Biopolymer-Based Flame Retardants and Flame-Retardant Materials.

Polymeric materials featuring excellent flame retardancy are essential for applications requiring high levels of fire safety, while those based on biopolymers are highly favored due to their eco-friendly nature, sustainable characteristics, and abundant availability. This review first outlines the pyrolysis behaviors of biopolymers, with particular emphasis on naturally occurring ones derived from non-food sources such as cellulose, chitin/chitosan, alginate, and lignin. Then, the strategies for chemical modifications of biopolymers for flame-retardant purposes through covalent, ionic, and coordination bonds are presented and compared.

N-chlorination of urea-formaldehyde resin microspheres for antibacterial regenerated cellulose fibers.

Regenerated cellulose fibers are required for widespread antibacterial applications across various fields. N-halamines have been extensively studied and are regarded as a promising candidate for antibacterial purposes. In this work, we focus on investigating the chlorination performance of urea-formaldehyde resin microspheres (UFRs) and using them as antibacterial additives incorporated into the spinning dope to fabricate antibacterial viscose fibers.

LncRNA 4930581F22Rik promotes myogenic differentiation by regulating the ERK/MAPK signaling pathway.

The skeletal muscle is the largest organ in mammals and is the primary motor function organ of the body. Our previous research has shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are significant in the epigenetic control of skeletal muscle development. Here, we observed progressive upregulation of lncRNA 4930581F22Rik expression during skeletal muscle differentiation.

Polysaccharide hydrogel containing silver nanoparticle@catechol microspheres with photothermal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities for infected-wounds repair.

Anti-infection hydrogels have recently aroused enormous attraction, particularly in the treatment of chronic wounds. Herein, silver nanoparticle@catechol formaldehyde resin microspheres (Ag@CFRs) were fabricated by one-step hydrothermal method and subsequently encapsulated in hydrogels which were developed by Schiff base reaction between aldehyde groups in oxidized hyaluronic acid and amino groups in carboxymethyl chitosan. The developed polysaccharide hydrogel exhibited microporous structure, high swelling capacity, favorable mechanical strength, enhanced tissue adhesion and photothermal activities.

An intumescent flame-retardant system based on carboxymethyl cellulose for flexible polyurethane foams with outstanding flame retardancy, antibacterial properties, and mechanical properties.

A novel and eco-friendly intumescent flame-retardant system based on sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was established for wide-used flexible polyurethane foams (FPUFs). FPUF-(APPCMC)GN with extremely uniform coatings extinguished and reached the UL-94 V-0 rating, and presented an improvement of thermal insulation properties. Moreover, there was a 58 % reduction in peak heat release rate for FPUF-(APPCMC)GN compared with that of FPUF, and the microstructure analysis of char residues indicated that a perfect intumescent char layer had formed on the surface of FPUFs.

Flame-Retardant Cycloaliphatic Epoxy Systems with High Dielectric Performance for Electronic Packaging Materials.

Flame-retardant cycloaliphatic epoxy systems have long been studied; however, the research suffers from slow and unsatisfactory advances. In this work, we synthesized a kind of phosphorus-containing difunctional cycloaliphatic epoxide (called BCEP). Then, triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC) was mixed with BCEP to achieve epoxy systems that are rich in phosphorus and nitrogen elements, which were cured with 4-methylhexahydrobenzene anhydride (MeHHPA) to obtain a series of flame-retardant epoxy resins.

An overview of alginates as flame-retardant materials: Pyrolysis behaviors, flame retardancy, and applications.

Alginates, a kind of naturally occurring polysaccharides, have been exploited for functional materials owing to their versatility, sustainability, nontoxicity, and relatively low cost. Inherent flame retardancy is one of the most attractive features of alginates, as it enables the high-value-added utilization of alginates for eco-friendly flame-retardant materials. Now, the influence of metal ions on the flame retardancy and pyrolysis behaviors of alginates has been systematically studied; besides, the applications of alginates for flame-retardant materials have been greatly developed, such as for preparing flame-retardant fibers, fabrics, aerogel composites, and foams, as well as serving as a component or modifier of functional coatings, hybrids, and additives.

Fully bio-based coating from chitosan and phytate for fire-safety and antibacterial cotton fabrics.

In this study, a fully bio-based coating was constructed by layer-by-layer deposition of chitosan (CS) and ammonium phytate (AP), to obtain fire-safety and antibacterial cotton fabrics. With about 8% weight gains of CS/AP coatings, the treated cotton fabrics self-extinguished in the vertical burning test. The data obtained from cone calorimetry showed CS/AP/cotton had much lower smoke and heat production, which indicated the fire safety of the fabrics was significantly improved for the presence of CS/AP coatings.

Epoxidized soybean oil cured with tannic acid for fully bio-based epoxy resin.

The construction of fully bio-based epoxy resins (EP) has been of particular interest in both academia and industrial circles for years; among these, epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) derived thermosets have received the most attention, but they usually exhibit poor performance due to their flexible fatty chains. Herein, tannic acid (TA), with its great degree of functionality and massive aromatic structures, was chosen as the multi-phenol curing agent for ESO to prepare fully bio-based EP thermosets with a high relaxation temperature and satisfactory mechanical properties. As a natural 2-substituted imidazole-containing substance, histidine (H) was used as the curing accelerator under moderate curing conditions (120-180 °C).

[Association between S100B gene polymorphisms and hand, foot and mouth disease caused by enterovirus 71 infection].

Objective: To investigate the association between rs9722 polymorphisms in the S100B gene and hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) caused by enterovirus 71.

Methods: A total of 124 HFMD children with enterovirus 71 infection were enrolled as subjects, and 56 healthy children were enrolled as control group. The rs9722 polymorphisms in the S100B gene were detected for both groups, and the serum level of S100B protein was measured for 74 HFMD children.

An effective intervention to improve the cleanliness of medical lead clothes in an orthopedic specialized hospital.

Dirty medical lead clothes, contaminated with blood or other infected material, may carry ongoing bioburden, which increase the risk of hospital-acquired infection. In this study, we investigated medical lead clothes contamination levels and assessed the effectiveness of the intervention that was constructed to improve the cleanliness of lead clothes.

[Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of children with critical hand-foot-mouth disease treated with mechanical ventilation].

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of children with critical hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) who were treated with mechanical ventilation and to explore the risk factors for poor prognosis.

Methods: The clinical data of 63 children with critical HFMD who were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit between April 2012 and September 2013 and needed mechanical ventilation were retrospectively analyzed.

Results: Among the 63 children, 43 were boys and 20 were girls, and their mean age was 25 ± 18 months, with 81% under 3 years old.

[Autophagy in lung tissue of rats exposed to silica dust].

Objective: To investigate the autophagy of effector cells in lung tissue at different time points when rats were exposed to free SiO2 dust.

Methods: Sixty Wistar rats (220∼230 g) were selected and allocated to experimental group (n = 30) and control group (n = 30). In the experimental group, a rat silicosis model was established by infusing SiO2 suspension into the trachea of rats.

[Evaluation of remote sensing extraction methods for vegetation phenology based on flux tower net ecosystem carbon exchange data].

Taking the vegetation phenological metrics derived from the net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) data of 72 flux towers in North America as the references, a comprehensive evaluation was conducted on the three typical classes of remote sensing extraction methods (threshold method, moving average method, and function fitting method) for vegetation phenology from the aspects of feasibility and accuracy. The results showed that the local midpoint threshold method had the highest feasibility and accuracy for extracting vegetation phenology, followed by the first derivative method based on fitted Logistic function. The feasibility and accuracy of moving average method were determined by the moving window size.

[Macrophage apoptosis and the levels of interleukin-1 and interleukin-8 in the rats exposed to silica].

Objective: To study the roles of macrophage apoptosis, IL-1, and IL-8 in the pathogenesis of rat pulmonary fibrosis induced by silica.

Methods: Forty eight male Wistar rats were divided into the 4 control groups (24 rats) and 4 experimental groups (24 rats). Rats in the control groups were treated with 1 ml normal saline by trachea instillation, whereas the rats in experimental groups were exposed 1 ml silica suspension (100 mg/ml) by trachea instillation for 1, 7, 14 and 28 days, respectively.

Fas/FasL pathway-mediated alveolar macrophage apoptosis involved in human silicosis.

In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that lung cell apoptosis is associated with lung fibrosis; however the relationship between apoptosis of alveolar macrophages (AMs) and human silicosis has not been addressed. In the present study, AM apoptosis was determined in whole-lung lavage fluid from 48 male silicosis patients, 13 male observers, and 13 male healthy volunteers. The relationships between apoptosis index (AI) and silica exposure history, soluble Fas (sFas)/membrane-bound Fas (mFas), and caspase-3/caspase-8 were analyzed.

[Effect of occupational stress on menses and sex hormones of female knitting workers].

Objective: To investigate the effect of occupational stress on menses and sex hormones.

Methods: 415 female knitting workers were investigated using the generic job stress questionnaire. Their venous blood were collected and the six sex hormones were detected by using radio-immune method.

[Levels of serum brain natriuretic peptide and the correlation to heart function in children with Kawasaki disease].

Objective: To study serum levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) and the correlation between BNP levels and the heart function.

Methods: Forty-three children with KD and thirty healthy children were enrolled. Serum levels of BNP were measured using ELISA.

Serum brain natriuretic peptide in children with Kawasaki disease.

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a common cause of acquired heart disease in children. Recent studies have focused on the biochemical markers of the myocardium, their high sensitivity and specificity and significance in the diagnosis of KD. This study aimed to determine the serum level of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its relation with the heart function of children with KD and to explore its clinical value in diagnosis of KD.

[Ecological distribution and antimicrobial effects of soil actinomycetes in artificial vegetation systems in Shazhuyu of Qinghai, China].

In order to probe into the effects of artificial vegetation rehabilitation on soil actinomycetes, dilution plate and agar block methods were used to investigate the ecological distribution and antimicrobial effects of actinomycetes in sandy soil in Shazhuyu area of Qinghai after artificial vegetation restoration. The results showed that with the vegetation rehabilitation and the improvement of vegetation coverage on alpine sandy dry land, the quantity of soil actinomycetes increased significantly, being 145.4% higher in the grassland transferred from farmland than in sandy land.

[Effects of microwave irradiation on isolation of soil actinomycetes].

Dilution plate- and agar block methods were employed to study the effects of microwave irradiation on the isolation of soil actinomycetes. The results showed that: 1) Microwave irradiation could significantly increase the total quantity of isolated actinomycetes. With the increasing duration of microwave irradiation, the total quantity of actinomycetes in soils with high organic matter content tended to increase first and decrease then.

[Molecular cloning and expression analysis of a SUPERMAN-like zinc finger protein gene in upland cotton].

The zinc finger proteins belong to the largest family of regulatory transcription factors, which play an important role in growth and development in animal and plant systems. SUPERMAN-like zinc finger protein gene has only one "finger like" motif. A pair of degenerate primers was designed according to the conserved regions, and 3 kinds of EST of this family were isolated from cotton through RT-PCR.

[Study of mechanism on immune response in goats by different immunization with Helicobacter pylori and analyse of its prospects for using].

Objectives: To observe the effect of three different routes on the induction of immunogenicity to whole bacterial antigen of Vac A+ Helicobacter pylori strain (NCTC11637) and explore its mechanism.

Methods: Two milk goats and one pregnant goat were immunized by different routes respectively with whole bacterial of H. pylori (6 x 10(9) cfu/ml) cultivated by solid culture medium.

[Study on the determinants of Helicobacter pylori infection among coal miners].

Objective: To study the prevalence and determinants of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection among coal miners and to seek for competent preventive measures.

Methods: 425 coal miners from three coal mines, Tangshan, Daxing, and baodian were chosen under stratified random cluster sampling.