Cationic and temperature-sensitive liposomes loaded with eugenol for the application to silk

Silk has been widely used in the clothing industry due to their soft and smooth features, good biocompatibility, good heat dissipation, warmth and ultraviolet resistance. The application of fragrance to silk can significantly improve the performance of silk. However, there are two key scientific problems that need to be solved: slowing down the release rate of fragrances and increasing the scent lasting time of silk. In this study, cationic and temperature-sensitive liposomes were designed and prepared to encapsulate eugenol. These fragrance-loaded liposomes significantly slowed down the release rate of the fragrance and controlled the release rate of the fragrance in a thermo-sensitive manner. The liposomes adhered to the silk through electrostatic adsorption interaction. The positive charge on the fragrance-loaded liposomes neutralized much negative charge on silk and thereby increasing the adhesion efficiency.     

Platinum nanoparticle-doped multiwalled carbon-nanotube-modified glassy carbon electrode as a sensor for simultaneous determination of atenolol and propranolol in neutral solution

Ionics - In this paper, the simultaneous determination of β-blockers (atenolol (ATN) and propranolol (PRO)) was investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry...     

Dynamically assisted pair production for scalar QED by two fields

By solving the quantum Vlasov equation, the dynamically assisted pair production for scalar quantum electrodynamics (QED) is investigated. It is verified that this mechanism still holds true for boson pair production. Two combinations of two electric fields having different time scales under various time delays are considered; it is found that the oscillations of the momentum spectrum and the number density of created bosons decrease with increasing time delay, and the latter has a maximum value when the time delay equals zero. Furthermore, the differences in vacuum pair production between bosons and fermions are also studied, and they are helpful for distinguishing the created bosons from fermions.     

Solvothermal Transformation of a Calcium Oleate Precursor into Large‐Sized Highly Ordered Arrays of Ultralong Hydroxyapatite Microtubes

Hydroxyapatite (HAP), a well‐known member of the calcium phosphate family, is the major inorganic component of bones and teeth in vertebrates. The highly ordered arrays of HAP structures are of great significance for hard tissue repair and for understanding the formation mechanisms of bones and teeth. However, the synthesis of highly ordered HAP structure arrays remains a great challenge. In this work, inspired by the ordered structure of tooth enamel, we have successfully synthesized three‐dimensional bulk materials with large sizes (millimeter scale) that are made of highly ordered arrays of ultralong HAP microtubes (HOAUHMs) by solvothermal transformation of calcium oleate precursor. The core–shell‐structured oblate sphere consists of a core that is composed of HAP nanorods and a shell that consists of highly ordered HAP microtube arrays. The prepared HOAUHMs are large: 6.0 mm in diameter and up to 1.4 mm in thickness. With increasing solvothermal reaction time, the HOAUHMs grow larger; the microtubes become more uniform and more ordered. This work provides a new synthetic method for synthesizing highly ordered arrays of uniform HAP ultralong microtubes that are promising for biomedical applications.     

A Supercharged Fluorescent Protein as a Versatile Probe for Homogeneous DNA Detection and Methylation Analysis

Supercharged proteins are a new class of functional proteins with exceptional stability and potent ability to deliver bio‐macromolecules into cells. As a proof‐of‐principle, a novel application of supercharged proteins as a versatile biosensing platform for nucleic acid detection and epigenetics analysis is presented. Taking supercharged green fluorescent protein (ScGFP) as the signal reporter, a simple turn‐on homogenous method for DNA detection has been developed based on the polyionic nanoscale complex of ScGFP/DNA and toehold strand displacement. This assay shows high sensitivity and potent ability to detect single‐base mismatch. Furthermore, combined with bisulfite conversion, this ScGFP‐based assay was further applied to analyze site‐specific DNA methylation status of genomic DNA extracted from real human colon carcinoma tissue sample with ultrahigh sensitivity (4 amol methylated DNA).     

Synthesis and photopolymerization kinetics of a single-molecular hydrogen-abstract free radical photoinitiator 1,3-Benzodioxole-5-yl-Methyl-Maleimide

1,3-benzodioxole-5-yl-methyl-maleimide (BDOMM), a type of hydrogen-abstraction photoinitiator with both hydrogen donor and acceptor in one molecule for free radical photopolymerization, was synthesized through the reaction of piperonyl amine and maleic anhydride and characterized by IR, UV and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The results obtained indicated that the introduction of BDOMM could avoid the use of additional amine coinitiator, decrease the leachablity of photoinitiator and maintain high photo-initiation efficiency.     

Synthesis and characterization of palladium(II) complexes [PdX2(p-diben)] (X = Cl,Br, I,N3, or NCO; p-diben = N,N′-bis(4-dimethylaminobenzylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine): crystal structure of [Pd(N3)2(p-diben)]

Five new complexes of general formula [PdX₂(p-diben)], where p-diben = N,N′-bis(4-dimethylaminobenzylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine) (1) and X = Cl (2), Br (3), I (4), N₃ (5), or CNO (6), were synthesized and characterized by physicochemical and spectroscopic methods. The crystal structure of compound (5) was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complexes 2–6 were characterized as N,N-chelated products. The crystal structure confirmed this formulation for [Pd(N₃)₂(p-diben)], besides showing the isomerism inversion of one of the C=N bonds, caused by Pd(II) coordination.