Upconversion nanoparticles doped optical lens: let's see the near-infrared light.

The human cannot detect light with a wavelength exceeding 700 nm, primarily due to limitations in the physiological structure of the human eye. However, in certain specific scenarios, the ability to detect near-infrared (NIR) light proves to be extremely valuable. To attain this desired capability, NIR up conversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) were prepared and doped in the optical lens materials, aiming to obtain a NIR light "visible" optical lens. It is demonstrated that the doping of UCNPs in the optical lens materials does not significantly impact on their mechanical properties, optical properties, surface properties and it exhibits excellent biocompatibility in cell and animal experiments. More importantly, the UCNPs doping can convert NIR light into visible light within the material effectively and stably. The eyes can "see" the NIR light after wearing such UCNPs doped optical lens. Such NIR light visible optical lens could have great potential in actual applications.

Optimizing anthocyanin Oral delivery: Effects of food biomacromolecule types on Nanocarrier performance for enhanced bioavailability.

Wall material types influence the efficacy of nanocarriers in oral delivery systems. We utilized three food biomacromolecules (whey protein isolate, oxidized starch, lipids) to prepare three types of nanocarriers. Our aim was to investigate their performance in digestion, cellular absorption, mucus penetration, intestinal retention, and bioavailability of the encapsulated anthocyanins (Ant). The release rate of protein nanocarriers (Pro-NCs) was twice that of starch nanocarriers (Sta-NCs) and four times that of lipid nanocarriers (Lip-NCs) in simulated gastrointestinal fluid. Additionally, Pro-NCs demonstrated superior transmembrane transport capacity and over three times cellular internalization efficiency than Sta-NCs and Lip-NCs. Sta-NCs exhibited the highest mucus-penetrating capacity, while Pro-NCs displayed the strongest mucoadhesion, resulting in extended gastrointestinal retention time for Pro-NCs. Sta-NCs significantly enhanced the in vivo bioavailability of Ant, nearly twice that of free Ant. Our results demonstrate the critical role of wall material types in optimizing nanocarriers for the specific delivery of bioactive compounds.

Exosome-transported circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 play a tumour-repressive role and show diagnostic value in non-small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Circular RNAs (circRNAs), one of the major contents of exosomes, have been shown to participate in the occurrence and progression of cancers. The role and the diagnostic potential of exosome-transported circRNAs in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain largely unknown. METHODS: The NSCLC-associated exosomal circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 were screened by circRNA microarray. The role of circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 in NSCLC was examined in vitro and in vivo. The encapsulation of the two circRNAs into exosomes and the transport to recipient cells were observed by confocal microscopy. The effects of exosome-transported circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 on recipient cells were investigated using a co-culture device. Bioinformatics analyses were performed to predict the mechanisms by which circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 affected NSCLC. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify the exosome-containing circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 in the serum samples of healthy, pneumonia, benign lung tumours, and NSCLC. The diagnostic efficacy was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: The levels of circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 within exosomes were down-regulated in the serum of patients with NSCLC. The up-regulation of circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 inhibited the proliferation, migration/invasion, cloning formation of NSCLC cells in vitro and inhibited lung tumour growth in vivo. Circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 were observed to be packaged in exosomes and transported to recipient cells, where they inhibited the proliferation, migration/invasion, and cloning formation abilities of the recipient cells. Moreover, circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 might be involved in the progression of NSCLC by interacting with microRNAs and proteins. Additionally, lower serum exosomal circ_0061407 and circ_0008103 levels were associated with advanced pathological staging and distant metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified two novel exosome-transported circRNAs (circ_0061407 and circ_0008103) associated with NSCLC. These findings may provide additional insights into the development of NSCLC and potential diagnostic biomarkers for NSCLC.

CAR T Cell Membrane Camouflaged Nanocatalyst Augments CAR T Cell Therapy Efficacy Against Solid Tumor.

The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) reduces the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy against solid tumors. Here, a CAR T cell membrane-camouflaged nanocatalyst (ACSP@TCM) is prepared to augment CAR T cell therapy efficacy against solid tumors. ACSP@TCM is prepared by encapsulating core/shell Au/Cu2- xSe and 3-bromopyruvate with a CAR T cell membrane. It is demonstrated that the CAR T cell membrane camouflaging has much better-targeting effect than the homologous tumors cell membrane camouflaging. ACSP@TCM has an appealing synergistic chemodynamic/photothermal therapy (CDT/PTT) effect that can induce the immunogenic cell death (ICD) of NALM 6 cells. Moreover, 3-bromopyruvate can inhibit the efflux of lactic acid by inhibiting the glycolysis process, regulating the acidity of TME, and providing a more favorable environment for the survival of CAR T cells. In addition, the photoacoustic (PA) imaging and computed tomography (CT) imaging performance can guide the ACSP@TCM-mediated tumor therapy. The results demonstrated that the ACSP@TCM significantly enhanced the CAR T cell therapy efficacy against NALM 6 solid tumor mass, and completely eliminated tumors. This work provides an effective tumor strategy for CAR T cell therapy in solid tumors.

Metabolic landscape and pathogenic insights: a comprehensive analysis of high ovarian response in infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization.

BACKGROUND: In the realm of assisted reproduction, a subset of infertile patients demonstrates high ovarian response following controlled ovarian stimulation (COS), with approximately 29.7% facing the risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). Management of OHSS risk often necessitates embryo transfer cancellation, leading to delayed prospects of successful pregnancy and significant psychological distress. Regrettably, these patients have received limited research attention, particularly regarding their metabolic profile. In this study, we aim to utilize gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to reveal these patients' unique serum metabolic profiles and provide insights into the disease's pathogenesis. METHODS: We categorized 145 infertile women into two main groups: the CON infertility group from tubal infertility patients and the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) infertility group. Within these groups, we further subdivided them into four categories: patients with normal ovarian response (CON-NOR group), patients with high ovarian response and at risk for OHSS (CON-HOR group) within the CON group, as well as patients with normal ovarian response (PCOS-NOR group) and patients with high ovarian response and at risk for OHSS (PCOS-HOR group) within the PCOS group. Serum metabolic profiles were analyzed using GC-MS. The risk criteria for OHSS were: the number of developing follicles > 20, peak Estradiol (E2) > 4000pg/mL, and Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) levels > 4.5ng/mL. RESULTS: The serum metabolomics analysis revealed four different metabolites within the CON group and 14 within the PCOS group. Remarkably, 10-pentadecenoic acid emerged as a discernible risk metabolite for the CON-HOR, also found to be a differential metabolite between CON-NOR and PCOS groups. cysteine and 5-methoxytryptamine were also identified as risk metabolites for the PCOS-HOR. Furthermore, KEGG analysis unveiled significant enrichment of the aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis pathway among the metabolites differing between PCOS-NOR and PCOS-HOR. CONCLUSION: Our study highlights significant metabolite differences between patients with normal ovarian response and those with high ovarian response and at risk for OHSS within both the tubal infertility control group and PCOS infertility group. Importantly, we observe metabolic similarities between patients with PCOS and those with a high ovarian response but without PCOS, suggesting potential parallels in their underlying causes.

Evaluation of ultrasound-guided PFO occlusion in the treatment of vestibular migraine.

BACKGROUND: Currently, surgery is the mainstay of the clinical treatment of vestibular migraine. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of using transesophageal echocardiography-guided interventional closure of the patent foramen ovale (PFO) in the treatment of vestibular migraine. METHODS: The study included 52 patients with vestibular migraine who were admitted to our hospital between June 2019 and June 2021. All selected patients underwent a transesophageal echocardiography-guided interventional closure of the PFO and were followed up for one year after surgery. We observed the clinical efficacy and surgical success rate one year after surgery and compared the improvement in clinical symptoms and perioperative safety at different time points. RESULTS: The overall remission rate and the surgical success rate for the 52 patients with vestibular migraine one year after surgery were 86.54% and 96.15%, respectively. Compared to the pre-surgery levels, there was a significant progressively decreasing trend in the scores on the Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire, frequency of headaches, and duration of headaches in patients with vestibular migraine at 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery (P< 0.05). Among the 52 patients, one developed atrial fibrillation three hours after surgery, which then spontaneously converted to sinus rhythm, and none of the other patients had adverse outcomes such as hematoma at the puncture site during the perioperative period. CONCLUSION: Transesophageal echocardiography-guided interventional closure of the PFO for treating vestibular migraine significantly improved the symptoms of migraine in patients, with a high surgical success rate, significant clinical efficacy, and favorable safety.

POSS and PEG Contained Copolymer for Antibioadhesive Rigid Contact Lenses Materials Application.

Myopia is a global public health issue. Rigid contact lenses (RCLs) are an effective way to correct or control myopia. However, bioadhesion issues remain one of the significant obstacles limiting its clinical application. Although enhancing hydrophilicity through various surface treatments can mitigate this problem, the duration of effectiveness is short-lived and the processing involved is complex and costly. Herein, an antiadhesive RCLs material was designed via 8-armed methacrylate-POSS (8MA-POSS), and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) copolymerization with 3-[tris(trimethylsiloxy)silyl] propyl methacrylate (TRIS). The POSS and PEG segments incorporated P(TRIS-co-PEGMA-co-8MA-POSS) (PTPM) material was obtained and their optical transparency, refractive index, resolution, hardness, surface charge, thermal features, and wettability were tested and optimized. The antibioadhesion activities, including protein, lipid, and bacteria, were evaluated as well. In vitro and in vivo results indicated that the optimized antibioadhesive PTPM materials present good biocompatibility and biosafety. Thus, such POSS and PEG segments containing material were a potential antibioadhesive RCL material option.

Free Radicals Generated in Perfluorocarbon-Water (Liquid-Liquid) Interfacial Contact Electrification and Their Application in Cancer Therapy.

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-. The produced ROS could be applied to ablate tumors by triggering large-scale immunogenic cell death in tumor cells, promoting dendritic cell maturation and macrophage polarization, ultimately activating T cell-mediated antitumor immune response. Importantly, the raw material for producing •OH is water, so the tumor therapy is not limited by the endogenous substances (O2, H2O2, etc.) in the tumor microenvironment. This work provides new perspectives for elucidating the mechanism of generation of free radicals in liquid-liquid contact and provides an excellent tumor therapeutic modality.

Melatonin alleviates chronic stress-induced hippocampal microglia pyroptosis and subsequent depression-like behaviors by inhibiting Cathepsin B/NLRP3 signaling pathway in rats.

Melatonin improves chronic stress-induced hippocampal damage and depression-like behaviors, but the mechanism needs further study. This study was to explore the mechanism of melatonin inhibiting microglia pyroptosis. In virtro experiments, melatonin improved corticosterone-induced the ultrastructure and microstructure damage of HAPI cells by inhibiting pyroptosis, thereby increasing cell survival rate. Protein-protein interaction network and molecular autodocking predicted that Cathespin B might be the target of melatonin inhibition of NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis. Melatonin inhibited corticosterone-induced Cathespin B expression. Both Cathepsin B inhibitor CA-074Me and NLRP3 knockout inhibited the HAPI cells pyroptosis. Similarly, melatonin inhibited Cathepsin B agonist Pazopanib-induced activation of Cathepsin B/NLRP3 signaling pathway and HAPI cells pyroptosis. In vivo studies, melatonin inhibited chronic restraint stress (CRS)-induced activation of Cathepsin B/NLRP3 signaling pathway and alleviated hippocampal microglia pyroptosis in rats. Inhibition of microglia pyroptosis improved CRS-induced depression-like behaviors of rats. In addition, inhibition of Cathepsin B and NLRP3 alleviated hippocampal pyroptosis. Melatonin inhibited Pazopanib-induced activation of Cathepsin B/NLRP3 signaling pathway and hippocampal pyroptosis. These results demonstrated that melatonin could alleviate CRS-induced hippocampal microglia pyroptosis by inhibiting Cathepsin B/NLRP3 signaling pathway, thereby improving depression-like behaviors in rats. This study reveals the molecular mechanism of melatonin in the prevention and treatment of chronic stress-related encephalopathy.

Recent Progress in Implantable Drug Delivery Systems.

In recent years, tremendous effort is devoted to developing platforms, such as implantable drug delivery systems (IDDSs), with temporally and spatially controlled drug release capabilities and improved adherence. IDDSs have multiple advantages: i) the timing and location of drug delivery can be controlled by patients using specific stimuli (light, sound, electricity, magnetism, etc.). Some intelligent "closed-loop" IDDS can even realize self-management without human participation. ii) IDDSs enable continuous and stable delivery of drugs over a long period (months to years) and iii) to administer drugs directly to the lesion, thereby helping reduce dosage and side effects. iv) IDDSs enable personalized drug delivery according to patient needs. The high demand for such systems has prompted scientists to make efforts to develop intelligent IDDS. In this review, several common stimulus-responsive mechanisms including endogenous (e.g., pH, reactive oxygen species, proteins, etc.) and exogenous stimuli (e.g., light, sound, electricity, magnetism, etc.), are given in detail. Besides, several types of IDDS reported in recent years are reviewed, including various stimulus-responsive systems based on the above mechanisms, radio frequency-controlled IDDS, "closed-loop" IDDS, self-powered IDDS, etc. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of various IDDS, bottleneck problems, and possible solutions are analyzed to provide directions for subsequent research.

Effects of running time on biological activated carbon filters: water purification performance and microbial community evolution.

Ozone-biologically activated carbon (BAC) filtration is an advanced treatment process that can be applied to remove recalcitrant organic micro-pollutants in drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). In this study, we continuously monitored a new and an old BAC filter in a DWTP for 1 year to compare their water purification performance and microbial community evolution. The results revealed that, compared with the new filter, the use of the old BAC filter facilitated a slightly lower rate of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal. In the case of the new BAC filter, we recorded general increases in the biomass and microbial diversity of the biofilm with a prolongation of operating time, with the biomass stabilizing after 7 months. For both new and old BAC filters, Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria were the dominant bacterial phyla. At the genus level, the microbial community gradually shifted over the course of operation from a predominance of Herminiimonas and Hydrogenophaga to one predominated by Bradyrhizbium, Bryobacter, Hyphomicrobium, and Pedomicrobium, with Bradyrhizobium being established as the most abundant genus in the old BAC filter. Regarding spatial distribution, we detected reductions in the biomass and number of operational taxonomic units with increasing biofilm depth, whereas there was a corresponding increase in microbial diversity. However, compared with the effects of time, the influence of depth on the composition of the biofilm microbial community was considerably smaller. Furthermore, co-occurrence network analysis revealed that the microbial community network of the new filter after 11 months of operation was the most tightly connected, although its modular coefficient was the lowest of those assessed. We speculate that the positive and negative interactions within the network may be attributable to symbiotic or competitive relationships among species. Moreover, there may have been a significant negative interaction between SWB02 and Acidovorax, plausibly associated with a competition for substrates.

Photo-controllable drug releasing bulk polyacrylic intraocular lens material for safer posterior capsular opacification prevention.

Posterior capsular opacification (PCO) is the most common complication that occurs after intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in cataract therapy. In recent years, IOLs have been developed as drug delivery platforms, but concerns over the safety of uncontrolled proliferative drug release have arisen. Therefore, a controlled drug release strategy is needed for safer PCO prevention. In this study, a new monomer contained coumarin group was introduced in material preparation, and poly(ethylene glycol phenyl ether methacrylate-co-2-(2-ethoxyethoxy) ethyl acrylate-co-7-(2-methacryloyloxyethoxy)-4-methylcoumarin) (PEEC) acrylic IOL materials were synthesized. The antiproliferative drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) could be chemically grafted to the PEEC IOL materials easily via a light induced [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction with the coumarin group, getting drug-loaded IOL (PEEC@5-FU IOL). The PEEC@5-FU IOL exhibited excellent optical and mechanical properties and biocompatibility. More importantly, the loaded 5-FU could be easily controlled from release by light irradiation via photo-dissociation of the cyclobutane ring that was obtained by the [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of 5-FU and coumarin. The in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that such photo-controllable drug release IOL could effectively prevent PCO after implantation in a safe way.

A review: Hydrochar as potential adsorbents for wastewater treatment and CO2 adsorption.

To valorize the biomass and organic waste, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) stands out as a highly efficient and promising pathway given its intrinsic advantages over other thermochemical processes. Hydrochar, as the main product obtained from HTC, is widely applied as a fuel source and soil conditioner. Aside from these applications, hydrochar can be either directly used or modified as bio-adsorbents for environmental remediation. This potential arises from its tunable surface chemistry and its suitability to act as a precursor for activated or engineered carbon. In view of the importance of this topic, this review offers a thorough examination of the research progress for using hydrochar and its modified forms to remove organic dyes (cationic and anionic dyes), heavy metals, herbicides/pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and CO2. The review also sheds light on the fundamental chemistry involved in HTC of biomass and the major analytical techniques applied for understanding surface chemistry of hydrochar and modified hydrochar. The knowledge gaps and potential hurdles are identified to highlight the challenges and prospects of this research field with a summary of the key findings from this review. Overall, this article provides valuable insights and directives and pinpoints the areas meriting further investigation in the application potential of hydrochar in wastewater management and CO2 capture.

Effects of physical method and enzymatic hydrolysis on the properties of soybean fiber-rich stabilizer for oil in water emulsions.

BACKGROUND: Okara is a by-product from the soybean industry and an abundant resource of insoluble soybean fiber (ISF). ISF with various properties could be obtained by different extraction methods. It is an attractive option to utilize okara by taking advantage of ISF as an emulsifier or stabilizer. RESULTS: Compared with the untreated ISF (ISFUT ), superfine grinding reduced the particle size and viscosity of ISF (ISFSG ). Steam explosion increased the water solubility from 17.5% to 51.7% but decreased the water holding capacity and swelling capacity of ISF (ISFSE ) from 15.0 and 14.0 g/g to 4.2 and 3.3 g/g, respectively. Emulsions prepared by ISFUT and ISFSG before or after enzymatic hydrolysis presented large oil droplets and were unstable. Although emulsions prepared by ISFSE after enzymatic hydrolysis (ISFSE-E ) showed flocculation, the volume-weighted average diameter (19.7 µm) were the smallest while the viscosity and viscoelastic modulus were the highest, and exhibited excellent physical stability during storage. CONCLUSION: ISF obtained by physical and hydrolysis treatment displayed diverging physicochemical properties while ISF prepared by steam explosion-enzymatic hydrolysis presented the best potential to stabilize emulsions. The present study could provide novel information about the utilization of okara by the application of ISF as an emulsifier or stabilizer. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

[Blood Lipid Indicators and Different Clinical Classifications of Dyslipidemia and Diabetic Kidney Disease: Correlation and Predictive Value].

Objective: To explore the relationship between blood lipid indicators and different clinical classifications of dyslipidemia and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) and to compare the value of different clinical classifications of dyslipidemia for predicting DKD. Methods: Continuously enrollment of subjects was conducted at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and the Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between October 2020 and October 2021. A total of 356 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients admitted to the two hospitals were enrolled. They were divided into DKD group ( n=126) and simple T2DM group ( n=230) according to whether their T2DM was combined with DKD. In addition, 250 healthy individuals undergoing physical examination during the same period were enrolled for the control group. The blood pressure, blood lipid, blood glucose, and the kidney function indicators of the three groups were measured. The effects of different classifications of dyslipidemia on DKD were analyzed with unconditional logistic regression models, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed, the area under the curve ( AUC) of ROC was calculated, and the value of different classifications of dyslipidemia for predicting DKD was analyzed. Results: The diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), serum creatinine (Scr), uric acid (UA), and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of the DKD group and the simple T2DM group were significantly higher than those of the control group, while the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels of the DKD group and the simple T2DM group were lower than that of the control group (all P<0.05). The disease course of T2DM, DBP, SBP, TC, TG, Scr, UA and HbA1c of the DKD group were significantly higher than those of the T2DM group (all P<0.05). After adjusting for the effects of T2DM disease course, DBP, SBP, Scr, UA and HbA1c, the results showed that TC ( OR=1.426, 95% CI: 1.088-1.868) and TG ( OR=1.404, 95% CI: 1.075-1.833) were independent risk factors for DKD, and that hypercholesterolemia ( OR=1.817, 95% CI: 1.040-3.177) and mixed hyperlipidemia ( OR=2.148, 95% CI: 1.110-4.159) were independent risk factors for DKD (all P<0.05). The AUC (95% CI) of hypercholesterolemia was 0.789 (0.729-0.871). The AUC (95% CI) of mixed hyperlipidemia was 0.671 (0.579-0.760). Hypercholesterolemia showed better predictive value for the diagnosis and prediction of DKD. Conclusion: Among the blood lipid indicators, TC and TG are independent risk factors of DKD. In the clinical classifications of dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia and mixed hyperlipidemia are independent risk factors of DKD. Hypercholesterolemia can be used as a predictor to screen for DKD among T2DM patients and is well suited for extensive application in outpatient screening.

Cadmium-tolerant Bacillus cereus 2-7 alleviates the phytotoxicity of cadmium exposure in banana plantlets.

Bananas are the world's important fruit and staple crop in the developing countries. Cadmium (Cd) contamination in soils results in the decrease of crop yield and food safety. Bioremediation is an environmental-friendly and effective measure using Cd-tolerant plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). In our study, a Cd-resistant PGPR Bacillus cereus 2-7 was isolated and identified from a discarded gold mine. It could produce multiple plant growth promoting biomolecules such as siderophores, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC)-deaminase and phosphatase. The extracellular accumulation was a main manner of Cd removal. Surplus Cd induced the expression of Cd resistance/transport genes of B. cereus 2-7 to maintain the intracellular Cd homeostasis. The pot experiment showed that Cd contents decreased by 50.31 % in soil, 45.43 % in roots, 56.42 % in stems and 79.69 % in leaves after the strain 2-7 inoculation for 40 d. Bacterial inoculation alleviated the Cd-induced oxidative stress to banana plantlets, supporting by the increase of chlorophyll contents, plant height and total protein contents. The Cd remediation mechanism revealed that B. cereus 2-7 could remodel the rhizosphere bacterial community structure and improve soil enzyme activities to enhance the immobilization of Cd. Our study provides a Cd-bioremediation strategy using Cd-resistant PGPR in tropical and subtropical area.

Recent advances in the synthesis and application of magnetic biochar for wastewater treatment.

Magnetic biochar (MBC) is a novel bio-carbon material with both desired properties as adsorbent and magnetic characteristics. This review provides an up-to-date summary and discussion on the latest development of MBC, which covers the progress on its synthesis, application, and techno-economic analysis. The review indicates that the direct hydrothermal synthesis has been catching more research attention to produce MBC due to its mild reaction conditions. Instead of the Fe-loaded MBC, there is a trend of using Mn for the magnetization. For the MBC application, how to improve its adsorption performance for water decontamination, ideally to match that of the biochar (BC) or activated carbon, is important. In addition, more studies on the environmental impacts of MBC and life-cycle assessment decoding the process optimization options are necessary. This review will provide valuable references for the development of MBC and MBC-based materials for wastewater treatment.

Effects of phosphate addition on the removal of disinfection by-product formation potentials by biological activated carbon filtration.

In drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), the widely used biological activated carbon filters (BACFs), as the last barrier before disinfection, can remove dissolved organic matter (DOM) known as precursors of disinfection by-products (DBPs). Whether phosphate addition can improve water purification and DBP control of BACFs is still controversial. This study investigated short-term and long-term effects of phosphate addition on controlling DBP formation potentials (FPs) by BACFs via column and batch experiments. The BAC columns presented good water purification performance: they removed around 50 % DOM, nearly all fulvic acid-likes and humic acid-likes as well as 5 %-70 % chlor(am)innated THM4, HAA9 and HAN4 FPs (except chloraminated THM4 FPs)， which was mainly contributed by aerobic bacteria not anoxic bacteria. Phosphate addition within 7-14 days further improved removals of DOM, aromatic organics, fluorescence fractions in DOM as well as HAA9 and HAN4 FPs (especially TCAA FP and TCAN FP) to different extent. However, this improvement did not last longer, and removals of DOM, aromatic organics, two fluorescence fractions (soluble microbial byproduct-likes and humic acid-likes) and DBP FPs decreased despite long-term phosphate addition. Oxic and anoxic batch experiments showed that the positive response of water purification to short-term phosphate addition was also mainly attributed to aerobic bacteria and not to anoxic bacteria. For example, the former decreased DOM and DBP FPs, while the latter increased protein- and tryptophan-like substances as well as chloraminated THM4 FPs. Phosphate addition resulted in EPS increase in anoxic reactors and decrease in oxic reactors. These results indicated that a high dissolved oxygen in BACFs may be helpful for water purification and DBP control. Overall, short-term phosphate addition into phosphorus-limited water is beneficial for BACFs to control DBPs while long-term addition has no effect. Therefore, an intermittent phosphate addition into BACFs is suggested to control DBPs in DWTPs.

A High-Linearity Glucose Sensor Based on Silver-Doped Con A Hydrogel and Laser Direct Writing.

A continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system is an ideal monitoring system for the blood glucose control of diabetic patients. The development of flexible glucose sensors with good glucose-responsive ability and high linearity within a large detection range is still challenging in the field of continuous glucose detection. A silver-doped Concanavalin A (Con A)-based hydrogel sensor is proposed to address the above issues. The proposed flexible enzyme-free glucose sensor was prepared by combining Con-A-based glucose-responsive hydrogels with green-synthetic silver particles on laser direct-writing graphene electrodes. The experimental results showed that in a glucose concentration range of 0-30 mM, the proposed sensor is capable of measuring the glucose level in a repeatable and reversible manner, showing a sensitivity of 150.12 Ω/mM with high linearity of R2 = 0.97. Due to its high performance and simple manufacturing process, the proposed glucose sensor is excellent among existing enzyme-free glucose sensors. It has good potential in the development of CGM devices.