Convergent architecting of multifunction-in-one hydrogels as wound dressings for surgical anti-infections

Surgical procedures are susceptible to the cause of infections, which could induce delayed wound healing, oxidative stress and tissue ischemia. Multifunctional wound dressings (e.g., hydrogels) without the induction of antibiotics is promising for the elimination of surgical site infections and the associated complications. Herein, we report a reductionism approach for the fabrication of bioactive hydrogels to recapitulate antibacterial functions as well as antioxidant, pro-angiogenic and hemostatic properties in surgical infection treatments. The hydrogels composed of naturally derived Cirsium setosum extracts (CE, a traditional medicinal herb) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CS) show their capacity for surgical anti-infections on three different models (i.e., infectious random skin flap model, infectious skin defect model and infectious femur fracture model). Due to the innate bioactivities of CE and CS, CECS hydrogels can also reduce the bleeding loss (85% reduction) on a hemorrhaging liver model and improve the vascularization for skin flap regeneration. Overall, bioactive CECS hydrogels integrated with the ease and scalability of assembly process and biological activities without the addition of antibiotics is promising to act as multifunctional wound dressings for surgical anti-infections.     

Investigation on LCST behavior of a new amorphous/crystalline polymer blend: Poly(n‐methyl methacrylimide)/poly(vinylidene fluoride)

The liquid–liquid phase‐separation (LLPS) behavior of poly(n‐methyl methacrylimide)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PMMI/PVDF) blend was studied by using small‐angle laser light scattering (SALLS) and phase contrast microscopy (PCM). The cloud point (T_c) of PMMI/PVDF blend was obtained using SALLS at the heating rate of 1 °C min^?1 and it was found that PMMI/PVDF exhibited a low critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior similar to that of PMMA/PVDF. Moreover, T_c of PMMI/PVDF is higher than its melting temperature (T_m) and a large temperature gap between T_c and T_m exists. At the early phase‐separation stage, the apparent diffusion coefficient (D_app) and the product (2Mk) of the molecules mobility coefficient (M) and the energy gradient coefficient (k) arising from contributions of composition gradient to the energy for PMMI/PVDF (50/50 wt) blend were calculated on the basis of linearized Cahn‐Hilliard‐Cook theory. The kinetic results showed that LLPS of PMMI/PVDF blends followed the spinodal decomposition (SD) mechanism. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 1923–1931, 2008     

Investigation on the interaction between C16TAB and NaCMC in semidilute aqueous solution based on rheological measurement

The rheological behavior of unentangled and entangled semidilute solution of anionic polyelectrolyte sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) containing cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (C₁₆TAB) was investigated. The results reveal that the rheological properties of these semidilute NaCMC solutions depend on the amount of C₁₆TAB added. In the unentangled semidilute NaCMC solution (0.5 g/L), the viscosity decreases with the increase of C₁₆TAB amount in the low surfactant concentration region (below the critical aggregation concentration, CAC). However, in high surfactant concentrations (above CAC), the viscosity decreases sharply with the increase in C₁₆TAB amount. It is found that viscosity change of NaCMC solution could be described using Colby’s model when surfactant concentrations are between CAC and saturated concentration (C_s), suggesting that no inter-polymer interaction exists between C₁₆TAB and NaCMC in the unentangled semidilute solution. However, for the entangled semidilute NaCMC solution (5 g/L), the addition of C₁₆TAB leads to an increase in viscosity. Meanwhile, the solution exhibits an enhanced shear thinning behavior due to adding more C₁₆TAB than 1 mM. The viscosity increase is ascribed to the physical cross linking of surfactant micelles with NaCMC chains. Furthermore, it is suggested that the enhanced shear thinning behavior results from weak interaction between NaCMC chains and C₁₆TAB micelles.     

近红外光谱法预测粗皮桉木材气干密度的影响因素分析

采用近红外光谱分析技术,对粗皮桉木材气干密度校正模型的影响因素进行比较研究.使用直接测量法测量了粗皮桉木材的气干密度,并用近红外光谱仪采集试样的近红外漫反射光谱,对不同切面、厚度、含水率和粗糙度的粗皮桉木材试样的原始光谱进行二阶导数预处理并选择一定光谱段建立回归模型.以50～140个试样作为校正集建立木材气干密度的偏最...     

Cytotoxicity of guanine-based degradation products contributes to the antiproliferative activity of guanine-rich oligonucleotides

Guanine-rich oligonucleotides (GROs) have attracted considerable attention as anticancer agents, because they exhibit cancer-selective antiproliferative activity and can form G-quadruplex structures with higher nuclease resistance and cellular uptake. Recently, a GRO, AS1411 has reached phase II clinical trials for acute myeloid leukemia and renal cell carcinoma. The antiproliferative activity of GROs has been associated with various protein targets; however the real mechanisms of action remain unclear. In this study, we showed evidence that antiproliferative activity of GROs (including AS1411) is mainly contributed by the cytotoxicity of their guanine-based degradation products, such as monophosphate deoxyguanosine (dGMP), deoxyguanosine (dG) and guanine. The GROs with lower nuclease resistance exhibited higher antiproliferative activity. Among nucleotides, nucleosides and nucleobases, only guanine-based compounds showed highly concentration-dependent cytotoxicity. Our results suggest that it is necessary to reconsider the cancer-selective antiproliferative activity of GROs. Since guanine-based compounds are endogenous substances in living organisms, systematic studies of the cytotoxicity of these compounds will provide new information for the understanding of certain diseases and offer useful information for drug design.     

The Influencing Mechanism of Acidity on the Oxidation Peak Currents of Uric Acid and Ascorbic Acid at the PACPE by Cyclic Voltammetry

In this paper, a pre‐anodized carbon paste electrode (PACPE) is fabricated by a simple electrochemical pretreatment method, which can be used for the simultaneous determination of uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA). The influencing mechanism of the acidity on the size of oxidation peak current (i_p,a) of UA and AA is discussed in detail. According to the results, in different pH conditions, the intensity of hydrogen bonding between UA, AA and the surface of PACPE, the degree of reduction reaction at the auxiliary electrode, and the structural configurations of UA and AA with different species in reaction system have evident influence on the size of oxidation peak current. In pH 7.00 phosphate buffer solution, the calibration curves for UA and AA are obtained in the range of 5.0 x 10^‐7–5.0 x 10^‐5 mol/L and 3.0 x 10^‐5–5.0 x 10^‐3 mol/L, respectively. The detection limits for UA and AA are found to be 2.0 x 10^‐8 mol/L and 1.2 x 10^‐6 mol/L, respectively. This proposed method has been successfully applied to determine UA and AA in human urine simultaneously with satisfactory results.     

大型低速二元风洞侧壁边界层控制及对单段翼型实验结果的影响

本文简述了ＮＦ－３风洞二元实验段侧壁边界层吹除控制系统及具有吹气的模型实验方法，给出了不同吹气系数对风洞边界层的控制效果以及对相对厚度为７％的单段翼型实验结果的影响。初步实验研究结果表明，该控制系统能有效地改善风洞侧壁边界层的流动状态，减小侧壁干扰，改善翼型实验中的二元流动特性     

反应堆蒙特卡罗临界模拟中均匀裂变源算法的改进

在反应堆pin-by-pin精细建模及蒙特卡罗模拟计算研究中, 由于不同栅元的功率密度差异较大, 导致蒙特卡罗方法临界计算的样本在不同栅元之间的分配不均衡, 由此引起栅元内的各种计数的统计误差差异较大. 为使大部分栅元内计数的统计误差降至一个合理的水平, 单纯增加总样本已不是一个高效的解决方法. 通过在特定临界计算迭代算法的基础上改进并实现均匀裂变源算法的思想, 对大亚湾压水堆pin-by-pin模型取得了具有较高效率的数值结果. 本工作为具有自主知识产权的蒙特卡罗粒子输运模拟软件JMCT最终达到反应堆pin-by-pin模型(包括一系列国际基准模型)的模拟性能要求提供了一个有效的工具.     

A Dual 13C and 15N Long Term Labelling Technique to Investigate Uptake and Translocation of C and N in Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Abstract

A continuous dual ¹³CO₂ and ¹⁵NH₄ ¹⁵NO₃ labelling experimental set-up is presented that was used to investigate the C and N uptake and allocation within 3-year old beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) during one growing season. The C and N allocation pattern was determined after six, twelve and eighteen weeks of growth. The carbon uptake was distinctly different in the three phases examined: The first six weeks after budbreak were dedicated to leaf growth with a R/S (root to shoot) ratio of 0.14 for the new carbon. The second growth phase showed a balanced R/S ratio of C allocation and after week 13, the root compartment was the main carbon sink (R/S = 6.97).

Nitrogen allocation was more basipetal as compared to carbon. In the second growth phase, R/S of N_new was 5.57 but fell to 3.54 for the third growth phase probably due to formation of reserves in buds and stem.