Functionalized lignin nanoparticles assembled with MXene reinforced polypropylene with favorable UV-aging resistance, electromagnetic shielding effects and superior fire-safety.

Deterioration in mechanical performances and aging resistance due to the introduction of flame retardants is a major obstacle for bio-based fire-safety polypropylene (PP). Herein, we reported a kind of functionalized lignin nanoparticles assembled with MXene (MX@LNP), and applied it to construct the flame-retardant PP composites (PP-MA) with superior fire safety, excellent mechanical performance, electromagnetic shielding effects and aging resistance. Specifically, the PP-MA doped with only 18 wt% flame-retardant additives (PP-MA18) achieved the UL-94 V-0 rating. In comparison to pure PP, PP-MA18 presented a greatly decreased peak of heat release rate (pHRR), total heat rate (THR), and peak smoke production rate (pSPR) by 79.7 %, 69.0 % and 75.8 %, respectively, and satisfactory decrease in total flammable and toxic volatiles evolved. The formed fine solid microstructure of carbon residuals effectively promoted the compactness of char layers. More importantly, the nano-effect and the strong interface interaction between the complexed MX@LNP and PP enhanced the tensile strength (45.78 MPa) and elongation at break (725.95 %) of PP-MA. Additionally, the significant ultraviolet absorption and electromagnetic wave dissipation performance of MXene and lignin enabled excellent aging resistance and electromagnetic shielding effects of PP-MA compared with PP. This achieved MX@LNP afforded a novel approach for developing flame retardant materials with excellent application performance.

Injectable Asymmetric Adhesive-Antifouling Bifunctional Hydrogel for Peritoneal Adhesion Prevention.

Peritoneal adhesion is a common problem after abdominal surgery and can lead to various medical problems. In response to the lack of in situ retention and pro-wound healing properties of existing anti-adhesion barriers, this work reports an injectable adhesive-antifouling bifunctional hydrogel (AAB-hydrogel). This AAB-hydrogel can be constructed by "two-step" injection. The tissue adhesive hydrogel based on gallic acid-modified chitosan and aldehyde-modified dextran is prepared as the bottom hydrogel (B-hydrogel) by Schiff base reaction. The aldehyde-modified zwitterionic dextran/carboxymethyl chitosan-based hydrogel is formed on the B-hydrogel surface as the antifouling top hydrogel (T-hydrogel). The AAB-hydrogel exhibits good bilayer binding and asymmetric properties, including tissue adhesive, antifouling, and antimicrobial properties. To evaluate the anti-adhesion effect in vivo, the prepared hydrogels are injected onto the wound surface of a mouse abdominal wall abrasion-cecum defect model. Results suggest that the AAB-hydrogel has antioxidant capacity and can reduce the postoperative inflammatory response by modulating the macrophage phenotype. Moreover, the AAB-hydrogel could effectively inhibit the formation of postoperative adhesions by reducing protein deposition, and resisting fibroblast adhesions and bacteria attacking. Therefore, AAB-hydrogel is a promising candidate for the prevention of postoperative peritoneal adhesions.

Poly(ether ether ketone) Conferred Polyolefin Separators with High Dimensional Thermal Stability for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

The traditional polyolefin separators used in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are plagued by limitations such as poor wetting of electrolytes and insufficient thermal stability, hindering the progress of LIBs. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a modified phase inversion technique to efficiently and durably coat polyolefin separators with poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK). The resulting PEEK-coated polyolefin separators exhibit mechanical properties similar to those of unmodified polyolefin separators, with comparable tensile strength and modulus. Furthermore, the PEEK coating provides outstanding thermal stability, as the modified separators maintain their stability even at temperatures up to 200 °C, which is among the best results reported for polyolefin-based separators. In addition, the PEEK coating enhances ionic conductivity by more than 100% compared to polyolefin counterparts, leading to significant improvement in the electrochemical performance of prototype half cells. The modified phase inversion technique presented here offers a practical solution for coating polyolefin separators with functional polymers, paving the way for next-generation separator materials.

Targeted Therapies in Lung Cancers: Current Landscape and Future Prospects.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the most common malignant cancer worldwide. Targeted therapies have emerged as a promising treatment strategy for lung cancers. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the current landscape of targets and find promising targets for future new drug discovery for lung cancers, this research identified the science-technology-clinical development pattern and mapped the interaction network of targets. METHODS: Targets for cancers were classified into 3 groups based on a paper published in Nature. We searched for scientific pieces of literature, patent documents and clinical trials of targets in Group 1 and Group 2 for lung cancers. Then, a target-target interaction network of Group 1 was constructed, and the science-technology-clinical (S-T-C) development patterns of targets in Group 1 were identified. Finally, based on the cluster distribution and the development pattern of targets in Group 1, interactions between the targets were employed to predict potential targets in Group 2 for drug development. RESULTS: The target-target interaction (TTI) network of group 1 resulted in 3 clusters with different developmental stages. The potential targets in Group 2 are divided into 3 ranks. Level-1 is the first priority and level-3 is the last. Level-1 includes 16 targets, such as STAT3, CRKL, and PTPN11, that are mostly involved in signaling transduction pathways. Level-2 and level-3 contain 8 and 6 targets, respectively, related to various biological functions. CONCLUSION: This study will provide references for drug development in lung cancers, emphasizing that priorities should be given to targets in Level-1, whose mechanisms are worth further exploration.

IFN-γ Activates the TLR4-CCL5 Signaling Through Reducing Arginine Level, Leading to Enhanced Susceptibility of Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells to Staphylococcus aureus.

Dairy cow mastitis is a common bacterial infectious disease which seriously threatens the development of the dairy cow industry. Previous studies have found that increased IFN-γ expression in dairy cows makes dairy cows more susceptible to mastitis, but the underlying mechanism is still not known. In this study, we utilized the in vitro bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) model to explore the molecular mechanism via transcriptome sequencing technology, immunofluorescence, and Western blotting. It was found that IFN-γ promoted the adhesion and invasion of Staphylococcus aureus to BMECs through increasing the expression of TLR4-mediated CCL5 in BMECs. IFN-γ increased the activity of arginase II and reduced the level of arginine in cells, while the addition of arginine inhibited the expression of TLR4 and CCL5. An invasion experiment in mice further validated that IFN-γ treatment significantly increased the bacterial load in mammary glands and blood. However, the colonization and diffusion of S. aureus were interestingly decreased after Arg supplement. These data reveal that increased IFN-γ reduces arginine levels and activates TLR4-CCL5 signaling, leading to enhanced susceptibility of BMECs to S. aureus. Our findings are helpful to understand the pathogenesis of dairy cow mastitis and provide a theoretical basis for improvement of mastitis resistance in dairy cows.

Poly(arylene ether sulfone) crosslinked networks with pillar[5]arene units grafted by multiple long-chain quaternary ammonium salts for anion exchange membranes.

Several high-molecular-weight pillar[5]arene-containing poly(arylene ether sulfone) polymers were synthesized for the first time. Through grafting and crosslinking approaches, networks consisting of the molecular chains bearing multiple long-chain quaternary amine salts were fabricated. For the crosslinked membranes, high conductivity and low swelling were achieved even at low ion exchange capacity.

Establishment and comparison of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae experimental infection model in mice and piglets.

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) causes porcine pleuropneumonia, a disease responsible for substantial losses in the worldwide pig industry. In this study, outbred Kunming (KM) and Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice were evaluated as alternative mice models for APP research. After intranasal infection of serotype 5 reference strain L20, there was less lung damage and a lower clinical sign score in ICR compared to KM mice. However, ICR mice showed more obvious changes in body weight loss, the amount of immune cells (such as neutrophils and lymphocytes) and cytokines (such as IL-6, IL-1ß and TNF-α) in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). The immunological changes observed in ICR mice closely mimicked those found in piglets infected with L20. While both ICR and KM mice are susceptible to APP and induce pathological lesions, we suggest that ICR and KM mice are more suitable for immunological and pathogenesis studies, respectively. The research lays the theoretical basis for determine that mice could replace pigs as the APP infection model and it is of significance for the study of APP infection in the laboratory.

Nickel cobaltite nanosheets coated on metal-organic framework-derived mesoporous carbon nanofibers for high-performance pseudocapacitors.

Core-shell structured carbon nanofiber@metal oxide is one of the most promising hybrid electrodes as supercapacitors, in which the pseudocapacitive metal oxides can be fully exerted and stabilized on the carbonaceous scaffolds. However, facile fabrication of mesoporous carbon nanofibers and integration of them with metal oxides are challenging. Herein, we report a new type of mesoporous carbon nanofibers (MCNs), derived from zinc-trimesic acid fibers, acting as the scaffolds to anchor nickel cobaltite (NiCo2O4) nanosheets after surface O-functionalization. The resultant core-shell OMCN@NiCo2O4 nanostructure is demonstrated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), elemental mapping, bright-field/high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) studies. The anchored NiCo2O4 nanosheets are dense (97.4%), and have a strong interaction with OMCN, as revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and H2-temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR) techniques. As expected, the OMCN@NiCo2O4 is highly efficient, showing a high specific capacitance of 1631 F g-1 at the current density of 1 A g-1, excellent rate capability and superior cycling stability up to 5000 cycles within a high capacitance retention ratio of 94.5%. This research opens the avenue to fabricate high-efficiency carbon-metal oxide electrodes using metal-organic framework fiber-derived mesoporous carbon nanofibers and integration of them with NiCo2O4 nanosheets by increasing the interfacial interaction.

Construction of core-shell mesoporous carbon nanofiber@nickel cobaltite nanostructures as highly efficient catalysts towards 4-nitrophenol reduction.

We herein report small sized nickel cobaltite (NiCo2O4) nanosheets (103-144 nm × 71-97 nm) firmly coated on mesoporous carbon nanofibers (MCNFs), as active and stable catalysts for degradation of 4-nitrophenol in sewage with NaBH4 as the reductant. MCNFs with surface O-functionalities were first constructed by morphology-conserved transformation of zinc-trimesic acid fibers, which provide scaffolds to anchor trisodium citrate-induced Ni-Co hydroxide nanosheets. Upon calcination, the resultant core-shell MCNF@NiCo2O4 nanostructures were fabricated and characterized by SEM, TEM, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and N2 adsorption/desorption techniques. The anchored NiCo2O4 nanosheets were dense (75 wt%) but well-dispersed on the surface of MCNF (pore size 4.0 nm), and proved to be highly active and stable towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol. It showed a large activity factor of 2.53 s-1 g-1, exceeding most transition metal oxide catalysts, and MCNF@NiCo2O4 could be cycled at least 20 times without obvious loss of activity. Temperature-programmed desorption and reduction by hydrogen (H2-TPD and H2-TPR) studies showed that, the metal oxide dispersion and thereby the amount of H2 adsorbed were enhanced, and the interfacial interaction was also strengthened. These should be responsible for the excellent activity and stability of MCNF@NiCo2O4 towards 4-nitrophenol reduction.

[Spectroscopy analysis of sulfonated poly (arylene ether ketone sulfone) on side chain for proton exchange membrane].

A series of poly (arylene ether ketone sulfone) s containing different amino content (Am-PAEKS) were prepared via direct polycondensation reactions, and then the sulfobutyl groups were grafted onto the Am-PAEKS by amidating reaction between the amide groups in Am-PAEKS and carboxylic acid groups in 4-(N-butane sulfonic) aminobenzoic acid. The structures of the compounds and the polymer were confirmed by FTIR and H-NMR. The new characteristic bands at 1 239 and 1 060 cm(-1) were assigned to O=S=O symmetric stretching vibration and asymmetric stretching vibration of the sulfonic groups in sulfonated poly (arylene ether ketone sulfone) on side chain (S-SPAEKS), and the structures of the polymers were further confirmed by 1H NMR spectra, and the proton peak at 1.64 ppm was assigned to the methyl in the middle of the pendant sulfonated aliphatic side chains, which show that the S-SPAEKS had been prepared successfully. In TGA curves we can observe two distinct weight loss steps, the first step was mainly attributed to the splitting-off of the sulfonic acid groups at 300 degrees C, and the second step was mainly attributed to the decomposition of the main chain of the S-SPAEKS at 450 degrees C. This series of SSPAEKS polymers exhibit excellent thermal properties by thermo gravimetric analysis, which can satisfy the basic requirements of proton exchange membrane (PEM) for fuel cells.