Designing Microneedle Patch for Prophylaxis of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation.

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is a common complication following cardiac surgery, which often occurs within 30 postoperative days, especially peaking at 2-3 days. Antiarrhythmic medications such as amiodarone are recommended in clinical practice for the prophylaxis and treatment of POAF. However, conventional oral administration is hindered due to delayed drug action and high risks of systemic toxicity, and emerging localized delivery strategies suffer from a limited release duration (less than 30 days).

CO-Mediated Alkali-Neutralization Curdlan Hydrogels for Potential Wound Healing Application.

Physical hydrogels of natural polysaccharides are considered as ideal candidates for wound dressing due to their natural biological activity and no harmful cross-linking agents. However, it remains a challenge to fabricate such hydrogel dressings in a facile and low-cost way. Herein, we reported an easy and cost-effective method to construct CO-mediated alkali-neutralization Curdlan (CR) hydrogels without using an external cross-linking agent.

High-transmission and large group delay terahertz triple-band electromagnetically induced transparency in a metal-perovskite hybrid metasurface.

A high-transmission and large group delay terahertz triple-band electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect is obtained in a metal-perovskite hybrid metasurface, which consists of a cross metal (CM), a pair of square metal frames (SMFs), and a pair of square split rings (SSRs). The results reveal that the transmission amplitudes of three transparent windows are 0.83, 0.

Polarization-insensitive electromagnetically induced transparency and its sensing performance based on spoof localized surface plasmons in vanadium dioxide-based terahertz metasurfaces.

The multi-layer terahertz metasurfaces are designed to achieve polarization-insensitive electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect and its sensing performance based on spoof localized surface plasmons (S-LSPs). The unit cell of the proposed metasurfaces is comprised of a metallic spiral (MS) structure, square metal frame (SMF) structure, and vanadium dioxide (VO) layer. The EIT effect is realized by the bright-bright coupling between spoof electric localized surface plasmons (S-ELSPs) and electric dipole, which can be proved by the multipole scattering theory.

Tunable and three-dimensional dual-band metamaterial absorber based on electromagnetically induced transparency with vanadium dioxide.

A tunable and three-dimensional dual-band metamaterial absorber based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is proposed. The unit cell of the metamaterial absorber consisted of a cut wire (CW), two split ring resonators (SRRs), a metal plate and a patterned vanadium dioxide (VO) film. The two absorption peaks could be dynamically controlled by tuning the conductivity of VO with the maximum absorptions of 97.

Lactobacillus plantarum-derived extracellular vesicles protect against ischemic brain injury via the microRNA-101a-3p/c-Fos/TGF-β axis.

Currently, the reported source of extracellular vesicles (EVs) for the treatment of ischemic stroke（IS）is limited to mammals. Moreover, these EVs are restricted to clinical translation by the high cost of cell culture. In this respect, Lactobacillus plantarum culture is advantaged by low cost and high yield.

Effect of TRAF6 in acute pancreatitis-induced intestinal barrier injury via TLR4/NF-κB signal pathway.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tumor necrosis factor receptor-related factor 6 (TRAF6) in acute pancreatitis (AP)-induced intestinal barrier injury via the Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor kappa-B (TLR4/NF-κB) signal pathway.

Methods: Rat models of acute edematous pancreatitis (AEP) and acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) were established by intraperitoneal injection of caerulein and retrograde infusion of sodium taurocholate solution into the biliopancreatic duct, respectively. Separate groups of model rats were pretreated with the TRAF6 inhibitor, MG-132.

Curdlan production from cassava starch hydrolysates by Agrobacterium sp. DH-2.

Curdlan is an edible microbial polysaccharide and can be used in food, biomedical and biomaterial fields. To reduce the cost of curdlan production, this study investigated the suitability of cassava starch hydrolysates as carbon source for curdlan production. Cassava starch was hydrolyzed into maltose syrup using β-amylase and pullulanase at various enzyme dosages, temperature, time and addition order of two enzymes.

Methionine biosynthesis pathway genes affect curdlan biosynthesis of Agrobacterium sp. CGMCC 11546 via energy regeneration.

Curdlan is a water-insoluble exopolysaccharide produced by Agrobacterium species under nitrogen starvation. The curdlan production in the ΔmdeA, ΔmetA, ΔmetH, and ΔmetZ mutants of methionine biosynthesis pathway of Agrobacterium sp. CGMCC 11546 were significantly impaired.

Injectable keratin hydrogels as hemostatic and wound dressing materials.

Injectable hydrogels hold promise in biomedical applications due to their noninvasive administration procedure and capacity enabling the filling of irregularly shaped defects. Protein-based hydrogels provide features including good biocompatibility and inherent biofunction. However, challenges still remain to develop a protein-based injectable hydrogel in a convenient way due to the limited active groups in proteins.

Glucose-triggered in situ forming keratin hydrogel for the treatment of diabetic wounds.

The development of protein-based in situ forming hydrogel remains a big challenge due to the limited chemical groups in proteins. Keratins are a group of cysteine-rich structural protein found abundant in skin and skin appendant. Recently, our lab has established a disulfide shuffling strategy to prepare keratin hydrogels via oxygen (O) oxidation.

Characterization and rheological properties analysis of the succinoglycan produced by a high-yield mutant of Rhizobium radiobacter ATCC 19358.

Succinoglycan is an industrially important exopolysaccharide biosynthesized by bacteria. In this study, mutant strain 18052 N-11 was obtained from the wild type strain Rhizobium radiobacter ATCC 19358 by NTG mutagenesis. It has a high yield succinoglycan of 32.

Glutamine synthetase gene glnA plays a vital role in curdlan biosynthesis of Agrobacterium sp. CGMCC 11546.

Curdlan is a neutral linear exopolysaccharide produced by Agrobacterium spp. under nitrogen-limiting conditions. In this study, we explored the role of glnA in curdlan biosynthesis in Agrobacterium sp.

Characterization and improvement of curdlan produced by a high-yield mutant of Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749 based on whole-genome analysis.

Curdlan is a bacterial, water-insoluble, linear homopolysaccharide that has been widely used in the food industry. In this study, genome information of strain CGMCC 11546, a UV-induced high-yield mutant of the model curdlan-producing strain Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749, was used to investigate the molecular mechanism of curdlan biosynthesis.

Effects of carbon sources on production and properties of curdlan using sp. DH-2.

Curdlan has wide potential application in the food and biomedical fields due to its unique thermal gel and biological activity. This study investigated the effect of six sugars including glucose, fructose, lactose, maltose, sucrose and xylose as carbon sources on production and properties of curdlan using sp. DH-2.

Construction of selenium-embedded mesoporous silica with improved antibacterial activity.

In this work, different concentrations of Se-incorporated mesoporous silica nanospheres (MSNs) (5Se/MSNs and 10Se/MSNs) were successfully synthesized via an in-situ one-pot method. Their physicochemical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The release behaviors of Se and Si were investigated in a phosphate-buffered saline (pH = 5.

The assembly of protein-templated gold nanoclusters for enhanced fluorescence emission and multifunctional applications.

Protein-templated gold nanoclusters have attracted attention in fluorescence imaging due to their simple synthesis and good biocompatibility. However, limitations still exist such as poor colloid stability and undesirable fluorescence intensity. Here we describe the self-assembly of keratin-templated gold nanoclusters via a simple and mild preparation process, including keratin-templated synthesis of gold nanoclusters (AuNCs@Keratin), silver ions modification of AuNCs@Keratin (AuNCs-Ag@Keratin), and gadolinium ions-induced aggregation of AuNCs-Ag@Keratin (AuNCs-Ag@Keratin-Gd).

Tunable keratin hydrogel based on disulfide shuffling strategy for drug delivery and tissue engineering.

Protein-based hydrogels that possess tunable properties have long been a challenge in tissue engineering. Keratin is a group of natural proteins derived from skin and skin appendant, and features a rich content of cysteine residue which exists in the form of disulfide bonds. Inspired by this, in this work, a simple disulfide shuffling strategy was utilized to develop keratin hydrogels by converting the intramolecular disulfide bonds into the intermolecular disulfide bonds.

Strain-induced phase transformation behavior of stabilized zirconia ceramics studied via nanoindentation.

To study the tetragonal-to-monoclinic (T-M) phase transformation behavior under different strain rates and indentation depths, nanoindentation tests were performed on stabilized zirconia ceramics with Continuous Stiffness Measurements. The results indicate decreased phase transformation velocities at both lower and higher strain rates, but increased velocity under medium strain rate during loading. The phase transformation process is sensitive to Ṗ/P but the final volume fractions are almost identical (45%).

Semivolatile organic compounds in surface microlayer and subsurface water of Dianshan Lake, Shanghai, China: implications for accumulation and interrelationship.

Semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in surface microlayer (SML) and subsurface water (SSW) from Dianshan Lake were studied to investigate their occurrence, distributions, as well as enrichment and potential sources. A sample was concentrated by solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME). Identification and quantification were carried out by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Preparation and characterization of BC/PAM-AgNPs nanocomposites for antibacterial applications.

In this work, a bacterial cellulose/polyacrylamide (BC/PAM) double network composite was prepared to act as the template for in situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Effects of reaction conditions of the BC/PAM composite were investigated on its microstructure, mechanical properties and thermal stabilities. Both the BC/PAM composite and pure BC were utilized to prepare the corresponding silver impregnated nanocomposites, i.

Versatile peroxidase degradation of humic substances: use of isothermal titration calorimetry to assess kinetics, and applications to industrial wastes.

The kinetic constants of a hybrid versatile-peroxidase (VP) which oxidizes complex polymeric humic substances (HS) derived from lignin (humic and fulvic acids) and industrial wastes were determined for the first time using isothermal titration calorimetry (iTC). The reaction conditions were manipulated to enable manganese-peroxidase (MnP) and/or lignin-peroxidase (LiP) activities to be evaluated. The peroxidase reactions exhibited varying degrees of product inhibition or activation; properties which have not previously been reported for VP enzymes.

Preparation of regenerated keratin sponge from waste feathers by a simple method and its potential use for oil adsorption.

In this work, pigeon feathers, a kind of totally waste by-product from the poultry industry, were utilized to fabricate a highly porous keratin sponge in a very simple way by freeze-drying treatment of the dissolved keratin solution, and applied for the first time as an oil adsorbent. An improved method was proposed to dissolve the feather keratin using the inexpensive sodium disulfite as the reducing reagent for sulfitolysis reaction, with a much lower concentration of all involving reaction regents. Moreover, the regenerated keratin sponges obtained a high oil adsorption capacity of above 30 g/g for both liquid paraffin and soybean oil, as well as a good oil holding ability, suggesting that this keratin sponge might be a potential for use as oil adsorbent.

Biotransformation of wheat straw to bacterial cellulose and its mechanism.

An ionic liquid [AMIM]Cl was used to pretreat wheat straw with an aim to remarkably improve enzymatic hydrolysis rate and yield of fermentable sugars. Some influence factors including dosage of straw, particle size of straw meal as well as pretreatment time and temperature were investigated. After optimization, the hydrolytic efficiency of regenerated straw increased obviously as compared to untreated materials, and the sugar yield of straw was 71.