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Biology systems harvest solar energy to regulate ions and molecules precisely across cell membrane that is essential to maintain their life sustainability. Recently, artificial light-driven directional ion transport through graphene oxide membranes has been established, where the membrane converts light power into a transmembrane motive force. Herein, we report a silver nanoparticles decorated graphene oxide membranes for enhanced photo-driven ionic transport. Asymmetric light stimulated charge carrier dynamics, such as advanced light absorption efficiency, extended lifetime and efficient separation of photo-excited charge carriers, are account for the ion-driven force enhancement. Based on metal nanoparticles decoration, the concept of the guest-interactions of plasmon-enhanced photo-driven ion transport in two-dimentional layered membranes will stimulate broad researches in sensing, energy storage and conversion and water treatment.

Oily wastewater discharge causes not only the pollution of environment but also the waste of resources. Existing technologies for wastewater remediation, such as membrane and particle methods, are variable and effective, but are difficult for achieving continuous and rapid oil–water separation. Here, with the synergy of turbo stirring, a strategy for emulsion separation is demonstrated based on the bio‐inspired cone array barrel. Under the centrifugal force, oil droplets in emulsion are thrown onto the cones arrayed on inner wall due to the Coriolis effect, captured by microstructures on cone surface and then penetrate out through the superhydrophobic pores, while only the remediated water remains. The separation technique maintains a high efficiency of above 99.5% for over 30 times of use, as well as for emulsions with variable ingredients. This structure‐dynamics synergistic separation strategy evolves the future technologies on water purification in industrial and daily processes. A new strategy for wastewater remediation is developed based on the synergy of turbo stirring and gradient structure. Under centrifugal force, the oil droplets in emulsion can continuously be captured on inner wall and then penetrate out from the cone array barrel, in which remediated water remains. Future technologies of water purification can be predicted based on this work.

All‐liquid molding can be used to transform a liquid into free‐form solid constructs, while maintaining internal fluidity. Traditional biological scaffolds, such as cured pre‐gels, are normally processed in solid state, sacrificing flowability and permeability. However, it is essential to maintain the fluidity of the scaffold to truly mimic the complexity and heterogeneity of natural human tissues. Here, this work molds an aqueous biomaterial ink into liquid building blocks with rigid shapes while preserving internal fluidity. The molded ink blocks for bone‐like vertebrae and cartilaginous‐intervertebral‐disc shapes, are magnetically manipulated to assemble into hierarchical structures as a scaffold for subsequent spinal column tissue growth. It is also possible to join separate ink blocks by interfacial coalescence, different from bridging solid blocks by interfacial fixation. Generally, aqueous biomaterial inks are molded into shapes with high fidelity by the interfacial jamming of alginate surfactants. The molded liquid blocks can be reconfigured using induced magnetic dipoles, that dictated the magnetic assembly behavior of liquid blocks. The implanted spinal column tissue exhibits a biocompatibility based on in vitro seeding and in vivo cultivating results, showing potential physiological function such as bending of the spinal column. Here, spinal column‐shaped blocks with biomimetic structures are fabricated by all‐liquid molding, magnetically‐driven assembly, and interfacial welding. A spinal column tissue mimic, as a proof‐of‐concept demonstration, is produced through the light‐curing of liquid blocks, in vitro seeding, and in vivo implanting into the rats.

Sustainable development (SD) is vital for the progress of Chinese provinces, especially in the face of emerging challenges. This study constructs an index system for SD based on five dimensions: economic, social, ecological, political, and cultural aspects, aligning with scientific connotations and contemporary requirements. We employ an improved entropy-weight-TOPSIS method to assess the SD of 30 provinces from 2012 to 2022. Our analysis explores the dynamic evolution, regional disparities, coupling coordination, long-term trends, and convergence of provincial SD. The findings include: (1) Provincial SD in China has shown consistent growth, but significant regional disparities remain, forming a gradient distribution from high to low in the order of “East-Central-Northeast-West.” (2) While both intra-regional and inter-regional SD differences have decreased over time, inter-regional disparities continue to be significant, serving as the primary source of regional differences. (3) Coupling and coordination across the five dimensions of SD have improved; however, an imbalance persists, with uncoordinated development remaining a prominent issue. (4) A clear “club convergence” phenomenon is observed, indicating that the SD of neighboring provinces influences one another. Higher SD in adjacent regions increases the likelihood of upward shifts, while lower SD tends to lead to downward shifts. (5) Evidence of both σ-convergence and β-convergence in provincial SD development suggests that SD is ultimately converging toward a stable state. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers aiming to enhance sustainable development across China’s provinces.

The freeze-thaw resistance of Alkali-activated slag (AAS) material is one of its important properties when applied in cold areas, which is intrinsically related to its pore structure. In order to investigate changes in the pore characteristics of AAS paste subjected to freeze-thaw action, AAS paste samples after different freeze-thaw cycles (i.e., 0, 3, 9, 15 cycles) are tested by low temperature calorimetry (LTC). From the baselines obtained by recording the heat flow of the AAS pastes at different testing temperatures, it is found that no matter in the freezing or melting process, the maximum heat flow-jump increased with the increasing freeze-thaw cycles. From the ice content with temperature change, it is found that the ice in pores mainly melts in the temperature range of -5 °C to 0 °C, and the more freeze-thaw cycles the sample suffered, the more ice melted in this temperature range. The pore structure were coarsened by freezing/thawing, demonstrated by the volume of pores within 8-100 nm increased with the increasing freeze-thaw cycles, and the main increase of pore volume caused by freeze-thaw cycles is in the range of 50-100 nm.

Effective, long-range, and self-propelled water elevation and transport are important in industrial, medical, and agricultural applications. Although research has grown rapidly, existing methods for water film elevation are still limited. Scaling up for practical applications in an energy-efficient way remains a challenge. Inspired by the continuous water cross-boundary transport on the peristome surface of Nepenthes alata, here we demonstrate the use of peristome-mimetic structures for controlled water elevation by bending biomimetic plates into tubes. The fabricated structures have unique advantages beyond those of natural pitcher plants: bulk water diode transport behavior is achieved with a high-speed passing state (several centimeters per second on a milliliter scale) and a gating state as a result of the synergistic effect between peristome-mimetic structures and tube curvature without external energy input. Significantly, on further bending the peristome-mimetic tube into a “candy cane”-shaped pipe, a self-siphon with liquid diode behavior is achieved. Such a transport mechanism should inspire the design of next generation water transport devices.

The rapid removal of rain droplets at the leaf apex is critical for leaves to avoid damage under rainfall conditions, but the general water drainage principle remains unclear. We demonstrate that the apex structure enhances water drainage on the leaf by employing a curvature-controlled mechanism that is based on shaping a balance between reduced capillarity and enhanced gravity components. The leaf apex shape changes from round to triangle to acuminate, and the leaf surface changes from flat to bent, resulting in the increase of the water drainage rate, high-dripping frequencies, and the reduction of retention volumes. For wet tropical plants, such as Alocasia macrorrhiza, Gaussian curvature reconfiguration at the drip tip leads to the capillarity transition from resistance to actuation, further enhancing water drainage to the largest degree possible. The phenomenon is distinct from the widely researched liquid motion control mechanisms, and it offers a specific parametric approach that can be applied to achieve the desired fluidic behavior in a well-controlled way.

In recent years, numerous studies have been reported for oil/water separation, such as superoleophilic materials for oil absorption and underwater superoleophobic membranes for continuous separation. However, for the recovery of oil slick pollution on near-shore ocean surface caused by various reasons, large area and fast availability of used materials are needed to be considered. Herein, we report an efficient and environmentally friendly method to fast process nylon mesh by surface diffuse atmospheric plasma (SDAP) for large-area oil/water separation. Nylon mesh is funcionalized by atmospheric plasma to generate micro/nano composite structures on the surface, resulting in superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity within only seconds. The pre-wetted modified nylon mesh can achieve high efficiency (> 99.9%) and circulating water flux (∼ 30,000 L·m −2 ·h −1 ), with high intrusion pressure (∼ 3 kPa) and universality in oil/water separation. Regular plasma unconditionally generated in the atmosphere with the merit of efficiently functionalizing surface has the potential of large-area materials treatment. This study might take one step further for large-area industrial oily wastewater recovery and even oil slicks collection in near-shore water bodies.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has significant advantages in the treatment of malignant lung tumors. The research on the mechanism of PDT mediated by hematoporphyrin derivatives (HPD) and its cytotoxic effects on lung cancer cells has primarily focused on lung adenocarcinoma cells. However, the impact of HPD-PDT on lung squamous cell carcinoma has not been thoroughly studied. This study aimed to investigate the effects of 630 nm laser on apoptosis, metastasis, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human lung squamous cell carcinoma H520 cells mediated by HPD. H520 cells were divided into four groups: control group, photosensitizer group, irradiation group, and HPD-PDT group. Cell proliferation was assessed using CCK8 assay; cell apoptosis was detected by Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry; cell migration and invasion abilities were evaluated using wound-healing and invasion assays; and protein and mRNA expressions were analyzed by Western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) respectively. Results showed that HPD-PDT significantly inhibited cell proliferation, promoted apoptosis (P < 0.05), suppressed cell migration and invasion (P < 0.05), decreased Bcl-2 mRNA expression, and increased Bax and Caspase-9 mRNA expression(P < 0.05). Western blotting analysis indicated increased expression of Bax, Caspase-9, and E-cadherin, and decreased expression of Bcl-2, N-cadherin, and Vimentin (P < 0.05). In conclusion, 630 nm laser mediated by HPD promoted cell apoptosis via upregulation of Bax and caspase-9, and downregulation of Bcl-2, and inhibited cell migration and invasion by regulating EMT in H520 cells.

Obtaining novel antibodies against specific protein targets is a widely important yet experimentally laborious process. Meanwhile, computational methods for antibody design have been limited by low success rates that currently require resource-intensive screening. Here, we introduce Germinal, a broadly enabling generative framework that designs antibodies against specific epitopes with nanomolar binding affinities while requiring only low-n experimental testing. Our method co-optimizes antibody structure and sequence by integrating a structure predictor with an antibody-specific protein language model to perform design of functional complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) onto a user-specified structural framework. When tested against four diverse protein targets, Germinal achieved an experimental success rate of 4-22% across all targets, testing only 43-101 designs for each antigen. Validated nanobodies also exhibited robust expression in mammalian cells and nanomolar binding affinities. We provide open-source code and full computational and experimental protocols to facilitate wide adoption. Germinal represents a milestone in efficient, epitope-targeted antibody design, with notable implications for the development of molecular tools and therapeutics.