Anchored VN Quantum Dots Boosting High Capacity and Cycle Durability of Na3V2(PO4)3@NC Cathode for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Battery and Organic Sodium-Ion Battery.

Na3V2(PO4)3 is a promising high-voltage cathode for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) and organic sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, the poor rate capability, specific capacity, and cycling stability severely hamper it from further development. In this work, Na3V2(PO4)3 (NVP) with vanadium nitride (VN) quantum dots encapsulated by nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) nanoflowers (NVP/VN@NC) are manufactured as cathode using in situ nitridation, carbon coating, and structural adjustment. The outer NC layer increases the higher electronic conductivity of NVP. Furthermore, VN quantum dots with high theoretical capacity not only improve the specific capacity of pristine NVP, but also serve as abundant "pins" between NVP and NC to strengthen the stability of NVP/VN@NC heterostructure. For Zn-ion storage, these essential characteristics allow NVP/VN@NC to attain a high reversible capacity of 135.4 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1, and a capacity retention of 91% after 2000 cycles at 5 A g-1. Meanwhile, NVP/VN@NC also demonstrates to be a stable cathode material for SIBs, which can reach a high reversible capacity of 124.5 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1, and maintain 92% of initial capacity after 11000 cycles at 5 A g-1. This work presents a feasible path to create innovative high-voltage cathodes with excellent reaction kinetics and structural stability.

Boosted Oxygen Kinetics of Hierarchically Mesoporous Mo2C/C for High-current-density Zn-air Battery.

The high-current-density Zn-air battery shows big prospects in next-generation energy technologies, while sluggish O2 reaction and diffusion kinetics barricade the applications. Herein, the sequential assembly is innovatively demonstrated for hierarchically mesoporous molybdenum carbides/carbon microspheres with a tunable thickness of mesoporous carbon layers (Meso-Mo2C/C-x, where x represents the thickness). The optimum Meso-Mo2C/C-14 composites (≈2 µm in diameter) are composed of mesoporous nanosheets (≈38 nm in thickness), which possess bilateral mesoporous carbon layers (≈14 nm in thickness), inner Mo2C/C layers (≈8 nm in thickness) with orthorhombic Mo2C nanoparticles (≈2 nm in diameter), a high surface area of ≈426 m2 g-1, and open mesopores (≈6.9 nm in size). Experiments and calculations corroborate the hierarchically mesoporous Mo2C/C can enhance hydrophilicity for supplying sufficient O2, accelerate oxygen reduction kinetics by highly-active Mo2C and N-doped carbon sites, and facilitate O2 diffusion kinetics over hierarchically mesopores. Therefore, Meso-Mo2C/C-14 outputs a high half-wave potential (0.88 V vs RHE) with a low Tafel slope (51 mV dec-1) for oxygen reduction. More significantly, the Zn-air battery delivers an ultrahigh power density (272 mW cm-2), and an unprecedented 100 h stability at a high-current-density condition (100 mA cm-2), which is one of the best performances.

Mesoporous TiO2 Single-Crystal Particles from Controlled Crystallization-Driven Mono-Micelle Assembly as an Efficient Photocatalyst.

Mesoporous materials with crystalline frameworks have been widely explored in many fields due to their unique structure and crystalline feature, but accurate manipulations over crystalline scaffolds, mainly composed of uncontrolled polymorphs, are still lacking. Herein, we explored a controlled crystallization-driven monomicelle assembly approach to construct a type of uniform mesoporous TiO2 particles with atomically aligned single-crystal frameworks. The resultant mesoporous TiO2 single-crystal particles possess an angular shape ∼80 nm in diameter, good mesoporosity (a high surface area of 112 m2 g-1 and a mean pore size at 8.3 nm), and highly oriented anatase frameworks. By adjusting the evaporation rate during assembly, such a facile solution-processed strategy further enables the regulation of the particle size and mesopore size without the destruction of the oriented crystallites. Such a combination of ordered mesoporosity and crystalline orientation provides both effective mass and charge transportation, leading to a significant increase in the hydrogen generation rate. A maximum hydrogen evolution rate of 12.5 mmol g-1 h-1 can be realized, along with great stability under solar light. Our study is envisaged to extend the possibility of mesoporous single crystal growth to a range of functional ceramics and semiconductors toward advanced applications.

Stepwise Monomicelle Assembly for Highly Ordered Mesoporous TiO2 Membranes with Precisely Tailored Mesophase and Porosity.

Mesoporous materials with crystalline frameworks have been acknowledged as very attractive materials in various applications. Nevertheless, due to the cracking issue during crystallization and incompatible hydrolysis and assembly, the precise control for crystalline mesoscale membranes is quite infertile. Herein, we presented an ingenious stepwise monomicelle assembly route for the syntheses of highly ordered mesoporous crystalline TiO2 membranes with delicately controlled mesophase, mesoporosity, and thickness. Such a process involves the preparation of monomicelle hydrogels and follows self-assembly by stepwise solvent evaporation, which enables the sensitive hydrolysis of TiO2 oligomers and dilatory micelle assembly to be united. In consequence, the fabricated mesoporous TiO2 membranes exhibit a broad flexibility, including tunable ordered mesophases (worm-like, hexagonal p6mm to body-centered cubic Im3̅m), controlled mesopore sizes (3.0-8.0 nm), and anatase grain sizes (2.3-8.4 nm). Besides, such mesostructured crystalline TiO2 membranes can be extended to diverse substrates (Ti, Ag, Si, FTO) with tailored thickness. The great mesoporosity of the in situ fabricated mesoscopic membranes also affords excellent pseudocapacitive behavior for sodium ion storage. This study underscores a novel pathway for balancing the interaction of precursors and micelles, which could have implications for synthesizing crystalline mesostructures in higher controllability.

IRF3-mediated lncRNA FTX promotes cell proliferation, migration, invasion and suppresses cell apoptosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma by up-regulating FCHSD2 via miR-708-5p.

In recent years, researches into the molecular mechanisms of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have improved greatly but effective targeted therapies remain elusive. More and more evidence has referred to long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as modulators of carcinomas development. As a novel lncRNA, five prime to Xist (FTX), as reported before, is overexpressed in a variety of cancers. In the present study, we sought to unclose the impacts of FTX and its molecular mechanism in OSCC. Related gene expression levels were disclosed by qRT-PCR and we found that FTX was notably overexpressed in OSCC. The biological functions of FTX in OSCC were measured by functional assays. The results displayed that depletion of FTX hinderedOSCC cell migratory, invasive and proliferative abilities, but promoted cell apoptotic levels. The relationship among interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), FTX, microRNA-708-5p (miR-708-5p) and FCH and double SH3 domains 2 (FCHSD2) was determined by several mechanism assays, from which we discovered that FTX activated by IRF3 regulated FCHSD2 expression by sponging miR-708-5p. Rescue experiments showed that FTX motivated OSCC development by modulating miR-708-5p/FCHSD2 axis. In summary, FTX was an oncogene in OSCC and might provide new insights into OSCC treatment.

Surface Stretching Enables Highly Disordered Graphitic Domains for Ultrahigh Rate Sodium Storage.

Hard carbons (HCs) with high sloping capacity are considered as the leading candidate anode for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs); nevertheless, achieving basically complete slope-dominated behavior with high rate capability is still a big challenge. Herein, the synthesis of mesoporous carbon nanospheres with highly disordered graphitic domains and MoC nanodots modification via a surface stretching strategy is reported. The MoOx surface coordination layer inhibits the graphitization process at high temperature, thus creating short and wide graphite domains. Meanwhile, the in situ formed MoC nanodots can greatly promote the conductivity of highly disordered carbon. Consequently, MoC@MCNs exhibit an outstanding rate capacity (125 mAh g-1 at 50 A g-1 ). The "adsorption-filling" mechanism combined with excellent kinetics is also studied based on the short-range graphitic domains to reveal the enhanced slope-dominated capacity. The insight in this work encourages the design of HC anodes with dominated slope capacity toward high-performance SIBs.

EVlncRNA-Dpred: improved prediction of experimentally validated lncRNAs by deep learning.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) played essential roles in nearly every biological process and disease. Many algorithms were developed to distinguish lncRNAs from mRNAs in transcriptomic data and facilitated discoveries of more than 600 000 of lncRNAs. However, only a tiny fraction (<1%) of lncRNA transcripts (~4000) were further validated by low-throughput experiments (EVlncRNAs). Given the cost and labor-intensive nature of experimental validations, it is necessary to develop computational tools to prioritize those potentially functional lncRNAs because many lncRNAs from high-throughput sequencing (HTlncRNAs) could be resulted from transcriptional noises. Here, we employed deep learning algorithms to separate EVlncRNAs from HTlncRNAs and mRNAs. For overcoming the challenge of small datasets, we employed a three-layer deep-learning neural network (DNN) with a K-mer feature as the input and a small convolutional neural network (CNN) with one-hot encoding as the input. Three separate models were trained for human (h), mouse (m) and plant (p), respectively. The final concatenated models (EVlncRNA-Dpred (h), EVlncRNA-Dpred (m) and EVlncRNA-Dpred (p)) provided substantial improvement over a previous model based on support-vector-machines (EVlncRNA-pred). For example, EVlncRNA-Dpred (h) achieved 0.896 for the area under receiver-operating characteristic curve, compared with 0.582 given by sequence-based EVlncRNA-pred model. The models developed here should be useful for screening lncRNA transcripts for experimental validations. EVlncRNA-Dpred is available as a web server at https://www.sdklab-biophysics-dzu.net/EVlncRNA-Dpred/index.html, and the data and source code can be freely available along with the web server.

A label-free fluorescent biosensor for amplified detection of T4 polynucleotide kinase activity based on rolling circle amplification and catalytic hairpin assembly.

T4 polynucleotide kinase (PNK) plays a key role in maintaining genome integrity and repairing DNA damage. In this paper, we proposed a label-free fluorescent biosensor for amplified detection of T4 PNK activity based on rolling circle amplification (RCA) and catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA). Firstly, we designed a padlock probe with a 5'-hydroxyl terminus for phosphorylation reaction, a complementary sequence of the primer for initiating RCA, and a complementary sequence of the trigger for triggering CHA. T4 PNK catalyzed the phosphorylation reaction by adding a phosphate group to the 5'-hydroxyl terminus of padlock probe, generating a phosphorylated padlock probe. Then it hybridized with the primer to generate a circular probe under the action of ligase. Subsequently, the primer initiated an RCA reaction along the circular probe to synthesize a large molecular weight product with repetitive trigger sequences. The triggers then triggered the cyclic assembly reactions between hairpin probe 1 and hairpin probe 2 to generate a large amount of complexes with free G-rich sequences. The free G-rich sequences folded into G-quadruplex structures, and the N-methylmesoporphyrin IXs were inserted into them to produce an amplified fluorescent signal. Benefiting from high amplification efficiency of RCA and CHA, this fluorescent biosensor could detect T4 PNK as low as 6.63 × 10-4 U mL-1, and was successfully applied to detect its activity in HeLa cell lysates. Moreover, this fluorescent biosensor could effectively distinguish T4 PNK from other alternatives and evaluate the inhibitory effect of inhibitor, indicating that it had great potential in drug screening and disease treatment.

Controllable States and Porosity of Cu-Carbon for CO2 Electroreduction to Hydrocarbons.

The electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2 RR) to value-added chemical products is an effective strategy for both greenhouse effect mitigation and high-density energy storage. However, controllable manipulation of the oxidation state and porous structure of Cu-carbon based catalysts to achieve high selectivity and current density for a particular product remains very challenging. Herein, a strategy derived from Cu-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for the synthesis of controllable oxidation states and porous structure of Cu-carbon (Cu-pC, Cu2 O-pC, and Cu2 O/Cu-pC) is demonstrated. By regulating oxygen partial pressure during the annealing process, the valence state of the Cu and mesoporous structures of surrounding carbon are changed, leads to the different selectivity of products. Cu2 O/CuO-pC with the higher oxidation state exhibits FEC2H4 of 65.12% and a partial current density of -578 mA cm-2 , while the Cu2 O-pC shows the FECH4 over 55% and a partial current density exceeding -438 mA cm-2 . Experimental and theoretical studies indicate that porous carbon-coated Cu2 O structures favor the CH4 pathway and inhibit the hydrogen evolution reaction. This work provides an effective strategy for exploring the influence of the various valence states of Cu and mesoporous carbon structures on the selectivity of CH4 and C2 H4 products in CO2 RR.

Constructing Unique Mesoporous Carbon Superstructures via Monomicelle Interface Confined Assembly.

Constructing hierarchical three-dimensional (3D) mesostructures with unique pore structure, controllable morphology, highly accessible surface area, and appealing functionality remains a great challenge in materials science. Here, we report a monomicelle interface confined assembly approach to fabricate an unprecedented type of 3D mesoporous N-doped carbon superstructure for the first time. In this hierarchical structure, a large hollow locates in the center (∼300 nm in diameter), and an ultrathin monolayer of spherical mesopores (∼22 nm) uniformly distributes on the hollow shells. Meanwhile, a small hole (4.0-4.5 nm) is also created on the interior surface of each small spherical mesopore, enabling the superstructure to be totally interconnected. Vitally, such interconnected porous supraparticles exhibit ultrahigh accessible surface area (685 m2 g-1) and good underwater aerophilicity due to the abundant spherical mesopores. Additionally, the number (70-150) of spherical mesopores, particle size (22 and 42 nm), and shell thickness (4.0-26 nm) of the supraparticles can all be accurately manipulated. Besides this spherical morphology, other configurations involving 3D hollow nanovesicles and 2D nanosheets were also obtained. Finally, we manifest the mesoporous carbon superstructure as an advanced electrocatalytic material with a half-wave potential of 0.82 V (vs RHE), equivalent to the value of the commercial Pt/C electrode, and notable durability for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).

Self-Assembly of Ir-Based Nanosheets with Ordered Interlayer Space for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation.

Iridium (Ir)-based electrocatalysts are widely explored as benchmarks for acidic oxygen evolution reactions (OERs). However, further enhancing their catalytic activity remains challenging due to the difficulty in identifying active species and unfavorable architectures. In this work, we synthesized ultrathin Ir-IrOx/C nanosheets with ordered interlayer space for enhanced OER by a nanoconfined self-assembly strategy, employing block copolymer formed stable end-merged lamellar micelles. The interlayer distance of the prepared Ir-IrOx/C nanosheets was well controlled at ∼20 nm and Ir-IrOx nanoparticles (∼2 nm) were uniformly distributed within the nanosheets. Importantly, the fabricated Ir-IrOx/C electrocatalysts display one of the lowest overpotential (η) of 198 mV at 10 mA cm-2geo during OER in an acid medium, benefiting from their features of mixed-valence states, rich electrophilic oxygen species (O(II-δ)-), and favorable mesostructured architectures. Both experimental and computational results reveal that the mixed valence and O(II-δ)- moieties of the 2D mesoporous Ir-IrOx/C catalysts with a shortened Ir-O(II-δ)- bond (1.91 Å) is the key active species for the enhancement of OER by balancing the adsorption free energy of oxygen-containing intermediates. This strategy thus opens an avenue for designing high performance 2D ordered mesoporous electrocatalysts through a nanoconfined self-assembly strategy for water oxidation and beyond.

A novel electrochemical sensor based on TAPT-TFP-COF/COOH-MWCNT for simultaneous detection of dopamine and paracetamol.

In this work, a covalent organic framework (COF) TAPT-TFP-COF containing a triazine ring was prepared by a typical Schiff base condensation reaction of 1,3,5-tris-(4-aminophenyl)triazine (TAPT) and 1,3,5-triformyl phloroglucinol (TFP). The TAPT-TFP-COF and carboxyl-functionalized multi-wall carbon nanotubes (COOH-MWCNTs) were drip-coated on glassy carbon electrode respectively to develop a novel and simple electrochemical sensor in order to simultaneously detect dopamine (DA) and paracetamol (PA). COOH-MWCNTs interconnected the TAPT-TFP-COF and acted as bridges between the COF particles, which had a good synergistic effect and accelerated electron transfer. Under optimal conditions, linear responses were obtained over the concentration range 1-190 µM for DA and PA with limits of detection (LOD) of 0.14 µM and 0.19 µM, respectively. Furthermore, the fabricated sensor possesses outstanding repeatability and high selectivity, and can be applied for the determination of DA and PA in dopamine injection and acetaminophen drugs with satisfactory recoveries.

Precisely Designed Mesoscopic Titania for High-Volumetric-Density Pseudocapacitance.

Surface redox pseudocapacitance, which enables short charging times and high power delivery, is very attractive in a wide range of sites. To achieve maximized specific capacity, nanostructuring of active materials with high surface area is indispensable. However, one key limitation for capacitive materials is their low volumetric capacity due to the low tap density of nanomaterials. Here, we present a promising mesoscale TiO2 structure with precisely controlled mesoporous frameworks as a high-density pseudocapacitive model system. The dense-packed mesoscopic TiO2 in micrometer size offers a high accessible surface area (124 m2 g-1) and radially aligned mesopore channels, but high tap density (1.7 g cm-3) that is much higher than TiO2 nanoparticles (0.47 g cm-3). As a pseudocapacitive sodium-ion storage anode, the precisely designed mesoscopic TiO2 model achieved maximized gravimetric capacity (240 mAh g-1) and volumetric capacity (350 mAh cm-3) at 0.025 A g-1. Such a designed pseudocapacitive mesostructure further realized a commercially comparable areal capacity (2.1 mAh cm-2) at a high mass loading of 9.47 mg cm-2. This mesostructured electrode that enables fast sodiation in dense nanostructures has implications for high-power applications, fast-charging devices, and pseudocapacitive electrode design.

Streamlined Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles with Tunable Curvature from Interfacial Dynamic-Migration Strategy for Nanomotors.

Streamlined architectures with a low fluid-resistance coefficient have been receiving great attention in various fields. However, it is still a great challenge to synthesize streamlined architecture with tunable surface curvature at the nanoscale. Herein, we report a facile interfacial dynamic migration strategy for the synthesis of streamlined mesoporous nanotadpoles with varied architectures. These tadpole-like nanoparticles possess a big streamlined head and a slender tail, which exhibit large inner cavities (75-170 nm), high surface areas (424-488 m2 g-1), and uniform mesopore sizes (2.4-3.2 nm). The head curvature of the streamlined mesoporous nanoparticles can be well-tuned from ∼2.96 × 10-2 to ∼5.56 × 10-2 nm-1, and the tail length can also be regulated from ∼30 to ∼650 nm. By selectively loading the Fe3O4 catalyst in the cavity of the streamlined silica nanotadpoles, the H2O2-driven mesoporous nanomotors were designed. The mesoporous nanomotors with optimized structural parameters exhibit outstanding directionality and a diffusion coefficient of 8.15 µm2 s-1.

Ultrahigh Rate Capability and Lifespan MnCo2 O4 /Ni-MOF Electrode for High Performance Battery-Type Supercapacitor.

MnCo2 O4 is derived from a Co/Mn bimetallic metal-organic framework (MOF). Then Ni-MOF is directly grown on the surface of the obtained MnCo2 O4 to form a nano-flower structure with small balls. A large surface area, abundant active sites of MnCo2 O4 and porosity of Ni-MOF allow the prepared MnCo2 O4 /Ni-MOF composite material to deliver an excellent electrochemical performance. At the same time, an appropriate thermal treatment temperature of the MnCo2 O4 precursor is also very important for controlling the morphology of the obtained MnCo2 O4 and electrochemical performances of the resulted composite material including electric conductivity, specific capacitance and rate performance. The prepared MnCo2 O4 -600/Ni-MOF shows an ultrahigh rate performance (when the current density increases from 1 to 10 A g-1 , the capacitance retention rate is as high as 93.41 %) and good cycle stability (the assembled asymmetric supercapacitor advice delivers a capacitance retention rate of 94.74 % after 20 000 charge and discharge cycles) as well as a relatively high specific capacitance. These excellent electrochemical properties indicate that MnCo2 O4 /Ni-MOF has a good application prospect in the market.

Asperuloside ameliorates lipopolysaccharide-induced primary human periodontal ligament cell injury by decreasing TLR4 expression and NF-κB activation.

OBJECTIVE: The mechanism underlying lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced primary human periodontal ligament (PDLC) cell injury is unclear. In this study, we focused on the therapeutic function of asperuloside (ASP) on LPS-induced cell injury. DESIGN: The study enrolled 41 participants, including 18 healthy controls and 23 CP patients. Western blotting was used to measure the expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), phosphorylated p65 (p-p65) and cyclin D1. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were utilized to evaluate the protein levels of proinflammatory factors interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). MTT assays and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) staining were performed to investigate cell proliferation. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect TLR4 and p65 expression in gingival tissues. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Asperuloside ameliorates lipopolysaccharide-induced PDLC cell injury by decreasing TLR4 expression and NF-κB activation, while this protective effect of ASP was reversed by TLR4 overexpression.

A Zeolitic-Imidazole Framework-Derived Trifunctional Electrocatalyst for Hydrazine Fuel Cells.

Hydrazine fuel cells are promising sustainable power sources. However, the high price and limited reserves of noble metal catalysts that promote the sluggish cathodic and anodic electrochemical reactions hinder their practical applications. Reflecting the enhanced diffusion and improved kinetics of nanostructured non-noble metal electrocatalysts, we report an efficient zeolitic-imidazole framework-derived trifunctional electrocatalyst for hydrazine oxidation, oxygen, and hydrogen peroxide reduction. Experimental results and theoretical calculations corroborate that the nanocarbon architecture with abundant Co-N species enhances the electronic interaction and optimizes the energy barriers of anodic hydrazine oxidation and cathodic oxygen reduction. The resulting assembled hydrazine-oxygen fuel cell yields a cell voltage and power density of 0.74 V and 20.5 mW cm-2, respectively. Moreover, benefiting from the liquid-liquid diffusion, the hydrazine-hydrogen peroxide cell shows a boosted cell voltage and power density, corresponding to 1.68 V and 41.0 mW cm-2. This work offers a highly active non-noble metal multifunctional electrocatalyst with a pioneering diffusion philosophy in the liquid electrochemical cells.

Production of metal oxides nanoparticles based on poly-alanine/chitosan/reduced graphene oxide for photocatalysis degradation, anti-pathogenic bacterial and antioxidant studies.

A novel AgO-CoO-CdO/Poly(alanine)-chitosan-reduced graphene oxide (PACSGO) nanocomposite was developed to study the degradation efficiency under visible light irradiation. The AgO, CoO, CdO nanoparticles and AgO-CoO-CdO heterometal oxides were prepared by using the chemical method. The crystallite structure and phase studies were studied by the X-ray diffraction assay. The SEM images were evaluated to explore the morphology of the prepared materials. EDS analysis and FTIR spectra confirmed the formation of nano-materials with high purity. The optical bandgap values were measured via Kubelka-Munk plot showing that the metal oxides produced a new energy state in the electronic level for high photocatalysis efficiency. The incorporation of AgO-CoO-CdO in PACSGO showed a novel nano-photocatalyst for substantial degradation of dye in low process time. The catalysis data displayed that PACSGO based AgO-CoO-CdO nanocomposites ensured a strong potential to degradation of organic dye compounds from water in during photocatalysis reaction. The beneficial anti-pathogenic bacterial performance of the AgO-CoO-CdO/PACSGO nanocomposites was further demonstrated by a substantial reduction in the amount of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and B. cereus medium and increase in inhibition zone value with the addition of the AgO-CoO-CdO/PACSGO nanocomposites.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban Greenland soils of Nanjing, China: concentration, distribution, sources and potential risks.

In order to better study the influence of land use on the concentration and distribution of organic contaminants in urban areas, the concentrations of 16 principal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined on soil samples collected at three depths (0~10 cm, 10~20 cm and 20~30 cm) from urban greenland areas of 6 functional zones: residential zone (RZ), business zone (BZ), industrial zone (IZ), cultural and educational zone (CZ), urban park (UP) and urban rural forest (URF) of Nanjing, China. Results showed that the average concentration of ∑PAHs in the urban greenland of Nanjing (499.47 ng/g) was comparable to the value reported for other cities under similar conditions. Acenaphthene was the dominant compound (46.2% of the ∑PAHs), and low molecular weight PAHs (LPAHs) represented the largest share of ∑PAHs. Concentrations of ∑PAHs in 6 function zones were different, with the highest value in IZ (954.33 ng/g) and lowest value in URF (147.81 ng/g). The soil showed the highest ∑PAHs contamination in the layer 10~20 cm in all zones (on average 547.01 ng/g). ∑PAHs of IZ showed the highest values in all soil layers. Isomer ratio and factor analysis were used to determine the source of PAHs in soil. Petroleum combustion (PC), coal and biomass combustion (CBC), mixed (M) and petroleum (P) sources were finally identified as the four main sources of PAHs in Nanjing urban greenland soil, accounting for 50.2%, 14.9%, 8.4% and 6.6%, respectively. Bap toxic equivalent (TEQBap) was used to analyze the ecological risk. TEQBap was 20.59 ng/g in total zones (TZ), below the threshold for multipurpose soil of Dutch legislation (32.96 ng/g), but 69% of samples exceeded this threshold. TEQBap of different functional zones is ordered as: IZ (43.62 ng/g)>RZ (23.89 ng/g) > BZ (20.62 ng/g) > CZ (19. 93 ng/g) > UP (12.97 ng/g) > URF (2.01 ng/g). In the industrial area, more than 97% of TEQBap depended on seven carcinogenic PAHs (∑PAH7c), which indicated that IZ had high ecological risk. Lifetime risk of cancer (ILCR) model was used to assess the health risk of ∑PAHs. ILCRs ranked as following: children > youth > adults, with soil oral intake determining the highest cancer risk, followed by skin contact and breath intake. ILCRs of children were in high cancer risk range, with values of 3.77 × 10-4 (for boy) and 3.87 × 10-4 (for girl), while ILCRs of youth and adults were in an acceptable range; ILCRs were highest in IZ, followed by RZ, BZ, CZ, UP and URF. The soil PAHs analysis in different function greenland zones of Nanjing showed that land use influenced the concentration and distribution of PAHs in soils. This difference should be taken into account in the urban greenland planning and management to reduce the risks for the environment and human health.

Metasurface of deflection prism phases for generating non-diffracting optical vortex lattices.

A functional metasurface of both transparent medium slices and multiple deflection prisms is proposed, where phase retardations for generating non-diffracting vortex lattices are integrated and encoded as rotation angles of nano-apertures. Under plane-wave illumination, the transmitted waves from the thin flat metasurface act analogously as multiple beams, each with a designed propagating direction and pre-scribed phase shift, that generate an optical lattice within their overlapping region of space. By altering the design parameters of the metasurface, lattice type and size can be controlled. Both numerical simulations and experiments were conducted, verifying the possibility of the proposed method and the non-diffracting properties of the generated vortex lattices.