Boron nanosheets boosting solar thermal water evaporation.

Hydrogel-based solar vapour generators (SVGs) are promising for wastewater treatment and desalination. The performance of SVG systems is governed by solar thermal conversion and water management. Progress has been made in achieving high energy conversion efficiency, but the water evaporation rates are still unsatisfactory under 1 sun irradiation.

Synthesizing cationic polymers and tuning their properties for microalgae harvesting.

This study reports a facile technique to synthesize and tune the cationic polymer, poly(3-acrylamidopropyl)trimethylammonium chloride (PAPTAC), in terms of molecular weight and surface change for harvesting three microalgae species (Scenedesmus sp., P.purpureum, and C.

Structure-Property Relationships of Hydrogel-based Atmospheric Water Harvesting Systems.

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is considered one of the promising technologies to alleviate the uneven-distribution of water resources and water scarcity in arid regions of the world. Hydrogel-based AWH materials are currently attracting increasing attention due to their low cost, high energy efficiency and simple preparation. However, there is a knowledge gap in the screening of hydrogel-based AWH materials in terms of structure-property relationships, which may increase the cost of trial and error in research and fabrication.

MicroRNA-124-3p Attenuated Retinal Neovascularization in Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy Mice by Inhibiting the Dysfunction of Retinal Neuroglial Cells through STAT3 Pathway.

MicroRNA (miRNA) is a non-coding RNA that can regulate the expression of many target genes, and it is widely involved in various important physiological activities. MiR-124-3p was found to associate with the normal development of retinal vessels in our previous study, but the mechanism of its anti-angiogenic effect on pathological retinal neovascularization still needed to be explored. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of miR-124-3p on retinal neovascularization in mice with oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR).

Downregulation of miR-124-3p suppresses the development of the deep retinal blood vessels by enhancing the Stat1/Ripk1 pathway in mouse retinal microglia.

The study aimed to investigate the role of microRNA (miR)-124-3p in retinal angiogenesis in a mouse model. An intravitreal injection of miR-124-3p antagomir was used to knockdown the expression of miR-124-3p in the mouse retina at postnatal day (P)3. Immunofluorescent staining of both retinal frozen sections and whole retina were used to observe retinal vascular development in the P6, P9 and P12 mice, as well as the changes in retinal ganglion cells, astrocytes, Müller cells and microglia.

Divide and Conquer: A Novel Dual-Layered Hydrogel for Atmospheric Moisture Harvesting.

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) has been recognized as a next-generation technology to alleviate water shortages in arid areas. However, the current AWH materials suffer from insufficient water adsorption capacity and high-water retention, which hinder the practical application of AWH materials. In this study, we developed a novel dual-layered hydrogel (DLH) composed of a light-to-heat conversion layer (LHL) containing novel polydopamine-manganese nanoparticles (PDA-Mn NPs) and a water adsorption layer (WAL) made of 2-(acryloyloxyethyl) trimethylammonium chloride (AEtMA).

Recent Development of Atmospheric Water Harvesting Materials: A Review.

The lack of freshwater has been threatening many people who are living in Africa, the Middle East, and Oceania, while the discovery of freshwater harvesting technology is considered a promising solution. Recent advances in structured surface materials, metal-organic frameworks, hygroscopic inorganic compounds (and derivative materials), and functional hydrogels have demonstrated their potential as platform technologies for atmospheric water (i.e.

MicroRNA-92a-3p Regulates Retinal Angiogenesis by Targeting SGK3 in Vascular Endothelial Cells.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects and mechanism of microRNA (miR)-92a-3p in retinal angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo.

Methods: The expression of miR-92a-3p was verified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Agomir-92a-3p was intravitreally injected into the right eye on postnatal day 3 (P3), P5, and P8 in the mice, with the agomir-NC injected left eye as the control.

Water Harvesting Strategies through Solar Steam Generator Systems.

Solar steam generator (SSG) systems have attracted increasing attention, owing to its simple manufacturing, material abundance, cost-effectiveness, and environmentally friendly freshwater production. This system relies on photothermic materials and water absorbing substrates for a clean continuous distillation process. To optimize this process, there are factors that are needed to be considered such as selection of solar absorber and water absorbent materials, followed by micro/macro-structural system design for efficient water evaporation, floating, and filtration capability.

An Interaction-Based Method for Refining Results From Gene Set Enrichment Analysis.

To demonstrate an interaction-based method for the refinement of Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) results. Intravitreal injection of miR-124-3p antagomir was used to knockdown the expression of miR-124-3p in mouse retina at postnatal day 3 (P3). Whole retinal RNA was extracted for mRNA transcriptome sequencing at P9.

Proteomic Analysis of Retinal Conditioned Medium: The Effect on Early Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells into Retina.

Stem cell replacement therapy has emerged as one of the most promising treatment options for retinal degenerative diseases, which are the main causes of irreversible vision loss. Three-dimensional (3D) retinal organoid culture is a cutting-edge technology for differentiating embryonic stem cells into retinal cells by forming a laminated retinal structure. However, 3D culture systems have strict requirements with respect to the experimental environment and culture technologies.

Controllable synthesis of a hollow core-shell Co-Fe layered double hydroxide derived from Co-MOF and its application in capacitive deionization.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is considered one of the most promising desalination technologies for obtaining fresh water from saline water. In this work, we synthesized a hollow core-shell Co-MOF@Fe/Co-LDH (Co-Fe-LDH) material by developing a strategy to simultaneously grow Co/Fe-LDH on the surface of a Co-MOF precursor in situ. Owing to the increase in the specific surface area of the hollow structure and the Faradaic process of a layered double hydroxide (LDH), the Co-Fe-LDH material exhibits high electrical double layer (EDL) capacitance and pseudocapacitance, which significantly improves the salt adsorption of the material during CDI (34.

Identification of the aberrantly methylated differentially expressed genes in proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common complication of diabetes. Proliferative DR (PDR) is a more advanced stage of DR, which can cause severe impaired vision and even blindness. However, the precise pathological mechanisms of PDR remain unknown.

Synthesis of cation exchange membranes for capacitive deionization based on crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol with citric acid.

Constructing new cation exchange membranes (CEM) has been regarded as an easy and effective approach to improving the capacitive deionization (CDI) system. In this study, a new method of fabrication of CEM was introduced by crosslinking sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) and citric acid (CA). The SSA and CA were crosslinked with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to fabricate CEMs in a series of conditions.

Fractionation of mono- and divalent ions by capacitive deionization with nanofiltration membrane.

In this study, we demonstrated the influence of adding nanofiltration membranes to a CDI cell, when desalinating mono- and divalent salt solutions both theoretically and experimentally, and proposed a new procedure for the separation of mono- and divalent ions. It is revealed that the distinction of the diffusion coefficient between mono- and divalent ions is the key to the effective separation. Combined with the appropriate time of adsorption (1.

Fabrication of porous graphene electrodes via CO activation for the enhancement of capacitive deionization.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a simple, cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly method for brackish water desalination. In order to improve the desalination performance, the inner structures of the porous electrodes should provide more space for ion storage and transportation. Therefore, we utilized an efficient method to synthesize porous graphene electrodes based on the technique of pressurized oxidation and CO activation.