Joule-heated graphene-wrapped sponge enables fast clean-up of viscous crude-oil spill.

The clean-up of viscous crude-oil spills is a global challenge. Hydrophobic and oleophilic oil sorbents have been demonstrated as promising candidates for oil-spill remediation. However, the sorption speeds of these oil sorbents for viscous crude oil are rather limited. Herein we report a Joule-heated graphene-wrapped sponge (GWS) to clean-up viscous crude oil at a high sorption speed. The Joule heat of the GWS reduced in situ the viscosity of the crude oil, which prominently increased the oil-diffusion coefficient in the pores of the GWS and thus speeded up the oil-sorption rate. The oil-sorption time was reduced by 94.6% compared with that of non-heated GWS. Besides, the oil-recovery speed was increased because of the viscosity decrease of crude oil. This in situ Joule self-heated sorbent design will promote the practical application of hydrophobic and oleophilic oil sorbents in the clean-up of viscous crude-oil spills.

Advanced Sorbents for Oil-Spill Cleanup: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives.

Oil sorbents play a very important part in the remediation processes of oil spills. To enhance the oil-sorption properties and simplify the oil-recovery process, various advanced oil sorbents and oil-collecting devices based on them have been proposed recently. Here, we firstly discuss the design considerations for the fabrication of oil sorbents and describe recently developed oil sorbents based on modification strategy. Then, recent advances regarding oil sorbents mainly based on carbon materials and swellable oleophilic polymers are also presented. Subsequently, some additional properties are emphasized, which are required by oil sorbents to cope with oil spills under extreme conditions or to facilitate the oil-collection processes. Furthermore, some oil-collection devices based on oil sorbents that have been developed recently are shown. Finally, an outlook and challenges for the next generation of oil-spill-remediation technology based on oil-sorbents materials are given.

A Stretchable Electronic Fabric Artificial Skin with Pressure-, Lateral Strain-, and Flexion-Sensitive Properties.

A stretchable and multiple-force-sensitive electronic fabric based on stretchable coaxial sensor electrodes is fabricated for artificial-skin application. This electronic fabric, with only one kind of sensor unit, can simultaneously map and quantify the mechanical stresses induced by normal pressure, lateral strain, and flexion.

A general chemical transformation route to two-dimensional mesoporous metal selenide nanomaterials by acidification of a ZnSe-amine lamellar hybrid at room temperature.

Two-dimensional inorganic nanomaterials have drawn much attention due to their excellent properties and wide applications associated with unique 2D structures. However, an efficient and versatile chemical synthesis method using ambient conditions for 2D nanomaterials, especially with secondary structures (e.g. mesopores), has still not been reported. Herein, we report a versatile method to synthesize a family of ultrathin and mesoporous nanosheets of metal selenides based on a precursor so-called "red Se remaining Zn" (RSRZ). The principle of our synthesis is based on a template-assisted chemical transformation process via acidification of inorganic-organic hybrid ZnSe(DETA)0.5 nanosheets (DETA: diethylenetriamine). An appropriate amount of acid was added into an aqueous dispersion of ZnSe(DETA)0.5 nanosheets under air for activation. The acidification induced chemical transformation mechanism was studied by tracking the acidification process. This acid controlled reactivity of lamellar hybrids allows it to be possible to capture the highly reactive intermediates, which will provide a new platform for the synthesis of various mesoporous metal selenides.

Capn4 is a marker of poor clinical outcomes and promotes nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis via nuclear factor-κB-induced matrix metalloproteinase 2 expression.

Calpain small subunit 1 (Capn4) plays a key role in tumor migration or invasion. In this study, expression and function of Capn4 was investigated in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Here we report that both mRNA and protein levels of Capn4 were elevated in NPC tissues when compared to normal NP tissues. Similarly, Capn4 was also highly expressed in multiple NPC cell lines, compared to immortalized human nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line NP69. Moreover, expression of Capn4 was significantly correlated with Epstein-Barr virus infection, advanced stages, and lymph node or distant metastasis (P < 0.001). The patients with NPC displaying higher Capn4 had a significantly shorter overall survival (P = 0.002) and progression-free survival (P = 0.003). Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of Capn4 suppressed cell migration and invasion in vitro and in vivo. These events resulted from Capn4 downregulation were associated with reduced expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2), Snail, and Vimentin. Finally, we demonstrated that Capn4 upregulated MMP2 via nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation, manifested by increased phosphorylation of p65, a subunit of NF-κB. Together, these findings argue a novel function of Capn4 in invasion and metastasis of NPC, and thereby suggest that Capn4 may represent an independent prognostic factor and a potential therapeutic target in NPC.

[Comparative analysis on the configuration of vegetative organs of medicinal Chrysanthemum from different original locations and species].

OBJECTIVE: Compared the difference of the configuration of vegetative organs of medicinal Chrysanthemum in the same habitats but from various original locations and species, in order to provide scientific basis for the study of introduction, differentiation within the species, breeding and genetic diversity. METHODS: The experimental plot were divided into some groups randomly in design and the configuration of vegetative organs were observed, measureed and analysed. RESULTS: The differences of the type and shape of the leaves were obvious. All the Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Gongju' had deep notch long-leaves; Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Boju', Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Chuju', Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Hang bai ju' and Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Hang huang ju' had deep notch correctitude-leaves; Chrysanthemum nakingense and Chrysanthemum indicum had long-leaves; Chrysanthemum indicum had clump-leaves. All the 12 medicinal Dendranthema material had auricle except Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Boju' and Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Chuju'. The young leaves of Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Gongju', Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Gongju' and Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. 'Hang bai ju' did not split and the rest were all splitting. CONCLUSION: The differences of the configuration of vegetative organs were obvious and the Key of Vegetative organs was built.