Fabrication of Non-Wetting Mg(OH) Composites with Photoresponsive Capabilities and Their Environmental Restoration Performance.

Water pollution seriously affects the development of society and human life. There are various kinds of pollutants, including soluble pollutants and insoluble floaters on the water surface. Herein, the photocatalyst semiconductor BiOCl and superhydrophobic functional particles Mg(OH) were deposited on the surfaces of canvas and polyester felt to construct superhydrophobic canvas and polyester felt.

Reproductive toxicity and related mechanisms of micro(nano)plastics in terrestrial mammals: Review of current evidence.

Micro(nano)plastics (MNPs) have been detected in various ecological environments and are widely used due to their stable properties, raising widespread concern about their potential human reproductive toxicity. Currently, infertility affects approximately 10-30% of couples of reproductive age globally. MNPs, as environmental pollutants, have been shown to exhibit reproductive toxicity through intrinsic mechanisms or as carriers of other hazardous substances.

Vitamin D3 alleviates lung fibrosis of type 2 diabetic rats via SIRT3 mediated suppression of pyroptosis.

Purpose: We aimed to evaluate whether pulmonary fibrosis occurs in type 2 diabetes rat models and whether VD3 can prevent it by inhibiting pyroptosis.

Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to normal control (NC), diabetic model control (MC), low-dose VD3 (LVD), medium-dose VD3 (MVD), high-dose VD3 (HVD) and metformin positive control (PC) groups. Type 2 diabetes model was induced by a high-sugar, high-fat diet combined with STZ injection, and subsequently intervened with VD3 or metformin for 10 weeks.

Prevalence and contamination patterns of in (king oyster mushroom) production plants.

is a major foodborne pathogen that is well-known for its high mortality rate upon infection. In recent years, the edible mushroom has also been found to be an important source of , but the contamination sources in (the king oyster mushroom) were unclear. In this study, a total of 203 edible mushrooms and environmental samples from four production plants were obtained.

Smart Humidly Adaptive Yarns and Textiles from Twisted and Coiled Viscose Fiber Artificial Muscles.

The self-adaptive nature of smart textiles to the ambient environment has made them an indispensable part of emerging wearable technologies. However, current advances generally suffer from complex material preparation, uncomfortable fitting feeling, possible toxicity, and high cost in fabrication, which hinder the real-world application of smart materials in textiles. Herein, humidity-response torsional and tensile yarn actuators from twisted and coiled structures are developed using commercially available, cost-effective, and biodegradable viscose fibers based on yarn-spinning and weaving technologies.

Moisture-Sensitive Response and High-Reliable Cycle Recovery Effectiveness of Yarn-Based Actuators with Tether-Free, Multi-Hierarchical Hybrid Construction.

Yarn-based muscle actuators are highly desired for applications in soft robotics, flexible sensors, and other related applications due to their actuation properties. Although the tethering avoiding release of inserted twist, the complex preparation process and harsh experimental conditions make tether-free structures yarn actuator with reliable cycle recovery effectiveness is needed. Herein, a tether-free, multi-hierarchical hybrid construction of a moisture-sensitive responsive yarn-based actuator with the viscose/PET ratio (VPR) = 0.

Identification of Body Size Determination Related Candidate Genes in Domestic Pig Using Genome-Wide Selection Signal Analysis.

This study aimed to identify the genes related to the body size of pigs by conducting genome-wide selection analysis (GWSA). We performed a GWSA scan on 50 pigs belonging to four small-bodied pig populations (Diannan small-eared pig, Bama Xiang pig, Wuzhishan pig, and Jeju black pig from South Korea) and 124 large-bodied pigs. We used the genetic parameters of the pairwise fixation index (F) and π ratio (case/control) to screen candidate genome regions and genes related to body size.

Chronic vitamin D supplementation alleviates cognition impairment via inhibition of oxidative stress regulated by PI3K/AKT/Nrf2 in APP/PS1 transgenic mice.

Oxidative stress plays essential role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, and vitamin D (VD) is a nutrient with neuroprotective and antioxidant activities. The present study aimed to confirm the neuroprotective effect and the ameliorative effect of cortical oxidative stress of VD in APP/PS1 transgenic mice. APP/PS1 mice were treated with VD for 20 weeks.

Hierarchically Structured and Scalable Artificial Muscles for Smart Textiles.

Fiber-based artificial muscles with excellent actuation performance are gaining great attention as soft materials for flexible actuators; however, current advances in fiber-based artificial muscles generally suffer from high cost, harsh stimulation regimes, limiting deformations, chemical toxicity, or complex manufacturing processing, which hinder the widespread application of those artificial muscles in engineering and practical usage. Herein, a facile cross-scale processing strategy is presented to construct commercially available nontoxic viscose fibers into fast responsive and humidity-driven yarn artificial muscles with a recorded torsional stroke of 1752° cm and a maximum rotation speed up to 2100 rpm, which are comparable to certain artificial muscles made from carbon-based composite materials. The underlying mechanism of such outstanding actuation performance that begins to form at a mesoscale is discussed by theoretical modeling and microstructure characterization.

A new protocol for absolute quantification of haemosporidian parasites in raptors and comparison with current assays.

Background: Accurate quantification of infection intensity is essential to estimate infection patterns of avian haemosporidian parasites in order to understand the evolution of host-parasite associations. Traditional microscopy is cost-effective but requires high-quality blood smears and considerable experience, while the widely used semi-quantitative qPCR methods are mostly employed with ideal, laboratory-based golden samples and standard curves, which may limit the comparison of parasitemia from different laboratories.

Methods: Here we present a digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) protocol for absolute quantification of avian haemosporidians in raptors.

A Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Identified the Candidate Genes Involved in Fast Growth at the Mycelial Growth Stage.

The edible straw mushroom, , is one of the most important cultivated mushrooms in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Strain improvement for is difficult because of the unknown mechanisms involved in its growth regulation and substrate utilization. A comparative physiological and transcriptomic study was conducted between two commercially available straw mushroom strains (v9 and v26) to explore their fast-growth regulation mechanism(s).

Novel bone wax based on tricalcium silicate cement and BGs mixtures.

Classic bone wax is effectively hemostatic and low-cost, but it has shortcomings like infection and nonabsorbability. A novel self-curing bone wax was developed by mixing tricalcium silicate (CS) cement and 58S bioactive glass/chitosan/carboxy methyl cellulose (BG/CS/CMC, referred to as BGs) to overcome these problems. It was found that the addition of BGs improved anti-washout and operational properties of CS, and CS had good self-curing and mechanical behavior.

Determination of the transmission coefficients for quantum structures using FDTD method.

The purpose of this work is to develop a simple method to incorporate quantum effect in traditional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulators. Witch could make it possible to co-simulate systems include quantum structures and traditional components. In this paper, tunneling transmission coefficient is calculated by solving time-domain Schrödinger equation with a developed FDTD technique, called FDTD-S method.