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•How to realize the electron-hole pair separation for photocatalysts?.•Properties and photocatalytic mechanisms of heterojunctions in all cases are discussed.•All types of the ...heterojunctions are expected to exhibit enhanced photocatalytic performances.
Construction of heterojunctions by coupling two semiconductors together is one of the most efficient ways to realize the electron-hole pair separation. In this short paper, I systematically discuss the properties of heterojunction photocatalysts in all cases. The formation of space charge regions, built-in electric field and potential barriers at the interface regions of thermally equilibrated heterojunctions are analyzed in details. When the heterojunctions are used for photocatalysis, the transfer behavior and mechanism of photo-excited non-equilibrium carriers between the constituent semiconductors are discussed. It is demonstrated that the heterojunction properties, carrier transfer behavior and photocatalytic mechanism depend highly on the semiconductivity (N-type or P-type), work function (or Fermi level), and CB/VB potentials of the constituent semiconductors. All types of the heterojunction photocatalysts are expected to exhibit enhanced photocatalytic performances. This paper provides an important insight into the understanding of heterojunction photocatalytic mechanism and design of excellent heterojunction composite photocatalysts.
Observational studies and animal experiments suggested potential relevance between gut microbiota (GM) and cervical cancer (CC), but the relevance of this association remains to be clarified.
We ...performed a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore whether there was a causal correlation between GM and CC, and the direction of causality.
In primary outcomes, we found that a higher abundance of
and
predicted higher risk of CC, and a higher abundance of
and
predicted lower risk of CC. During verifiable outcomes, we found that a higher abundance of
and
predicted a higher risk of CC, and a higher abundance of
and
predicted a lower risk of CC, and vice versa.
Our study implied a mutual causality between GM and CC, which provided a novel concept for the occurrence and development of CC, and might promote future functional or clinical analysis.
Wireless power transfer (WPT) is a promising charging technology for battery-limited sensors. In this paper, we study the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a charger for WPT. Unlike the ...previous works, our study takes into account the power consumption of the UAV (power consumption during hovering and flight), the charging process from a base station (BS) to the UAV and the conversion loss of the energy harvester. Both one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) WPT systems are considered. The sum-energy received by all sensors is maximized to find the optimal strategy for UAV deployment. Two different charging schemes are proposed. Numerical results show that the sum-energy received by all sensors is determined by sensors' topology, the flight speed of the UAV and the transmit power. They also show that, when the BS charging process and the UAV power consumption are considered in the optimization, the optimal location of the UAV in the 1D and 2D WPT systems is closer to the BS than in the previous works that ignore these two practical factors.
The layer‐structured MoS2 is a typical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst but it possesses poor activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, a cobalt covalent doping ...approach capable of inducing HER and OER bifunctionality into MoS2 for efficient overall water splitting is reported. The results demonstrate that covalently doping cobalt into MoS2 can lead to dramatically enhanced HER activity while simultaneously inducing remarkable OER activity. The catalyst with optimal cobalt doping density can readily achieve HER and OER onset potentials of −0.02 and 1.45 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) in 1.0 m KOH. Importantly, it can deliver high current densities of 10, 100, and 200 mA cm−2 at low HER and OER overpotentials of 48, 132, 165 mV and 260, 350, 390 mV, respectively. The reported catalyst activation approach can be adapted for bifunctionalization of other transition metal dichalcogenides.
A cobalt covalent doping catalyst activation approach to induce hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) bifunctionality of MoS2 is proposed and experimentally validated, demonstrating superior bifunctional electrocatalytic activities with great application potential for overall water splitting in alkaline media.
Intravenous arsenic trioxide (ATO) has been adopted as the first‐line treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Another arsenic compound named the Realgar‐Indigo naturalis formula (RIF), an ...oral traditional Chinese medicine containing As4S4, has been shown to be highly effective in treating adult APL. In the treatment of pediatric APL, the safety and efficacy of RIF remains to be confirmed. This randomized, multicenter, and noninferiority trial was conducted to determine whether intravenous ATO can be substituted by oral RIF in the treatment of pediatric APL. From September 2011 to January 2017, among 92 patients who were 16 years old or younger with newly diagnosed PML‐RARa positive APL, 82 met eligible criteria and were randomly assigned to ATO (n = 42) or RIF (n = 40) group. The remaining 10 patients did not fulfilled eligible criteria because five did not accept randomization, four died and one had hemiplegia prior to arsenic randomization due to intracranial hemorrhage or cerebral thrombosis. Induction and consolidation treatment contained ATO or RIF, all‐trans‐retinoic acid and low intensity chemotherapy. End points included event‐free survival (EFS), adverse events and hospital days. After a median 3‐year follow‐up, the estimated 5‐year EFS was 100% in both groups, and adverse events were mild. However, patients in the RIF group had significantly less hospital stay than those in the ATO group. This interim analysis shows that oral RIF is as effective and safe as intravenous ATO for the treatment of pediatric APL, with the advantage of reducing hospital stay. Final trial analysis will reveal mature outcome data.
Exosomes are well-known key mediators of intercellular communication and contribute to various physiological and pathological processes. Their biogenesis involves four key steps, including cargo ...sorting, MVB formation and maturation, transport of MVBs, and MVB fusion with the plasma membrane. Each process is modulated through the competition or coordination of multiple mechanisms, whereby diverse repertoires of molecular cargos are sorted into distinct subpopulations of exosomes, resulting in the high heterogeneity of exosomes. Intriguingly, cancer cells exploit various strategies, such as aberrant gene expression, posttranslational modifications, and altered signaling pathways, to regulate the biogenesis, composition, and eventually functions of exosomes to promote cancer progression. Therefore, exosome biogenesis-targeted therapy is being actively explored. In this review, we systematically summarize recent progress in understanding the machinery of exosome biogenesis and how it is regulated in the context of cancer. In particular, we highlight pharmacological targeting of exosome biogenesis as a promising cancer therapeutic strategy.
Incineration is widely adopted in modern waste management because it provides an effective way to minimize municipal solid waste that needs to be disposed of in landfills. The ash residue is often ...disposed by landfilling. Alternatively, the incineration ash may be recycled and reused for various applications. The crucial issues, however, are the leaching of harmful elements during the use and the end-of-life phases. This review summarizes extensive studies on leaching behavior of municipal solid waste incineration ash. Specifically, pollutants generated through leaching, factors governing leaching, methodologies to study leaching, leaching mechanisms, and treatments to reduce leaching. Many types of pollutants are generated through leaching from municipal solid waste incineration ash, in which heavy metals and organic contaminants are the most toxic and concerned. Ash properties, pH and liquid to solid ratio are the main factors governing municipal solid waste incineration ash leaching. Leaching behavior of municipal solid waste incineration ash is complicated and existing methods to evaluate leaching may not be able to represent the field conditions. Solubility and sorption are the two major leaching mechanisms. Many treatment methods have been proposed. However, not all methods are effective and some approaches are associated with high energy and high cost, which makes them less economically feasible and attractive.
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•Hundreds of pollutants are generated through leaching from MSWI ash.•Ash properties, pH and L/S ratio are the main factors governing MSWI ash leaching.•Existing methods to evaluate leaching may not be able to represent the field conditions.•Solubility and sorption are the two major leaching mechanisms.•Not all treatment methods are effective and some approaches are associated with high energy and high cost.
Methodological quality (risk of bias) assessment is an important step before study initiation usage. Therefore, accurately judging study type is the first priority, and the choosing proper tool is ...also important. In this review, we introduced methodological quality assessment tools for randomized controlled trial (including individual and cluster), animal study, non-randomized interventional studies (including follow-up study, controlled before-and-after study, before-after/ pre-post study, uncontrolled longitudinal study, interrupted time series study), cohort study, case-control study, cross-sectional study (including analytical and descriptive), observational case series and case reports, comparative effectiveness research, diagnostic study, health economic evaluation, prediction study (including predictor finding study, prediction model impact study, prognostic prediction model study), qualitative study, outcome measurement instruments (including patient - reported outcome measure development, content validity, structural validity, internal consistency, cross-cultural validity/ measurement invariance, reliability, measurement error, criterion validity, hypotheses testing for construct validity, and responsiveness), systematic review and meta-analysis, and clinical practice guideline. The readers of our review can distinguish the types of medical studies and choose appropriate tools. In one word, comprehensively mastering relevant knowledge and implementing more practices are basic requirements for correctly assessing the methodological quality.
The synthesis, reactions and medicinal applications of the 1,3,4-thiadiazole ring in solution and the solid phase were investigated. The physical and chemical properties of biosostere and the ...reactions of aromatic and heterocyclic hydrazides with triethyl orthoformate were also explored.
The tumor-related myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), important immunosuppressive cells in tumor microenvironment, play an important role in the cancer progression. This study is aimed to ...investigate the crosstalk between MDSCs and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells and their role in the malignant progression of OSCC.
Immunochemistry (IHC) was used to investigate the expression of CD33 in 200 OSCC, 36 premalignant. CD33+ MDSCs were sorted and enriched via magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) from OSCC patients or health donor, and their phenotypes were identified by flow cytometry. With a co-culture system of MDSCs and OSCC, the effects of MDSCs on OSCC proliferation, apoptosis, migration invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and vasculogenic mimicry formation (VM) formation were assessed, respectively. Besides, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from health donor were cultured with OSCC supernatant, the level of MDSCs and expressions of Arginase (Arg-1) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were measured.
The number of MDSCs was increased in tumor tissues of OSCC patients, and was positively related to the T stage, pathological grade, lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis. Tumor-related MDSCs of the co-culture system promoted OSCC progression by contributing to cell proliferation, migration and invasion as well as inducing EMT and VM. In turn, OSCC cells had potential to induce MDSCs differentiation from PBMCs and increase the expression of Arg-1 and iNOS.
These indicated that the crosstalk between MDSCs and tumor cells facilitated the malignant progression of OSCC cells and the immune suppressive properties of MDSCs, which may provide new insights into tumor treatment on targeting tumor-associated immunosuppressive cells.
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