Electrospun porous nanofibers have large specific surface areas and abundant active centers, which can effectively improve the properties of nanofibers. In the field of photocatalysis, electrospun ...porous nanofibers can increase the contact area of loaded photocatalytic particles with light, shorten the electron transfer path, and improve photocatalytic activity. In this paper, the main pore−forming mechanisms of electrospun porous nanofiber are summarized as breath figures, phase separation (vapor−induced phase separation, non−solvent−induced phase separation, and thermally induced phase separation) and post−processing (selective removal). Then, the application of electrospun porous nanofiber loading photocatalytic particles in the degradation of pollutants (such as organic, inorganic, and bacteria) in water is introduced, and its future development prospected. Although porous structures are beneficial in improving the photocatalytic performance of nanofibers, they reduce their mechanical properties. Therefore, strategies for improving the mechanical properties of electrospun porous nanofibers are also briefly discussed.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a highly lethal pathological process that is characterized by inflammation, fibroblast accumulation, and excessive collagen deposition. Although AKT2-mediated ...signaling pathways modulate inflammatory responses, their role in IPF has not been defined. We report that AKT2 deficiency (
) protected against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis and inflammation. Adoptive transfer of wild-type macrophages or administration of IL-13 to
mice could restore pulmonary fibrosis. In response to IL-33 treatment,
macrophages displayed decreased production of IL-13 and TGF-β1 and attenuated phosphorylation of FoxO3a compared with
macrophages. Furthermore, the expression of IL-13 was increased by small interfering RNA knockdown of FoxO3a or in FoxO3a-deficient macrophages. By evaluating lung sections from pulmonary fibrosis patients, we found that the phosphorylation of AKT2 and FoxO3a was remarkably upregulated. Collectively, these results indicate that AKT2 modulates pulmonary fibrosis through inducing TGF-β1 and IL-13 production by macrophages, and inhibition of AKT2 may be a potential strategy for treating IPF.
Nanotechnology has been extensively explored for the potential applications in developing materials for sustained drug release. In this study, a modified coaxial electrospinning, characterized by a ...detachable concentric spinneret, was developed for the fabrication of a new kind of hybrid structural nanomaterials. The hybrid nanofibers consisted of a drug-free thin layer of glycerol monostearate as the shell and a drug-loaded nanocomposite containing berberine hydrochloride and ethylcellulose as the core, which were confirmed by scanning electron microscopic and transmission electron microscopic results. X-ray diffraction analyses suggested that the drug berberine hydrochloride was converted into an amorphous state with the carrier ethylcellulose in the core section. Fourier transform infrared spectra suggested that all the components were compatible. In vitro dissolution tests verified that the structural hybrids can provide an improved drug sustained-release profile than monolithic medicated nanocomposites in terms of initial burst release, sustained-release time and tailing-off time. The mechanism involving the influences of sheath layer on the drug release behaviour was suggested. The reported protocols pave a new way for fabricating lipid–polymer-based functional nanostructures with accurate structure–property–performance relationship and are useful for developing a series of new functional nanomaterials.
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•A structural fiber with drug-free lipid on the medicated nanocomposite was studied.•Unspinnable lipid solution was explored as the sheath working fluid.•The lipid-coated fibers could provide an improved drug sustained release profile.•Clear structure–property–performance relationship was disclosed.
Electrospinning, as a promising platform in multidisciplinary engineering over the past two decades, has overcome major challenges and has achieved remarkable breakthroughs in a wide variety of ...fields such as energy, environmental, and pharmaceutics. However, as a facile and cost-effective approach, its capability of creating nanofibers is still strongly limited by the numbers of treatable fluids. Most recently, more and more efforts have been spent on the treatments of liquids without electrospinnability using multifluid working processes. These unspinnable liquids, although have no electrospinnability themselves, can be converted into nanofibers when they are electrospun with an electrospinnable fluid. Among all sorts of multifluid electrospinning methods, coaxial electrospinning is the most fundamental one. In this review, the principle of modified coaxial electrospinning, in which unspinnable liquids are explored as the sheath working fluids, is introduced. Meanwhile, several typical examples are summarized, in which electrospun nanofibers aimed for the environment remediation were prepared using the modified coaxial electrospinning. Based on the exploration of unspinnable liquids, the present review opens a way for generating complex functional nanostructures from other kinds of multifluid electrospinning methods.
Knowledge on the quality of life (QOL) of civil servants is limited. Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate the QOL of civil servants, and examine whether occupational stress and job ...satisfaction mediated the association between neuroticism and QOL in civil servants from Shandong, China.
The cross-sectional study included 559 civil servants aged 27 to 60 years from Shandong province in China. Participants completed questionnaires assessing neuroticism, occupational stress, job satisfaction, and QOL. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to examine the hypothetical model.
Among the civil servants, the average score for QOL was 75.49 ± 14.73. The SEM analysis showed a good fit of the data to the hypothesized model. Neuroticism, occupational stress, and job satisfaction explained 38% of the variance of QOL. Neuroticism was positively correlated with occupational stress and negatively correlated with job satisfaction and QOL. A strong direct effect (- 0.386, P < 0.01) and moderate indirect effect (- 0.133, P < 0.01) of neuroticism on QOL mediated by occupational stress and job satisfaction were observed. In addition, a direct effect (- 0.197, P < 0.01) and an indirect effect (- 0.044, P < 0.01) of occupational stress on QOL mediated by job satisfaction were also observed.
Occupational stress and job satisfaction partly mediated the relationship between neuroticism and QOL among Chinese civil servants. Thus, selecting individuals with a low level of neuroticism as civil servants, reducing occupational stress, and increasing job satisfaction may be important measures to improve their QOL.
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•There is a concrete relationship between the Taylor core’s height (H) and the nanofibers’ diameter (D) from a tri-axial electrospinning.•A quadratic equation of ...D = 2.5641 − 2.0475H + 0.5417H2 (R = 0.9980) is disclosed.•A method for adjusting the tri-axial electrospinning.
In multifluid electrospinning, the prediction of nanofiber’s diameter through experimental parameters is very difficult. However, there is always only one Taylor cone regardless of the simultaneous treated fluid number. Thus, the present article discloses the size relationships between the Taylor core’s height (H, cm) and the solid nanofibers’ diameter (D, µm) created using a tri-axial electrospinning with a regressed quadratic equation of D = 2.5641–2.0475H + 0.5417H2 (R = 0.9980). The protocols reported here pave a new way for manipulating the multifluid electrospinning to create high quality nanofibers.
Neurogenesis in the adult brain comprises the entire set of events of neuronal development. It begins with the division of precursor cells to form a mature, integrated, and functioning neuronal ...network. Adult neurogenesis is believed to play an important role in animals’ cognitive abilities, including learning and memory. In the present study, significant neuronal differentiation-promoting activity of 80% (v/v) ethanol extract of P. cocos (EEPC) was found in Neuro-2a cells and mouse cortical neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs). Subsequently, a total of 97 compounds in EEPC were identified by UHPLC-Q-Exactive-MS/MS. Among them, four major compounds—Adenosine; Choline; Ethyl palmitoleate; and L-(-)-arabinitol—were further studied for their neuronal differentiation-promoting activity. Of which, choline has the most significant neuronal differentiation-promoting activity, indicating that choline, as the main bioactive compound in P. cocos, may have a positive effect on learning and memory functions. Compared with similar research literature, this is the first time that the neuronal differentiation-promoting effects of P. cocos extract have been studied.
In the 21st century, chemotherapy stands as a primary treatment method for prevalent diseases, yet drug resistance remains a pressing challenge. Utilizing electrospinning to support chemotherapy ...drugs offers sustained and controlled release methods in contrast to oral and implantable drug delivery modes, which enable localized treatment of distinct tumor types. Moreover, the core-sheath structure in electrospinning bears advantages in dual-drug loading: the core and sheath layers can carry different drugs, facilitating collaborative treatment to counter chemotherapy drug resistance. This approach minimizes patient discomfort associated with multiple-drug administration. Electrospun fibers not only transport drugs but can also integrate metal particles and targeted compounds, enabling combinations of chemotherapy with magnetic and heat therapies for comprehensive cancer treatment. This review delves into electrospinning preparation techniques and drug delivery methods tailored to various cancers, foreseeing their promising roles in cancer treatment.
The accurate prediction and manipulation of nanoscale product sizes is a major challenge in material processing. In this investigation, two process characteristics were explored during the modified ...coaxial electrospinning of zein, with the aim of understanding how this impacts the products formed. The characteristics studied were the spreading angle at the unstable region (
) and the length of the straight fluid jet (
). An electrospinnable zein core solution was prepared and processed with a sheath comprising ethanolic solutions of LiCl. The width of the zein nanoribbons formed (
) was found to be more closely correlated with the spreading angle and straight fluid jet length than with the experimental parameters (the electrolyte concentrations and conductivity of the shell fluids). Linear equations
= 546.44
- 666.04 and
= 2255.3
- 22.7 could be developed with correlation coefficients of
= 0.9845 and
= 0.9924, respectively. These highly linear relationships reveal that the process characteristics can be very useful tools for both predicting the quality of the electrospun products, and manipulating their sizes for functional applications. This arises because any changes in the experimental parameters would have an influence on both the process characteristics and the solid products' properties.
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of low-energy red light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs). ...PDLSCs were derived from human periodontal ligament tissues of premolars and were irradiated with 0 (control group), 1, 3, or 5 J/cm
2
red LED in osteogenic induction medium. Cell proliferation was analyzed using the 3-4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Osteogenic differentiation activity was evaluated by monitoring alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, alizarin red staining, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results. Osteoblast-associated proteins (Runx2, OCN, OPN, and BSP) were detected using western blotting. The results of the MTT assay indicated that PDLSCs in the irradiation groups exhibited a higher proliferation rate than those in the control group (
P
< 0.05). ALP results showed that after 7 days of illumination, only 5 J/cm
2
promoted the expression of ALP of PDLSCs. However, after 14 days of illumination, the irradiation treatments did not increase ALP activity. The results of alizarin red staining showed that red LED promoted osteogenic differentiation of the PDLSCs. The real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results demonstrated that red LED upregulated the expression levels of osteogenic genes. Expression of the proteins BSP, OPN, OCN, and Runx2 in the irradiation groups was higher than that in the control group. Our results confirmed that low-energy red LED at 1, 3, and 5 J/cm
2
promotes proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs.
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