Two-Component Hydrogels Built from Chinese Herbal Medicine-Derived Glycyrrhizic Acid and Puerarin: Assembly Mechanism, Self-Healing Properties, and Selective Antibacterial Activity.

Chinese herbal medicine has offered a great treasure for discovering intrinsically bioactive low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs). Herein, the two-component hydrogels comprising glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and puerarin (PUE), the primary bioactive components, respectively, from herbs and are successfully prepared. Combined spectroscopic characterizations reveal that hydrogen bonds are formed between GA and PUE molecules, which further drives the growth of nanofiber assemblies into gel networks.

Strong and tough bioplastics prepared by in-situ polymerization of ε-caprolactone-oligomers in lignocellulosic nanofiber network.

Cellulose biocomposites have emerged as attractive alternatives to fossil-based plastics because of their excellent renewability and biodegradability; however, their water resistance and mechanical properties remain challenging. Herein, a cellulose- containing bioplastic with high a reinforcement content, water stability, and toughness is reported. Lignin-containing cellulose nanofibers (LCNF) were prepared by pretreating eucalyptus wood powder with a deep eutectic solvent and high-pressure homogenization.

Carbon quantum dots derived from rice straw doped with N and S and its nanocomposites with hydroxypropyl cellulose nanocomposite.

As biomass, rice straw (RS) is often valorized as a precursor of green products. In this respect, the RS-based carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are synthesized doped with N and S during the preparation. Synergistic doping with lipoic acid and ethylenediamine can vastly increase the yield of CQD from rice straw from 6.

Quantitative analysis of intermolecular forces in cellulose microfibrils and hemicellulose with AFM nano-colloidal probes.

It is an interesting research topic to study the interfacial interactions between hemicellulose and cellulose, specifically how hemicellulose's structure affects its binding to cellulose nanofibers. Our research proposes that dispersion interaction play an important role in this interfacial interaction, more so than electrostatic forces when considering the adherence of cellulose to xylan. To quantify these interactions, the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) colloidal probe technique is applied to measure the intermolecular forces between cellulose nanofibers, which are attached to the probe and xylan.

Targeting microglial GLP1R in epilepsy: A novel approach to modulate neuroinflammation and neuronal apoptosis.

Background: Epilepsy is a prevalent disorder of the central nervous system. Approximately, one-third of patients show resistance to pharmacological interventions. The pathogenesis of epilepsy is complex, and neuronal apoptosis plays a critical role.

Distribution of xylan linked glucuronic acid labelled by molecularly imprinted polymers on pulp fiber surface.

Efficiently utilization of plant resources is heavily restricted by the resistance of lignocellulose in plant cells, which is related to the interlinkages of lignocellulose components. Hemicellulose in plant cell wall is bound to cellulose by hydrogen bond and linked with lignin in lignin-carbohydrate complex (LCC). In the xylan chain of hemicellulose, glucuronic acid (GA) is a typical side-group, which provides clues for us to label and locate hemicellulose.

Individualized Structural Perturbations on Normative Brain Connectome Restrict Deep Brain Stimulation Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) respond to deep brain stimulation (DBS) variably. However, how brain substrates restrict DBS outcomes remains unclear.

Objective: In this article, we aim to identify prognostic brain signatures for explaining the response variability.

Hierarchical Bilayer Polyelectrolyte Ion Paper Conductor for Moisture-Induced Power Generation.

Harvesting energy from air water (atmospheric moisture) promises a sustainable self-powered system without any restrictions from specific environmental requirements (e.g., solar cells, hydroelectric, or thermoelectric devices).

General anesthesia versus local anesthesia for deep brain stimulation targeting of STN in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is a viable therapeutic for advanced Parkinson's disease. However, the efficacy and safety of STN-DBS under local anesthesia (LA) versus general anesthesia (GA) remain controversial. This meta-analysis aims to compare them using an expanded sample size.

Motor cortex stimulation for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia after brainstem infarction: A case report.

Secondary trigeminal neuralgia after brainstem infarction is rare and rarely reported. A patient with secondary trigeminal neuralgia after brainstem infarction was admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University. The patient was a 44 years old male who underwent motor cortex stimulation treatment after admission.

Photoinduced Metal-Free Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization for the Modification of Cellulose with Poly(-isopropylacrylamide) to Create Thermo-Responsive Injectable Hydrogels.

Photoinduced metal-free ATRP has been successfully applied to fabricate thermo-responsive cellulose graft copolymer (PNIPAM--Cell) using 2-bromoisobuturyl bromide-modified cellulose as the macroinitiator. The polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) from cellulose was efficiently activated and deactivated with UV irradiation in the presence of an organic-based photo-redox catalyst. Both FTIR and C NMR analysis confirmed the structural similarity between the obtained PNIPAM--Cell and that synthesized via traditional ATRP methods.

Bioturbation effect of artificial inoculation on the flavor metabolites and bacterial communities in the Chinese Mao-tofu fermentation.

A comparison between artificially inoculated Mao-tofu (CC) and naturally fermented Mao-tofu (MM) indicated that artificially adding to Mao-tofu dramatically enhanced the essential amino acid (EAA) content, as well as umami and sweet amino acids. Gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) analysis revealed that phenol (3.226 μg/g), 1-octen-3-ol (5.

The Expression of Two Distinct Sets of Glycolytic Enzymes Reveals Differential Effects of Glycolytic Reprogramming on Pancreatic Ductal Tumorigenesis in Mice.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with enhanced aerobic glycolysis through elevated glucose uptake and the upregulated expression of genes encoding rate-limiting glycolytic enzymes. However, the direct impact of altered glycolytic pathways on pancreatic tumor progression has not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we utilized two strains of BAC transgenic mice with pancreatic expression of two distinct sets of glycolytic genes each arranged in a polycistronic fashion ( and , respectively) to investigate the role of altered glycolysis on the development of pancreatic ductal tumor development in the mice.

Toward pulping process for enhancing the RS-black liquors as precursor of activated carbons for aqueous adsorbent purposes.

This work deals with providing a green pulping process of rice straw with zero waste discharged, via valorization of its by-product as a promising precursor for production of carbon nanostructures. The carbon nanostructures (BL-CNSs) from rice straw pulping liquors (BLs) are prepared in one step with phosphoric acid activation. The carbon nanostructures (BL-CNSs) from rice straw pulping liquors (BLs) are prepared in one step with phosphoric acid activation.

Effect of the Caregivers-to-Caregivers Training Programme on informed caregivers of persons with mental disorders: A pilot study.

Objective: Many people with mental disorders are cared for by informed caregivers, but they usually have limited care-related training and lack caregiving capacity and support networks. In order to provide professional training and social support for informed caregivers, we designed the Caregivers-to-Caregivers Training Programme (C2C) and performed a pilot study to assess its effect.

Methods: Caregivers of persons with mental disorders who participated in the C2C were asked to participate in a quasi-experimental study to assess their knowledge and skills development, self-care ability, trainer engagement, and training content.

Structural changes of hemicellulose during pulping process and its interaction with nanocellulose.

It is believed that hemicellulose plays a crucial role in binding cellulose and lignin in plant cells. It may provide significant implications through figuring out the interaction between hemicellulose and microfibers and gaining insights how the structure of hemicellulose affects its association with cellulose nanofibers. Herein, the hemicellulose and nanocellulose fractions from pulps obtained by controlling the H-factors of kraft pulping process were quantitatively evaluated for their adsorption behavior using QCM-D.

Fabrication of Low-Temperature Fast Gelation β-Cyclodextrin-Based Hydrogel-Loaded Medicine for Wound Dressings.

β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD) is often used as a drug carrier for biomedical materials due to its unique cavity structure. Herein, β-CD was modified by acryloyl chloride and further copolymerized with -isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and acrylic acid (AA) to obtain PNIPAMβ-CD-AC. The results showed that the critical phase transition temperature of PNIPAM/β-CD-AC could be controlled at 19 °C, and the fast sol-gel phase transition was realized in 2-10 s.

Sustainable cellulose-based multifunctional material for electromagnetic shielding, flame retardancy and antibacterial.

Biomass-based multifunctional electromagnetic shielding materials have attracted extensive interest in academia and industry due to the sustainability of biomass and the environmental adaptability of multifunctional materials. After removing lignin and hemicellulose wood become a porous substrate with aligned cellulose, which is a good platform for building cellulose-based materials. In this work, a cellulose composite with sandwich-like structure was constructed by in-situ polymerization of aniline on delignified wood and coating a PDMS/CNT layer.

In situ growth of UiO-66-NH in wood-derived cellulose for iodine adsorption.

The capture of radioactive iodine is an inevitable requirement in nuclear industry for environmental protection. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new generation of sorbents that have wide applications for iodine adsorption and recovery. Although the loading of MOFs on wood can avoid the drawbacks of the powder form of MOFs in implementation, the dense structure of wood results in the lower loading, even after delignification, which limits the adsorption capacity.

Superhydrophobic and deacidified cellulose/CaCO-derived granular coating toward historic paper preservation.

Deacidification and surface self-cleaning are of great significance for the long-term preservation of historic literature. Herein, a superhydrophobic self-cleaning coating, derived from nanocellulose coated with CaCO particles is constructed via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for the first time for the preservation of historic paper. The static contact angle of superhydrophobic paper reached more than 150° and the minimum sliding angle was 6.

Efficient separation of acetylated cellulose from eucalyptus and its enhancement on the mechanical strength of polylactic acid.

A simplified and green strategy was provided for the synthesis of cellulose acetate. Cellulose acetate (CA) was isolated from the directly acetylated eucalyptus powder after hydrothermal treatment to selectively remove hemicellulose without delignification. The conversion rate of cellulose (90.

Deconstruction of biomass into lignin oil and platform chemicals over heteropoly acids with carbon-supported palladium as a hybrid catalyst under mild conditions.

In this work, near-complete conversion of lignocellulosic biomass and high products yields were achieved through catalytic transfer hydrogenolysis (CTH) in isopropanol using a heteropoly acid SiW synergistic with Pd/C catalyst at a relatively mild condition. The performances of various heteropoly acids and catalytic conditions were extensively examined. The results confirmed that SiW exhibited the highest activity on disrupting C-C linkages and C-O linkages than HWO, PW, and PMo.

Ag immobilized lignin-based PU coating: A promising candidate to promote the mechanical properties, thermal stability, and antibacterial property of paper packaging.

A lignin-based PU coating was prepared for paper-based green packaging. Two representative diisocyanate were used to prepare the coatings. Due to the rigid aromatic, the physical properties of the TDI system reached the maximum below the lignin content of 40%.