Expression of Concern: Novel fatty chain-modified GLP-1R G-protein biased agonist exerts prolonged anti-diabetic effects through targeting receptor binding sites

Expression of Concern for ‘Novel fatty chain-modified GLP-1R G-protein biased agonist exerts prolonged anti-diabetic effects through targeting receptor binding sites’ by Maorong Wang et al., RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 8044–8053, https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA10593J.

The following article ‘Novel fatty chain-modified GLP-1R G-protein biased agonist exerts prolonged anti-diabetic effects through targeting receptor binding sites’ has been published in RSC Advances.The Royal Society of Chemistry was contacted by a reader who raised concerns about scientific errors in this article, and that some of the content may have been reproduced without appropriate acknowledgement.The authors were contacted for comment but have not responded to these concerns. RSC Advances is publishing this Expression of Concern to alert readers to the concerns raised. An Expression of Concern will continue to be associated with the article until we receive conclusive evidence regarding the reliability of the reported data.Laura Fisher15/11/2022Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Expression of concern: One-pot sol–gel synthesis of reduced graphene oxide uniformly decorated zinc oxide nanoparticles in starch environment for highly efficient photodegradation of methylene blue

Expression of concern for ‘One-pot sol–gel synthesis of reduced graphene oxide uniformly decorated zinc oxide nanoparticles in starch environment for highly efficient photodegradation of methylene blue’ by Majid Azarang et al., RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 21888–21896.

The following article ‘One-pot sol–gel synthesis of reduced graphene oxide uniformly decorated zinc oxide nanoparticles in starch environment for highly efficient photodegradation of methylene blue’ by Majid Azarang*^ab, Ahmad Shuhaimi^a, Ramin Yousefi^c and Siamak Pilban Jahromi^a has been published in RSC Advances. RSC Advances is publishing this expression of concern in order to alert our readers to the fact that we are presently unable to confirm the accuracy of the data reported in Fig. 2(a, b) and 5 of this RSC Advances paper.We have contacted the University of Malaya to request an investigation into the validity of the published figures. We understand that an investigative process is on-going at the University of Malaya, and this notice will be updated when a final outcome is reached.Andrew Shore2nd March 2018Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Self-assembled membrane manufactured by metal–organic framework (UiO-66) coated γ-Al2O3 for cleaning oily seawater

In order to effectively clean oily seawater with anionic polyacrylamide (APAM), UiO-66 coated γ-Al₂O₃ (UA) composites were firstly synthesized using γ-Al₂O₃ as a template to induce the growth of high hydrophilic UiO-66 on its surface to form a uniform UA self-assembled membrane. The UA composites and self-assembled membrane were characterized and analyzed. Also, the membrane performance was investigated. The results show that the hydrophilicity of particles is enhanced with the water contact angle decreasing from 39.8° (γ-Al₂O₃ particles) to 26.2° (UA composites) by introducing the UiO-66 coating. Moreover, the UA self-assembled membrane performs attractive water yield and separation performance. The oil concentration in the permeate treated by the first class of UA self-assembled membrane declines apparently from 91.22 to 18.90 mg L⁻¹, while the water yield is as high as 657.89 L m⁻² h⁻¹. The reclaimed separation experiments show that the membrane materials could be recycled by calcination at 200 °C and hydraulic cleaning, which gives the material potential application in cleaning oily seawater.

The self-assembled membrane manufactured by UA composites exhibits excellent separation performance and water yield in the treatment of oily seawater.     

Retraction: The PI3K/Akt and NF-κB signaling pathways are involved in the protective effects of Lithocarpus polystachyus (sweet tea) on APAP-induced oxidative stress injury in mice

Retraction of ‘The PI3K/Akt and NF-κB signaling pathways are involved in the protective effects of Lithocarpus polystachyus (sweet tea) on APAP-induced oxidative stress injury in mice’ by Jia-yu Yang et al., RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 18044–18053. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0RA00020E.

The Royal Society of Chemistry hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data.In Fig. 3B, part of the ‘APAP+STL-E (50 mg/kg)’ panel is duplicated in the ‘APAP+STL-E (100 mg/kg)’ panel.In Fig. 4A, the first two bands of the ‘p-Akt’ panel, when rotated 180°, are identical to the first two bands of the ‘Cleaved-caspase 9’ panel.The authors were asked to provide the raw data for this article, but did not respond. Given the significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, and the lack of raw data, the findings presented in this article are not reliable.The authors were informed but have not responded to any correspondence regarding the retraction.Signed: Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances.Date: 18th August 2022.     

Retraction: Synthesis and characterization of Mn/Co/Ti LDH and its utilization as a photocatalyst in visible light assisted degradation of aqueous Rhodamine B

Retraction of ‘Synthesis and characterization of Mn/Co/Ti LDH and its utilization as a photocatalyst in visible light assisted degradation of aqueous Rhodamine B’ by Priyadarshi Roy Chowdhury and Krishna G. Bhattacharyya, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 112016–112034.

The Royal Society of Chemistry hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article following a misconduct investigation carried out by Gauhati University.There are repeating motifs within the AFM image in Fig. 7A. Gauhati University have informed us that they have concluded that the AFM image is devoid of authenticity and has been manipulated or altered by the authors.Signed: Andrew Shore, Executive Editor, RSC AdvancesDate: 4^th February 2019     

Retraction: Enhanced adsorption of ionizable aromatic compounds on humic acid-coated carbonaceous adsorbents

Retraction of ‘Enhanced adsorption of ionizable aromatic compounds on humic acid-coated carbonaceous adsorbents’ by Yubing Sun et al., RSC Adv., 2012, 2, 10359–10364, DOI: 10.1039/C2RA21713A.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the named authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data in the published article.Repeating fragments can be observed in the XRD spectrum for GONs in Fig. 1C, which indicates that it has been manipulated. In addition, there are unexpected similarities in the baseline of the XRD data presented for MWCNTs and AC (Fig. 1C) in the 32.5–40° and 45–57.5° regions.Given the significance of the concern about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Signed: Yubing Sun, Dadong Shao, Guixia Zhao, Shubin Yang and Xiangke WangDate: 27^th March 2020Changlun Chen, Jiaxing Li and Xiaoli Tan were contacted but did not respond.Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Self-association of L-periaxin occurs via its acidic domain and NLS2/NLS3, and affects its trafficking in RSC96 cells

Retraction of ‘Self-association of L-periaxin occurs via its acidic domain and NLS2/NLS3, and affects its trafficking in RSC96 cells’ by Yenan Yang et al., RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 44112–44123, DOI: 10.1039/C7RA06853K

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data in the published article. The authors confirmed that the western blot images in Fig. 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 had been inappropriately manipulated. Given the significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Signed: Yenan Yang, Min Liang and Yawei ShiDate: 8^th April 2021Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Expression of concern: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells inhibited bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis

Expression of concern for ‘Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells inhibited bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis’ by Jiang Nan et al., RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 49498–49504. DOI: 10.1039/C7RA03971A.

RSC Advances is publishing this expression of concern in order to alert readers that concerns have been raised over the integrity of the data published in this article. The authors have been contacted but have not responded to requests to provide raw data. An expression of concern will continue to be associated with the article until a conclusive outcome is reached.Laura Fisher31st January 2022Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

A restricted access molecularly imprinted polymer coating on metal–organic frameworks for solid-phase extraction of ofloxacin and enrofloxacin from bovine serum

A restricted access molecularly imprinted polymer (RAMIP) crosslinked with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was prepared on the surface of the mesoporous UiO-66-NH₂ metal–organic framework (MOF). The surface morphology, imprinting behavior, and protein exclusion properties of UiO-66-NH₂@RAMIP@BSA were investigated. The maximum adsorption capacity was 50.55 mg g⁻¹ for ofloxacin, with a 99.4% protein exclusion rate. Adsorption equilibrium was reached in 9 min. Combined with RP-HPLC, a solid-phase extraction column filled with UiO-66-NH₂@RAMIP@BSA was used to selectively enrich and analyze ofloxacin and enrofloxacin antibiotics from bovine serum with recoveries of 93.7–104.2% with relative standard deviations of 2.0–4.5% (n = 3). The linear range and the limit of detection were 0.1–100 μg mL⁻¹ and 15.6 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. These results suggest that UiO-66-NH₂@RAMIP@BSA is an efficient pretreatment adsorbent for biological sample analysis.

A restricted access molecularly imprinted polymer (RAMIP) crosslinked with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was prepared on the surface of the mesoporous UiO-66-NH₂ metal–organic framework (MOF).     

Retraction: Simultaneous sorption and reduction of U(vi) on magnetite–reduced graphene oxide composites investigated by macroscopic,spectroscopic and modeling techniques

Retraction of ‘Simultaneous sorption and reduction of U(vi) on magnetite–reduced graphene oxide composites investigated by macroscopic, spectroscopic and modeling techniques’ by Wencai Cheng et al., RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 59677–59685, DOI: 10.1039/C5RA10451C.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data in the published article.The SEM image in Fig. 1C duplicates data published in another publication, but reported as different materials.¹There are unexpected similarities in the XPS spectra presented for M1–rGO and M5–rGO in Fig. 2A.Repeating fragments can be observed in the baseline of the XRD spectrum for GO presented in Fig. 2B, which indicate that it has been manipulated. In addition, the XRD spectrum for M5–rGO in Fig. 2B duplicates data published in ref. 1 and 2, but they have been reported as different materials.Given the number and significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Signed: Wencai Cheng, Zhongxiu Jin, Congcong Ding and Maolin WangDate: 27^th March 2020Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Radio frequency triggered curcumin delivery from thermo and pH responsive nanoparticles containing gold nanoparticles and its in vivo localization studies in an orthotopic breast tumor model

Retraction of ‘Radio frequency triggered curcumin delivery from thermo and pH responsive nanoparticles containing gold nanoparticles and its in vivo localization studies in an orthotopic breast tumor model’ by N. Sanoj Rejinold et al., RSC Adv., 2014, 4, 39408–39427, DOI: 10.1039/C4RA05727A.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to duplication of images in Fig. 9–12, 15, 18 and 19, which affect the reliability of the data and the overall conclusions presented in the published article.Signed: N. Sanoj Rejinold, Reju George Thomas, Muthunarayanan Muthiah, K. P. Chennazhi, In-Kyu Park, K. Manzoor and R. Jayakumar, 24th July 2020.Yong Yeon Jeong was contacted but did not respond.Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances.     

Retraction: A study on the luminescence properties of gamma-ray-irradiated white light emitting Ca2Al2SiO7:Dy3+ phosphors fabricated using a combustion-assisted method

Retraction of ‘A study on the luminescence properties of gamma-ray-irradiated white light emitting Ca₂Al₂SiO₇:Dy³⁺ phosphors fabricated using a combustion-assisted method’ by Geetanjali Tiwari et al., RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 49317–49327, https://doi.org/10.1039/C6RA04913C.

The Royal Society of Chemistry hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data.Following the previous publication of a correction, which was published after an institutional investigation, to correct errors in Fig. 10(a, b), 11(a, b), 12(a, b), 15, 18 and 19, further instances of data concerns have been identified within the corrected Fig. 10a, 11a and 12a. The corrected Fig. 10a, 11a, and 12a contain sections of identical noise and these concerns undermine the integrity of this article.Given the significance of these concerns, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.This retraction supersedes the information provided in the correction related to this article and the correction is no longer valid.The authors were informed about the retraction of the article. Nameeta Brahme has not agreed with the decision, the other authors have not responded.Signed: Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC AdvancesDate: 13/10/2022     

Retraction: Graphene oxide/DNA-decorated electrode for the fabrication of microRNA biosensor

Retraction of ‘Graphene oxide/DNA-decorated electrode for the fabrication of microRNA biosensor’ by Erlin Sun et al., RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 69334–69338, DOI: 10.1039/C5RA12373A.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to a lack of reproducibility in the results of the paper. We have been unable to replicate the results of miRNA detection, shown in Fig. 8, and as a result, the conclusions of this paper are not supported.Signed: Erlin Sun, Lining Wang, Xiaodong Zhou, Chengquan Ma, Yan Sun, Mingde Lei, Bingxin Lu and Ruifa HanDate: 14^th July 2020Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Fabrication of hollow CoS1.097 prisms toward supercapactior performance

Retraction of ‘Fabrication of hollow CoS_1.097 prisms toward supercapactior performance’ by Ruili Zhang et al., RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 10814–10819.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to extensive overlap with the text, data and figures published in ref. 1, which means that this RSC Advances article is redundant. All the figures and tables in this RSC Advances article have been reproduced from ref. 1.The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience to readers.Signed: Ruili Zhang and Ping Yang.Date: 8^th July 2019.We do not have current contact details for the second author of the article, Yuntao Yang, as he has graduated and therefore has not been able to comment on the retraction.Retraction endorsed by Andrew Shore, Executive Editor, RSC Advances.     

Retraction: Organometallic Ag nanostructures prepared using Hypericum perforatum extract are highly effective against multidrug-resistant bacteria

Retraction of ‘Organometallic Ag nanostructures prepared using Hypericum perforatum extract are highly effective against multidrug-resistant bacteria’ by Qaisar Maqbool et al., RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 30562–30572.

We, the named authors, wholly retract this RSC Advances article.The authors have repeated the FTIR and TGA analyses of the nanoparticles synthesised using H. perforatum, and also obtained the original data files from the facility that carried out the initial analyses. The authors have compared the new results and the original data files with the data in the published article. They found that the graphs presented in Fig. 7a and b in the article did not correspond to neither the original data nor the new analysis. They also found that the same TGA graph (Fig. 7b) was used in previous articles by the first author but representing a different material.^1,2The Institute of Plant Genetics of the Polish Academy of Sciences have confirmed to the Royal Society of Chemistry that graphs presented in Fig. 7 of this RSC Advances article were manipulated.The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to readers.Signed: Dariusz Kruszka, Piotr Kachlicki and Gregory FranklinDate: 5^th April 2019Qaisar Maqbool opposes this retraction.Retraction endorsed by Andrew Shore, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Metal-free [2+2+1] cycloaddition polymerization of alkynes,nitriles, and oxygen atoms to functional polyoxazoles

Retraction of ‘Metal-free [2+2+1] cycloaddition polymerization of alkynes, nitriles, and oxygen atoms to functional polyoxazoles’ by Lichao Dong et al., RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 24368–24373, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA04249H.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article as there is insufficient data to support the structure of the final polymer product, and therefore, the conclusions are not fully supported. In Fig. 1 the peaks of the ¹H-NMR spectrum are stacked together and therefore the spectrum cannot be used as proof of the polymer structure. In Fig. 2, the ¹³C-NMR spectrum, the peaks on the benzene ring cannot correspond to before and after polymerization. Therefore, further research and characterization work is needed to determine the structure of the resulting polymer.The corresponding authors regret this oversight and apologise for any inconvenience to readers. Signed: Lichao Dong, Tian Lan, Yin Liang, Shifeng Guo and Hao ZhangDate: 18 April 2021 Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Computational fluid dynamics modeling of the millisecond methane steam reforming in microchannel reactors for hydrogen production

Retraction of ‘Computational fluid dynamics modeling of the millisecond methane steam reforming in microchannel reactors for hydrogen production’ by Junjie Chen et al., RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 25183–25200, DOI: 10.1039/C8RA04440F.

The authors have retracted this RSC Advances article in its entirety because there is considerable overlap with respect to the data presented in the previous article ‘Millisecond methane steam reforming for hydrogen production: a computational fluid dynamics study’ (Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 2018, 43, 12948–12969, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.05.039) by the same authors. This means that the RSC Advances article is redundant. Despite low levels of textual overlap, much of the data is essentially the same as or very similar to that previously reported. The model was improved, but the degree of improvement is relatively low. There were some new findings presented, but the contribution is relatively small. Furthermore, the previous article was not cited in the RSC Advances article.As much of the data are available in the previous article, the authors are retracting this RSC Advances article. All authors agree to this retraction.Signed: Junjie Chen, Xuhui Gao, Longfei Yan, and Deguang XuDate: 18th March 2021     

Retraction: Anti-cancer activity of hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites synthesized from rice-based waste materials

Retraction of ‘Anti-cancer activity of hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites synthesized from rice-based waste materials’ by S. K. Jesudoss et al., RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 481–490, https://doi.org/10.1039/C7RA11763A.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data.In Fig. 2 the data for (a), (b) and (c) contains sections of identical noise.In Fig. 7 there are several instances of overlapping images. Fig. 7a and e are identical, Fig. 7b and f have partial overlap, and Fig. 7c and d have partial overlap.Given the significance of these concerns, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Signed: S. K. Jesudoss, J. Judith Vijaya, K. Kaviyarasu, L. John Kennedy, R. Jothi Ramalingam, Hamad A. Al-LohedanDate: 18^th August 2022.Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances.     

Retraction: Salvianolic acid B inhibits inflammatory response and cell apoptosis via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in IL-1β-induced osteoarthritis chondrocytes

Retraction of ‘Salvianolic acid B inhibits inflammatory response and cell apoptosis via the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway in IL-1β-induced osteoarthritis chondrocytes’ by Bin Zhu et al., RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 36422–36429, DOI: 10.1039/C8RA02418A.

The Royal Society of Chemistry hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data.The images in the article were screened by an image integrity expert who confirmed that some of the western blots images in this paper had been duplicated in other articles. There are no common authors between the papers.The Col II band in Fig. 3B of this paper has been duplicated as the p62 band in Fig. 4A of ref. 1.One of the blots in the control band (GAPDH) in Fig. 3D has also been reused as a blot in Fig. 2C of ref. 1 and in Fig. 4A of ref. 2.The authors were asked to provide the raw data for this article but did not respond. Given the significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, and the lack of raw data, the findings presented in this paper are not reliable.The authors have been informed but have not responded to any correspondence regarding the retraction.Signed: Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC AdvancesDate: 7^th January 2021