Bacterial pathogen removal function in seagrass meadows is gaining attention worldwide, with enhancing particle sedimentation as the main potential mechanism. Unfortunately, seagrass meadows are ...declining to patchiness and fragmentation due to anthropogenic activities and global climate change. However, the effects of seagrass decline on bacterial pathogen removal potential are poorly understood, limiting our ability to understand coastal-living humans and marine organisms that suffered pressure from diseases and other health-related effects in response to seagrass decline. Here we investigated abundance of putative bacterial pathogens (including
Vibrio
spp.,
Salmonella
spp.,
Staphylococcus
spp., and
Enterococcus
spp.) in trapped particles under different canopy structures of
Enhalus acoroides
patches in South China Sea. The abundance of
Vibrio
spp.,
Salmonella
spp., and
Staphylococcus
spp. trapped particles, respectively, was observed much greater in seagrass patches with high density and height than other patches, and significantly positive correlations with seagrass density and height were observed. This was mainly ascribed to seagrass patches of high density and height being able to trap more particles. Surprisingly, however, the
Enterococcus
spp. abundance showed negative correlations with density and area.
Enterococcus
spp. is generally inhibited in well-oxygenated environments, of which the microenvironment of dissolved oxygen might be mediated by seagrass density and area. Overall, this research suggests that the potential of removal of putative bacterial pathogen was inhibited in fragmented seagrass meadow; therefore, coastal-living humans and marine organisms might suffer from an increasing risk of diseases due to the decline of seagrass meadows.
To improve the flame retardant properties of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), glucose-derived carbon nanospheres (CNSs) were synthesized and introduced into PET matrix. The thermal property and ...flame retardancy of CNSs/PET composites were thoroughly investigated. Results showed that CNSs displayed good flame-retardant performance for PET. When blended with only 1.0 wt.% of CNSs, CNSs/PET exhibited a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of 26.3 and a vertical combustion class of V-2, and its peak-heat release rate (pk-HRR) was reduced by 41.6%. Importantly, the initial decomposition temperature and the maximum weight loss temperature of CNSs/PET were 52°C and 199°C higher than those of PET, respectively. Furthermore, a condensed phase flame-retardant mechanism appeared in CNSs/PET, which formed a dense and thermally stable protective char layer during combustion. Overall, this study disclosed the flame-retardant potential and possible mechanism of CNSs for polyesters, which would benefit the development of carbon-based materials and flame-retardant polymers.
Recently, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted extensive attention as potential alternatives to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to the abundance, even distribution, low cost, and ...environmentally friendly nature of sodium. However, sodium ions are larger than lithium ions so that the anode materials of LIBs are not suitable for SIBs. Therefore, many negative electrode materials have been investigated. Among them, Sb
S
-based nanomaterials have gradually become a research focus due to their high theoretical specific capacity, good thermal stability, simple preparation, and low price. In this review, the research progress of Sb
S
-based nanomaterials in the SIB field in recent years is summarized, including Sb
S
, Sb
S
/carbon composites, Sb
S
/graphene composites, and Sb
S
/M
S
composites. Furthermore, the challenges and prospects for the development of Sb
S
-based nanomaterials are also put forward. We hope this review will contribute to the design and manufacture of high-performance SIBs and promote its practical application.
The Okinawa Trough (OT) is a back‐arc, initial marginal sea basin that is located behind the Ryukyu arc–trench system. Pumice, including both white and black pumice, is the most widely distributed ...magmatic rock in the OT. Here, the major and trace element concentrations and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic compositions of the white and black pumice from the middle OT (MOT) are presented and combined with previously published elemental data for volcanic rocks from the MOT. Their different magma sources and magmatic evolutions are discussed, and their different magma chamber structures are provided in this paper. These results demonstrate that the white pumice has two magma sources: One was produced by the crystallization‐based differentiation of basaltic magma, and the other was produced by the assimilation‐fractional crystallization (AFC; with less than 5% contamination) of basaltic magma. The black pumice also includes two magma sources: One is similar to that of the first white pumice, whereas the other was produced by basaltic magma that experienced more than 20% upper crustal contamination. There are two different structure magma chambers for white and black pumice in the MOT crust: The deeper one generated no contaminated pumice, whereas the shallow one generated contaminated black pumice. The contamination of the white pumice (<5%) may have occurred during the eruption of magma on the seafloor, rather than in the magma chamber. Different magma sources and evolutions of white and black pumice imply the complexity of magmatism in the Okinawa Trough.
Background:
Carboxyamidotriazole (CAI), a calcium channel blocker, inhibits tumor cell proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis. This trial aimed to determine whether CAI combined with ...conventional chemotherapy could prolong progression-free survival (PFS) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.
Methods:
Patients were assigned into groups (3:1 ratio) to receive either chemotherapy + CAI or chemotherapy alone. Cisplatin (25 mg/m2) was administered by intravenous infusion on days 1, 2, and 3, and vinorelbine (25 mg/m2) on days 1 and 8 of each 3-week cycle for four cycles. CAI was administered at 100 mg daily with concomitant chemotherapy; this treatment was continued after chemotherapy was ceased until serious toxicity or disease progression had occurred. PFS was the primary endpoint, and the secondary endpoints were objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate, overall survival (OS), and quality of life.
Results:
In total, 495 patients were enrolled in the trial: 378 in the chemotherapy + CAI group and 117 in the chemotherapy + placebo group. PFS was significantly greater in the chemotherapy + CAI median, 134 days; 95% confidence interval (CI) 127–139 than in the chemotherapy + placebo (median, 98 days; 95% CI: 88–125) group, with a hazard ratio of 0.690 (95% CI: 0.539–0.883; p = 0.003). There was no difference in the OS rates of both groups. The ORR was greater in the chemotherapy + CAI group than in the chemotherapy + placebo group (34.6% versus 25.0%, p = 0.042). Adverse events of ⩾grade 3 occurred more frequently in the CAI group 256 (68.1%) versus 64 (55.2%); p = 0.014.
Conclusion:
CAI + platinum-based chemotherapy prolonged PFS and could be a useful therapeutic option to treat NSCLC.
Clinical Trial Registration:
chinadrugtrials.org.cn identifier: CTR20160395
Adjuvant and neoadjuvant immunotherapy have improved clinical outcomes for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the optimal combination of checkpoint inhibition with ...chemotherapy remains unknown.
To determine whether toripalimab in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy will improve event-free survival and major pathological response in patients with stage II or III resectable NSCLC compared with chemotherapy alone.
This randomized clinical trial enrolled patients with stage II or III resectable NSCLC (without EGFR or ALK alterations for nonsquamous NSCLC) from March 12, 2020, to June 19, 2023, at 50 participating hospitals in China. The data cutoff date for this interim analysis was November 30, 2022.
Patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive 240 mg of toripalimab or placebo once every 3 weeks combined with platinum-based chemotherapy for 3 cycles before surgery and 1 cycle after surgery, followed by toripalimab only (240 mg) or placebo once every 3 weeks for up to 13 cycles.
The primary outcomes were event-free survival (assessed by the investigators) and the major pathological response rate (assessed by blinded, independent pathological review). The secondary outcomes included the pathological complete response rate (assessed by blinded, independent pathological review) and adverse events.
Of the 501 patients randomized, 404 had stage III NSCLC (202 in the toripalimab + chemotherapy group and 202 in the placebo + chemotherapy group) and 97 had stage II NSCLC and were excluded from this interim analysis. The median age was 62 years (IQR, 56-65 years), 92% of patients were male, and the median follow-up was 18.3 months (IQR, 12.7-22.5 months). For the primary outcome of event-free survival, the median length was not estimable (95% CI, 24.4 months-not estimable) in the toripalimab group compared with 15.1 months (95% CI, 10.6-21.9 months) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.40 95% CI, 0.28-0.57, P < .001). The major pathological response rate (another primary outcome) was 48.5% (95% CI, 41.4%-55.6%) in the toripalimab group compared with 8.4% (95% CI, 5.0%-13.1%) in the placebo group (between-group difference, 40.2% 95% CI, 32.2%-48.1%, P < .001). The pathological complete response rate (secondary outcome) was 24.8% (95% CI, 19.0%-31.3%) in the toripalimab group compared with 1.0% (95% CI, 0.1%-3.5%) in the placebo group (between-group difference, 23.7% 95% CI, 17.6%-29.8%). The incidence of immune-related adverse events occurred more frequently in the toripalimab group. No unexpected treatment-related toxic effects were identified. The incidence of grade 3 or higher adverse events, fatal adverse events, and adverse events leading to discontinuation of treatment were comparable between the groups.
The addition of toripalimab to perioperative chemotherapy led to a significant improvement in event-free survival for patients with resectable stage III NSCLC and this treatment strategy had a manageable safety profile.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04158440.
Seagrass ecosystems rank among the most effective blue carbon sinks in climate change mitigation and greenhouse gas removal. Nutrient pollution has emerged as a leading threat to seagrass decline and ...has diminished the carbon sequestration potential in recent decades. Changes in the nutrient regime can also impact the organic carbon compositions (labile and refractory organic carbon compositions) of seagrass tissues, with important implications for determining the quantity and quality of carbon sequestration. However, there is still little information about the impact of nutrient loading on seagrass plant refractory organic carbon composition (ROC), which hinders our ability to reveal the driving mechanisms of anthropogenic factors that decrease seagrass organic carbon sequestration capability. Here, a multidisciplinary approach was employed to investigate the organic carbon variations of
Halophila beccarii
at five seagrass meadows with contrasting nutrient loading levels. The results showed that
H. beccarii
plant nitrogen (N) content ranged from 2.21% to 5.65%, which well reflected the external nutrient loading levels. High nutrient loading elevated labile organic carbon content, like free amino acids and soluble sugars. Nevertheless, ROC content (cellulose-associated organic matter) decreased with increasing nutrient loading, which presented a significant negative linear correlation with plant N content. These results provide evidence that eutrophic conditions enhance
H. beccarii
plant quality (high N and labile organic carbon) and consequently decrease plant ROC sequestration potential. This suggests that reducing nitrogen input to seagrass meadows would aid in increasing seagrass carbon storage.
To explore the modulating effect of Limosilactobacillus fermentum (L. fermentum) grx08 on anti-oxidative stress in the liver, heart, and kidney of high-fat diet in rats, a low-fat diet as a control ...and a high-fat diet was used to induce oxidative stress injury in rats. L. fermentum grx08 and its heat-inactivated bacteria were used to intervene. The results showed that the high-fat diet had caused oxidative stress injury in the liver, heart, and kidney of rats. L. fermentum grx08 significantly reduced the serum levels of liver, heart, and kidney injury markers (ALT, AST, LDH, CK-MB, UA, and Crea), while restoring the balance of lipid metabolism in the liver. It also enhanced the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as GSH-Px in the liver, heart, and kidney, scavenging NO radicals and reducing the content of MDA, a product of lipid peroxidation, which can regulate the anti-oxidative stress capacity of the liver, heart, and kidney to varying degrees. Among them, L. fermentum grx08 showed better modulating effect on kidney anti-oxidative stress, followed by liver, and the weakest modulating effect on heart. At the same time, L. fermentum grx08 heat-inactivated bacteria also had a partial modulatory effect as well as a similar effect profile to that of live bacteria.
Intermediate-band semiconductors perform functions similar to natural photosynthesis by combining two photons to achieve a higher electron excitation. In this study, a strategy was developed to ...prepare a high oxygen-doped CeF
(CeF
-O) nanomaterial that exhibits photocatalytic activity under visible/NIR light for the first time. The homogeneous doping oxygen atoms were verified to efficiently modify the band structure of CeF
. DFT calculation predicted the formation of an intermediate band within CeF
upon homogeneous doping of O at interstitial sites. The interaction between F and O atoms generates an intermediate band, which divides the total bandgap of CeF
-O into two sub-bandgaps at about 1.7 eV and 2.9 eV, enabling CeF
-O photocatalysis under visible light and NIR light. Reflectance spectra evidenced that the same bandgaps exist. The photocatalytic activities of CeF
-O were tested by wavelength-controlled light. The rate constants of TC-HCl photodegrading under visible/NIR light are 12.85 × 10
min
and 1.28 × 10
min
, respectively. The two-step electron transfer was also obviously confirmed in visible-light photocatalysis. In conclusion, the high oxygen doping builds a more applicable band structure of CeF
-O for photocatalytic performance, charge transfer and special light response for visible/NIR light.
We aimed to investigate the potential and mechanism of probiotics as digestive enzyme inhibitors to alleviate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We compared the level of NAFLD in rats before ...and after Limosilactobacillus plantarum grx16 intervention, as well as changes in gut digestive enzymes and inflammatory factors. L. plantarum grx16 inhibited the absorption of starch and triglycerides by inhibiting the activity of gut amylase and lipase to alleviate insulin resistance and reduce lipid accumulation in the body, thereby alleviating the inflammatory response, and thus alleviating NAFLD in rats.
Positive effect of L. plantarum grx16 on NAFLD in rats.
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