Glutenin-chitosan 3D porous scaffolds with tunable stiffness and systematized microstructure for cultured meat model.

A glutenin (G)-chitosan (CS) complex (G-CS) was cross-linked by water annealing with aim to prepare structured 3D porous cultured meat scaffolds (CMS) here. The CMS has pore diameters ranging from 18 to 67 µm and compressive moduli from 16.09 to 60.35 kPa, along with the mixing ratio of G/CS. SEM showed the porous organized structure of CMS. FTIR and CD showed the increscent content of α-helix and ß-sheet of G and strengthened hydrogen-bondings among G-CS molecules, which strengthened the stiffness of G-CS. Raman spectra exhibited an increase of G concentration resulted in higher crosslinking of disulfide-bonds in G-CS, which aggrandized the bridging effect of G-CS and maintained its three-dimensional network. Cell viability assay and immuno-fluorescence staining showed that G-CS effectively facilitated the growth and myogenic differentiation of porcine skeletal muscle satellite cells (PSCs). CLSM displayed that cells first occupied the angular space of hexagon and then ring-growth circle of PSCs were orderly formed on G-CS. The texture and color of CMS which loaded proliferated PSCs were fresh-meat like. These results showed that physical cross-linked G-CS scaffolds are the biocompatible and stable adaptable extracellular matrix with appropriate architectural cues and natural micro-environment for structured CM models.

Correlation of vitamin A levels in umbilical cord blood with neonatal pulmonary diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between umbilical cord blood vitamin A (VA) and neonatal lung diseases and explore the impact of umbilical cord blood VA on neonatal lung diseases. METHOD: Umbilical vein blood was collected at birth, and its VA content was measured. According to the VA levels in umbilical cord blood, a VA deficiency (VAD) group, a marginal deficiency group and a normal group were created and followed up until 28 days after birth. RESULTS: The umbilical cord blood VA level in the neonatal group with lung disease was 0.13 ± 0.05 mg/L, while the result for the VA level in the non-lung disease group was 0.15 ± 0.05 mg/L. The umbilical cord blood VA levels in the neonatal lung disease group were significantly lower than those in the non-lung disease group. The incidence of neonatal pulmonary diseases was highest in the VAD group, and the incidence decreased as the level of VA in umbilical cord blood increased. Umbilical cord blood VAD and premature birth were found to be independent risk factors for neonatal respiratory disease. CONCLUSION: Umbilical cord blood VAD and premature birth are independent risk factors for neonatal pulmonary diseases. The lower the level of VA in umbilical cord blood, the more susceptible infants will be to neonatal respiratory infections in the neonatal period.

Density of gap states in CH3NH3PbI3single crystals probed with ultrahigh-sensitivity ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy.

The advantages of methylammonium triiodideplumbate (CH3NH3PbI3)-based organic-inorganic hybrid halide perovskite have led to devices with power conversion efficiencies of >20%. The CH3NH3PbI3structure is prone to be more sensitive towards external effects due to its higher flexibility than inorganic counterparts. Nevertheless, a direct photoemission spectroscopy study is still lacking on the density of gap states (DOGS) influenced by air exposure and synchrotron light-induced degradation. In this paper, we investigate the evolution of electronic structure in CH3NH3PbI3single crystals after air exposure and intense synchrotron light irradiation to reveal the effects on its density of states distribution below and above the valence band maximum (VBM) by using ultrahigh-sensitivity photoelectron spectroscopy. We find that the PbI2compounds, decomposed from CH3NH3PbI3after air exposure, could not affect the DOGS distribution but only give the VBM shift in the high binding energy region, which is dramatically different from the impacts of an impurity found for other organic or inorganic counterparts. A further study using intense synchrotron irradiation confirms the decomposed processes for CH3NH3PbI3: (i) the initial degradation would induce the formation of PbI2, which gives a negligible impact on the DOGS above the VBM; (ii) the continuous intense light irradiation could further degrade PbI2to metallic Pb, in which DOGS appears in the energy bandgap.

Mechanism for doping induced p type C60 using thermally evaporated molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) as a dopant.

Thermally evaporated molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) doped C60 films, which could change n type features of pristine C60 to form a p type mixed C60 layer, are investigated by x-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that C60 HOMO progressively shifts closer to the Fermi level after increased MoO3 doping concentration, and final onset of C60 HOMO is pinned at binding energy of 0.20 eV, indicating the formation of p type C60 films. It is proposed that in charge transfer induced p type C60 formation, due to large electron affinity of MoO3 (6.37 eV), electrons from HOMO of C60 could easily transfer to MoO3 to form cations and therefore increase hole concentration, which could gradually push C60 HOMO to the Fermi level and finally form p type C60 films. Moreover, clear different types of C60 species have been confirmed from UPS spectra in highly doped films.