Semiconductor photocatalytic reduction is a relatively new technique for the removal of dissolved toxic metal ions from wastewater. In this paper, adsorption and photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) inaqueous solutions by UV/TiO2 photocatalysis has been investigated. It has been observed that the pH of the solution plays an important role in this reaction. An acidic medium is favorable for Cr(VI) photocatalytic reduction, where 94% of Cr(VI) was photoreduced within 1 h at pH 3 when 2 g/L of TiO2 was used as the slurry. An adsorption study shows that the photocatalytic reduction mainly occurs on the surface of TiO2. The presence of Fe(III) improved the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) because it was observed that an additional reaction between Fe(II) and Cr(VI) takes place in the UV/TiO2 reduction process. A new combination of photocatalytic reduction and metal ion coprecipitation using Fe(OH)3 for complete removal of aqueous Cr [Cr(VI) as well as Cr(III)] was designed, which reduced the chromium concentration from 30 ppm to 17 ppb for a simulated wastewater. Thermodynamic analysis showed that TiO2 cannot photoreduce Cr(III) to Cr(0), but reduction is possible with ZnS. When kinetic experiments were performed, it was observed that more than 86% of Cr(III) could be photoreduced to Cr(0) in 5 h with a ZnS catalyst.

Biopharmaceuticals have emerged to play a vital role in disease treatment and have shown promise in the rapidly expanding pharmaceutical market due to their high specificity and potency. However, the delivery of these biologics is hindered by various physiological barriers, owing primarily to the poor cell membrane permeability, low stability, and increased size of biologic agents. Since many biological drugs are intended to function by interacting with intracellular targets, their delivery to intracellular targets is of high relevance. In this review, the authors summarize and discuss the use of nanocarriers for intracellular delivery of biopharmaceuticals via endosomal escape and, especially, the routes of direct cytosolic delivery by means including the caveolae‐mediated pathway, contact release, intermembrane transfer, membrane fusion, direct translocation, and membrane disruption. Strategies with high potential for translation are highlighted. Finally, the authors conclude with the clinical translation of promising carriers and future perspectives.

An extreme weather and climate event does not only mean that an extreme occurs at an individual point (station), but more generally it has a certain impacted area and duration, which means that it is a regional extreme event (REE). How to identify a REE is the basis for studies in this area. An objective identification technique for REE (OITREE), which is based on the model of “the string of candied fruits,” is proposed in this study. This technique consists of five steps: to select a daily index for individual points (stations), to partition natural daily abnormality belts, to distinguish the event’s temporal continuity, to establish an index system for regional events, and to judge extremity for regional events. In the index system developed specially for regional events, there are five single indices, namely extreme intensity, accumulated intensity, accumulated area, maximum impacted area and duration, as well as an integrated index and the spatial location. In this study, the proposed method was first applied to examine four types of REEs in China: heavy precipitation, drought, high temperature, and low temperature. Results show that the technique is skillful in identifying REEs, demonstrating the usefulness of the proposed method in detecting and studying of REEs and operational application.

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