Biocompatible Photoluminescent Silk Fibers with Stability and Durability.

Exploring photoluminescent silk fibers, possessing biocompatibility as well as stable and durable fluorescent properties, is a requirement for the development of novel photoluminescent biomaterials. Herein, we fabricate photoluminescent silk fibers, TPCA@SF, via modifying an organic fluorescent molecule (5-oxo-3,5-dihydro-2-thiazolo [3,2-] pyridine-7-carboxylic acid, TPCA) onto silk fibers, along with using quaternary ammonium salt didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) as a color-fixing agent. The hydrogen bonds and electrostatic association among silk fibers, TPCA and DDAB, ensure the stable modification.

Dual-Physical Cross-Linked Tough and Photoluminescent Hydrogels with Good Biocompatibility and Antibacterial Activity.

Development of novel photoluminescent hydrogels with toughness, biocompatibility, and antibiosis is important for the applications in biomedical field. Herein, novel tough photoluminescent lanthanide (Ln)-alginate/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels with the properties of biocompatibility and antibiosis have been facilely synthesized by introducing hydrogen bonds and coordination bonds into the interpenetrating networks of Na-alginate and PVA, via approaches of frozen-thawing and ion-exchanging. The resultant hydrogels exhibit high mechanical strength (0.

Carbon dots with high fluorescence quantum yield: the fluorescence originates from organic fluorophores.

In this contribution, we have shown that the organic fluorophores, 5-oxo-3,5-dihydro-2H-thiazolo [3,2-a] pyridine-3,7-dicarboxylic acid (TPDCA) and 5-oxo-3,5-dihydro-2H-thiazolo [3,2-a] pyridine-7-carboxylic acid (TPCA), are the main ingredients and fluorescence origins of N,S-CDs via systematic analyses. It inspires us to deeply analyze and understand the fluorescence origins of carbon dots with high fluorescence quantum yields, which will expand their applications.

Exceptionally tough and notch-insensitive magnetic hydrogels.

Most existing magnetic hydrogels are weak and brittle. The development of strong and tough magnetic hydrogels would extend their applications into uncultivated areas, such as in actuators for soft machines and guided catheters for magnetic navigation systems, which is still a big challenge. Here a facile and versatile approach to fabricating highly stretchable, exceptionally tough and notch-insensitive magnetic hydrogels, Fe(3)O(4)@Fe-alginate/polyacrylamide (PAAm), is developed, by dispersing alginate-coated Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles into the interpenetrating polymer networks of alginate and PAAm, with hybrid physical and chemical crosslinks.

Quantitative Assessment of the Association between Genetic Variants in MicroRNAs and Colorectal Cancer Risk.

Background: The associations between polymorphisms in microRNAs and the susceptibility of colorectal cancer (CRC) were inconsistent in previous studies. This study aims to quantify the strength of the correlation between the four common polymorphisms among microRNAs (hsa-mir-146a rs2910164, hsa-mir-149 rs2292832, hsa-mir-196a2 rs11614913, and hsa-mir-499 rs3746444) and CRC risk.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and CNKI to find relevant studies.

Dextran-based hydrogel formed by thiol-Michael addition reaction for 3D cell encapsulation.

Cell encapsulation in three-dimensional (3D) hydrogels can mimic native cell microenvironment and plays a major role in cell-based transplantation therapies. In this contribution, a novel in situ-forming hydrogel, Dex-l-DTT hydrogel ("l" means "linked-by"), by cross-linking glycidyl methacrylate derivatized dextran (Dex-GMA) and dithiothreitol (DTT) under physiological conditions, has been developed using thiol-Michael addition reaction. The mechanical properties, gelation process and degree of swelling of the hydrogel can be easily adjusted by changing the pH of phosphate buffer saline.

Tough photoluminescent hydrogels doped with lanthanide.

Photoluminescent hydrogels have emerged as novel soft materials with potential applications in many fields. Although many photoluminescent hydrogels have been fabricated, their scope of usage has been severely limited by their poor mechanical performance. Here, a facile strategy is reported for preparing lanthanide (Ln)-alginate/polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogels with both high toughness and photoluminescence, which has been achieved by doping Ln(3+) ions (Ln = Eu, Tb, Eu/Tb) into alginate/PAAm hydrogel networks, where Ln(3+) ions serve as both photoluminescent emitters and physical cross-linkers.

Tough Al-alginate/poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel with tunable LCST for soft robotics.

Tough Al-alginate/poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel has been synthesized by introducing an interpenetrating network with hybrid physically cross-linked alginate and chemically cross-linked PNIPAM. Varying the concentration of AlCl3 regulates the mechanical properties of the tough hydrogel and tunes its lower critical solution temperature (LCST) as well. The tough Al-alginate/PNIPAM exhibits 6.

Self-healing gels based on constitutional dynamic chemistry and their potential applications.

As representative soft materials with widespread applications, gels with various functions have been developed. However, traditional gels are vulnerable to stress-induced formation of cracks. The propagation of these cracks may affect the integrity of network structures of gels, resulting in the loss of functionality and limiting the service life of the gels.

Highly stretchable and transparent ionogels as nonvolatile conductors for dielectric elastomer transducers.

Large deformation of soft materials is harnessed to provide functions in the nascent field of soft machines. This paper describes a new class of systems enabled by highly stretchable, transparent, stable ionogels. We synthesize an ionogel by polymerizing acrylic acid in ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate ([C2mim][EtSO4]).

Strengthening alginate/polyacrylamide hydrogels using various multivalent cations.

We successfully synthesized a family of alginate/polyacrylamide hydrogels using various multivalent cations. These hydrogels exhibit exceptional mechanical properties. In particular, we discovered that the hydrogels cross-linked by trivalent cations are much stronger than those cross-linked by divalent cations.

Dextran-based self-healing hydrogels formed by reversible diels-alder reaction under physiological conditions.

A dextran-based self-healing hydrogel is prepared by reversible Diels-Alder reaction under physiological conditions. Cytocompatible fulvene-modified dextran as main polymer chains and dichloromaleic-acid-modified poly(ethylene glycol) as cross-linkers are used. Both macro- and microscopic observation as well as the rheological recovery test confirm the self-healing property of the dextran-l-poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels ("l" means "linked-by").