Lignin nano/micro-particles from agricultural biomasses: Developing direct precipitation for integrated biorefinery.

The state-of-the-art, simple and scalable methods for lignin micro-/nano-particles recovery from agricultural biomasses were evaluated in this review. Being non-wood biomasses, these materials can be easily fibrillated, supporting the usage of mild soda or organic solvent pretreatment. Different approaches in particle recovery were compared to conclude that the bottom-up approach facilitates smaller particles towards the nano-size range whereas mechanical treatment can act as a supporting method to increase uniformity and reduce particle sizes after bottom-up precipitation.

Silk fibroin/chitosan/montmorillonite sponge dressing: Enhancing hemostasis, antimicrobial activity, and angiogenesis for advanced wound healing applications.

Open wounds present a significant challenge in healthcare, requiring careful management to prevent infection and promote wound healing. Advanced wound dressings are critical need to enhance their hemostatic capabilities, antimicrobial properties, and ability to support angiogenesis and sustained moisture for optimal healing. This study introduces a flexible hemostatic dressing designed for open wounds, integrating chitosan (CS) for hemostasis and biocompatibility, silk fibroin (SF) for mechanical strength, and montmorillonite (MMT) for enhanced drug transport.

Innovative ultrasonic emulsification of cinnamon essential oil pickering emulsion stabilized by rice straw-derived cellulose nanocrystals.

For the first time, ultrasonic emulsification was studied for cinnamon essential oil (CEO) Pickering emulsion, stabilized by cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) from rice straw. Sonication proved to be an effective method for emulsifying CEO, creating small emulsion droplets around 700 nm in size, with an even dispersion characterized through a low polydispersity index. The biomass-derived CNC exhibits high encapsulation efficiency (> 95 %) with varying CEO concentration (5-25 vol%), creating droplets with negative surface charge with limited aggregation of emulsions.

Lightweight Electrolyte Design for Li/Sulfurized Polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) Batteries.

Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) recently emerges as a promising cathode for high-energy lithium (Li) metal batteries owing to its high capacity, extended cycle life, and liberty from costly transition metals. As the high capacities of both Li metal and SPAN lead to relatively small electrode weights, the weight and specific energy density of Li/SPAN batteries are particularly sensitive to electrolyte weight, highlighting the importance of minimizing electrolyte density. Besides, the large volume changes of Li metal anode and SPAN cathode require inorganic-rich interphases that can guarantee intactness and protectivity throughout long cycles.

Synergetic Dual-Additive Electrolyte Enables Highly Stable Performance in Sodium Metal Batteries.

Sodium (Na)-metal batteries (SMBs) are considered one of the most promising candidates for the large-scale energy storage market owing to their high theoretical capacity (1,166 mAh g) and the abundance of Na raw material. However, the limited stability of electrolytes still hindered the application of SMBs. Herein, sulfolane (Sul) and vinylene carbonate (VC) are identified as effective dual additives that can largely stabilize propylene carbonate (PC)-based electrolytes, prevent dendrite growth, and extend the cycle life of SMBs.

A data-driven QSPR model for screening organic corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel using machine learning techniques.

Machine learning (ML) techniques have shown great potential for screening corrosion inhibitors. In this study, a data-driven quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) model using the gradient boosting decision tree (GB) algorithm combined with the permutation feature importance (PFI) technique was developed to predict the corrosion inhibition efficiency (IE) of organic compounds on carbon steel. The results showed that the PFI method effectively selected the molecular descriptors most relevant to the IE.

Recovery of aluminum from plastic packages containing aluminum by gasification.

The standing pouch, a packaging material made of multiple layers of plastic and metal, presents a significant challenge for full recycling. Gasification shows promise as a method to recover aluminum from this type of waste and convert it into energy. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of gasification in treating aluminum-containing plastic packages, and recovering aluminum while identifying the optimal combinations of temperature and equivalence ratio (ER) to achieve the best outcomes.

Direct in situ measurements of electrical properties of solid-electrolyte interphase on lithium metal anodes.

The solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) critically governs the performance of rechargeable batteries. An ideal SEI is expected to be electrically insulative to prevent persistently parasitic reactions between the electrode and the electrolyte and ionically conductive to facilitate Faradaic reactions of the electrode. However, the true nature of the electrical properties of the SEI remains hitherto unclear due to the lack of a direct characterization method.

Pharmacological properties of Ensete glaucum seed extract: Novel insights for antidiabetic effects via modulation of oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis and MAPK signaling pathways.

Ethnophamacological Relevance: Medicinal plants are increasingly making important contributions to diabetic treatment. Ensete glaucum seeds have been widely used in folk medicine to treat diabetes.

Aim Of The Study: The study was aimed to investigate the protective effect and active mechanisms of E.

Encapsulation of Triphasia trifolia extracts by pH and thermal dual-sensitive chitosan hydrogels for controlled release.

Recent studies have developed varied delivery systems incorporating natural compounds to improve the limitations of plant extracts for clinical use while enabling their controlled release at treatment sites. For the first time, ethanolic limeberry extract (Triphasia trifolia) has been successfully encapsulated in thermo-sensitive chitosan hydrogels by a facile in situ loading. The extract-incorporated chitosan hydrogels have a pH value of nearly 7.

Postsynaptic neuronal activity promotes regeneration of retinal axons.

The wiring of visual circuits requires that retinal neurons functionally connect to specific brain targets, a process that involves activity-dependent signaling between retinal axons and their postsynaptic targets. Vision loss in various ophthalmological and neurological diseases is caused by damage to the connections from the eye to the brain. How postsynaptic brain targets influence retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axon regeneration and functional reconnection with the brain targets remains poorly understood.

Enhancement of the Solubility of BS Class II Drugs with MOF and MOF/GO Composite Materials: Case Studies of Felodipine, Ketoprofen and Ibuprofen.

In this research, a novel composite material composed of Metal-Organic Framework material (MOF) and graphite oxide was synthesized and evaluated as a possible drug-loading vehicle. HKUST-1, a MOF material originally designed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, was used as a model porous material. The aim was to synthesize a drug delivery vehicle for modifying the release kinetics and solubility of poorly soluble drugs (BSC Class II drugs); these are drugs that are known to have poor bioavailability due to their low solubility.

A review of the extraction methods and advanced applications of lignin-silica hybrids derived from natural sources.

The global trend of increasing energy demand along the large volume of wastewater generated annually from the paper pulping and cellulose production industries are considered as serious dilemma that may need to be solved within these current decades. Within this discipline, lignin, silica or lignin-silica hybrids attained from biomass material have been considered as prospective candidates for the synthesis of advanced materials. In this study, the roles and linking mechanism between lignin and silica in plants were studied and evaluated.

Bis(4-glycosyloxybenzyl) 2-isobutyltartrate and dihydrophenanthrene derivatives from the pseudobulbs of Pholidota chinensis and their anti-inflammatory activity.

Six previously undescribed components, bis(4-glycosyloxybenzyl) 2-isobutyltartrate derivatives (pholidotoside A-E) and phenolic glycoside (pholidotosin A), together with twenty known compounds were isolated from the pseudobulbs of Pholidota chinensis. Their structures and absolute configuration were elucidated and established through various spectroscopic and chemical methods. The anti-inflammatory potential of selected compounds was examined using a human neutrophil cell model activated by N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine/cytochalasin B (fMLP/CB).

Detection of bovine leukemia virus in beef cattle kept in the Central Coast Regions of Vietnam.

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the etiologic agent of enzootic bovine leucosis. Our previous study showed the BLV existence in cattle kept in the Red River Delta Region of Vietnam. However, no positive samples were identified in beef cattle.

Therapeutic effect of induced pluripotent stem cell -derived extracellular vesicles in an and osteoarthritis model.

Background/objective: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial joint disease associated with the deterioration of chondrocytes and inflammation. Treatment of OA is only aimed at reducing pain and improving joint function. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted from stem cells have emerged as a cell regenerative tool in several degenerative diseases, including OA.

Recent developments in chitosan hydrogels carrying natural bioactive compounds.

Chitosan hydrogel is a smart and highly applicable drug delivery carrier because of its nature, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and ability to encapsulate, carry and release the drug to the desired target flexibly depending on the conditions of the patient. Not only developing delivery systems but natural compounds are also increasingly being studied in supporting the treatment of diseases. However, the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic issues of the phytochemicals are remaining.

Depolymerization of Rice Straw Lignin into Value-Added Chemicals in Sub-Supercritical Ethanol.

Depolymerization of lignin is an important step to obtain a lignin monomer for the synthesis of functional chemicals. In the context of more lignin produced from biomass and pulp industry, converting real lignin with low purity is still required more studies. In this study, the influence of solvent composition and reaction parameters such as binary solvents ratio, time, and temperature, the solvent-to-lignin ratio on the depolymerization of rice straw lignin was investigated carefully.

Development of a paddy-based biorefinery approach toward improvement of biomass utilization for more bioproducts.

Improvement of biomass utilization productivity following cascading strategy is a priority for the biorefinery-based circular bioeconomy. In recent years, the field of energy research has seen an increasing interest in bio-products from paddy-based biorefinery, but the utilization of the entire value of paddy biomass to guide the commercial viability of its products has not been got feasible outcomes. Here we propose a potential pathway for a conceptual paddy biorefinery framework by addressing wastes for producing more products.

Recent Progresses in Eco-Friendly Fabrication and Applications of Sustainable Aerogels from Various Waste Materials.

Tons of waste from residential, commercial and manufacturing activities are generated due to the growing population, urbanization and economic development, prompting the need for sustainable measures. Numerous ways of converting waste to aerogels, a novel class of ultra-light and ultra-porous materials, have been researched to tackle the issues of waste. This review provides an overview of the status of aerogels made from agricultural waste, municipal solid, and industrial waste focusing on the fabrication, properties, and applications of such aerogels.

The novel method to reduce the silica content in lignin recovered from black liquor originating from rice straw.

Difficulties in the production of lignin from rice straw because of high silica content in the recovered lignin reduce its recovery yield and applications as bio-fuel and aromatic chemicals. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop a novel method to reduce the silica content in lignin from rice straw more effectively and selectively. The method is established by monitoring the precipitation behavior as well as the chemical structure of precipitate by single-stage acidification at different pH values of black liquor collected from the alkaline treatment of rice straw.

Intravascular fasciitis presenting as recurrent deep venous thrombosis.

Intravascular fasciitis is a rare variant of nodular fasciitis, a benign process that results from proliferation of myofibroblasts in the soft tissues. Nodular fasciitis occurs most often in the upper extremities but can also develop in the head, neck, trunk, and lower extremities of young patients. The intravascular variant occurs within small- and medium-size vessels.