Study on the Bending and Shear Behavior of a New Type of Wet Joint in Precast Concrete Deck for Composite Bridges.

According to the mechanical characteristics of joints in steel-concrete composite bridge decks under the combined bending and shear, improved joint details with simple structure and convenient construction were studied, including lapped U-bars, lapped headed bars, and lapped hook bars. In order to test the mechanical properties of the three joint details and compare them with the existing lapped/welded linear bars, the tests of five specimens were carried out. The cracking load, ultimate load, failure mode, crack pattern, and reinforcement strain were analyzed.

Distribution of habitat suitability for Suaeda salsa in the Liaohe River Estuary and its relationship with carbon storage.

Suaeda salsa acts as a natural barrier between land and sea in estuarine wetlands while also serving as a significant source of carbon storage. Understanding the synergistic relationship between the spatial distribution of Suaeda salsa habitat suitability and its carbon storage capabilities is essential for guiding ecological restoration and bolstering the carbon sequestration potential of wetlands. Drawing on field survey data from the Liaohe River Estuary wetlands collected in 2021 and 2022, we applied the Maxent model to delineate the spatial distribution of Suaeda salsa habitat suitability.

PROTAC technology: From drug development to probe technology for target deconvolution.

Drug development remains a critical focus within the global pharmaceutical industry. To date, more than 80 % of disease targets are considered difficult to target. The emergence of PROTAC technology has, to some extent, alleviated this challenge.

Artificial mucus layer formed in response to ROS for the oral treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

The artificial mucus layer, such as hydrogels, used to repair the damaged intestinal barrier, is a promising treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the currently reported hydrogel-based artificial barriers are administered via rectal injection, causing unnecessary discomfort to patients. Herein, we report an oral hydrogel precursor solution based on thiol-modified hyaluronic acid (HASH).

Self-crosslinking hyaluronic acid hydrogel as an enteroprotective agent for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

The pathological changes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) include the disruption of intestinal barrier function and the infiltration of pathogenic microbes. The application of an artificial protective barrier at the site of inflammation can prevent bacterial infiltration, promote epithelial cell migration, and accelerate wound healing. In this study, dopamine-modified hyaluronic acid (HA-DA) was developed as a bioadhesive self-cross-linkable hydrogel, which acted as an enteroprotective agent to promote the healing of inflamed intestinal tissue.

Cedrol-loaded dissolvable microneedles based on flexible backing for promoting hair growth.

Objectives: The dissolvable microneedles loaded with cedrol based on flexible backing were developed to deliver cedrol directly and continuously to the dermis, where the drug concentration in the hair follicle can be increased locally.

Methods: The tip-layer matrix solution was prepared by mixing cedrol and polyvinylpyrrolidone K25 (PVP K25), and the pedestal matrix solution was prepared with aqueous hyaluronic acid. The cedrol-loaded dissolvable microneedles (cedrol-DMNs) were prepared under vacuum conditions.

Thiol-modified hyaluronic acid improves the physical stability of curcumin-zein nanoparticles by forming disulfide bonds with zein.

Zein-based nanoparticles have been developed in the food industry. However, their poor pH stability and unfavorable ionic strength stability remain a challenge even with the use of polysaccharides (such as hyaluronic acid) as stabilizers. To address this shortcoming, an improved strategy based on the disulfide bonds between thiol-modified hyaluronic acid (HASH) and zein was proposed.

Recrystallization Mediates the Gelation of Amorphous Drugs: The Case of Acemetacin.

Amorphization is widely used as an effective method of increasing the solubility of insoluble drugs. However, some amorphous drugs exhibit a much lower dissolution rate than their corresponding crystalline form due to their gelation. In this study, we reported the gels formed from amorphous acemetacin (ACM) for the first time.

Programmed pH-responsive core-shell nanoparticles for precisely targeted therapy of ulcerative colitis.

pH-Responsive nanotherapeutics were recently developed for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). However, they target the entire colon rather than the UC site, which leads to insufficient accumulation in inflamed colon lesions and causes side effects. Core-shell nanoparticles exhibit unique advantages in improving the precision of targeted delivery.

Roles of effective stabilizers in improving oral bioavailability of naringenin nanocrystals: Maintenance of supersaturation generated upon dissolution by inhibition of drug dimerization.

Nanocrystals (NCs), a colloidal dispersion system formulated with stabilizers, have attracted widespread interest due to their ability to effectively improve the oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. The stabilizer plays a key role because it can affect the physical stability and even the oral bioavailability of NCs. However, how stabilizers affect the bioavailability of NCs remains unknown.

A unique two-phase heterostructure with cubic NiSe and orthorhombic NiSe for enhanced lithium ion storage and electrocatalysis.

Two-phase heterostructures have received tremendous attention in energy-related fields as high-performance electrode materials. However, heterogeneous interfaces are usually constructed by introducing foreign elements, which disturbs the investigation of the intrinsic effect of the two-phase heterostructure. Herein, unique heterostructures constructed with orthorhombic NiSe and cubic NiSe phases are developed, which are embedded in formed porous carbon from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) (O/C-NiSe@C).

An evaluating system for wetland ecological risk: Case study in coastal mainland China.

Coastal wetland degradation and fragmentation contribute to habitat and biodiversity loss. We construct wetland ecological risk assessment framework to evaluate the risk posed to 35 coastal wetland national nature reserves (NNRs) in China for the years 2000 and 2020. Our wetland ecological risk index (WRI) is based on an external hazard sub-index (EHI) and an internal vulnerability sub-index.

Naringenin nanocrystals for improving anti-rheumatoid arthritis activity.

Naringenin (NAR) is recognized for its anti-inflammatory activity. However, the clinical application of NAR is limited by low bioavailability, which is attributed to its poor aqueous solubility. In this study, we aimed to improve the therapeutic efficacy of NAR by formulating it into nanocrystals (NCs) via wet milling.

Inflammatory microenvironment-targeted nanotherapies.

Inflammatory microenvironments (IMEs) are common pathological characteristics and drive the development of multiple chronic diseases. Thus, IME-targeted therapies exhibit potential for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Nanoplatforms have significant advantages in improving the efficiency of anti-inflammatory treatments.

FRET imaging revealed that nanocrystals enhanced drug oral absorption by dissolution rather than endocytosis: A case study of coumarin 6.

Nanocrystals (NCs) exhibit potential in improving oral bioavailability for poorly water-soluble drugs. However, whether NCs improve oral absorption by quick dissolution or by endocytosis remains inconclusive because tracking of dissolved drugs and NCs particles cannot occur simultaneously. In this study, we aim to elucidate how NCs improve oral absorption by using coumarin 6 (C6), an aggregation-caused quenching fluorophore, and 2-((5-(4-(dip-tolylamino)phenyl)thiophen-2-yl)methylene)malononitrile (MeTTMN), an aggregation-induced emission fluorophore.

A carbohydrate polymer is a critical variable in the formulation of drug nanocrystals: a case study of idebenone.

: Stabilizers, especially carbohydrate polymers, have been shown to be necessary for the stabilization of drug nanocrystals. However, the impacts of select stabilizers on the and efficacy of therapeutics have rarely been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the importance of stabilizers in the formulation of drug nanocrystals.

Effects of environmental variation on stable isotope abundances during typical seasonal floodplain dry season litter decomposition.

Unique hydrological characteristics and complex topography can create wide-ranging dry season environmental heterogeneity in response to groundwater level across China's Jiangxi Province Poyang Lake wetland. Soil traits are one of several fluctuating environmental variables. To determine the effects of soil variables on stable isotope (δC and δN) abundances during decomposition, we performed a field experiment using Carex cinerascens along a groundwater level gradient (GT-L: -25 to -50cm, GT-LM: -15 to -25cm, GT-MH: -5 to -15cm, GT-H: 5 to -5cm) in a shallow lake.

Combined effects of climate, restoration measures and slope position in change in soil chemical properties and nutrient loss across lands affected by the Wenchuan Earthquake in China.

The MS 8.0Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008 caused huge damage to land cover in the northwest of China's Sichuan province. In order to determine the nutrient loss and short term characteristics of change in soil chemical properties, we established an experiment with three treatments ('undestroyed', 'destroyed and treated', and 'destroyed and untreated'), two climate types (semi-arid hot climate and subtropical monsoon climate), and three slope positions (upslope, mid-slope, and bottom-slope) in 2011.

[Carbon source metabolic diversity of soil microbial community under different climate types in the area affected by Wenchuan earthquake].

The MS8.0 Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 led to huge damage to land covers in northwest Sichuan, one of the critical fragile eco-regions in China which can be divided into Semi-arid dry hot climate zone (SDHC) and Subtropical humid monsoon climate zone (SHMC). Using the method of Bilog-ECO-microplate technique, this paper aimed to determine the functional diversity of soil microbial community in the earthquake-affected areas which can be divided into undamaged area (U), recover area (R) and damaged area without recovery (D) under different climate types, in order to provide scientific basis for ecological recovery.