A Case Report of Germline Compound Heterozygous Mutations in the BRCA1 Gene of an Ovarian and Breast Cancer Patient

The germline carrier of the BRCA1 pathogenic mutation has been well proven to confer an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Despite BRCA1 biallelic pathogenic mutations being extremely rare, they have been reported to be embryonically lethal or to cause Fanconi anemia (FA). Here we describe a patient who was a 48-year-old female identified with biallelic pathogenic mutations of the BRCA1 gene, with no or very subtle FA-features. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and breast cancer at the ages of 43 and 44 and had a strong family history of breast and gynecological cancers.     

Core–Shell Photoanodes for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen is a promising solution for the conversion and storage of solar energy. Because sluggish water oxidation is the bottleneck of water splitting, the design and preparation of an efficient photoanode is intensively investigated. Currently, all known photoanode materials suffer from at least one of the following drawbacks: ① low carriers separation efficiency; ② sluggish surface water oxidation reaction; ③ poor long-term stability; ④ insufficient water adsorption and gas desorption. Core–shell configurations can endow a photoanode with improved activity and stability by coating an overlayer that plays energetic, catalytic, and/or protective roles. The construction strategy has an important effect on the activity of a core–shell photoanode. Nonetheless, the mechanism for the improvement of performance is still ambiguous and is worthy of a closer examination. In this review, the successes and challenges of core–shell photoanodes for water oxidation, focusing on synthesis strategies as well as functionalities (facilitating carrier separation, surface reaction promotion, corrosion prevention, and bubble detachment) are explored. Finally, the perspectives of this class of materials in terms of new opportunities and efforts are discussed.     

Combining molybdenum carbide with ceria overlayers to boost Mo/CeO2 catalyzed ammonia synthesis

The design of an efficient non-noble metal catalyst is of burgeoning interest for ammonia synthesis. Herein, we report a Mo₂C/CeO₂ catalyst that is superior in ammonia synthesis activity. In this catalyst, molybdenum carbide coexisted with the ceria overlayers which is from the ceria support as the strong metal–support interaction. There is a high proportion of low-valent Mo species, as well as high concentration of Ce³⁺ and surface oxygen species. The presence of Mo₂C and CeO₂ overlayers not only leads to enhancement of hydrogen and nitrogen adsorption, but also facilitates the desorption and exchange of adsorbed species with the gaseous reagents. Compared with the Mo/CeO₂ catalyst prepared without carbonization, the Mo₂C/CeO₂ catalyst is more than sevenfold higher in ammonia synthesis rate. This work not only presents an explicit example of designing Mo-based catalyst that is highly efficient for ammonia synthesis by tuning the adsorption and desorption properties of the reactant gases, but opens a perspective for other elements in ammonia synthesis.     

A high-throughput chaotic advection microreactor for preparation of uniform and aggregated barium sulfate nanoparticles

A high-throughput (105.5 g/h) passive four-stage asymmetric oscillating feedback microreactor using chaotic mixing mechanism was developed to prepare aggregated Barium sulfate (BaSO₄) particles of high primary nanoparticle size uniformity. Three-dimensional unsteady simulations showed that chaotic mixing could be induced by three unique secondary flows (i.e., vortex, recirculation, and oscillation), and the fluid oscillation mechanism was examined in detail. Simulations and Villermaux–Dushman experiments indicate that almost complete mixing down to molecular level can be achieved and the prepared BaSO₄ nanoparticles were with narrow primary particle size distribution (PSD) having geometric standard deviation, σ_g, less than 1.43 when the total volumetric flow rate Q_total was larger than 10 ml/min. By selecting Q_total and reactant concentrations, average primary particle size can be controlled from 23 to 109 nm as determined by microscopy. An average size of 26 nm with narrow primary PSD (σ_g = 1.22) could be achieved at Q_total of 160 ml/min.     

Fast removal of Pb(II) and Cu(II) from contaminated water by groundwater treatment waste: impact of sorbent composition

ABSTRACT

A non-hazardous groundwater treatment waste (GWTW) was examined as a low-cost sorbent for Pb(II) and Cu(II) ions. The content of the dominant elements in GWTW was as follows: 78% Fe₂O₃, 7.4% P₂O₅, 7.4% CaO and 5.2% SiO₂. The removal of Pb(II) and Cu(II) was fast, and more than 67–95% of ions were accumulated by GWTW during the first 3 min. The sorption capacity of GWTW depends on solution pH, concentration and temperature. Equilibrium data fitted well with Langmuir–Freundlich and Langmuir-partition models. The inherently formed nano-adsorbent could be utilized for the treatment of water contaminated with Pb(II) and Cu(II) ions.     

Toward a blockchain-based framework for challenge-based collaborative intrusion detection

International Journal of Information Security - Network intrusions are a big threat to network and system assets, which have become more complex to date. To enhance the detection performance,...     

双向无粘结预应力井字梁施工

双向无粘结预应力混凝土井字梁结构施工中，采取在端头承压垫板上钻小孔定位无粘结筋、与群锚配套使用，省去铸铁喇叭管，简化了施工方法。     

Solid superbase derived from lanthanum–magnesium composite oxide and its catalytic performance in the knoevenagel condensation under solvent-free condition

We report for the first time the synthesis of a novel solid superbase that was derived from lanthanum–magnesium composite oxide and KOH through thermal treatment. The as-prepared material shows base strength (H_–) above 26.5 and is a high-efficiency catalyst for solvent-free Knoevenagel condensation at room temperature. The results of the present study open up a new dimension for the use of composite oxides as new support materials in the synthesis of superbases.     

Preparation,characterization and photocatalytic activity of Bi2O3–MgO composites

A series of Bi₂O₃–MgO composites were synthesized by solvent-thermal method. It was found that the Bi₂O₃–MgO composites perform much better than TiO₂ (P25), Bi₂O₃ and MgO in the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) in the presence of HCl and under irradiation of visible light (λ > 400 nm). The effects of Bi/Mg molar ratio, crystallization temperature of Bi₂O₃–MgO and reaction conditions on photocatalytic activity were studied. The best performance was observed over the composite with Bi:Mg molar ratio equal to 2:1 that had been subject to crystallization at 120 °C for 20 h. In addition, the photocatalytic efficiency of the composite can be significantly enhanced by the presence of hydrochloric acid. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD and UV–vis DRS techniques. The relationships between the structure and photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared Bi₂O₃–MgO samples were also investigated.