Rudists(Bivalvia) from a Cretaceous Platform in Northern Egypt: Taxonomy and Paleobiogeography

New well-preserved rudist materials come from the Barremian–Turonian marine formations in the Yelleg, Minsherah, Maaza, and Raghawi sections in North Sinai, northern Egypt. There, 17 discovered rudist species belonging to 13 genera and seven taxonomic families are described in detail as follows: Eoradiolites plicatus(Conrad), Eoradiolites liratus(Conrad), Praeradiolites ponsianus(d'Archiac), Archaeoradiolites sp., Bournonia africana Douvillé, Bournonia fourtaui Douville, Biradiolites lombricalis(d'Orbigny), Biradiolites zumoffeni Douville, Radiolites lewyi lewyi Parnes, Radiolites sauvagesi(d'Hombres-Firmas), Durania arnaudi(Choffat), Toucasia carinata(Matheron), Toucasia sp., Neocaprina raghawiensis Steuber and Bachmann, Sellaea sp., Ichthyosarcolites sp. and Horoiopleura sp.. The Cenomanian deposits in the northern Eastern desert of Egypt only contain E. liratus. The domination of the Cenomanian rudist species in North Sinai, however, is attributed to changes in the platform, which passes mainly from carbonate in the north to siliciclastics in the south. The presence of Horiopleura sp. in the late Barremian-early Aptian deposits is documented for the first time, which suggests the expansion of taxa of the genus Horiopleura Douville to North Sinai during this interval. The age of the rudist species is documented from the late Barremian-Turonian formations, with their geographic distribution in the Mediterranean region considered..

Boosted photocatalytic removal of NO using direct Z-scheme UiO-66-NH_(2)/Bi_(2)MoO_(6) nanoflowers heterojunction:mechanism insight and humidity effect

In practical applications,relative humidity in the air is a key factor affecting the photocatalytic removal of NO,which is often overlooked in previous studies.Here,we developed a direct Z-scheme UiO-66-NH_(2)/Bi_(2)MoO_(6)heterojunction with a nanoflower-like structure to systematically investigate the effect of relative humidity on photocatalytic removal of NO.The optimized heterojunction for the removal efficiency of NO was 71.6%at1.07 mg·m^(-3)NO concentration(relative humidity=10%),and the generation of NO_(2) was only 1.1%.Interestingly,with the increase in relative humidity,it showed a higher inhibition effect on NO_(2),while the removal of NO decreased slightly(8%),which might be attributed to the affinity effect of NO_(2) with water molecules and the competitive adsorption of H_(2)O and NO on the surface of the heterojunction photocatalysts.Furthermore,the reaction pathways of NO removal at the developed heterojunctions were revealed by in situ DRIFTS analysis.This work provides a novel vision for the development of direct Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts to effectively remove NO and inhibit the formation of toxic intermediate NO_(2) under different humidities.

Green process of biomass waste derived fluorescent carbon quantum dots for biological imaging in vitro and in vivo

In the context of the circular economy,the huge amounts of biomass waste should be converted into value-added materials and energy to diminish pollution,atmospheric CO_(2)levels and costly waste disposal.Biological imaging usually uses expensive and toxic chemicals e.g.,organic dyes,semiconductor quantum dots,calling for safer,greener,cheaper fluorescent probes for biological imaging in vitro and in vivo.In these regards,carbon quantum dots(CQDs)-based fluorescent probes using biomass waste as a precursor may have much higher potential.Here we transformed the biomass waste of peach leaves into value-added fluorescent CQDs through a low-cost and green one-step hydrothermal process.The obtained CQDs show excitation-dependent photoluminescence properties with a fluorescence lifetime of 5.96 ns and a quantum yield of 7.71%without any passivation.In addition,the CQDs have a fine size of 1.9 nm with good hydrophilicity and high fluorescent stability over pH 4.0-11.0 range.Fluorescence imaging of in vitro cell cultures and in vivo with zebrafish show that CQDs possess ultra-low toxicity and remarkable performance for biological imaging.Even when CQDs present at a concentration as high as500μg/m L,the organism can still maintain more than 90%activity both in vitro and in vivo,and present bright fluorescence.The cheaper,greener,ultra-low toxicity CQDs developed in this work is a potential candidate for biological imaging in vitro and in vivo.