material

Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is not only safer than chenodeoxycholic acid in the treatment of hepatobiliary diseases, but also has a wide range of applications in Acute Kidney Injury and Parkinson's Disease. The purpose of this experiment is to improve the conversion rate of 7-ketocholic acid (7K-LCA) and the yield of ursodeoxycholic acid in aprotic solvents during electrochemical reduction process. Three aprotic solvents were investigated as electrolytes. 1,3-Dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI) has a stable five-membered ring structure, and 7K-LCA has undergone two nucleophilic reactions and "Walden" inversion, the 7K-LCK was stereoselectively reduced to UDCA...

Biochar modified by metal ions-particularly Mg-is typically used for the effective recovery of phosphorous. In this study, MgO-modified biochars were synthesized via the direct co-pyrolysis of MgO and raw materials such as rice straw, corn straw, Camellia oleifera shells, and branches from garden waste, which were labeled as MRS, MCS, MOT, and MGW, respectively. The resulting phosphate (PO) adsorption capacities and potential adsorption mechanisms were analyzed. The PO adsorption capacities of the biochars were significantly improved after the modification with MgO: MRS (24...

Downstream recovery and purification of lactic acid from the fermentation broth using locally available, low-cost materials derived from agricultural residues was demonstrated herein. Surface modification of coconut shell activated carbon (CSAC) was performed by grafting with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) using citric acid (CA) as the crosslinking agent. A proper ratio of CMC and CA to CSAC and grafting time improved the surface functionalization of grafted nanostructured CMC-CSAC while the specific surface area and porosity remained unchanged...

Reversible protonic ceramic cells (RePCCs) hold promise for efficient energy storage, but their practicality is hindered by a lack of high-performance air electrode materials. Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite Sr3 Fe2 O7-δ (SF) exhibits superior proton uptake and rapid ionic conduction, boosting activity. However, excessive proton uptake during RePCC operation degrades SF's crystal structure, impacting durability. This study introduces a novel A/B-sites co-substitution strategy for modifying air electrodes, incorporating Sr-deficiency and Nb-substitution to create Sr2...

CONTENT: In this thesis, the role of N atom doping and biaxial strain in modulating the electronic structure and optical properties of antimonene has been deeply investigated using a first-principles approach based on density-functional theory. The results show that N doping significantly reduces the band gap of antimonene and introduces new electronic states, thus affecting its electronic structure. In terms of optical properties, N doping reduces the static permittivity of antimonene and alters its absorption, reflection, and energy loss properties...

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has emerged as a pivotal tool in neuroscience research, owing to its remarkable versatility and efficiency in delivering genetic material to diverse cell types within the nervous system. This mini review aims to underscore the advanced applications of AAV vectors in neuroscience and their profound potential to revolutionize our understanding of brain function and therapeutic interventions for neurological disorders. By providing a concise overview of the latest developments and strategies employing AAV vectors, this review illuminates the transformative role of AAV technology in unraveling the complexities of neural circuits and paving the way for innovative treatments...

The solid-state battery with a lithium metal anode is a promising candidate for next-generation batteries with improved energy density and safety. However, the current polymer electrolytes still cannot fulfill the demands of solid-state batteries. In this work, we propose a "5H" poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) electrolyte via introducing a multifunctional additive of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (TPFPB) for high-performance lithium metal batteries. The addition of TPFPB improves the ionic conductivity from 6.08 × 10-5 to 1...

Wastewater treatment recycling is critical to ensure safe water supply or to overcome water shortage. Herein, we developed metallic Co integration onto MnO nanorods (MON) resulting in a phase-separated synergetic catalyst by creating more Mn(III) via the Jahn-Teller effect and oxygen vacancies and improving the redox capability of Co nanoparticles mediated by a thin carbon layer. Additionally, the N-doped surface carbon network on MON contributes to polar sites, facilitating the enrichment of contaminants around reactive sites, thereby shortening the migration of reactive oxidative species (ROS) toward contaminants...

Microporous materials, including zeolites, metal-organic frameworks, and cage compounds, offer diverse functionalities due to their unique dynamics and guest confinement properties. These materials play a significant role in separation, catalysis, and sensing, but their complexity hinders exploration using traditional atomistic simulations. This review explores collective variables (CVs) paired with enhanced sampling as a powerful approach to enable efficient investigation of key features in microporous materials...

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is a versatile platform chemical derived from the dehydration of renewable carbohydrates (typically glucose/fructose-based monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides). Some useful compounds, such as 2,5-furandimethanol (FDM), 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) and 2,5-dimethyltetrahydrofuran (DMTHF), have been synthesized by reduction of HMF. Among these, FDM is a promising diol and can be further converted towards fine chemicals, liquid fuels and polymer materials. In this review, some typical catalytic systems for the synthesis of FDM from both HMF and carbohydrates were summarized...

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant transmitted mainly through the atmosphere, posing a serious threat to biological survival and human health. Porous materials, with high specific surface area, high porosity, and high adsorption, are particularly suitable for the purification of atmospheric Hg mixtures. However, plant porous materials are rarely directly used for atmospheric Hg purification. In this study, the properties and mechanism of maize whisker in removing atmospheric Hg were analyzed. The results show that the Hg content in the whiskers increases significantly as the initial Hg concentration increases, and 79...

A series of activated biochar (KBBC-700, KBBC-800 and KBBC-900) which were modified by KOH and pyrolysis at various temperatures from ball-milling bamboo powder were obtained. The physicochemical properties and pore structures of activated biochar were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectoscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N2 adsorption/desorption. The adsorption performance for the removal of methylene blue (MB) was deeply studied. The results showed that KBBC-900 obtained at activation temperature of 900 °C exhibited a great surface area which reached 562 m2 /g with 0...

The 3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) pathway is one of the six known natural carbon fixation pathways, in which the carbon species used is bicarbonate. It has been considered to be the most suitable pathway for aerobic CO2 fixation among the six natural carbon fixation pathways. Mesaconate is a high value-added derivative in the 3-HP pathway and can be used as a co-monomer to produce fire-retardant materials and hydrogels. In this study, we use mesaconate as a reporting compound to evaluate the construction and optimization of the sub-part of the 3-HP pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae...

There is increasing attention to the production of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from lignocellulosic biomass by enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulase. In this study, the feasibility of the application of a cellulase system from engineered strain Penicillium oxalicum cEES in the production of CNCs was assessed. Using commercial eucalyptus dissolving pulp (EDP) as substrate, the CNCs were successfully obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis with the cellulase cEES, and the total yields of CNCs reached 15.7% through three-step enzymatic hydrolysis of total 72 h (24 h for each step)...

Background: Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, women have experienced more job loss owing to an increase in household and caregiving responsibilities. Gender inequities coupled with pandemic-related stressors have resulted in poor health outcomes among women. Globally, women have reported higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress in response to the pandemic. Evidence suggests that social determinants of health have contributed to women's poor health outcomes. Materials and Methods: We used the Understanding America Study to describe the social impacts women have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic when compared with men and to explore the association between partnership status and social impacts in Los Angeles...

Sparingly-soluble phosphate rock (PR), a raw material for P-fertilizer production, can be effectively utilized by the As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata but not most plants. In this study, we investigated the associated mechanisms by measuring dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and acid phosphatase in the rhizosphere, and nutrient uptake and gene expression related to the As metabolism in P. vittata . The plants were grown in a soil containing 200 mg kg-1 As and/or 1.5% PR for 30 days. Compared to the As treatment, the P...

Ultraviolet (UV) light plays a crucial role in various applications, but currently, the efficiency of generating artificial UV light is low. The visible-to-ultraviolet (Vis-to-UV) system based on the triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) mechanism can be a viable solution. Metal-free multiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) materials are ideal photosensitizers (PSs) apart from the drawback of high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs). Herein, we systematically investigated the impact of the heavy-atom effect (HAE) on the MR-TADF sensitizers...

A gate stack that facilitates a high-quality interface and tight electrostatic control is crucial for realizing high-performance and low-power field-effect transistors (FETs). However, when constructing conventional metal-oxide-semiconductor structures with two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide channels, achieving these requirements becomes challenging due to inherent difficulties in obtaining high-quality gate dielectrics through native oxidation or film deposition. Here, we report a gate-dielectric-less device architecture of van der Waals Schottky gated metal-semiconductor FETs (vdW-SG MESFETs) using a molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 ) channel and surface-oxidized metal gates such as nickel and copper...

BACKGROUND AIMS: The production of commercial autologous cell therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor T cells requires complex manual manufacturing processes. Skilled labor costs and challenges in manufacturing scale-out have contributed to high prices for these products. METHODS: We present a robotic system that uses industry-standard cell therapy manufacturing equipment to automate the steps involved in cell therapy manufacturing. The robotic cluster consists of a robotic arm and customized modules, allowing the robot to manipulate a variety of standard cell therapy instruments and materials such as incubators, bioreactors, and reagent bags...

Electron transfer during solid-liquid contact electrification has been demonstrated to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydroxyl radicals (• OH) and superoxide anion radicals (• O2 - ). Here, we show that such a process also occurs in liquid-liquid contact electrification. By preparing perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions to construct a perfluorocarbon-water "liquid-liquid" interface, we confirmed that electrons were transferred from water to perfluorocarbon in ultrasonication-induced high-frequency liquid-liquid contact to produce • OH and • O2 - ...