm value, and varies under the different ISO14001 certification situations and life cycles. This research explains the effectiveness of corporate water information disclosure and the influence of governments’ environmental regulation, which plays a vital role in promoting firms to improve their environmental behaviors, reduce water pollution, and further achieve green development.
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