Poly l-Lactic Acid Nanofiber Membrane Effectively Inhibits Liver Cancer Cells Growth and Prevents Postoperative Residual Cancer Recurrence.

Electrospun nanocarrier systems, widely employed in the medical field, exhibit the capability to encapsulate multiple drugs and mitigate complications. Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) represents a frequently utilized chemotherapeutic agent for liver cancer patients. Sodium bicarbonate (SB) serves to neutralize the acidic tumor microenvironment, while ibuprofen (IBU) attenuates inflammatory factor production.

Enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting using carbon cloth functionalized with ZnO nanostructures polydopamine assisted electroless deposition.

ZnO nanorods (ZnO-nr) have been widely studied as a promising nanomaterial for photoelectrochemical water splitting. However, almost all prior studies employed planar electrodes. Here, we investigated the performance of ZnO nanorods on a fibrous carbon cloth (CC) electrode, which offers a larger surface area for functionalization of photocatalysts.

The Effects of Subcellular Nanograting Geometry on the Formation and Growth of Bacterial Biofilms.

Biofilm formation by bacteria protects them against environmental stresses such as desiccation, shear forces and antimicrobial agents, making them much harder to remove and increasing their virulence and persistence in industrial water systems and biomedical equipment. One promising method of disrupting biofilm formation and growth is to employ passive surface structures to inhibit bacterial adhesion and aggregation. However, most studies thus far have mainly focused on the early stages of biofilm formation and it is unclear if the influence of surface topography in the early phase will propagate to later stages.

[Research and prospect of Traditional Chinese Medical Microecology].

In the long-term evolution, microbes and hosts coexist widely, forming a symbiotic microecosystem and resulting the complex interactions of the metabolism. With the application of microecological theory in Chinese materia medica science, two main points have been accepted gradually. On the one hand, the prevention and treatment of human diseases by traditional Chinese medicines can be achieved through the correction and adjustment of the imbalance of the human microecosystem.

Effects of adaptation time and inclusion level of sugar beet pulp on nutrient digestibility and evaluation of ileal amino acid digestibility in pigs.

Objective: Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of adaptation time and inclusion level of sugar beet pulp (SBP) on nutrient digestibility and to evaluate the ileal AA digestibility of SBP fed to pigs.

Methods: In Exp. 1, thirty-six crossbred barrows (85.

Bacterial Attachment, Aggregation, and Alignment on Subcellular Nanogratings.

Recent investigations on the interactions of bacteria with micro/nanostructures have revealed a wide range of prokaryotic responses that were previously unknown. Despite these advances, however, it remains unclear how collective bacterial behavior on a surface would be influenced by the presence of anisotropic nanostructures with subcellular dimensions. To clarify this, the attachment, aggregation, and alignment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on orderly subcellular nanogratings with systematically varied geometries were investigated.

Fluid mechanics of human fetal right ventricles from image-based computational fluid dynamics using 4D clinical ultrasound scans.

There are 0.6-1.9% of US children who were born with congenital heart malformations.

Nonlinear Flow Rate Response to Pumping Frequency and Reduced Hemolysis in the Drastically Under-Occluded Pulsatile Roller Pump.

Roller pumps are widely used in many medical procedures including cardiopulmonary bypass, left/right ventricular assist, and hemodialysis. However, to date, the problem of the roller pumping mechanism causing significant hemolysis remains unresolved. It has been shown that with under-occlusion of the roller pump, hemolysis can be reduced, but significant reduction of the mean flow rate also takes place due to backflow through the under-occlusion.

Fluid mechanics of blood flow in human fetal left ventricles based on patient-specific 4D ultrasound scans.

The mechanics of intracardiac blood flow and the epigenetic influence it exerts over the heart function have been the subjects of intense research lately. Fetal intracardiac flows are especially useful for gaining insights into the development of congenital heart diseases, but have not received due attention thus far, most likely because of technical difficulties in collecting sufficient intracardiac flow data in a safe manner. Here, we circumvent such obstacles by employing 4D STIC ultrasound scans to quantify the fetal heart motion in three normal 20-week fetuses, subsequently performing 3D computational fluid dynamics simulations on the left ventricles based on these patient-specific heart movements.

Metal assisted anodic etching of silicon.

Metal assisted anodic etching (MAAE) of Si in HF, without H2O2, is demonstrated. Si wafers were coated with Au films, and the Au films were patterned with an array of holes. A Pt mesh was used as the cathode while the anodic contact was made through either the patterned Au film or the back side of the Si wafer.

Versatile fabrication and applications of dense, orderly arrays of polymeric nanostructures over large areas.

Dense arrays of nanostructures were fabricated in polymer surfaces over large areas (1 cm × 1 cm) using laser interference lithography and low power CF/O plasma etching. The dependence of the etch rate and etch anisotropy on plasma composition was studied in detail for polystyrene and 4 distinct regimes were identified. In each of these regimes, the polystyrene nanostructures exhibit characteristic variations of etch rate, etch anisotropy and surface chemistry that were found to be closely related to the level of fluorination and polymerization on the substrate surface.

Synthesis of free-standing, curved Si nanowires through mechanical failure of a catalyst during metal assisted chemical etching.

The fabrication of orderly arrays of free-standing, curved Si nanowires over large areas (1 cm × 1 cm) was demonstrated by means of interference lithography and intentional mechanical failure of a perforated Au catalyst during metal assisted chemical etching. Photoresist microgrooves were deposited on the perforated Au film to cause uneven etching which resulted in the build-up of bending stresses in the Au film to the point of catastrophic failure. By considering the initial positions of the holes in the perforated Au film relative to the photoresist constraints, the precise location of the fracture can be predicted using simple beam mechanics.

Droplet spreading on a two-dimensional wicking surface.

The dynamics of droplet spreading on two-dimensional wicking surfaces were studied using square arrays of Si nanopillars. It was observed that the wicking film always precedes the droplet edge during the spreading process causing the droplet to effectively spread on a Cassie-Baxter surface composed of solid and liquid phases. Unlike the continual spreading of the wicking film, however, the droplet will eventually reach a shape where further spreading becomes energetically unfavorable.

An environment-dependent modulation of cortical neural response by forebrain cholinergic neurons in awake rat.

The forebrain cholinergic neurons project to cortex, including the hippocampus and the cingulate cortex (Cg). However, the relative influence of these neurons on behavior-linked neural processing in the two cortical areas remains unclear. We have now examined the effect of destruction of the cholinergic neurons with microinjection of the immunotoxin 192 IgG-saporin into the medial septum on the induction of c-Fos protein, an index of neuronal synaptic excitation, in the two forebrain areas to varied episodic experiences.

Dynamics of wicking in silicon nanopillars fabricated with interference lithography and metal-assisted chemical etching.

The capillary rise of liquid on a surface, or "wicking", has potential applications in biological and industrial processes such as drug delivery, oil recovery, and integrated circuit chip cooling. This paper presents a theoretical study on the dynamics of wicking on silicon nanopillars based on a balance between the driving capillary forces and viscous dissipation forces. Our model predicts that the invasion of the liquid front follows a diffusion process and strongly depends on the structural geometry.

Uni-, bi-, and tri-directional wetting caused by nanostructures with anisotropic surface energies.

Wetting is a pervasive phenomenon that governs many natural and artificial processes. Asymmetric wetting along a single axis, in particular, has generated considerable interest but has thus far been achieved only by the creation of structural anisotropy. In this paper, we report that such directional wetting can also be achieved by anisotropically coating nanostructure surfaces with materials that modify the nanostructure surface energy, a phenomenon that has not been observed in natural or artificial systems thus far.

The fluctuation of radiative lifetime of dielectric luminescent-ion-containing nanoparticles randomly distributed in media.

The radiative lifetime of an emitter (such as a luminescent ion) is affected not only by the properties of the emitter itself but also by the dielectric properties of the surrounding media. The fluctuation of the local electrical field caused by random distribution of polarized luminescent-ion-containing nanoparticles in media leads to the fluctuation of radiative lifetime of luminescent ions. Lifetime fluctuation has been calculated analytically by considering this effect.

Nociception-driven decreased induction of Fos protein in ventral hippocampus field CA1 of the rat.

To test the hypothesis that the hippocampus field CA1 is recruited in nociceptive intensity-dependent fashion in the formalin model of inflammatory pain, we determined the effect of injection of formalin (0.625-2.5%) on the induction of Fos protein along the length of the hippocampus.