[en] In a 100 J level XeCl and KrF excimer laser experiment, measurements of e-beam energy deposition in laser gas are conducted and satisfactory signals are obtained. As a result, we have obtained several important parameters such as e-beam energy deposition efficiency in laser gas and laser intrinsic efficiency, etc. Also, average pumping rate is calculated, which is helpful for laser adjustment

[en] Objective: To discuss the feasibility, accuracy and clinical value of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy (SLNB) in the management of breast cancer. Methods: ⁹⁹Tc^m labelled sulfur colloid was injected into the breast tissue adjacent to the primary tumor or resection cavity. After 2 - 4 h, the patients underwent intraoperative lymphatic mapping using a hand-held gamma detector. The SLN was identified and removed, followed by a definitive cancer operation, including an axillary lymph node (ALN) dissection (ALND). The predictive value of sentinel node for the axillary tumor status was evaluated with histopathology, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RT-PCR. Results: The SLN was identified in 48(91%) of patients using this method, altogether 91 SLNs were harvested, an average of 1.9 SLNs was examined and 14.2 ALNs was removed. SLNB was 100% predictive of axillary status in this 48 patients. Conclusion: The study confirms that intraoperative lymphatic mapping using a hand-held gamma detector to identify SLN is technically feasible and the histologic characteristics of the SLN probably reflect the histologic characteristics of the rest of the ALNs and SLNB may become a substitute for ALND

[en] In order to understand the thermal effect of the defects in 3D-TSV interconnection structure, corresponding finite element models were established and thermal-electronic analysis was conducted. The temperature distributions of different layers of TSV structure with defects were investigated and the distribution variations due to the three common types of interior defects, which were filling missing, axial cavity and end cavity, were analysed respectively. The simulation results of defect-free TSV were also given for the sake of comparison. From the results, it was clear that all kinds of defects caused obvious variations of temperature distribution. And TSV with the filling missing problem had the most recognisable temperature distribution difference among those three typical defects. The defect of end cavity, followed by axial cavity, had less effect. Based on these conclusion, the temperature distribution supported important defect information by which the interior defect inspection and recognition could be realized. (paper)

[en] Six traffic-emitted metals (Cr, Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Ni) were determined in soil and plants for below- and aboveground parts along different distances from highway to evaluate their behavior and uptake by Carex meyeriana Kunth and Thelypteris palustris var. pubescens Fernald growing in turfy swamps. The results indicated that the different plant tissues showed significantly different levels of metal content. Nonlinear regression analysis indicated that metal contents leveled off at constant values before they decreased as the distance from the roadside increased. The high R² values of the regression model indicated good fit of the exponential function applied to depict the distribution pattern of the metal elements. It was deduced that Cr, Cu, and Cd in Thelypteris palustris var. pubescens Fernald were mainly derived from the soil; Carex meyeriana Kunth and Thelypteris palustris var. pubescens Fernald absorbed Pb mainly through the stomata from atmospheric depositions; Cr, Cu, and Cd in Carex meyeriana Kunth and Zn in Thelypteris palustris var. pubescens Fernald were mainly affected by soil and atmospheric depositions. After excluding the effects of traffic, only the bioaccumulation factor of Cd (1.34) in Carex meyeriana Kunth and the translocation factor of Zn (1.13) in Thelypteris palustris var. pubescens Fernald were greater than 1, suggesting that Carex meyeriana Kunth could be a good candidate for assimilating Cd from soils and Thelypteris palustris var. pubescens Fernald could be suitable for the phytoextraction of Zn.

[en] Highlights: • Present the first study on VOCs from the whole coking chemical processes • Provide VOCs emission and control information of coking chemical industry • Discuss ozone formation contribution, EF establishment and national emission distribution Coking chemical industry associated with high energy consumption and high pollution emits significant amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to atmosphere, but is often ignored. This article reports a new study on emissions of VOCs from a typical coking chemical plant. Results show that about 70 species of VOCs including alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, halogenated hydrocarbons and oxygenates are detected, naphthalene and benzene could be used as the emission markers. Compared to coking stage, gas purifying stage is found to have 4 times more total concentrations of VOCs, in which condensing and blasting process is found to be the largest contributor with 77% ozone formation potential (OFP) contribution. Emission control measures currently used are insufficient and inefficient to reduce VOCs to meet regulatory emission standards. Further, by using a proposed integrated emission factor of 2.652 g/kg coke, the coking chemical industry in China was estimated to account for about 7.8–20% of total historical industrial VOCs emissions, and about 1241 Gg of VOCs were emitted in 2019. A large proportion is emitted from the northern China with a distinctive spatial distribution. Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Shannxi provinces are the top four emitters. It is suggested that more stringent and efficient measures should be taken on the coking chemical industry, not just on the coking processes, but also on the gas purifying processes.

[en] The number of restaurants is increasing rapidly in recent years, especially in urban cities with dense populations. Particulate matter emitted from commercial and residential cooking is a significant contributor to both indoor and outdoor aerosols. The PM_2.5 emission rates and source profiles are impacted by many factors (cooking method, food type, oil type, fuel type, additives, cooking styles, cooking temperature, source surface area, pan, and ventilation) discussed in previous studies. To determine which cooking activities are most influential on PM_2.5 emissions and work towards cleaner cooking, an experiment design based on multi-factor and level orthogonal tests was conducted in a laboratory that is specifically designed to resemble a professional restaurant kitchen. In this cooking test, four main parameters (the proportion of meat in ingredients, flavor, cooking technique, oil type) were chosen and five levels for each parameter were selected to build up 25 experimental dishes. Concentrations of PM_2.5 emission rates, organic carbon/elemental carbon (OC/EC), water-soluble ions, elements, and main organic species (PAHs, n-alkanes, alkanoic acids, fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids, polysaccharides, and sterols) were investigated across 25 cooking tests. The statistical significance of the data was analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) with ranges calculated to determine the influence orders of the 4 parameters. The PM_2.5 emission rates of 25 experimental dishes ranged from 0.1 to 9.2 g/kg of ingredients. OC, EC, water-soluble ions (WSI), and elements accounted for 10.49–94.85%, 0–1.74%, 10.09–40.03%, and 0.04–3.93% of the total PM_2.5, respectively. Fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids, n-alkanes, alkanoic acids, and sterols were the most abundant organic species and accounted for 2.32–93.04%, 0.84–60.36%, 0–45.05%, and 0–25.42% of total PM_2.5, respectively. There was no significant difference between the 4 parameters on PM_2.5 emission rates, while a significant difference was found in WSI, elements, n-alkanes, and dicarboxylic acids according to ANOVA. Cooking technique was found to be the most influential factor for PM_2.5 source profiles, followed by the proportion of meat in ingredients and oil type which resulted in significant difference of 183.19, 185.14, and 115.08 g/kg of total PM_2.5 for dicarboxylic acids, n-alkanes, and WSI, respectively. Strong correlations were found among PM_2.5 and OC (r = 0.854), OC and sterols (r = 0.919), PAHs and n-alkanes (r = 0.850), alkanoic acids and fatty acids (r = 0.877), and many other species of PM_2.5.

[en] Highlights: • Aromatics are the dominated pollutants in both new type and traditional paints. • Allyl chloride could be taken as the risk marker of water-based paints. • Water-based paints pose much less relevant threaten to primary receptor comparatively. • Personal protective equipment is incapable of improving risk condition significantly. Rapid development of industrial production has stimulated the growth of consumption of raw and auxiliary materials including organic paints, among which volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are proved harmful to the population who inhale the polluted air based on epidemiologic studies. Therefore, new types of environment-friendly paints were developed to replace solvent-based paints (SBPs). Nevertheless, new types of paints containing VOCs failed to replace SBPs entirely due to certain disadvantages. Hence, five kinds of paints were employed in simulation experiments to assess the health risk of primary receptor including three kinds of water-based paints (WBPs) and two kinds of SBPs. Conclusions showed that mean TVOC concentration in breathing zone of primary receptor ranged from 9.5 to 13.6 mg/m³ and 3.4 × 10³ to 1.4 × 10⁴ mg/m³ for WBPs and SBPs, respectively. Assessments of non-cancer risk concluded that nearly one third quantified compounds exceeded corresponding thresholds for WBPs, and the maximum risk value was 101.33; for SBPs, the maximum risk value reached 50760.20, and twenty-two compounds exceeded the reference limits. The calculation of cancer risk values showed that seventeen compounds were higher than acceptable limit amongst which 1,2-dibromoethane had maximum values of 1.27 × 10⁻² to 3.24 × 10⁻² for WBPs; for SBPs, all quantified compounds exceeded the acceptable limit, and 82.61% VOCs were distributed in a scope larger than 1 × 10⁻³. Additionally, a removal efficiency of 60% was considered for primary receptor with personal protective equipment, and subsequent results confirmed its inability of lowering the risk resulted from hazardous VOCs. The calculated potential health risk could be applied to estimate the total health risk for both primary and secondary receptor based on consumed materials. The finding suggested that WBPs could improve VOCs exposure condition and reduce the direct and potential health risk significantly for primary receptor, although they might dissatisfy acceptable limit.

[en] Highlights: • VOCs emission profile varied considerably in different emission sources. • Aromatics contributed to O₃ and SOA formation maximally, and alkene followed. • Four clusters were classified to propose focusing regulation measures and emission policy. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has consistently been linked to ozone (O₃) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation, and ongoing emission policies are primarily focusing on total VOCs without addressing the association between regulation measures and secondary pollution characteristic. For enhancing VOCs emission policy, we investigated potential formation of O₃ and SOA based on analyses of node-specific VOCs concentration and species distribution in solvent-consuming industry. Although aromatics were found to contribute most to O₃ and SOA formation averagely (2.57 ± 2.14 g O₃/g VOCs, 1.91 ± 1.67 g SOA/g VOCs), however, large disparity concerning emission and secondary pollution profile were identified among different emission nodes which demonstrated that regulation policy should be formulated based on comprehensive pollution characteristic. Therefore, emission nodes were classified into four clusters through data normalization, formatting and classification process, including aromatics dominated (7 emission nodes), aromatics-alkene dominated (4 emission nodes), aromatics-alcohols dominated (4 emission nodes) and alcohols dominated (4 emission nodes). And different dominating VOCs species were further obtained in each cluster. Subsequently, focusing regulation measures of reducing O₃ and SOA for different emission source clusters were proposed to guide pollution prevention and enhance future VOCs emission policies.

[en] In view of the limitations of existing berberine solid-phase extraction adsorbents, this paper proposes a novel carbonized π-conjugated polymer-coated porous silica (SiO₂@C-π-CP) adsorbent with simple process and low cost for efficient extraction of berberine by multiple interactions. Characterization methods, including Brunner–Emmet–Teller measurement, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy techniques, were used to verify the successful modification of carbonized π-conjugated polymer on the surface of porous silica. The berberine was selected as target molecule, and the adsorption mechanism and process were investigated through adsorption kinetics, adsorption isotherms, and thermodynamic studies. The fitting results show that the adsorption of berberine by SiO₂@C-π-CP well conforms to the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models. By optimizing the main SPE parameters, the SPE method based on SiO₂@C-π-CP was developed. Excellent results were obtained, including low limit of detection (0.75 ng mL⁻¹) and limit of quantification (2 ng mL⁻¹), wide linearity (2–13,000 ng mL⁻¹), and satisfactory relative standard deviations (RSD) of inter-day (1.5%) and intra-day (6.2%). Finally, the SiO₂@C-π-CP also has been successfully used to the enrichment of berberine in real urine samples. This research makes clear that SiO₂@C-π-CP has outstanding potential for trace enrichment of berberine alkaloids. Graphical abstract

[en] Controllable regulation of cell behavior is one of the most important factors conducive to the restoration of tissue functions. Recently, various strategies have been developed using physical or chemical cues. Although these techniques are effective, the high cost and complex fabrication procedures impede their application. In this study, we used a low cost and simple strategy to fabricate PVA/silk fibroin composite hydrogels using a cyclic freeze-thaw method. With the increase of freeze-thaw cycles, the pore size of hydrogels decreased, the elastic modulus increased, and the swelling rate decreased. Furthermore, we chose two shapes of model cells, a spindle using bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and smooth muscle cells, and a round shape using BV2 microglial cells. PVA/silk fibroin composite hydrogels inhibited the adhesion and proliferation of stem cells and muscle cells and changed their cell shape from spindle to round, maintained the initial round shape of BV2 microglial cells, and promoted the proliferation of BV2 microglial cells. These results demonstrate that PVA/silk fibroin composite hydrogels can be used as a novel hydrogel system to regulate cell behavior. (paper)