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•Recent discoveries in solvent liquefaction of lignocellulose are introduced.•Biofuels, antioxidant, bio-polyols, and chemicals were produced from lignocellulose.•A plausible ...degradation pathway of each biomass component is suggested.•The challenges and future perspective of solvent liquefaction process is discussed.
The concerns over the increasing energy demand and cost as well as environmental problems derived from fossil fuel use are the main driving forces of research into renewable energy. Lignocellulosic biomass comprised of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin is an abundant, carbon neutral, and alternative resource for replacing fossil fuels in the future. Solvent liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass is a promising route to obtain biofuels, bio-based materials, and chemicals using a range of solvents as reaction media under moderate reaction conditions. Recently, several researchers have considered novel approaches for enhancing the process efficiency and economics.
This review article reports the state-of-the-art knowledge of lignocellulose liquefaction in the recent three years with the main focus on the feedstock, liquefaction technology, target products, and degradation mechanism of each biomass component. This review is expected to provide an important reference for research into the solvent liquefaction of lignocellulose in the near future.
Conventional electronic (e‐) skins are a class of thin‐film electronics mainly fabricated in laboratories or factories, which is incapable of rapid and simple customization for personalized ...healthcare. Here a new class of e‐tattoos is introduced that can be directly implemented on the skin by facile one‐step coating with various designs at multi‐scale depending on the purpose of the user without a substrate. An e‐tattoo is realized by attaching Pt‐decorated carbon nanotubes on gallium‐based liquid‐metal particles (CMP) to impose intrinsic electrical conductivity and mechanical durability. Tuning the CMP suspension to have low‐zeta potential, excellent wettability, and high‐vapor pressure enables conformal and intimate assembly of particles directly on the skin in 10 s. Low‐cost, ease of preparation, on‐skin compatibility, and multifunctionality of CMP make it highly suitable for e‐tattoos. Demonstrations of electrical muscle stimulators, photothermal patches, motion artifact‐free electrophysiological sensors, and electrochemical biosensors validate the simplicity, versatility, and reliability of the e‐tattoo‐based approach in biomedical engineering.
A new class of e‐tattoo that can be directly implemented on the skin by rapid one‐step coating with various designs at a multi‐scale for personalized healthcare is introduced. The e‐tattoo is realized by tuning the electrically conductive and mechanically durable liquid metal composite based suspension to have low repulsion between particles, excellent wettability, and high vapor pressure.
Direct chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of single‐layer graphene on CVD‐grown hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) film can suggest a large‐scale and high‐quality graphene/h‐BN film hybrid structure ...with a defect‐free interface. This sequentially grown graphene/h‐BN film shows better electronic properties than that of graphene/SiO2 or graphene transferred on h‐BN film, and suggests a new promising template for graphene device fabrication.
Gastric cancer is a heterogeneous cancer, making treatment responses difficult to predict. Here we show that we identify two distinct molecular subtypes, mesenchymal phenotype (MP) and epithelial ...phenotype (EP), by analyzing genomic and proteomic data. Molecularly, MP subtype tumors show high genomic integrity characterized by low mutation rates and microsatellite stability, whereas EP subtype tumors show low genomic integrity. Clinically, the MP subtype is associated with markedly poor survival and resistance to standard chemotherapy, whereas the EP subtype is associated with better survival rates and sensitivity to chemotherapy. Integrative analysis shows that signaling pathways driving epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1)/IGF1 receptor (IGF1R) pathway are highly activated in MP subtype tumors. Importantly, MP subtype cancer cells are more sensitive to inhibition of IGF1/IGF1R pathway than EP subtype. Detailed characterization of these two subtypes could identify novel therapeutic targets and useful biomarkers for prognosis and therapy response.
Magnetic skyrmions are swirling magnetic textures with novel characteristics suitable for future spintronic and topological applications. Recent studies confirmed the room-temperature stabilization ...of skyrmions in ultrathin ferromagnets. However, such ferromagnetic skyrmions show an undesirable topological effect, the skyrmion Hall effect, which leads to their current-driven motion towards device edges, where skyrmions could easily be annihilated by topographic defects. Recent theoretical studies have predicted enhanced current-driven behavior for antiferromagnetically exchange-coupled skyrmions. Here we present the stabilization of these skyrmions and their current-driven dynamics in ferrimagnetic GdFeCo films. By utilizing element-specific X-ray imaging, we find that the skyrmions in the Gd and FeCo sublayers are antiferromagnetically exchange-coupled. We further confirm that ferrimagnetic skyrmions can move at a velocity of ~50 m s
with reduced skyrmion Hall angle, |θ
| ~ 20°. Our findings open the door to ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic skyrmionics while providing key experimental evidences of recent theoretical studies.
The importance of probiotics in swine production is widely acknowledged as crucial. However, gaps still remain in the exact roles played by probiotics in modulation of gut microbiota and immune ...response. This study determined the roles of probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum strain JDFM LP11in gut microbiota modulation and immune response in weaned piglets. L. plantarum JDFM LP11 increased the population of lactic acid bacteria in feces and enhanced the development of villi in the small intestine. Metagenome analysis showed that microbial diversity and richness (Simpson, Shannon, ACE, Chao1) and the relative abundance of the Firmicutes were higher in weaned piglets fed probiotics. Five bacterial families were different in the relative abundance, especially; Prevotellaceae occupied the largest part of microbial community showed the most difference between two groups. Transcriptome analysis identified 25 differentially expressed genes using RNA-sequencing data of the ileum. Further gene ontology and immune DB analysis determined 8 genes associated with innate defense response and cytokine production. BPI, RSAD2, SLPI, LUM, OLFM4, DMBT1 and C6 genes were down-regulated by probiotic supplementation except PLA2G2A. PICRUSt analysis predicting functional profiling of microbial communities indicated branched amino acid biosynthesis and butyrate metabolism promoting gut development and health were increased by probiotics. Altogether, our data suggest that L. plantarum JDFM LP11 increases the diversity and richness in the microbial community, and attenuates the ileal immune gene expression towards gut inflammation, promoting intestinal development in weaned piglets.
The issues over increases in energy demand and environmental pollution attributed to excessive use of fossil fuel have been the driving forces of the exploration for eco-friendly resource. ...Lignocellulosic biomass consisting of carbohydrates and lignin can be a renewable feedstock for replacing fossil fuels in the future because it is a plentiful and carbon neutral material. Especially, lignin, cross-linked phenolic polymers, is a topic of interest owing to its abundant production from pulp/paper industries as well as lignocellulose based biorefinery. The large potential of platform chemicals and biofuels from lignin has opened up an extensive range of opportunities to develop thermal and catalytic conversion technology. Over a few decades, several lignin conversion processes including catalytic pyrolysis, catalytic depolymerization, and catalytic oxidation have been developed to improve target products yields and to suppress side reactions. More recently, lignin-first approaches which maintain carbohydrates intact by selective extraction of lignin as valuable phenolics from whole biomass has been suggested. This review introduces recent ten years progress on thermal and catalytic conversion technology in terms of process type, catalyst development, and target products. This review is expected to offer an influential information for future research into the thermal and catalytic conversion of lignin as well as lignocellulosic feedstock.
•Recent discoveries in thermal and catalytic lignin conversion are introduced.•A proper conversion process should be considered depending on the lignin type.•Catalyst plays a decisive role in product distribution and selectivity in process.•The challenges and future perspective of each process is discussed.
Graphene is a distinct two-dimensional material that offers a wide range of opportunities for membrane applications because of ultimate thinness, flexibility, chemical stability, and mechanical ...strength. We demonstrate that few- and several-layered graphene and graphene oxide (GO) sheets can be engineered to exhibit the desired gas separation characteristics. Selective gas diffusion can be achieved by controlling gas flow channels and pores via different stacking methods. For layered (3- to 10-nanometer) GO membranes, tunable gas transport behavior was strongly dependent on the degree of interlocking within the GO stacking structure. High carbon dioxide/nitrogen selectivity was achieved by well-interlocked GO membranes in high relative humidity, which is most suitable for postcombustion carbon dioxide capture processes, including a humidified feed stream.
Three-dimensional (3D) cell printing is a versatile technique enabling the creation of 3D constructs containing hydrogel and cells in the desired shape or pattern. Bioinks exhibiting appropriate ...mechanical properties and biological activities to support cell growth and/or differentiation toward a specific lineage play critical roles in 3D cell printing and tissue engineering applications. Herein, we explored alginate/graphene oxide (GO) composites as bioinks for their potential to improve printability, structural stability, and osteogenic activities for osteogenic tissue engineering applications. The addition of GO (0.05-1.0 mg mL
) to 3% alginate significantly enhanced the printing performances of the alginate bioink. In addition, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) printed with alginate/GO showed good proliferation and higher survival in an oxidative stress environment. The 3D scaffolds printed with MSCs and alginate/GO demonstrated significantly enhanced osteogenic differentiation compared with those printed with MSCs and alginate. Overall, a bioink of 3% alginate and 0.5 mg mL
GO showed the most balanced characteristics in terms of printability, structural stability, and osteogenic induction of the printed MSCs. Alginate/GO composite bioinks will be useful for bioprinting research for various tissue engineering applications.
Under endoplasmic reticulum (ER)‐stress conditions, the unfolded protein response (UPR) generates a defense mechanism in mammalian cells. The regulation of UPR signaling is important in oocyte ...maturation, embryo development, and female reproduction of pigs. Recent studies have shown that melatonin plays an important role as an antioxidant to improve pig oocyte maturation. However, there is no report on the role of melatonin in the regulation of UPR signaling and ER‐stress during in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidative effects of melatonin on porcine oocyte maturation through the regulation of ER‐stress and UPR signaling. We investigated the changes in the mRNA/protein expression levels of three UPR signal genes (Bip/Grp78, ATF4, P90/50ATF6, sXbp1, and CHOP) on oocytes, cumulus cells, and cumulus‐oocyte complexes (COCs) during IVM (metaphase I; 22 hours and metaphase II; 44 hours) by Western blot and reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction analysis. Treatment with the ER‐stress inducer, tunicamycin (Tm), significantly increased expression of UPR markers. Additionally, cumulus cell expansion and meiotic maturation of oocytes were reduced in COCs of Tm‐treated groups (1, 5, and 10 μg/mL). We confirmed the reducing effects of melatonin (0.1 μmol/L) on ER‐stress after pretreatment with Tm (5 μg/mL; 22 hours) in maturing COCs. Addition of melatonin (0.1 μmol/L) to Tm‐pretreated COCs recovered meiotic maturation rates and expression of most UPR markers. In conclusion, we confirmed a role for melatonin in the modulation of UPR signal pathways and reducing ER‐stress during IVM of porcine oocytes.
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