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Utilization of semiconductor photocatalyst materials to degrade pollutants for addressing environmental pollution problems has become a research focus in recent years. In this work, a 2D/2D S-scheme crystalline carbon nitride (CCN)/BiOIO3 (BOI) van der Waals heterojunction was successfully constructed for effectively enhancing the degradation efficiency of antibiotic contaminant. The as-synthesized optimal CCN/BOI-3 sample exhibited the highest efficiency of 80% for the photo-degradation of tetracycline (TC, 20 mg/L) after 120 min visible light irradiation, which was significantly higher than that of pure CCN and BOI. The significant improvement in photocatalytic performance is mainly attributed to two aspects: (i) the 2D/2D van der Waals heterojunction can accelerate interface carriers’ separation and transfer and afford sufficient active sites; (ii) the S-scheme heterojunction elevated the redox capacity of CCN/BOI, thus providing a driving force for the degradation reaction. The degradation pathways of TC for the CCN/BOI composite were investigated in detail by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. This work provides a design idea for the development of efficient photocatalysts based on the 2D/2D S-scheme van der Waals heterojunctions.

The journal retracts the article titled \"Surface Hydrophilic Modification for Chip of Centrifugal Microfluidic Immunoassay System\" [...].The journal retracts the article titled \"Surface Hydrophilic Modification for Chip of Centrifugal Microfluidic Immunoassay System\" [...].

Shepherd's crook ( Geodorum ) is a genus of protected orchids that are valuable both medicinally and ornamentally. Geodorum eulophioides (GE) is an endangered and narrowly distributed species, and Geodorum densiflorum (GD) and Geodorum attenuatum (GA) are widespread species. The growth of orchids depend on microorganisms. However, there are few studies on the microbial structure in Geodorum , and little is known about the roles of microorganisms in the endangered mechanism of G. eulophioides . This study analyzed the structure and composition of bacterial and fungal communities in the roots and rhizosphere soil of GE, GD, and GA. The results showed that Delftia , Bordetella and norank_f_Xanthobacteraceae were the dominant bacteria in the roots of Geodorum , while norank_f_Xanthobacteraceae, Gaiella and norank_f_norank_o_Gaiellales were the dominant bacteria in the rhizosphere soil of Geodorum . In the roots, the proportion of Mycobacterium in GD_roadside was higher than that in GD_understory, on the contrary, the proportion of Fusarium , Delftia and Bordetella in GD_roadside was lower than that in GD_understory. Compared with the GD_understory, the roots of GD_roadside had lower microbial diversity. In the endangered species GE, Russula was the primary fungus in the roots and rhizosphere soil, with fungal diversity lower than in the more widespread species. Among the widespread species, the dominant fungal genera in the roots and rhizosphere soil were Neocosmospora , Fusarium and Coprinopsis . This study enhances our understanding of microbial composition and diversity, providing fundamental information for future research on microbial contributions to plant growth and ecosystem function in Geodorum .

The surface of a centrifugal microfluidic immunoassay system chip such as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is often hydrophobic, which leads to problems such as poor liquid transfer efficiency and easy-to-block siphon channels, leading to bad fluid control. Therefore, surface hydrophilic modification for such chips is necessary to improve the rapidity and sensitivity of the system. Chemical modification is commonly used, but there is little research on the hydrophilic effect of different concentrations of hydrophilic reagents. According to function requirements for different microchannels of the chip (some only need to ensure the liquid can flow into the next chamber, and some also need to ensure the function of “closing the door” during immunoassay incubation), we explored the best combination of hydrophilic reagent and concentration through experiments. Firstly, three hydrophilic reagents were used for modification. Secondly, the hydrophilic effects of different reagents and concentrations were explored by contact angle test, the influence of different modification methods on liquid transfer efficiency was characterized by residual liquid calculation in the chamber. Finally, the effect of different hydrophilic reagents on absorbance was also tested. By experimental results and comprehensively considering the stability of the modification effect and the function requirements, Tween-20 (2.0% v/v) was chosen as the modifying reagents of the first siphon valve and the second siphon valve, and TritonX-100 (2.0% v/v) was chosen for the third siphon valve, which effectively reduces the contact angle and improves the liquid transfer efficiency, leading to further improvement of the rapidity and sensitivity of the centrifugal microfluidic immunoassay system by efficient siphoning and high plasma separation efficiency (99%).

Yellow Camellia ( Camellia sect. chrysantha ) is a rare ornamental plant and an important germplasm resource globally. Camellia nitidissima thrives in normal acidic soils, while Camellia limonia can adapt to the calcareous soils found in karst areas. Our previous study on the karst adaptation of yellow camellias revealed that the expression levels of heat shock protein 20 ( HSP20 ) were higher in Camellia limonia than in Camellia nitidissima . However, the functions of the HSP20 gene of Camellia limonia remain unclear to data. In this study, the HSP20 genes of Camellia limonia (ClHSP20-OE lines) and Camellia. nitidissima (CnHSP20-OE lines) were cloned and overexpressed heterologously in Arabidopsis thaliana . Additionally, we overexpressed the HSP20 gene of Arabidopsis (AtHSP20-OE lines) was also overexpressed, and the T-DNA inserted mutants (athspmutant lines) were also used to determine the functions of HSP20 genes. Under high calcium stress, the chlorophyll, nitrogen, water content and humidity of leaves were increased in ClHSP20-OE lines, while those of other lines were declined. The size of the stomatal apertures, stomatal conductance, and the photosynthetic efficiency of ClHSP20-OE lines were higher than those of the other lines. However, the accumulation of H 2 O 2 and O 2 − in the leaves of ClHSP20-OE lines was the lowest among all the lines. Energy spectrum scanning revealed that the percentage of calcium on the surfaces of the leaves of ClHSP20-OE lines was relatively low, while that of athspmutant lines was the highest. The ClHSP20 gene can also affected soil humidity and the contents of soil nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the expressions of FBA5 and AT5G10770 in ClHSP20-OE lines was significantly up-regulated compared to that of CnHSP20-OE lines. Compared to that of athspmutant lines, the expressions of DREB1A and AT3G30460 was significantly upregulated in AtHSP20-OE lines, and the expression of POL was down-regulated. Our findings suggest that the HSP20 gene plays a crucial role in maintained photosynthetic rate and normal metabolism by regulating the expression of key genes under high-calcium stress. This study elucidates the mechanisms underlying the karst adaptation in Camellia. limonia and provides novel insights for future research on karst plants.

Vessels inevitably suffer from hull corrosion and encounter contaminated seawater during their service, which is imperative to find a way to both resist corrosion and effectively purify the water. Herein, N-deficient g-C 3 N 4 was prepared by alkali-assisted thermal polymerization and combined with an epoxy resin to successfully synthesize a CNx/EP composite coating with excellent corrosion resistance and effective degradation of organic pollutants in simulated marine environment. Furthermore, corresponding characterization verified that the synthesized N-deficient carbon nitride exhibited high specific surface area and better water dispersibility. In addition, the corrosion resistance of the coatings was investigated by open-circuit potential (OCP), electric polarization curves, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and the results showed that the CNx-1/EP coating presented the optimal corrosion resistance with a maximum impedance radius of 2.84 × 10 7  Ω cm 2 , which was two orders of magnitude higher than that of pure EP coating. The degradation experiments demonstrated that the degradation rate of methyl blue (MB, 30 mg L −1 ) reached 68% over CNx/EP coating within 4 days’ sunlight irradiation. Finally, the photocatalytic corrosion protection and degradation mechanism of the CNx/EP coating was discussed. This work provides new design ideas for the construction of multifunctional anti-corrosion coatings.

Agricultural green production (AGP) and efficiency improvement of smallholders’ management are the objective requirements for the development of China’s modernized agriculture and the understanding of the rural vitalization strategy. Based on field survey data of 582 rice farmers in Shaanxi Province, this study used the Logit model to analyze the determinants of smallholders’ adoption of agricultural green production technology (AGPT) and used the propensity score matching (PSM) method to measure the effect of AGPT on the technical efficiency (TE) of rice production and the heterogeneity of this influence among smallholders. Results showed that the AGPT adoption rate and the mean of rice production TE were 15.1% and 0.312, both had a lot of room for improvement. Furthermore, it was found that household’s characteristics, family characteristics, agricultural management characteristics, social characteristics, and cognitive characteristics significantly affect smallholders’ AGPT adoption, and the AGPT adoption significantly increased the TE of rice production by 18.8 to 24.5%. Besides, farmers with older age, less education, more specialized planting, more fragmented land, and more off-farm employment adopting AGPT could significantly improve the TE; the increase proportion was 29.8%, 29.5%, 21.3%, 27.2%, and 16.8%. The study also showed that the AGPT could not significantly increase the rice output value of smallholders. In addition, considering the endogeneity problem caused by sample selection bias, the study re-estimated using the endogenous transformation regression (ESR) model which showed that the promotion of AGPT to TE was still robust. The study puts forward policy recommendations on how to further promote the adoption of AGPT and improve the TE by farmers.

Grassland property rights privatization has alleviated the problem of ‘the tragedy of the commons’ but led to an unintended ecological consequence—traditional nomadic modes declination. However, with the grassland rental market formation in countries with property rights privatization, grassland rental has reshaped the pattern of grassland allocation and provided opportunities for herders to optimize their grazing modes. Based on the survey data of herders in northern China, we theoretically analyze and empirically test grassland rental’s impact on herders’ rotational grazing behavior under the household responsibility system. The results show that grassland rental promotes herders’ rotational grazing, and the probability of individual rotational grazing is increased by 58.27%. By increasing the operated grazing grassland area and the number of grassland plots fenced, grassland rental promotes herders’ grassland endowment match with the large-scale livestock activity space and the number of grazing blocks required for rotational grazing, reduces the input cost and operation difficulty required for rotational grazing, and increase herders rotational grazing probability. Grassland rental’s impact on herder’s rotational grazing is heterogeneous, showing the dependence of the number of plots fenced and the scale of grazing grassland. It has a higher promotion effect on herders with more plots fenced; It cannot promote the generation of herders’ rotational grazing behavior when the rented grassland area fails to make the grassland operation scale reach the minimum threshold of rotational grazing. The study emphasizes the importance of developing a grassland rental market to promote the optimization of grazing modes in grassland privatization countries.

The conflict between grassland degradation and livestock production is a global problem. Raising technical efficiency (TE) is simultaneously conducive to livestock production and grassland restoration. However, production factors allocation imbalance caused by the grassland shortage in countries that implemented private grassland property rights has inhibited the improvement of TE. As herders' primary way to reallocate grassland spontaneously, grassland rental becomes prevalent, but its conduciveness in improving herders' TE and its mechanism has not been strictly confirmed. Using survey data of herders in Northern China as an example, this study empirically analyzed grassland renting-in’s impact on TE after considering the endogeneity. Results show that grassland renting-in is conducive to improving TE, and its effect comes from the resource balance effect rather than the ability effect. Renting-in grassland and each 100-mu increment of rent-in grassland leads to a TE increase of 2.34% and 0.056%. Meanwhile, its effect on TE is heterogeneous; herders with lower TE can achieve greater TE improvements. Thus, the current grassland rental market promotes the inclusive growth of livestock production because small- and medium-sized herders are the main components of herders and the main participants in the grassland rental market; meanwhile, grassland renting-in narrows down the efficiency gap between low-efficiency and high-efficiency herders. Our results emphasize the importance of optimizing resource allocation through the grassland rental market to improve the TE in grassland privatization countries. Therefore, grassland rental should be encouraged without exploiting new grassland resources, and policymakers should concentrate more on reducing the grassland rental market’s friction rather than overemphasizing transferring grassland to capable individuals.

Under the framework of payment for transboundary watershed ecosystem services (ESs), identifying midstream and downstream residents’ preference and willingness to pay (WTP) for ESs provided by the upstream is crucial for sustainable watershed management. The residents’ preferences and WTP are not evenly distributed within the watershed. This study uses a choice experiment assessing the spatial impact of physical distance (including residents’ watershed location and distance to waterbody) and psychological distance on residents’ preference and WTP for the Wei River Basin ESs. The results showed that midstream and downstream residents’ preference and WTP for the ecological attributes have a significant distance-decay effect, either the physical distance to the upstream exit or physical and psychological distance to the waterbody. However, compared with the residents in the midstream, the residents downstream have a stronger preference and WTP for upstream ecological governance. Besides, the distance-decay effect differs between urban and rural residents. There is a psychological distance-decay effect in rural residents’ preference for water quality and a physical distance-decay effect in their preference for water quantity, entertainment area, and cost; there is a physical distance decay effect in urban residents’ preference for entertainment areas. The above differences lead to heterogeneity in WTP and total economic value (TEV) for ESs. When calculating the TEV of the transboundary watershed ES and charging the public, policymakers should consider the location of the residents, the physical and psychological distance to the water body, and the difference between urban and rural areas.