This review covers the sustainable development of advanced improvements in CO2 capture and utilization.

Rising CO2 levels may induce nutritional deficits (protein, minerals, and vitamins) in the highest rice-consuming countries.

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With the aging of the population, dental caries in the elderly has received increasing attention. A comprehensive study of the oral microbiome is required to understand its polymicrobial etiology. The results of previous studies are limited and remain controversial. In this study, subjects 60 years and older with and without caries were recruited. Unstimulated saliva and dental plaque were collected from each subject and the bacterial 16S rDNA was amplified using PCR and sequenced by Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing. A total of 92 samples were collected from 24 caries patients and 22 healthy controls. Sequences clustered into 147,531 OTUs, representing 16 phyla, 29 classes, 49 orders, 79 families, 149 genera, and 305 species. All predominant phyla, including Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Saccharibacteria, were largely consistent in different groups, but different relative abundances could be observed. The core microbiome was defined with 246 shared species among groups, which occupied 80.7% of all the species detected. Alpha diversity showed no significant differences in bacterial richness or diversity between caries patients and healthy controls, but distinction existed between samples collected from dental plaque and saliva. Beta diversity analysis was performed by PCoA and hierarchical clustering analysis, showing similar results that microorganisms vary between the two niches. The biomarkers of different groups were defined by LEfSe analysis to identify potential caries-related and health-related bacteria. The co-occurrence analysis of the predominant genera revealed significant interactions among oral microbiota and exhibited more complex and aggregated bacterial correlations in caries-free groups. Finally, the functional prediction of the microbiota present in oral samples was performed by PICRUSt, indicating vigorous microbial metabolism in the oral bacterial community. Our study provides thorough knowledge of the microbiological etiology of elderly individuals with caries and is expected to provide novel methods for its prevention and treatment.

Carbon-supported bimetallic Pt m Ni n electrocatalysts with different Pt/Ni atomic ratios were synthesized through a modified polyol process. The as-prepared electrocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, voltammetry techniques, and single-cell tests. It was revealed that the Pt m Ni n bimetallic nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on carbon supports with average diameters of about 3 nm. Pt and Ni were partially alloyed, indicated by the decreased Pt lattice constants compared with that of pure Pt. The results of the electrochemical measurements showed that the Pt m Ni n /C catalysts, compared with the Pt/C, have superior specific activity toward the methanol electrooxidation reaction (MOR) in alkaline media as well as a higher power density in a direct methanol fuel cell test with the Pt 3 Ni 1 /C as the anode catalyst. Density functional theory studies further revealed that the electronic structure of Pt was modified by Ni due to the charge transfer from Ni to Pt atoms in Pt m Ni n clusters, leading to a weakened CO adsorption on Pt m Ni n binary clusters than on Pt itself. This provides an explanation for the enhanced MOR activity of the Pt m Ni n /C catalysts.

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