Increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide gas have been linked to increasing use of fossil fuels over the past century. Post-combustion capture has the greatest near-term potential for reducing CO 2 emissions. Solid sorbents provide a promising alternative to conventional amine solutions for CO 2 capture. However, practical CO 2 capture applications have been impeded primarily by limited sorbent capacity and recyclability. Here we present a novel CO 2 capture platform based on oligomeric amines supported on specially engineered mesoporous hollow particles (mesoporous capsules). This new design leads to an exceptional capture capacity of up to 7.9 mmol g -1 under simulated flue gas conditions outperforming both conventional monoethanolamine solutions and other current solid amine impregnated sorbents. In addition to their outstanding CO 2 capture capacity, the sorbents are readily regenerated at relatively low temperature and exhibit good stability and recyclability. A novel high efficiency nanocomposite sorbent for CO 2 capture has been developed based on oligomeric amines (polyethylenimine, PEI, and tetraethylenepentamine, TEPA) functionalized mesoporous silica capsules. The newly synthesized sorbents exhibit extraordinary capture capacity 10 up to 7.9 mmol g -1 under simulated flue gas conditions (pre-humidified 10% CO 2 ). The CO 2 capture kinetics were found to be fast and reached 90% of the total capacities within the first few minutes. The effects of the mesoporous capsule features such as particle size and shell thickness on CO 2 capture capacity were investigated. Larger particle size, higher interior void volume and thinner mesoporous shell thickness all improved the CO 2 capacity of the sorbents. PEI impregnated 15 sorbents showed good reversibility and stability during cyclic adsorption-regeneration tests (50 cycles).

We report an interesting approach for efficient synthesis of SnO(2) hollow spheres inside mesoporous silica "nanoreactors". The as-prepared products are shown to have a uniform size distribution and good structural stability. When evaluated for their lithium storage properties, these SnO(2) hollow spheres manifest improved capacity retention.

Soil as the largest global carbon pool has played a great role in sequestering the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Although global carbon sequestration potentials have been assessed since the 1980s, few investigations have been made on soil carbon sequestration (SCS) in China's cropland. China is a developing country and has a long history of agricultural activities. Estimation of SCS potentials in China's cropland is very important for assessing the potential measures to prevent the atmospheric carbon rise and predicting the atmospheric CO 2 concentration in future. After review of the available results of the field experiments in China, relationships between SCS and nitrogen fertilizer application, straw return and no-tillage (NT) practices were established for each of the four agricultural regions. According to the current agricultural practices and their future development, estimations were made on SCS by nitrogen fertilizer application, straw return and NT in China's cropland. In the current situation, nitrogen fertilizer application, straw return and zero tillage can sequester 5.96, 9.76 and 0.800 Tg C each year. Carbon sequestration potential will increase to 12.1 Tg C yr À1 if nitrogen is fertilized on experts' recommendations. The carbon sequestration potentials of straw return and NT can reach 34.4 and 4.60 Tg C yr À1 when these two techniques are further popularized. In these measures, straw return is the most promising one. Full popularization of straw return can reduce 5.3% of the CO 2 emission from fossil fuel combustion in China in 1990, which meets the global mean CO 2 reduction requested by the Kyoto Protocol (5.2%). In general, if more incentive policies can be elaborated and implemented, the SCS in China's cropland will be increased by about two times. So, popularization of the abovementioned agricultural measures for carbon sequestration can be considered as an effective tool to prevent the rapid rise of the atmospheric CO 2 in China.

Monodispersed hollow spherical mesoporous particles with tunable particle size and shell thickness were readily synthesized using latex templates and a silica precursor in a weakly basic ethanol−water mixture.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor in the digestive tract with limited therapeutic choices. Although sorafenib, an orally administered multikinase inhibitor, has produced survival benefits for patients with advanced HCC, favorable clinical outcomes are limited due to individual differences and resistance. The application of immunotherapy, a promising approach for HCC is urgently needed. Macrophage infiltration, mediated by the CCL2/CCR2 axis, is a potential immunotherapeutic target. Here, we report that a natural product from Abies georgei, named 747 and related in structure to kaempferol, exhibits sensitivity and selectivity as a CCR2 antagonist. The specificity of 747 on CCR2 was demonstrated via calcium flux, the binding domain of CCR2 was identified in an extracellular loop by chimera binding assay, and in vivo antagonistic activity of 747 was confirmed through a thioglycollate-induced peritonitis model. In animals, 747 elevated the number of CD8 + T cells in tumors via blocking tumor-infiltrating macrophage-mediated immunosuppression and inhibited orthotopic and subcutaneous tumor growth in a CD8 + T cell-dependent manner. Further, 747 enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of low-dose sorafenib without obvious toxicity, through elevating the numbers of intra-tumoral CD8 + T cells and increasing death of tumor cells. Thus, we have discovered a natural CCR2 antagonist and have provided a new perspective on development of this antagonist for treatment of HCC. In mouse models of HCC, 747 enhanced the tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment and potentiated the therapeutic effect of sorafenib, indicating that the combination of an immunomodulator with a chemotherapeutic drug could be a new approach for treating HCC.

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Background:Environmental cadmium, with a high average dietary intake, is a severe public health risk. However, the long-term health implications of environmental exposure to cadmium in different life stages remain unclear.Objectives:We investigated the effects of early exposure to cadmium, at an environmentally relevant dosage, on adult metabolism and the mechanism of action.Methods:We established mouse models with low-dose cadmium (LDC) exposure in early life to examine the long-term metabolic consequences. Intestinal flora measurement by 16S rDNA sequencing, microbial ecological analyses, and fecal microbiota transplant was conducted to explore the potential underlying mechanisms.Results:Early LDC exposure (100 nM) led to fat accumulation in adult male mice. Hepatic genes profiling revealed that fatty acid and lipid metabolic processes were elevated. Gut microbiota were perturbed by LDC to cause diversity reduction and compositional alteration. Time-series studies indicated that the gut flora at early-life stages, especially at 8 weeks, were vulnerable to LDC and that an alteration during this period could contribute to the adult adiposity, even if the microbiota recovered later. The importance of intestinal bacteria in LDC-induced fat accumulation was further confirmed through microbiota transplantation and removal experiments. Moreover, the metabolic effects of LDC were observed only in male, but not female, mice.Conclusions:An environmental dose of cadmium at early stages of life causes gut microbiota alterations, accelerates hepatic lipid metabolism, and leads to life-long metabolic consequences in a sex-dependent manner. These findings provide a better understanding of the health risk of cadmium in the environment.Citation:Ba Q, Li M, Chen P, Huang C, Duan X, Lu L, Li J, Chu R, Xie D, Song H, Wu Y, Ying H, Jia X, Wang H. 2017. Sex-dependent effects of cadmium exposure in early life on gut microbiota and fat accumulation in mice. Environ Health Perspect 125:437–446; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP360

This paper is to provide quantitative data on some critical issues in anticipation of the forthcoming international negotiations in Denmark on the control of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Instead of letting only a small number of countries dominate a few controversial dialogues about emissions reductions, a comprehensive global system must be established based on emissions allowances for different countries, to realize the long-term goal of controlling global atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. That a system rooted in "cumulative emissions per capita," the best conception of the "common but . Even if these countries could achieve their ambitious emissions reduction targets in the future, their per capita emissions from 2006 to 2050 would still be much higher than those of developing countries; under such circumstance, these future emissions would create more than 6.3 trillion US dollars in emissions deficits. Because of their low cumulative emissions per capita, most developing countries fall within one of the latter two groups, which means that they have leeway for making emissions decisions in the future. Although China accounts for more than 30% of the total global emissions allowance from 2006 to 2050, its total emissions can be controlled within that allowance by no other way than reducing its future emissions growth rates. In the end, nine key issues related to international climate negotiations were briefly addressed.international negotiations on climate change, cumulative emissions per capita, emission allowance