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The proposed vibrating EMNPs (enteric-coated magnetic nanoparticles) treatment can effectively accelerate intestinal peristalsis, reduce the absorption, especially to water-soluble molecule. It has effects both on weight-loss and alcohol-detoxification. 3D-printed device can provide a tunable magnetic power resulting tailored effect of weight-loss.
We report a kind of functional dendrisomes constructed by amphiphilic dendrimers, which enable to enhance cellular uptake by breast cancer stem cells (CSCs), to differentiate breast CSCs by carrying all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), and to increase anticancer efficacy by carrying ATRA and docetaxel in vitro and in breast cancer-bearing mice. The study further reveals endocytosis mechanism, and uncovers differentiation mechanism by analyzing relevant signal molecules, transcription factors, and cell cycle associated signaling pathway. Hence, the present study offers a novel type of functional dendrisomes for differentiation therapy of breast CSCs, and has a significant clinical implication.
Laser trapping chemistry is applied to synthesize single crystals of pure and mixed halide lead perovskites in a temporally- and spatially- controlled manner. Thus, we obtain perovskite crystals with controlled band gap or photoluminescence color. The formation mechanism of a perovskite crystal is discussed in terms of an increased rate of chemical reaction of precursors collected by the trapping leaser.
Spinodal decomposition, spontaneous phase separation process for periodic lamellae at the nanometer scale, of correlated oxides (Ti, V)O2 systems offers a sophisticated route to achieve new class of mesoscale structure in the form of self-assembled superlattices. Here, we achieve the tunable self-assembly of (Ti, V)O2 superlattices with steep metal-insulator transition (ΔTMI < 5 K) by spinodal decomposition with accurate control of growth parameters. Increase in a film growth rate thickens a lamellae period; the phase separation were kinetically enhanced by adatom impingement during two-dimensional growth, demonstrating that interplay between mass transport and uphill diffusion yields highly periodic (Ti, V)O2 superlattices.
In this work, we confirmed that an in situ–forming click-crosslinked hyaluronic acid (Cx-HA) hydrogel with chemical immobilization of cytomodulin-2 (CM) (Cx-HA-CM) and human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPLSCs) have a good potential for cartilage tissue engineering. The CM that is retained inside the Cx-HA hydrogel for a long time synergistically induces chondrogenic differentiation of hPLSCs. Therefore, such an injectable formulation of the Cx-HA-CM–based hydrogel proposed in this work provides an opportunity to satisfy the unmet need for (pre)clinical repair of damaged articular cartilage.
We produced a human recombinant Hsp70-1A fused with the cell-penetrating peptide Tat (Tat-Hsp70-1A), that was neuroprotective in vitro against the dopaminergic toxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). We developed and characterized a Tat-Hsp70-1A delivery system by exploiting an injectable, biocompatible, biodegradable semi-interpenetrating polymer network composed of collagen (COLL) and low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid (LMW HA), structured with gelatin particles. Tat-Hsp70-1A diffused from the selected COLL-LMW HA composites in an active form and protected dopaminergic cells and neurons in Parkinson’s disease (PD) models. Furthermore, Tat-Hsp70-loaded composites conveyed neuroprotection both at behavioral and dopaminergic neuronal level against striatal injection of 6-OHDA.
Three-dimensional (3D) priming, which encapsulates human adipose derived stem cells into hydrogel systems, greatly reduces the amount of time required to induce an efficient retroviral transduction compared with the conventional two-dimensional (2D) method. This facilitating effect is closely related to the acceleration of cell cycle regulation (G1 arrest and G1/S transition) by 3D priming.
Novel chitosan–celluose nanofiber (CS–CNF) composite hydrogels (modulus ~2 kPa) were prepared to have tunable self-healing properties. The injectability and self-healing ability were significantly enhanced for composite hydrogels. The optimized hydrogel promoted the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells in vitro as well as functional recovery (50% enhancement over pristine CS hydrogel) in brain-injured zebrafish. Self-healing properties of CS–CNF hydrogels were positively correlated with regenerative capacities and oxygen metabolism of the hydrogels. A mechanism of multiple-bond interactions may explain the biphasic change of self-healing for these hydrogels. The findings provide some design rationale for self-healing hydrogels with potential biomedical applications.
A transparent stretchable (TS) capacitive sensor, which can detect pressure (force) and touch inputs distinguishably was fabricated by forming with a TS dielectric layer sandwiched between the upper piezoresistive electrode of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)–ionic liquid composite enabling to distinguish touch and pressure stimuli and the lower TS electrode of metal/indium tin oxide/metal multilayer on a transparent elastomeric substrate with stress-relieving three-dimensional microstructured pattern providing multi-directional stretchability and high pressure sensitivity. The TS sensor array demonstrated a good control of the interaction with a small vehicle as a multi-functional input device for future wearable electronics.
Without the introduction of new functional groups, it is often difficult to alter the properties of a substance, such as by changing it from a non-self-healing to a rapidly self-healing material. In this work, we report that the properties of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and acrylamide (HEMA/AAm) hydrogels can be easily altered from non-self-healing to rapidly self-healing materials by simply tuning the reaction temperature. The stretching capabilities of the hydrogels can be greatly enhanced by up to 30-fold. The hydrogels also exhibit good adhesive performance to various substrates. These results provide valuable insight regarding the design of self-healing hydrogels.
An approach to boost the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of ferroelectric photovoltaics (PVs) is proposed based on the Schottky barrier effect. This approach leverages the thinning of a ferroelectric film to somewhere close to the depletion width, which can simultaneously suppress the recombination and lower the series resistance. Using this approach, we achieve a PCE up to 2.49% (under 365-nm ultraviolet illumination) in the 12-nm Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 ultrathin films. Our study provides insightful guidance on how to design and tailor the ferroelectric films to achieve high PCEs, and also demonstrates the great potential of ferroelectrics for use in ultrathin-film PV devices.
This article demonstrates an ultrathin e-synapse having high yield, minimal performance variation, and extremely low power consumption based on a Al2O3/graphene quantum dots/Al2O3 sandwich structure that was fabricated by using atomic layer deposition. It showed both high device-to-device and cycle-to-cycle reproducibility with high stability, endurance, and switching uniformity, because of which the essential synaptic behaviors could be observed. This implementation of an e-synapse with an Al2O3/graphene quantum dots/Al2O3 structure should intensify motivation for engineering e-synapses for neuromorphic computing.
In this work we report the electrical polarization can be induced by composition-graded LaAlO3-SrTiO3 solid solution. The analysis indicates that the induced polarization is attributed to the flexoelectric effect in the compositional gradient system. By a suitable combination of compositional gradient in geometry, a local conduction can be created and manipulated, delivering a new approach to obtain unveiled properties. delivering a new pathway to acquire material genome based on material inhomogeneity.
We report a high anomalous Nernst thermopower (\(S_{yx}^A\)) -value of ~6.0 µV K−1 at room temperature in the ferromagnetic topological Heusler compound Co2MnGa. The measured value is seven-times larger than any anomalous Nernst thermopower value ever reported for a conventional ferromagnet. The high anomalous Nernst effect originates from a large net Berry curvature near the Fermi level associated with nodal lines and Weyl points.
We showed the distinctive unconventional junction effect of MoS2 junctions: a lattice mismatched MoS2. It is unique to observe the difference originated from the atomic interrelation at the interface. The results revealed the dominant scattering source at the conventional naturally stepwise junction, while the misorientationally stacked layer exhibited effectively decoupled behavior and a significantly smaller junction resistance via phonon assist carrier. Therefore, our finding in this paper clearly shows the different mechanisms in carrier transport at both junction interface of MoS2.
A phosphonium-based perovskite, [(CH3)4P]CdCl3, is designed and synthesized, which shows ferroelectric characteristics below 348 K as revealed by the observation of typical stripe-like domains and hysteresis loops. By doping with Sb3+, this material exhibits orange luminescence under UV excitation. This work will open new avenues in designing multifunctional luminescent molecular ferroelectrics.
The amphiphilic polyethylene glycol-block-polysulfone-block-polyethylene glycol (PEG-b-PSF-b-PEG) membrane can work as an ideal TFC support to break the permeability–selectivity trade-off of the TFC FO membrane with a high A/B ratio of 19.6 bar−1 (water permeability coefficient A, 1.76 LMH bar−1 and NaCl permeability coefficient B, 0.09 LMH). and also improve its anti-fouling properties through the post-annealing treatment.
Well-defined metallic nanoporous sphere with single gyroid (SG) structure can be fabricated by simply using self-assembled diblock copolymer with double gyroid (DG) structure as a template for electroless plating. With the control of nucleation and growth process, SG-structured Ni with uniform pore size and high specific surface area was successfully fabricated. Combining the structural and morphological characters of the fabricated nanoporous Ni sphere, it is appealing to be used in a wide variety of applications, such as high-efficiency and well selectivity hydrogenation catalyst with recyclability.
3D Hybrid composite of ZnO tetrapods and carbon nano onions is developed to a new direction for the visible-light-induced degradation of 2,4-dinitrophenol without any hazardous by-products.
A pathway for photopolymerization-based additive manufacturing of self-healable elastomer structures has been explored by Scientists in the United States.
