This review highlights the emerging impacts of ionic liquids on eco-environmental safety and human health, which will accelerate our understanding of the safety issues of ionic liquids and serve as a guideline for the design of the next generation of ionic liquids.

The founding population in most new species introductions, or at the leading edge of an ongoing invasion, is likely to be small. Severe Allee effects—reductions in individual fitness at low population density—may then result in a failure of the species to colonize, even if the habitat could support a much larger population. Using a simulation model for plant populations that incorporates demography, mating systems, quantitative genetics, and pollinators, we show that Allee effects can potentially be overcome by transient hybridization with a resident species or an earlier colonizer. This mechanism does not require the invocation of adaptive changes usually attributed to invasions following hybridization. We verify our result in a case study of sequential invasions by two plant species where the outcrosser Cakile maritima has replaced an earlier, inbreeding, colonizer Cakile edentula (Brassicaceae). Observed historical rates of replacement are consistent with model predictions from hybrid-alleviated Allee effects in outcrossers, although other causes cannot be ruled out.

Despite existing regulations, many emerging environmental contaminants remain ungoverned, posing serious risks to ecosystems and human health. Here, we outline governance challenges and propose a global roadmap for their regulation. Proactive identification, risk assessment, and international collaboration are urgently needed to close regulatory gaps and ensure a safer, healthier environment for all.

In recent years, the number of patients diagnosed with cancer has been soaring. Therefore, the design, development, and implementation of new approaches for the diagnosis and therapy of different types of cancers have attracted an increasing amount of attention. To date, different methods have been used for cancer diagnosis and therapy with main drawbacks in terms of severe side effects, e.g., damage to healthy cells, development of drug resistance and tumor recurrence. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the introduction and application of innovative methods. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are versatile materials with excellent properties in terms of biocompatibility, porous and crystalline structure, and easy functionalization. The porous structure and organic monomers in COFs allow them to load different therapeutic drugs and/or functional species efficiently. These promising properties make COFs ideal candidates for medical application, especially in cancer diagnosis and therapy. To date, many studies have focused on the design and synthesis of novel COFs while their application as diagnostic and therapeutic materials remains less understood. In this review, different synthesis and functionalization approaches of COFs were summarized. In particular, cancer diagnosis and therapy based on COFs were investigated and the advantages and limitations of each method were discussed. Most importantly, the mechanism for cancer therapy of COFs and fundamental challenges and perspectives for the application of COFs in cancer theranostics were assessed.

Arsenic has been used for various purposes throughout human history, such as medicinal and industrial applications, while its health risks have only been gradually recognized in the 20^th century and have raised global concerns since the 1990s. Reviewing the progress of arsenic research from a scientometric viewpoint is of great value and importance to predict future trends in arsenic studies. Unfortunately, such review is lacking, which could possibly lead to a biased understanding of the role of arsenic in human health. In this study, we collected 61,988 published literatures on arsenic research in the past 120 years from Web of Science, on which scientometric analysis using CiteSpace and subsequent review were conducted. Our scientometric-based review demonstrated the progress in the past 120 years of arsenic research and identified emerging trends in recent years, emphasizing the health risks posed by arsenic, arsenic applications, and their interaction. The information summarized in this study will shed light on the wise and extensive use of arsenic, which could be a double-edged sword in human health.