“多才多艺”的铁元素*

铁在自然界中含量丰富,化学性质活泼,能够形成多种应用广泛的物质及材料,富有发展潜力。简述了铁元素的发现与性质,并重点介绍了铁的功能与应用。其中铁的应用主要围绕铁及其化合物在医学治疗、能源材料和环境保护领域所发挥的重要作用进行了阐述。     

Sensitive and selective determination of 4-nitrophenol in water and food using modified polyethyleneimine-capped carbon dots

Hazardous 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) has created serious threats to humans and the environment; therefore, it is highly desirable to develop a facile and practical method for the monitoring of 4-NP in environment and food. Here, a fluorescence method based on modified polyethyleneimine-capped carbon dots (mPEI-CDs) was developed for sensitive and selective determination of 4-NP in water, fruit, and vegetable samples. First, highly fluorescent mPEI-CDs (quantum yield about 40.3%) were easily synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method by using novel acetic anhydride modified polyethyleneimine (mPEI) and citric acid as precursors. Compared to the unmodified PEI-CDs, the acetic anhydride mPEI-CDs exhibited excellent fluorescent stability in a wider pH range of 4.0–9.0. Under pH 8.0, a selective determination of 4-NP was achieved based on the inner filter effect (IFE) mechanism. After optimization, good linear relationships between fluorescence intensity function (F₀-F)/F₀ and the concentration of 4-NP were obtained in ranges of 0.5–10 and 10–100 μM, respectively, while efficiently avoiding the interferences from two other nitrophenol isomers, possible coexisting metal cations and anions in samples. Finally, the proposed approach was successfully applied for the determination of 4-NP in water, honey, strawberry, and tomato samples.     

An incremental bundle method for portfolio selection problem under second-order stochastic dominance

Numerical Algorithms - We propose a preconditioner to accelerate the convergence of the GMRES iterative method for solving the system of linear equations obtained from discretize-then-optimize...     

Polymer Scaffolds for Biomedical Applications in Peripheral Nerve Reconstruction

The nervous system is a significant part of the human body, and peripheral nerve injury caused by trauma can cause various functional disorders. When the broken end defect is large and cannot be repaired by direct suture, small gap sutures of nerve conduits can effectively replace nerve transplantation and avoid the side effect of donor area disorders. There are many choices for nerve conduits, and natural materials and synthetic polymers have their advantages. Among them, the nerve scaffold should meet the requirements of good degradability, biocompatibility, promoting axon growth, supporting axon expansion and regeneration, and higher cell adhesion. Polymer biological scaffolds can change some shortcomings of raw materials by using electrospinning filling technology and surface modification technology to make them more suitable for nerve regeneration. Therefore, polymer scaffolds have a substantial prospect in the field of biomedicine in future. This paper reviews the application of nerve conduits in the field of repairing peripheral nerve injury, and we discuss the latest progress of materials and fabrication techniques of these polymer scaffolds.     

An In Situ Investigation of the Protein Corona Formation Kinetics of Single Nanomedicine Carriers by Self-Regulated Electrochemiluminescence Microscopy

Protein coronas are present extensively at the bio-nano interface due to the natural adsorption of proteins onto nanomaterials in biological fluids. Aside from the robust property of nanoparticles, the dynamics of the protein corona shell largely define their chemical identity by altering interface properties. However, the soft coronas are normally complex and rapidly changing. To real-time monitor the entire formation, we report here a self-regulated electrochemiluminescence (ECL) microscopy based on the interaction of the Ru(bpy)₃³⁺ with the nanoparticle surface. Thus, the heterogeneity of the protein corona is in situ observed in single nanoparticle “cores” before and after loading drugs in nanomedicine carriers. The label-free, optical stable and dynamic ECL microscopy minimize misinterpretations caused by the variation of nanoparticle size and polydispersity. Accordingly, the synergetic actions of proteins and nanoparticles properties are uncovered by chemically engineered protein corona. After comparing the protein corona formation kinetics in different complex systems and different nanomedicine carriers, the universality and accuracy of this technique were well demonstrated via the protein corona formation kinetics curves regulated by competitive adsorption of Ru(bpy)₃³⁺ and multiple proteins on surface of various carriers. The work is of great significance for studying bio-nano interface in drug delivery and targeted cancer treatment.     

Novel hydrostable Z-scheme Ag/CsPbBr3/Bi2WO6 photocatalyst for effective degradation of Rhodamine B in aqueous solution

In this study, a hydrostable Z-scheme Ag/CsPbBr₃/Bi₂WO₆ photocatalyst was designed and fabricated for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). The structural instability of CsPbX₃ perovskites in water is one of the main obstacles that restrict their practical application in photocatalytic wastewater treatment. The photocatalyst was prepared in three steps: passivation of CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals (NCs) with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), construction of a heterojunction between MPA-passivated CsPbBr₃ NCs and Bi₂WO₆ ultrathin nanosheets, and doping Ag nanoparticles as charge mediators in the heterojunction. The as-obtained 5%Ag/20%CsPbBr₃/Bi₂WO₆ exhibits good stability and excellent photocatalytic activity. The degradation rate is 93.9% in 120 min, which is 4.41 times than that of Bi₂WO₆.     

Four New Gallate Derivatives from Wine-Processed Corni Fructus and Their Anti-Inflammatory Activities

Four new gallate derivatives—ornusgallate A, ent-cornusgallate A, cornusgallate B and C (1a, 1b, 2, 3)—were isolated from the wine-processed fruit of Cornus officinalis. Among them, 1a and 1b are new natural compounds with novel skeletons. Their chemical structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopy methods including NMR, IR, HRESIMS, UV, ECD spectra and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of all compounds were assayed in RAW 264.7 cells by assessing LPS-induced NO production. As the result, all compounds exhibited anti-inflammatory activities at attested concentrations. Among the tested compounds, compound 2 exhibited the strongest anti- inflammatory activity.     

Isolation and Crystal Structure of Ent-kaurane Diterpenes from Rubus corchorifolius L. f.

In this study, ent-Kaurane-3β,16β,17-triol(1) and ent-kaurane-2α,16β,17-triol(2), were isolated from the leaves of Rubus corchorifolius L. f. Their structures were elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic analysis. NMR experiments identified the two compounds and X-ray crystallographic analysis confirmed their crystal structures. The crystal of 1 belongs to monoclinic with space group P21 and a = 10.7641(3), b = 7.2789(3), c = 11.7862(4) , β = 95.275(3)°, V = 919.55(6) 3, Z = 2, C20H34O4, Mr = 322.49 g/mol, Dc = 1.230 g/m3, F(000) = 376, λ = 1.54178 , μ = 0.661 mm-1, R = 0.0319, and wR = 0.0811 for 10889 observed reflections(Ⅰ 2σ(Ⅰ)). The crystal of 2 is classified as orthorhombic with space group P212121 and a = 10.7641(3), b = 12.72224(19), c = 21.3929(3) , V = 1748.94(4) 3, Z = 4, C20H34O4, Mr = 322.47, Dc = 1.225 Mg/m3 F(000) = 712, λ = 1.54184 , μ = 0.625 mm-1, R = 0.0303 and w R = 0.0759 for 10470 observed reflections(Ⅰ 2σ(Ⅰ)). Meanwhile, the compound revealed low inhibitory activities toward Hep G2, MCF-7, and SCG-7901 cells.     

Characterisation and coagulation performance of polysilicate-ferric-zinc

A new type of coagulant, polysilicate-ferric-zinc (PSFZn) with different Fe/Zn molar ratios, was synthesised using water glass (industrial grade, w(SiO₂) = 21 mass %, ρ = 1.34 × 10³ kg m^?3, modulus = 3.2), FeSO₄ · 7H₂O, ZnSO₄, and NaClO₃ by way of co-polymerisation in the same (Fe + Zn)/Si molar ratio based on polysilicate-ferric (PSF). The effect of the Fe/Zn molar ratios on the morphology and structure was systematically investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Three samples, namely PSFZn4, PSFZn1, and PSFZn0.25, represented Fe/Zn molar ratios of 4, 1, and 0.25, respectively, and were selected for a comparative study while a constant (Fe + Zn)/Si molar ratio equal to 1 was maintained. Accordingly, PSFZn was found to be a complex compound rather than a simple mixture of raw materials. With the decrease in Fe/Zn, a great change occurred in the surface morphology, from a tetrahedral cluster structure to a lamellar structure. The Fe—O and Fe—O—Si bonds were gradually replaced by Zn—O and Zn—O—Si. However, the crystalline peaks were more obvious with the increase in the number of zinc ions; hence the new polymer would be formed from iron, zinc, and polysilicate. In addition, the coagulation performance of PSFZn was investigated using a surface water sample. PSFZn4 exhibited a better coagulation performance than the other PSFZn coagulants. Additionally, the trends in changes in pH with different coagulation times after adding PSFZn were studied relative to PSF and FS. The replacement of zinc ions with iron ions could effectively counter the rapid decrease in pH. The effect of settling time on the coagulation efficiency was also investigated. PSFZn4 exhibited a better settlement performance than PSF and poly aluminium chloride (PAC). Hence, the partial substitution of zinc salt with iron salt not only addresses the inadequacies of iron salt but also improves the coagulation efficiency of zinc salt in water treatment.