Tough Polyurethane Hydrogels with a Multiple Hydrogen-Bond Interlocked Bicontinuous Phase Structure Prepared by In Situ Water-Induced Microphase Separation.

Hydrogels with mechanical performances similar to load-bearing tissues are in demand for in vivo applications. In this work, inspired by the self-assembly behavior of amphiphilic polymers, polyurethane-based tough hydrogels with a multiple hydrogen-bond interlocked bicontinuous phase structure through in situ water-induced microphase separation strategy are developed, in which poly(ethylene glycol)-based polyurethane (PEG-PU, hydrophilic) and poly(ε-caprolactone)-based polyurethane (PCL-PU, hydrophobic) are blended to form dry films followed by water swelling. A multiple hydrogen bonding factor, imidazolidinyl urea, is introduced into the synthesis of the two polyurethanes, and the formation of multiple hydrogen bonds between PEG-PU and PCL-PU can promote homogeneous microphase separation for the construction of bicontinuous phase structures in the hydrogel network, by which the hydrogel features break strength of 12.

New Insights into the Mechanism by Which the Pituitary Gland Copes with Hypoxia Stress Based on a Transcriptomic Analysis of .

Hypoxia is a common environmental stressor in aquatic ecosystems, and during the cultivation process, is prone to death because it is hypoxia-intolerant, which brings huge economic losses to farmers. The pituitary gland is a crucial endocrine gland in fish, and it is mainly involved in the secretion, storage, and regulation of hormones. In the present study, we compared the transcriptional responses to serious hypoxia in the pituitary gland among hypoxia-sensitive (HS) and hypoxia-tolerant (HT) and a control group that received a normal oxygen supply (C0).

pH-responsive bioadhesive with robust and stable wet adhesion for gastric ulcer healing.

Development of bioadhesives that can be facilely delivered by endoscope and exhibit instant and robust adhesion with gastric tissues to promote gastric ulcer healing remains challenging. In this study, an advanced bioadhesive is prepared through free radical polymerization of ionized N-acryloyl phenylalanine (iAPA) and N-[tris (hydroxymethyl) methyl] acrylamide (THMA). The precursory polymer solution exhibits low viscosity with the capability for endoscope delivery, and the hydrophilic-hydrophobic transition of iAPA upon exposure to gastric acid can trigger gelation through phenyl groups assisted multiple hydrogen bonds formation and repel water molecules on tissue surface to establish favorable environment for interfacial interactions between THMA and functional groups on tissues.

Growth Axis , , and Genes Express and Are Affected by the Injection of Exogenous Growth Hormone in .

In this study, to explore the effect of growth hormone changes on the related genes and regulatory roles of the turtle, PCR amplification, real-time fluorescence quantitative analysis, and enzyme cutting technology were used to clone and sequence the () gene, (), and () sequence of . The effects of human growth hormone on the mRNA expression of growth-axis-related genes , , and in different sexes were observed. The study of the gene in turtles using real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR showed that the gene was mainly expressed in the nervous system and the digestive system, with the highest expression found in the brain, while the gene and the gene were expressed in all tissues of .

Molecular architecture regulation for the design of instant and robust underwater adhesives.

Development of underwater adhesives with instant and robust adhesion to diverse substrates remains challenging. A strategy taking the structural advantage of phenylalanine derivative, -acryloyl phenylalanine (APA), is proposed to facilely prepare a series of underwater polymeric glue-type adhesives (UPGAs) through one-pot radical polymerization with commonly used hydrophilic vinyl monomers. The adjacent phenyl and carboxyl groups in APA realize the synergy between interfacial interactions and cohesion strength, by which the UPGAs could achieve instant (~5 seconds) and robust wet tissue adhesion strength (173 kilopascal).

Toughening Double-Network Hydrogels by Polyelectrolytes.

The Hoffmeister effect of inorganic salts is verified as a promising way to toughen hydrogels, however, the high concentration of inorganic salts may be accompanied by poor biocompatibility. In this work, it is found that polyelectrolytes can obviously elevate the mechanical performances of hydrogels through the Hoffmeister effect. The introduction of anionic poly(sodium acrylate) into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel induces the aggregation and crystallization of the PVA to boost the mechanical properties of the resulting double-network hydrogel: elevation of 73, 64, 28, 135, and 19 times in the tensile strength, compressive strength, Young's modulus, toughness, and fracture energy compared with poly(acrylic acid), respectively.

Nanocomposite conductive hydrogels with Robust elasticity and multifunctional responsiveness for flexible sensing and wound monitoring.

Flexible biosensors made from conductive hydrogels have shown tremendous potential in health management and human-machine interfaces. Nevertheless, it remains challenging to fabricate conductive hydrogels with robust resilience and long-term stability. Herein, we report a nanocomposite conductive hydrogel prepared through one-pot radical polymerization of 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid (APBA) and acrylamide (AM) in the presence of LAPONITE® XLG nanosheet (XLG) stabilized carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

Liver kinase B1 correlates with prognosis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of resectable early stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Recent evidences support that low expression of liver kinase B1 (LKB1) triggers epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through induction of Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) expression, which downregulates E-cadherin in human lung cancer cell lines. However, the clinicopathological significance of LKB1, EMT, salt-inducible kinase 1 (SIK1), ZEB1 and their relationship in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (ES-NSCLC) patients remain to be determined. In this study, the correlation among expression of LKB1, risk of distant metastasis, prognostic significance, and EMT in ES-NSCLC after surgery was investigated by immunohistochemistry.

On the phase-field modelling of a miscible liquid/liquid boundary.

Mixing of miscible liquids is essential for numerous processes in industry and nature. Mixing, i.e.