The effects of low-frequency and high-intensity ultrasonic treatments and curdlan gels on the thermal gelling and structural properties of soy protein isolate (SPI) were investigated. Low-frequency ...(20 kHz), high-intensity ultrasonic treatment improved the solubility and rheological properties of the SPI and promoted gelling, especially with 400 W treatment for 10 min. The addition of thermo-reversible curdlan gel (TRC) or thermo-irreversible curdlan gel (TIRC) further improved gel strength and reduced cooking loss from SPI gels pretreated with ultrasound. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of the SPI composite gel showed that the peak at 3268 cm−1 for the O–H vibration exhibited a blue shift compared to the control SPI and a red shift compared to pure TRC or TIRC, which indicated formation of hydrogen bonding interactions between SPI and TRC or TIRC. Circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD) showed that the addition of TRC or TIRC significantly decreased the α-helix content but increased the β-sheet contents of SPI gels due to denaturation and unfolding of SPI. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the addition of TRC or TIRC led SPI gel to form a more regular and homogeneous network. These results revealed that the ultrasonic treatment and curdlan gels had obvious synergistic effects that improved the quality of SPI gels. Moreover, compared with TIRC, TRC addition promoted expansion and interactions of SPI molecules and formed a more stable network. Therefore, ultrasonic treatment combined with curdlan addition significantly improved the thermal gelation and structural properties of SPI.
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•Ultrasound with 400 W for 10 min significantly improved the solubility of SPI.•The addition of curdlan gel improved the gel properties of SPI composite gel.•Ultrasound and curdlan gels had obvious synergistic effects.•SPI-TRC gel had a more stable and ordered three-dimensional network.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The intrinsic or acquired drug resistance is the main challenge for cancer chemotherapy today. So far, many nanosized drug delivery systems (NDDS) have been exploited to combat cancer drug ...resistance. However, the therapy efficacy of current NDDS is severely impaired by the limited tumor penetration of the nanoparticles due to the existence of physiological and pathological barriers in the solid tumor. In this study, we report on the design and fabrication of intracellularly acid-switchable multifunctional micelles for combinational photo- and chemotherapy of the drug-resistant tumor. The micelles were composed of a pH-responsive diblock copolymer, a photosensitizer, and a polymeric prodrug of doxorubicin. The micelle displayed silenced fluorescence and photoactivity during the blood circulation and switched to an active state in weakly acid conditions (i.e., pH ≤ 6.2) in the endocytic vesicles to dramatically induce a 7.5-fold increase of the fluorescence signal for fluorescence imaging. Upon near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, the micelle induced notable reactive oxygen species generation to trigger cytosol release of the chemotherapeutics and perform photodynamic therapy (PDT). Moreover, the micelle efficiently converted the NIR light to local heat for enhancing tumor penetration of the anticancer drug, tumor specific photothermal therapy, and photoacoustic (PA) imaging. Furthermore, the micelles could generate amplified magnetic resonance (MR) signal in an acidic microenvironment to perform MR imaging. Collectively, this study presents a robust nanoplatform for multimodal imaging and combinational therapy of the drug-resistant tumor, which might provide an insight for developing polymer-based NDDS for cancer therapy.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The ubiquitous presence of natural organic matter (NOM) in the aquatic and soil environment significantly affects the transport, fate and bioavailability of Al and Fe elements, NOM itself and other ...trace metals. In this study, the binding of Al(III) and Fe(III) and their competition for binding onto NOM at varying pH values were monitored in situ via UV–Vis absorbance spectroscopy. It demonstrated that the spectral parameter, e.g., the differential log-transformed absorbance at 400 nm (ΔLnA400), can quantify the amount of Al(III) and/or Fe(III) bound onto NOM in all examined cases and will show similar molar extinction coefficients that correspond to the amount of bound Al(III) and Fe(III). Therefore, this approach can not only demonstrate visibly the competition between Al(III) and Fe(III) based on their metal-specific features by evaluating differential absorbance spectra produced by metal binding but can also monitor the reaction kinetics of Al(III) and Fe(III) and their competition for binding onto NOM. To our knowledge, this study is the first to in situ monitor the competition between Al(III) and Fe(III) for binding with NOM quantitatively and at realistic environmental concentrations of both metal ions and NOM.
•Al(III) and Fe(III) bound onto NOM were monitored in-situ by UV–Vis spectroscopy.•Spectral index ΔLnA400 can quantify the amount of Al(III) and/or Fe(III) bound onto NOM.•ΔLnA400 show similar molar extinction coefficients for Al(III) and Fe(III) binding.•Metal-specific spectral features could illustrate the Al(III) and Fe(III) competition.•Reaction kinetic of Al(III) and Fe(III) competition is visible through UV–Vis spectra.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (nAbs) to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) represent promising candidates for clinical intervention against coronavirus disease 2019 ...(COVID-19). We isolated a large number of nAbs from SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals capable of disrupting proper interaction between the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the viral spike (S) protein and the receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). However, the structural basis for their potent neutralizing activity remains unclear. Here, we report cryo-EM structures of the ten most potent nAbs in their native full-length IgG-form or in both IgG-form and Fab-form bound to the trimeric S protein of SARS-CoV-2. The bivalent binding of the full-length IgG is found to associate with more RBDs in the "up" conformation than the monovalent binding of Fab, perhaps contributing to the enhanced neutralizing activity of IgG and triggering more shedding of the S1 subunit from the S protein. Comparison of a large number of nAbs identified common and unique structural features associated with their potent neutralizing activities. This work provides a structural basis for further understanding the mechanism of nAbs, especially through revealing the bivalent binding and its correlation with more potent neutralization and the shedding of S1 subunit.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Expression and activity of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21 hormone-like protein are associated with development of several metabolic disorders. This study was designed to investigate whether ...serum FGF21 level was also associated with the metabolic syndrome-related cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, and its clinical features in a Chinese cohort.
Two-hundred-and-fifty-three subjects visiting the Cardiology Department (Sixth People's Hospital affiliated to Shanghai JiaoTong University) were examined by coronary arteriography (to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD)) and hepatic ultrasonography (to diagnose non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)). Serum FGF21 level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and analyzed for correlation to subject and clinical characteristics. The independent factors of CAD were determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis.
Subjects with NAFLD showed significantly higher serum FGF21 than those without NAFLD (388.0 pg/mL (253.0-655.4) vs. 273.3 pg/mL (164.9-383.7), P < 0.01). Subjects with CAD showed significantly higher serum FGF21, regardless of NAFLD diagnosis (P < 0.05). Serum FGF21 level significantly elevated with the increasing number of metabolic disorders (P for trend < 0.01). After adjustment of age, sex, and BMI, FGF21 was positively correlated with total cholesterol (P < 0.05) and triglyceride (P < 0.01). FGF21 was identified as an independent factor of CAD (odds ratio = 2.984, 95% confidence interval: 1.014-8.786, P < 0.05).
Increased level of serum FGF21 is associated with NAFLD, metabolic disorders and CAD.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Although organic light‐emitting molecules have received a growing attention and applicability in modern bioimaging science, the design and control of complex photoluminescent properties in ...unimolecularly selective imaging remains a challenging topic. Considering that tunable multipathway imaging can be advantagedly connected with treatment processes in therapy, the integration of an azulene and a cyanostyryl moiety into one skeleton is carried out for the generation of in situ stimuli‐responsive luminescent materials, with the aim to achieve tunable and effective emissions in distinct channels through smart molecular design on a single‐molecular platform. This strategy takes advantage of 1) the Z/E isomerization of the cyanostyryl unit that can vary the push–pull effect of the substitution on azulene, accompanied by altering absorption and emission of individual excited states, and 2) an optimized excited‐state regulation for opening a near infrared emissive channel and making up for a controllable dual‐pathway luminescent system together with the utilization of visible emission. As exemplified by a demonstration of manipulating the luminescence at the cell level, the materials exhibit a superior application potential for unimolecularly selective imaging, labeling and probing events.
By integrating an azulene and a cyanostyryl moiety into one skeleton, we employed the excited‐state regulation and conformational control via stimuli‐ responsive push‐pull effect to enable the generation of near infrared (NIR) emissive channel of the azulene system, so as to address the dual‐pathway (Vis and NIR) emission on unimolecular scaffold and a well application in selective dual‐channel cell imaging.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Disassembly is an essential step in a remanufacturing process via which valuable parts and material of end-of-life (EOL) products can be well reused and resource waste is reduced. Disassembly ...sequence planning focuses on finding the best disassembly sequence for a given EOL product by considering economic and environmental performance. In a practical disassembly process, one may face a disassembly operation failure risk due to the difficulty of knowing EOL products' exact information in advance. Despite its importance in impacting disassembly outcomes, the existing work fails to consider it comprehensively. This work proposes a stochastic biobjective DSP problem with the objectives of maximizing disassembly profit and minimizing energy consumption by doing so. A chance-constrained programming model is established, where a chance constraint ensures a fixed confidence level of disassembly failure. To solve it efficiently, a multiobjective multiverse optimization algorithm with stochastic simulation is proposed. Experiments are carried out on four products. Results demonstrate that it outperforms some state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of solution performance.
The development of new electrocatalysts with high activity and durability for alcohol oxidation is an emerging need of direct alcohol fuel cells. However, the commonly used Pt‐based catalysts still ...exhibit drawbacks including limited catalytic activity, high overpotential, and severe CO poisoning. Here a general approach is reported for preparing ultrathin PtNiM (M = Rh, Os, and Ir) nanowires (NWs) with excellent anti‐CO‐poisoning ability and high activity. Owing to their superior nanostructure and optimal electronic interaction, the ultrathin PtNiM NWs show enhanced electrocatalytic performance for both methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). The optimal PtNiRh NWs show mass activity of 1.72 A mg−1 and specific activity of 2.49 mA cm−2 for MOR, which are 3.17 and 2.79 times higher than those of Pt/C. In particular, the onset potentials of PtNiRh NWs for MOR and EOR shift down by about 65 and 85 mV compared with those of Pt/C. Density functional theory calculations further verify their high antipoison properties for MOR and EOR from both an electronic and energetic perspective. Facilitated by the introduction of Rh and Ni, the stable pinning of the Pt 5d band associated with electron‐rich and depletion centers solves the dilemma between reactivity and anti‐CO poisoning.
A general method for preparing ternary ultrathin PtNiM (M = Rh, Os, and Ir) nanowires is developed to boost the electrocatalysis of the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). High antipoisoning in these processes is shown by density functional theory calculations and CO stripping experiments.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Luminescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) synthesized using non-thiolate DNA ligands were reported to show both optical and structure responses toward diethyposphorthioate (DEP) derived from the ...hydrolysis of chlorpyrifos (CP). After incubation of AuNCs with DEP, the non-thiolate DNA ligands were immediately replaced and the tiny AuNCs with ultrasmall size transformed gradually to plasmonic nanoparticles, which resulted in significant luminescence quenching of the AuNCs, offering a new possibility to selectively detect organophosphorothioate pesticides that could be easily hydrolyzed to form the special structures such as DEP containing two binding sites (e.g. S and O atoms). Therefore, selecting CP as a model analyte, we here developed a general strategy for the construction of a novel chemosensor for the determination of CP using the non-thiolate DNA coated AuNCs as an optical probe. Based on aggregation-induced luminescence quenching, this strategy exhibited highly sensitive and selective responses towards CP with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.50μM, and was applied successfully to the analysis of CP in real sample. More interestingly, this facile strategy could easily distinguish CP from other thiol reagents through solution color change in spite of the existence of the coordination between Au and S atom for both of them, and the response mechanisms for them were studied in detail. In additional, it could be extended to detect the other organophosphorothioate pesticides with the similar structure as CP, which exploits a new platform for the construction of chemosensor and application.
•Selective detection of chlorpyrifos (CP) was achieved by the transformation from AuNCs to AuNPs.•The proposed strategy could easily distinguish CP pesticides from other thiolate reagents.•It could be a general strategy for selective detection of organophosphorothioate pesticides.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
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