Biodegradable Sodium Alginate/Carrageenan/Cellulose Composite Hydrogel Wound Dressings Containing Herbal Extracts for Promoting Blood Coagulation and Wound Healing

Accelerating the coagulation process and preventing wound infection are major challenges in the wound care process. Therefore, new multifunctional wound dressings with procoagulant, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties have enormous potential for clinical application. In this work, biodegradable hydrogels containing herbal extracts are prepared for wound dressings. First, the active ingredients are extracted from Amaranthus spinosus (A. spinosus) and Rubia cordifolia (R. cordifolia) and added to the hydrogels prepared from microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), carrageenan, and sodium alginate. Then the composite hydrogels are air-dried to obtain the wound dressings. The wound dressings prepared in this work have good biocompatibility and moisture retention. The mechanical properties of the wound dressings are further improved with the addition of MCC. Besides, the wound dressings have excellent procoagulant, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties due to the presence of R. cordifolia extract. Overall, the most effective group of wound dressings with different ingredient formulations reduces clotting time by 75% and largely inhibits bacterial growth. The wound dressings perform well in the animal wound models to promote wound healing. These results indicate that the hydrogel wound dressings prepared in this work have great potential for medical applications.     

A Comprehensive Review on the Benefits and Problems of Curcumin with Respect to Human Health

Curcumin is the most important active component in turmeric extracts. Curcumin, a natural monomer from plants has received a considerable attention as a dietary supplement, exhibiting evident activity in a wide range of human pathological conditions. In general, curcumin is beneficial to human health, demonstrating pharmacological activities of anti-inflammation and antioxidation, as well as antitumor and immune regulation activities. Curcumin also presents therapeutic potential in neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In this review article, we summarize the advancements made in recent years with respect to curcumin as a biologically active agent in malignant tumors, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), hematological diseases and viral infectious diseases. We also focus on problems associated with curcumin from basic research to clinical translation, such as its low solubility, leading to poor bioavailability, as well as the controversy surrounding the association between curcumin purity and effect. Through a review and summary of the clinical research on curcumin and case reports of adverse effects, we found that the clinical transformation of curcumin is not successful, and excessive intake of curcumin may have adverse effects on the kidneys, heart, liver, blood and immune system, which leads us to warn that curcumin has a long way to go from basic research to application transformation.     

O形密封环的弹塑性大变形和循环松弛分析

采用非经典大变形弹塑性理论和相应的结构分析有限元程序对压力容器法兰密封结构元件Ｏ形环的压扁及回弹进行了分析。进而对Ｏ形环元件的反复加卸载过程中压紧力的松驰进行了分析,结果与实验吻合得很好。分析还表明所采用的方法收敛速度快且便于工程应用。     

Hemocompatibility of Ca2+‐Crosslinked Nanocellulose Hydrogels: Toward Efficient Management of Hemostasis

The present work investigates Ca²⁺‐crosslinked nanofibrillated cellulose hydrogels as potential hemostatic wound dressings by studying core interactions between the materials and a central component of wounds and wound healing—the blood. Hydrogels of wood‐derived anionic nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) and NFC hydrogels that incorporate kaolin or collagen are studied in an in vitro whole blood model and with platelet‐free plasma assays. The evaluation of thrombin and factor XIIa formation, platelet reduction, and the release of activated complement system proteins, shows that the NFC hydrogel efficiently triggered blood coagulation, with a rapid onset of clot formation, while displaying basal complement system activation. By using the NFC hydrogel as a carrier of kaolin, the onset of hemostasis is further boosted, while the NFC hydrogel containing collagen exhibits blood activating properties comparable to the anionic NFC hydrogel. The herein studied NFC hydrogels demonstrate great potential for being part of advanced wound healing dressings that can be tuned to target certain wounds (e.g., strongly hemorrhaging ones) or specific phases of the wound healing process for optimal wound management.     

血锌含量与胎儿宫内发育迟缓、妊娠期贫血关系研究

探讨了孕早期血锌含量与胎儿宫内发育迟缓、妊娠期分血的关系。对宁波市江东区2000年度1012例孕妇孕早期做血锌含量测定,其中126例孕妇血锌含量低于正常者（正常为75－190μg/dL）为观察组,随机抽取126例血锌含量在正常范围者为对照组。结果发现,孕28周观察组IUGR发生率为20．6％,贫血发生率为60．3％;而对照组IUGR发生率为5．5％,贫血发生率为10．3％,明显低于观察组。通过及时补锌,在孕36周,观察组IUGR、贫血发生率明显降低,与对照组比较无差别。     

Element assessment in whole blood, serum and urine of three Italian healthy sub-populations by INAA

This research, that is a framework of a big project regarding the knowledge of human metabolism in patients affected by renal disease, is aimed to assess the levels of some selected essential (Co, Fe, K, Na, Rb, Se and Zn) and non-essential elements (Br Cr, Cs, Hg, Ni and Sb) in different biological matrices such as whole blood, serum and urine, of three Italian sub-populations.The analytical methodology involved is the Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA), a primary analytical technique: the samples (totally 144) were irradiated in the Triga nuclear reactor at the R.C.-Casaccia ENEA for 12 h at a neutron flux of 2.6 × 10¹² n × cm^{− 2} × s^{− 1}.The results show a similar distribution for essential elements whereas quite different for non-essential elements. The statistical treatment has evidenced no differences among the samples grouping the subpopulations into unique one. In this way, the levels found can be considered “reference values” in the investigated matrices.     

Cell Membrane-camouflaged Multi-functional Dendritic Large Pore Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Combined Photothermal Therapy and Radiotherapy of Cancer

Combining photothermal therapy and radiotherapy(PTT-RT) with reducing tumor hypoxia acts as an important antitumor modality. However, it is a great challenge to realize photothermal therapy, radiotherapy and exogenous oxygen supply in one nanosystem. To realize a combination of the three functions, we fabricated a red blood cell membrane(RBCm)-camouflaged, red blood cell content(RBCc) and the copper sulfide(CuS) co-loaded dendritic large pore mesoporous silica nanoparticle(DLMSN/CuS/RBCc/ RBCm). The cell membrane coating endowed the nanoparticles with good stability in the physiological environment, and CuS allowed the nanoparticle exhibiting good photothermal and radiosensitization properties. RBCc loaded nanoparticle DLMSN/CuS/RBCc enhanced superior anti-tumor effect than DLMSN/CuS during combined PTT-RT therapy because the introduction of RBCc increased the exogenous oxygen supply. The in vitro study further demonstrated that the combination of photothermal therapy and radiotherapy induced superior antitumor efficacy than single therapy. Our work thus presents a unique multifunctional nanoscale platform favorable for combined PTT and RT.     

Screening of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential of functionalized tetrahydrocarbazole linked 1,2-diazoles and their docking studies

Inflammatory diseases are associated with life-threatening syndromes like hepatitis, cancer, and trauma injury while some decrease the quality of life such as rheumatism, arthritis, and tuberculosis. 1,2-Diazoles (pyrazolines) play a vital role in COX-2 inhibition thus dinitro-tetrahydrocarbazole linked pyrazolines have been synthesized and endeavor to screen for anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and molecular docking studies. For this purpose, 6,8-dinitro-acetyl-2,3,4,9-tetrahydrocarbazole (I), aromatic aldehydes (IIa-e) and hydrazines (IIIa-b) were combined via multicomponent reaction approach under the influence of microwave irradiations to afford pyrazolines (1–10). All new molecules were screened for in vitro anti-inflammatory activity by human red blood cells membrane stabilization, antioxidant potential by2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl,2,2´-azinobis (3-ethylbenzo thiazoline)-6-sulphonic acid, lipid peroxidation, and total antioxidant capacity assays along with cytotoxicity by brine shrimp lethality assay. Molecular docking was performed by using the Auto Dock program. Both disubstituted and trisubstituted diazoles showed excellent membrane stabilizing effects, (91.89 % and 77 %, respectively). The presence of phenol, furan, thiocarbamide, and chloro-moieties have the most prominent effect. Toxicity results indicated that compounds were less toxic at the tested dose (0.1 mg/ml). The antioxidant study showed that compound 2 was more active showing low IC₅₀ values (32.2 and 39.2 µg/ml) in DPPH and total phenolic contents assays respectively. Compound 3 (44.0 µg/ml) showed the highest potential assay in ABTS radical neutralization assay while compound 7 (65.0 µg/ml) showed maximum potential in lipid peroxidation. All diazoles (1–10) were screened for in vitro anti-inflammatory potential where disubstituted diazoles were found better than trisubstituted analogs and exhibited significant antioxidant potential. Molecular docking of diazoles showed a good correlation of their anti-inflammatory activity with p38α MAPK, COX-2, and 5-LOX enzymes that are molecular therapeutic targets of inflammation.     

Microfluidic systems for the analysis of blood-derived molecular biomarkers

Biomarkers are relevant indicators of the physiological state of an individual. Although biomarkers can be found in diseased tissue and different biofluids, sampling from blood plasma is relatively easy and less invasive. Among the molecular biomarkers that can be found circulating in plasma are proteins, metabolites, nucleic acids, and exosomes. Some of these plasma-circulating biomarkers are now employed for patient stratification in a broad range of diseases with high sensitivity and specificity and are useful in early diagnosis, initial risk assessment, and therapy selection. However, there is a pressing need to develop novel approaches for biomarker analysis that can be translated into clinical or other settings without complex methodologies or instrumentation. Microfluidics has been touted as a promising technology to carry out this task because it offers high-throughput, automation, multiplexed detection, and portability, possibly overcoming the bottleneck that prevent the translation of novel biomarkers to the point-of-care (POC). Here, we provide a review of the microfluidic systems that have been engineered to detect circulating molecular biomarkers in blood plasma. We also review the different microfluidic approaches for plasma enrichment, which are now being integrated with microfluidic-based biomarker analyzers. Such integration should lead to cost-effective solutions in in vitro diagnostics, with special relevance to POC platforms.     

A Facile and Highly Efficient Approach to Obtain a Fluorescent Chromogenic Porous Organic Polymer for Lymphatic Targeting Imaging

Porous organic polymers have an open architecture, excellent stability, and tunable structural components, revealing great application potential in the field of fluorescence imaging, but this part of the research is still in its infancy. In this study, we aimed to tailor the physical and chemical characteristics of indocyanine green using sulfonic acid groups and conjugated fragments, and prepared amino-grafted porous polymers. The resulting material had excellent solvent and thermal stability, and possessed a relatively large pore structure with a size of 3.4 nm. Based on the synergistic effect of electrostatic bonding and π–π interactions, the fluorescent chromogenic agent, indocyanine green, was tightly incorporated into the pore cavity of POP solids through a one-step immersion method. Accordingly, the fluorescent chromogenic POP demonstrated excellent imaging capabilities in biological experiments. This preparation of fluorescent chromogenic porous organic polymer illustrates a promising application of POP-based solids in both fluorescence imaging and biomedicine applications.