Photocurable bioresorbable adhesives as functional interfaces between flexible bioelectronic devices and soft biological tissues.

Flexible electronic/optoelectronic systems that can intimately integrate onto the surfaces of vital organ systems have the potential to offer revolutionary diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities relevant to a wide spectrum of diseases and disorders. The critical interfaces between such technologies and living tissues must provide soft mechanical coupling and efficient optical/electrical/chemical exchange. Here, we introduce a functional adhesive bioelectronic-tissue interface material, in the forms of mechanically compliant, electrically conductive, and optically transparent encapsulating coatings, interfacial layers or supporting matrices. These materials strongly bond both to the surfaces of the devices and to those of different internal organs, with stable adhesion for several days to months, in chemistries that can be tailored to bioresorb at controlled rates. Experimental demonstrations in live animal models include device applications that range from battery-free optoelectronic systems for deep-brain optogenetics and subdermal phototherapy to wireless millimetre-scale pacemakers and flexible multielectrode epicardial arrays. These advances have immediate applicability across nearly all types of bioelectronic/optoelectronic system currently used in animal model studies, and they also have the potential for future treatment of life-threatening diseases and disorders in humans.

Enhancing the efficacy of electrolytic chlorination for ballast water treatment by adding carbon dioxide.

We examined the synergistic effects of CO2 injection on electro-chlorination in disinfection of plankton and bacteria in simulated ballast water. Chlorination was performed at dosages of 4 and 6ppm with and without CO2 injection on electro-chlorination. Testing was performed in both seawater and brackish water quality as defined by IMO G8 guidelines. CO2 injection notably decreased from the control the number of Artemia franciscana, a brine shrimp, surviving during a 5-day post-treatment incubation (1.8 and 2.3 log10 reduction in seawater and brackish water, respectively at 6ppm TRO+CO2) compared with water electro-chlorinated only (1.2 and 1.3 log10 reduction in seawater and brackish water, respectively at 6ppm TRO). The phytoplankton Tetraselmis suecica, was completely disinfected with no live cell found at >4ppm TRO with and without CO2 addition. The effects of CO2 addition on heterotrophic bacterial growth was not different from electro-chlorination only. Total residual oxidant concentration (TRO) more rapidly declined in electro-chlorination of both marine and brackish waters compared to chlorine+CO2 treated waters, with significantly higher amount of TRO being left in waters treated with the CO2 addition. Total concentration of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) measured at day 0 in brackish water test were found to be 2- to 3-fold higher in 6ppm TRO+CO2-treated water than in 6ppm TRO treated water. The addition of CO2 to electro-chlorination may improve the efficiency of this sterilizing treatment of ballast water, yet the increased production of some disinfection byproducts needs further study.

Perovskite-nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube composite as bifunctional catalysts for rechargeable lithium-air batteries.

Developing an effective bifunctional catalyst is a significant issue, as rechargeable metal-air batteries are very attractive for future energy systems. In this study, a facile one-pot process is introduced to prepare an advanced bifunctional catalyst (op-LN) incorporating nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) into perovskite La0.5 Sr0.5 Co0.8 Fe0.2 O3 nanoparticles (LSCF-NPs). Confirmed by half-cell testing, op-LN exhibits synergistic effects of LSCF-NP and NCNT with excellent bifunctionality for both the oxygen reduction reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction. Furthermore, op-LN exhibits comparable performances in these reactions to Pt/C and Ir/C, respectively, which highlights its potential for use as a commercially viable bifunctional catalyst. Moreover, the results obtained by testing op-LN in a practical Li-air battery demonstrate improved and complementary charge/discharge performance compared to those of LSCF-NP and NCNT, and this confirms that simply prepared op-LN is a promising candidate as a highly effective bifunctional catalyst for rechargeable metal-air batteries.

Targeted metabolomics for Aspergillus oryzae-mediated biotransformation of soybean isoflavones, showing variations in primary metabolites.

This study aimed to investigate the biotransformation of soybean isoflavones to hydroxyisoflavones, and the primary and secondary metabolite change during Aspergillus oryzae KACC40247-mediated fermentation by gas chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry and LC-MS with multivariate analysis. The mass spectrometric analysis revealed that acetylglycosides and glycosides decreased during the first 12 h of fermentation, while the aglycones increased up to that time point. This was followed by a decrease in aglycone levels due to the formation of hydroxyisoflavones. The hydroxyflavones, 8-hydroxydaidzein, hydroxygenistein, and hydroxyglycitein, resulting from the biotransformation of the corresponding aglycones, increased up to 24 h, and then subsequently decreased. During fermentation, the levels of monosaccharides, aspartic acid, pyroglutamic acid, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and organic acids gradually decreased, whereas the levels of threonine, serine, and glycine increased. Hydroxyisoflavone was more strongly correlated with antioxidant activity than the other metabolites. Our results suggest that biotransformation has the potential to improve the nutritional properties of soy-based food.