Silicosis is a long‐established public health issue in developing countries due to increasingly serious air pollution and poorly implemented occupational safety regulation. Inhalation of silica ...triggers cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, pulmonary inflammation and eventually silicosis. Current understanding in the pathogenesis and mechanism of silicosis is limited, and no effective cure is clinically available once silicosis is developed. A number of studies were conducted to investigate silica‐induced alternate gene expressions in pulmonary cells. However, transcriptome analysis in a silicosis animal model is needed. This study was performed to evaluate the transcriptional alternations in silicotic mice using comparative RNA‐Seq. A silicosis mice model was established by intratracheal instillation of silica suspensions, and validated by histological examinations. High‐throughput sequencing and differential gene expression analysis revealed 749 upregulated genes and 70 downregulated genes in the silicosis model. Genes related to immune cell interactions, immune cell responses and inflammation were significantly enriched. Cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction and downstream JAK‐STAT signaling pathways were the most significantly enriched KEGG pathways. Reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction analysis and immunohistochemistry were performed to validate further the differential expression patterns of representative genes. The reported results in this study provide the basis for elucidating the molecular mechanisms for silica‐induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis, and support the prevention and treatment of silicosis.
Silicosis mice model was established by intra‐tracheal instillation of silica suspensions. High‐throughput RNA‐Seq and DGE analysis revealed 749 up‐regulated and 70 down‐regulated genes. Genes related to immune cell interactions, immune cell responses and inflammation were significantly enriched. Cytokine‐cytokine receptor interaction and down‐stream JAK‐STAT signalling pathways were significantly enriched KEGG pathways. The reported results in this study provide basis for elucidating the molecular mechanisms for silica induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis, and support the prevention and treatment of silicosis.
A generalized scheme for the fabrication of high performance photodetectors consisting of a p‐type channel material and n‐type nanoparticles is proposed. The high performance of the proposed hybrid ...photodetector is achieved through enhanced photoabsorption and the photocurrent gain arising from its effective charge transfer mechanism. In this paper, the realization of this design is presented in a hybrid photodetector consisting of 2D p‐type black phosphorus (BP) and n‐type molybdenum disulfide nanoparticles (MoS2 NPs), and it is demonstrated that it exhibits enhanced photoresponsivity and detectivity compared to pristine BP photodetectors. It is found that the performance of hybrid photodetector depends on the density of NPs on BP layer and that the response time can be reduced with increasing density of MoS2 NPs. The rising and falling times of this photodetector are smaller than those of BP photodetectors without NPs. This proposed scheme is expected to work equally well for a photodetector with an n‐type channel material and p‐type nanoparticles.
A generalized scheme for the fabrication of high performance photodetectors consisting of a p‐type channel material (black phosphorus) and n‐type nanoparticles (MoS2) is proposed, demonstrating enhanced photoresponsivity and detectivity compared to pristine black phosphorus photodetectors. It is found that the performance of hybrid photodetector depends on the density of nanoparticles on the black phosphorus layer.
Corrosion resistance and active protection performance of organic coatings can be improved by incorporation of corrosion inhibitor-loaded nanocontainers. Herein, 1H, 1H, 2H, ...2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane (FTES) as a green corrosion inhibitor was encapsulated in hollow mesoporous silica (HMS). FTES-loaded HMS (FHMS) was embedded in an epoxy coating on the surface of the magnesium (Mg) alloy. Artificial defect in FHMS-loaded epoxy coating was made by needle punching. The long-term anticorrosion behavior and self-healing properties of the modified coating were evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). In all cases, FHMS can enhance corrosion resistance of the epoxy coating. Among all the FHMS-loaded coatings, the coating containing 0.5 wt% FHMS (FHMS-0.5%) still exhibits excellent corrosion protection performance after 2688 h of immersion. Meanwhile, it shows superior self-healing ability in the scratched areas. These are attributed to the fact that FTES released from HMS nanoparticles can interact with the epoxy coating and the Mg alloy substrate. Moreover, FTES silane can also form a crosslinked Si-O-Si network by itself.
Purpose
To develop vincristine (VCR) and doxorubicin (DOX) co-encapsulated thermo-sensitive liposomes (VD-TSL) against drug resistance, with increased tumor inhibition rate and decreased system ...toxicity, improving drug targeting efficiency upon mild hyperthermia (HT) in solid tumor.
Methods
Based on similar physicochemical properties, VCR and DOX were co-loaded in TSL with pH gradient active loading method and characterized. The time-dependent drug release profiles at 37 and 42°C were assessed by HPLC. Then we analysed the phospholipids in filtrate after ultrafiltration and studied VD-TSL stability in mimic
in vivo
conditions and long-time storage conditions (4°C and −20°C). Cytotoxic effect was studied on PANC and sw-620 using MTT. Intracellular drug delivery was studied by confocal microscopy on HT-1080.
In vivo
imaging of TSL pharmacokinetic and biodistribution was performed on MCF-7 tumor-bearing nude mice. And therapeutic efficacy on these xenograft models were followed under HT.
Results
VD-TSL had excellent particle distribution (about 90 nm), high entrapment efficiency (>95%), obvious thermo-sensitive property, and good stability. MTT proved VD-TSL had strongest cell lethality compared with other formulations. Confocal microscopy demonstrated specific accumulation of drugs in tumor cells.
In vivo
imaging proved the targeting efficiency of TSL under hyperthermia. Then therapeutic efficacy revealed synergism of VCR and DOX co-loaded in TSL, together with HT.
Conclusion
VD-TSL could increase drug efficacy and decrease system toxicity, by making good use of synergism of VCR and DOX, as well as high targeting efficiency of TSL.
Crystalline microporous aluminophosphates with AFI-type structure have been hydrothermally synthesized by the use of low-cost and biological template of tetramethylguanidine (TMG), which were ...characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron micrograph (SEM), nitrogen isotherms, infrared, elemental analysis, thermogravimetry (TG), temperature-programmed desorption of NH
3 (TPD-NH
3), and photoluminescent (PL) techniques. XRD experiments show that TMG-templated synthesis has high crystallization rate, compared with conventional organic template of triethylamine. Observation of SEM images indicates that the crystalline aluminophosphate products are spheres ranged in 5–30
μm. The results obtained from nitrogen isotherms show that these spherical particles of AlPO-5 crystals have mesoporosity, which are due to the presence of intercrystalline voids. The formation of hierarchical mesoporous and microporous crystalline spheres would be favorable for mass transport in catalysis and adsorption, compared with the small and sole microporous crystals. The combination of infrared, TG, and elemental analysis indicates that there are about 1.4 TMG molecules per unit cell of AlPO-5. Furthermore, TMG-templated synthesis are extended to prepare heteroatom-substituted AlPO-5 crystals such as SAPO-5, MnAPO-5, and CoAPO-5, and acidic measurements of TPD-NH
3 show the order of sample acidity is as follows: CoAPO-5
>
MnAPO-5
>
SAPO-5
≫
AlPO-5. The determination of PL shows that as-synthesized AlPO-5 templated by TMG has 38 nm red-shift for emission peak, compared with TMG liquid. Importantly, in this work, the use of TMG might open a door to use the guanidine-type compounds as templates for “green” preparation of aluminophosphate-based microporous crystals in the future.
ABSTRACT Background and Objectives Previous studies showed that lumen-apposing metal stent (LAMS) provides a feasible route to perform direct endoscopic necrosectomy. However, the high risk of ...bleeding and migration induced by the placement of LAMS attracted attention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a novel LAMS. Methods In this retrospective study, we enrolled patients with symptomatic pancreatic fluid collections (PFCs) to perform EUS–guided drainage with a LAMS in our hospital. Evaluation variables included technical success rate, clinical success rate, and adverse events. Results Thirty-two patients with a mean age of 41.38 ± 10.72 years (53.1% males) were included in our study, and the mean size of PFC was 10.06 ± 3.03 cm. Technical success rate and clinical success rate reached 96.9% and 93.8%, respectively. Stent migration occurred in 1 patient (3.1%), and no stent-induced bleeding occurred. The outcomes of using LAMS in 10 patients with pancreatic pseudocyst and 22 patients with walled-off necrosis were comparable. Compared with pancreatic pseudocyst, walled-off necrosis needed more direct endoscopic necrosectomy times to achieve resolution ( P = 0.024). Conclusions Our study showed that the novel LAMS is effective and safe for endoscopic drainage of PFCs with a relatively low rate of adverse events. Further large-scale multicenter studies are needed to confirm the present findings.
High serum uric acid levels, known as hyperuricemia (HUA), are associated with an increased risk of developing gout, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other metabolic ...syndromes. In this study, a promising bacterial strain capable of biodegrading uric acid (UA) was successfully isolated from Baijiu cellar mud using UA as the sole carbon and energy source. The bacterial strain was identified as Bacillus paramycoides-YC02 through 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Under optimal culture conditions at an initial pH of 7.0 and 38 °C, YC02 completely biodegraded an initial UA concentration of 500 mg/L within 48 h. Furthermore, cell-free extracts of YC02 were found to catalyze and remove UA. These results demonstrate the strong biodegradation ability of YC02 toward UA. To gain further insight into the mechanisms underlying UA biodegradation by YC02, the draft genome of YC02 was sequenced using Illumina HiSeq. Subsequent analysis revealed the presence of gene1779 and gene2008, which encode for riboflavin kinase, flavin mononucleotide adenylyl transferase, and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent urate hydroxylase. This annotation was based on GO or the KEEG database. These enzymes play a crucial role in the metabolism pathway, converting vitamin Bsub.2 to FAD and subsequently converting UA to 5-hydroxyisourate (HIU) with the assistance of FAD. Notably, HIU undergoes a slow non-enzymatic breakdown into 2-oxo-4-hydroxy-4-carboxy-5-ureidoimidazoline (OHCU) and (S)-allantoin. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the metabolism pathway of UA biodegradation by B. paramycoides-YC02 and offer a potential avenue for the development of bacterioactive drugs against HUA and gout.
Composite engineering has played an integral role in the development of new artificial materials with excellent properties, which has triggered a new revolution in high-performance optoelectronic ...devices. Herein, a Bi/flower-like structured Bi 5 O 7 I/acrylate fluoroboron polymer (AFBP) as a BBFP composite was fabricated in situ . Furthermore, the Bi/Bi 5 O 7 I flower system was uniformly distributed on the surface and interior of AFBP that boosted the interfacial charge transfer. The resultant spatial charge separation in the BBBF composite ameliorated via SPR and piezoelectric effect significantly enhanced the photocatalytic H 2 evolution (835 μmol h −1 g −1 ), 8.26-fold that of Bi 5 O 7 I. In addition, the non-biological toxicity and self-cleaning function of the composite coating were proved from the regular growth rate of Nitzschia closterium and higher efficiency of the TOC removal. Furthermore, it exhibited an excellent diatom anti-settling performance, which was ascribed to the self-renewal process and hydrogen evolution, which formed a gas barrier between the substrate surface and fouling organisms. The self-renewed surfaces of AFBP can be gradually peeled off to create a piezoelectric effect without external mechanical disturbance. Similarly, compared to the antifouling methods of electrochemical hydrogen production, composite coatings can achieve outstanding antifouling performance without consuming extra energy. The strategy will provide a potential application in marine engineering in the future.
Composite engineering has played an integral role in the development of new artificial materials with excellent properties, which has triggered a new revolution in high-performance optoelectronic ...devices. Herein, a Bi/flower-like structured Bi
5
O
7
I/acrylate fluoroboron polymer (AFBP) as a BBFP composite was fabricated
in situ
. Furthermore, the Bi/Bi
5
O
7
I flower system was uniformly distributed on the surface and interior of AFBP that boosted the interfacial charge transfer. The resultant spatial charge separation in the BBBF composite ameliorated
via
SPR and piezoelectric effect significantly enhanced the photocatalytic H
2
evolution (835 μmol h
−1
g
−1
), 8.26-fold that of Bi
5
O
7
I. In addition, the non-biological toxicity and self-cleaning function of the composite coating were proved from the regular growth rate of
Nitzschia closterium
and higher efficiency of the TOC removal. Furthermore, it exhibited an excellent diatom anti-settling performance, which was ascribed to the self-renewal process and hydrogen evolution, which formed a gas barrier between the substrate surface and fouling organisms. The self-renewed surfaces of AFBP can be gradually peeled off to create a piezoelectric effect without external mechanical disturbance. Similarly, compared to the antifouling methods of electrochemical hydrogen production, composite coatings can achieve outstanding antifouling performance without consuming extra energy. The strategy will provide a potential application in marine engineering in the future.
The prepared coatings possess hydrogen production, antifouling performance, self-cleaning properties, this strategy can be a promising candidate to restrict biofouling and photocatalytic hydrogen production for marine coating applications.
Apelin is the native ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor APJ. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the Apelin/APJ system has positive inotropic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects ...and regulates fluid homeostasis. The Apelin/APJ system has been demonstrated to play a protective role in sepsis and may serve as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of sepsis. Better understanding of the mechanisms of the effects of the Apelin/APJ system will aid in the development of novel drugs for the treatment of sepsis. In this review, we provide a brief overview of the physiological role of the Apelin/APJ system and its role in sepsis.
