Peptide‐based materials are one of the most important biomaterials, with diverse structures and functionalities. Over the past few decades, a self‐assembly strategy is introduced to construct ...peptide‐based nanomaterials, which can form well‐controlled superstructures with high stability and multivalent effect. More recently, peptide‐based functional biomaterials are widely utilized in clinical applications. However, there is no comprehensive review article that summarizes this growing area, from fundamental research to clinic translation. In this review, the recent progress of peptide‐based materials, from molecular building block peptides and self‐assembly driving forces, to biomedical and clinical applications is systematically summarized. Ex situ and in situ constructed nanomaterials based on functional peptides are presented. The advantages of intelligent in situ construction of peptide‐based nanomaterials in vivo are emphasized, including construction strategy, nanostructure modulation, and biomedical effects. This review highlights the importance of self‐assembled peptide nanostructures for nanomedicine and can facilitate further knowledge and understanding of these nanosystems toward clinical translation.
The recent progress in peptide‐based nanomaterials from building block peptides and self‐assembly driving forces to application‐directed ex situ and in situ construction of nanomaterials is systematically summarized. The advantages of intelligent in situ construction of peptide‐based nanomaterials in vivo are emphasized. The importance of self‐assembled peptide nanostructures for nanomedicine is highlighted.
The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), has caused an unprecedented global social and economic impact, and ...high numbers of deaths. Many risk factors have been identified in the progression of COVID‐19 into a severe and critical stage, including old age, male gender, underlying comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, chronic lung diseases, heart, liver and kidney diseases, tumors, clinically apparent immunodeficiencies, local immunodeficiencies, such as early type I interferon secretion capacity, and pregnancy. Possible complications include acute kidney injury, coagulation disorders, thoromboembolism. The development of lymphopenia and eosinopenia are laboratory indicators of COVID‐19. Laboratory parameters to monitor disease progression include lactate dehydrogenase, procalcitonin, high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)‐6, IL‐1β, Krebs von den Lungen‐6 (KL‐6), and ferritin. The development of a cytokine storm and extensive chest computed tomography imaging patterns are indicators of a severe disease. In addition, socioeconomic status, diet, lifestyle, geographical differences, ethnicity, exposed viral load, day of initiation of treatment, and quality of health care have been reported to influence individual outcomes. In this review, we highlight the scientific evidence on the risk factors of severity of COVID‐19.
As an abundant natural resource, wood has gained great attention for thousands of years, spanning from the primitive construction materials to the modern high‐added‐value engineering materials. The ...unique delicate microstructures and the wonderful properties (e.g., low‐density, high strength and stiffness, good toughness, and environmental sustainability) have made wood a natural source of inspiration that guides researchers to invent various wood‐inspired materials. Herein, as an emerging material system, bioinspired artificial wood, with similar cellular structures and comparable mechanical properties, is discussed in the view of the design concept, fabrication strategy, properties, and possible applications. The present challenges and further research opportunities are also presented for artificial woods to thrive. To achieve the final eco‐friendly artificial wood, more endeavors should be made in biomaterials and biodegradable or recyclable engineering of polymers to gain high mechanical properties and environmental sustainability simultaneously.
Artificial woods have emerged as a novel kind of wood‐inspired engineering material with almost exactly the same channel microstructures and similar wall components. The performances of artificial woods depend on both the oriented channel and wall designs. The rational combination of other engineering polymers and channel‐making techniques hold promise to develop more useful artificial woods.
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•3D ZCO was synthesized using a hydrothermal method.•Active species was in descending order of SO4·− >·O2− >·OH.•The possible degradation pathway of LVF was proposed in MW–3D ZCO/PS ...system.
Three-dimensional ZnCo2O4 (3D ZCO) nanometer material was synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The obtained materials were characterized via XRD, XPS, SEM, HRTEM analysis techniques. 3D ZCO was used as heterogeneous persulfate (PS) activators under microwave irradiation for levofloxacin (LVF) degradation, in which influence factors, mechanism and probable degradation pathways were investigated in depth. Influences of reaction parameters such as initial pH, initial PS concentration, the dosage of ZCO and the influence of anions (NO3–, Cl–, CO32–, H2PO4–) were investigated. Radical quenching experiments and electron spin resonance studies proved that the contribution of active species was in descending order of SO4·− >·O2− >·OH in the microwave–3D ZnCo2O4/persulfate (MW–3D ZCO/PS) system. The feasible reaction mechanism of MW-3D ZCO/PS system was proposed according to the characterization and experiments analysis. The experimental optimum conditions (LVF = 10 mg/L, ZCO = 2 g/L, PS = 5 mM, pH0 = 5, MW = 700 W, T = 70 °C) of mineralization of levofloxacin, reaching a 69.8% TOC removal. The acute toxicity test showed that MW–3D ZCO/PS system was effective at reducing the toxic compounds of LVF solutions lead to a reduction in toxicity. By high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis (HPLC–MS), eight products of LVF including H2O, CO2, inorganic ions and other small molecules were identified, and possible degradation pathways were then proposed. In short, this study provides a solution to decrease refractory antibiotic in water systems.
Abstract
Objective
Metabolic signatures have emerged as valuable signaling molecules in the biochemical process of type 2 diabetes (T2D). To summarize and identify metabolic biomarkers in T2D, we ...performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the associations between metabolites and T2D using high-throughput metabolomics techniques.
Methods
We searched relevant studies from MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library as well as Chinese databases (Wanfang, Vip, and CNKI) inception through 31 December 2018. Meta-analysis was conducted using STATA 14.0 under random effect. Besides, bioinformatic analysis was performed to explore molecule mechanism by MetaboAnalyst and R 3.5.2.
Results
Finally, 46 articles were included in this review on metabolites involved amino acids, acylcarnitines, lipids, carbohydrates, organic acids, and others. Results of meta-analysis in prospective studies indicated that isoleucine, leucine, valine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, glutamate, alanine, valerylcarnitine (C5), palmitoylcarnitine (C16), palmitic acid, and linoleic acid were associated with higher T2D risk. Conversely, serine, glutamine, and lysophosphatidylcholine C18:2 decreased risk of T2D. Arginine and glycine increased risk of T2D in the Western countries subgroup, and betaine was negatively correlated with T2D in nested case-control subgroup. In addition, slight improvements in T2D prediction beyond traditional risk factors were observed when adding these metabolites in predictive analysis. Pathway analysis identified 17 metabolic pathways may alter in the process of T2D and metabolite-related genes were also enriched in functions and pathways associated with T2D.
Conclusions
Several metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with T2D have been identified, which provide valuable biomarkers and novel targets for prevention and drug therapy.
Carbon dots (CDs) have tremendous potential applications in bioimaging, biomedicine, and optoelectronics. By far, it is still difficult to produce photoluminescence (PL) tunable CDs with high quantum ...yield (QY) across the entire visible spectrum and narrow the emission peak widths of CDs close to those of typical quantum dots. In this work, a series of CDs with tunable emission from 443 to 745 nm, quantum yield within 13–54%, and narrowed full width at half maximum (FWHM) from 108 to 55 nm, are obtained by only adjusting the reaction solvents in a one‐pot solvothermal route. The distinct optical features of these CDs are based on their differences in the particle size, and the content of graphitic nitrogen and oxygen‐containing functional groups, which can be modulated by controlling the dehydration and carbonization processes during solvothermal reactions. Blue, green, yellow, red, and even pure white light emitting films (Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE)= 0.33, 0.33, QY = 39%) are prepared by dispersing one or three kinds of CDs into polyvinyl alcohol with appropriate ratios. The near‐infrared emissive CDs are excellent fluorescent probes for both in vitro and in vivo bioimaging because of their high QY in water, long‐term stability, and low cytotoxicity.
A solvent‐engineered approach to obtain photoluminescent carbon dots (CDs) with tunable emission from 443 to 745 nm, quantum yield within 13–54%, and narrowed full width at half maximum from 108 to 55 nm is reported. The resulting CDs can be potentially applied in the fabrication of full‐color light‐emitting films and in bioimaging both in vitro and in vivo.
To determine distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in hospital wards in Wuhan, China, we tested air and surface samples. Contamination was greater in intensive care units ...than general wards. Virus was widely distributed on floors, computer mice, trash cans, and sickbed handrails and was detected in air ≈4 m from patients.
In cancer treatment, the unsatisfactory solid‐tumor penetration of nanomaterials limits their therapeutic efficacy. We employed an in vivo self‐assembly strategy and designed polymer–peptide ...conjugates (PPCs) that underwent an acid‐induced hydrophobicity increase with a narrow pH‐response range (from 7.4 to 6.5). In situ self‐assembly in the tumor microenvironment at appropriate molecular concentrations (around the IC50 values of PPCs) enabled drug delivery deeper into the tumor. A cytotoxic peptide KLAK, decorated with the pH‐sensitive moiety cis‐aconitic anhydride (CAA), and a cell‐penetrating peptide TAT were conjugated onto poly(β‐thioester) backbones to produce PT‐K‐CAA, which can penetrate deeply into solid tumors owing to its small size as a single chain. During penetration in vivo, CAA responds to the weak acid, leading to the self‐assembly of PPCs and the recovery of therapeutic activity. Therefore, a deep‐penetration ability for enhanced cancer therapy is provided by this in vivo assembly strategy.
Reaching new depths: Polymer–peptide conjugates (PPCs) designed to undergo an acid‐induced increase in hydrophobicity with a narrow pH‐response range (from pH 7.4 to 6.5) underwent in vivo self‐assembly in the tumor microenvironment (see picture). The PPCs in single‐chain form can penetrate deeply into the tumor and self‐assemble into nanoaggregates at molecular concentrations around the IC50 values of the PPCs for enhanced cancer therapy.
The purpose of this paper is to develop a compromise-typed variable weight decision method for solving hybrid multiattribute decision making problems with multiple types of attribute values. The ...compromise-typed variable weight functions are defined and constructed by utility functions. Moreover, the variable weight synthesis and the orness measures based on the coefficients of absolute risk aversion are analyzed in variable weight decision making. The comprehensive values of alternatives based on the compromise-typed variable weight decision method are calculated. The decision-making results are determined according to the comprehensive values. Finally, an example and a detailed comparison analysis are presented to show the applicability and validity of the proposed method.
•The general membership functions of four types thresholds for the grades on attribute eigenvalue are proposed.•The trust information uncertainty degree in social network is researched.•A new method ...to generate the incomplete social network based on the trust information uncertainty degree and variable weight function is proposed.•A novel multi-objective decision optimization model for network security situation grade assessment under multi-source information is proposed.
Grade assessment of network security situation is summarized as a typical multi-index grade assessment problem. However, the existed methods for grade assessment of network security situation do not consider multi-source information such as the trust information among experts, the preference information among companies and heterogeneous information of companies. The above problems are unable to be solved through traditional assessment methods. The aim of this paper is to establish a novel multi-objective decision model for the grade assessment of network security situation under multi-source information. On the basis of describing the grade assessment problem of network security situation, the membership functions of four-type thresholds for the grades on attribute eigenvalue are put forward. Two trust information uncertainty degrees in social network are defined, and the trust transfer operator based on trust information uncertainty degree and multi-path trust integration method based on the variable weight function is proposed. Afterwards, a new method to generate the incomplete social network is used to identify the weights of experts. Then, a multi-objective decision grade assessment optimization model is further established to obtain the network security situation grades and grade discrimination based on the two-tuple linguistic operator. The proposed method provides a theoretical basis for constructing and testing the grade assessment of network security situation. Meanwhile, it develops the grade assessment system of advanced network security situation and improves the ability to protect network security.
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