Adipose-Derived Biogenic Nanoparticles for Suppression of Inflammation.

Extracellular vesicles secreted from adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) have therapeutic effects in inflammatory diseases. However, production of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from ADSCs is costly, inefficient, and time consuming. The anti-inflammatory properties of adipose tissue-derived EVs and other biogenic nanoparticles have not been explored. In this study, biogenic nanoparticles are obtained directly from lipoaspirate, an easily accessible and abundant source of biological material. Compared to ADSC-EVs, lipoaspirate nanoparticles (Lipo-NPs) take less time to process (hours compared to months) and cost less to produce (clinical-grade cell culture facilities are not required). The physicochemical characteristics and anti-inflammatory properties of Lipo-NPs are evaluated and compared to those of patient-matched ADSC-EVs. Moreover, guanabenz loading in Lipo-NPs is evaluated for enhanced anti-inflammatory effects. Apolipoprotein E and glycerolipids are enriched in Lipo-NPs compared to ADSC-EVs. Additionally, the uptake of Lipo-NPs in hepatocytes and macrophages is higher. Lipo-NPs and ADSC-EVs have comparable protective and anti-inflammatory effects. Specifically, Lipo-NPs reduce toll-like receptor 4-induced secretion of inflammatory cytokines in macrophages. Guanabenz-loaded Lipo-NPs further suppress inflammatory pathways, suggesting that this combination therapy can have promising applications for inflammatory diseases.

Numerical method investigation on the aggregation characteristics of non-spherical particles.

Under the background of the mechanical mechanism research of microfluidic technology for separating and screening pipeline particulate matter, this paper proposes an improved relative motion model by combining the multiple reference frame method and the relative motion model. Worked with a quasi-fixed constant method, this model can numerically calculate the aggregation features of non-spherical particles in the low Reynolds number channels. The results demonstrate that when Re = 40~80, ellipsoids exhibit an aggregation trend similar to circular particles with the same diameter as its largest circumscribed sphere. The aggregation position is affected by the ratio of long and short axes of particles, and the distribution trend is determined by the relative size of these particles. When the channel's Reynolds number is less than the critical Reynolds number, the aggregation position of elliptical particles will be closer to the pipe center with the increase in the Reynolds number, which is contrary to the aggregation tendency of circular particles more proximate to the pipe wall with the increase in the Reynolds number. This finding provides a novel idea and method for further exploring the aggregation rules of non-spherical particles and offers substantial guidance for separating and monitoring pipeline particulate matter via microfluidic technology and other related industrial applications.

Tuneable Schottky contact of MoSi2N4/TaS2 van der Waals heterostructure.

The two-dimensional MoSi2N4 monolayer is an emerging semiconductor material that offers considerable promise due to its ultra-thin profile, tuneable mechanical properties, excellent optoelectronic properties and exceptional environmental stability. The van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure formed by stacking such two-dimensional monolayers has demonstrated superior performance across various domains. In this study, a vdW heterostructure combining the two-dimensional MoSi2N4 and TaS2 monolayers is examined using first-principles density functional theory. In its ground state, this van der Waals heterostructure establishes an ohmic contact with an exceptionally low potential barrier height. By modulating the vdW heterostructure with an applied electric field of -0.1 V/Å and under vertical stress, we discovered that MoSi2N4 and TaS2 can transition from an ohmic contact to a p-type Schottky with an ultra-low Schottky barrier height (SBH). Our observations may give valuable insights for designing reconfigurable, tuneable Schottky nano-devices with enhanced electronic and optical properties based on MoSi2N4/TaS2.

[Impact of land use pattern on water quality under different riparian buffer zone scales in Gaya River Basin, Northeast China]. / 不同河岸缓冲区尺度下土地利用方式对嘎呀河流域水质的影响.

River water quality is influenced by land use and landscape distribution patterns. Quantifying the relationship between land use, landscape pattern and water quality factor at different riparian buffer zone scales is of great significance for rational land use planning and water quality improvement. Based on water quality data from 91 sites in May 2021 in the Gaya River Basin, we analyzed the spatial characteristics of land use types and landscape patterns at the riparian buffer zone scales. With redundancy analysis (RDA) and generalized additive models (GAM), we examined the effects of land use and landscape patterns on river water quality. The results showed that water quality was primarily impacted by total nitrogen (TN). Farmland was the dominant land use type at riparian buffer zone of 50, 100 and 500 m. The sampling sites were classified into farmland dominant group and farmland other group. Forest was dominant at riparian buffer zone of 1000, 1500, 2000 m, and the sampling sites were classified into forest dominant group and forest other group. 100 m riparian buffer zone was the strongest scale in the Gaya River, and 1000 m was the second. Land use types in the forest dominant group were closely related with electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, phosphate, permanganate index and ammonium (NH4+-N) of water. NH4+-N was positively correlated with proportion of forest and farmland area. Phosphate was significantly affected by Shannon diversity index (SHDI). SHDI and largest patch index (LPI) was the key landscape indices affecting permanganate index. TN was significantly impacted by area proportion of forest, grassland and LPI in farmland dominant group, showing decreasing trend with the area proportion of forest increasing from 8% to 40%. Total suspended solids in farmland other group were significantly correlated with proportion of farmland area, while negatively correlated with proportion of forest area. Water quality in the Gaya River was mainly affected by proportion of forest area, followed by proportion of farmland area. The combined effects of LPI, SHDI and other land use types played an important role in affecting water quality.

Glide Mobility of a-Type Edge Dislocations in Aluminum Nitride by Molecular Dynamics Simulation.

Classical molecular dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the motion of a-type edge dislocations in wurtzite aluminum nitride (AlN). The nucleation and propagation of kinks are observed via the dislocation extraction algorithm. Our simulation results show that the nucleation energy of the kink pair in AlN is 1.2 eV and that the migration energy is 2.8 eV. The Peierls stress of the 1/3⟨112̅0⟩{101̅0} edge dislocation at 0 K is 15.9 GPa. The viscous motion of dislocations occurs when τ > τ p , and the dislocation velocity is inversely proportional to the temperature and directly proportional to the applied stress. Below room temperature, the value of the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) on the prismatic plane is the lowest, which suggests that the dislocation mobility on the prismatic plane is the easiest. The CRSS on the pyramidal plane is always the highest at all temperatures, which suggests that pyramidal slip is the hardest among these three slip systems.

Experimental Study on the Effect of Urban Road Traffic Noise on Heart Rate Variability of Noise-Sensitive People.

Epidemiological studies have confirmed that long-term exposure to road traffic noise can cause cardiovascular diseases (CDs), and when noise exposure reaches a certain level, the risk of related CDs significantly increases. Currently, a large number of Chinese residents are exposed to high noise exposure, which could greatly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, relevant studies have found that people with high noise sensitivity are more susceptible to noise. And it is necessary to pay more attention to the high noise-sensitive people. This study investigated the acute physiological effect of different noise-sensitive groups by indoor-level noise stimulus experiments under laboratory conditions, by observing heart rate variability (HRV) indicators, including standard deviation of NN intervals (SDNN), low frequency/high frequency (LF/HF), and heart rate (HR). The results showed that (a) there was no significant difference in HRV between the high-sensitive group and the low-sensitive group at the physiological baseline and the different stimulating noise levels. (b) Then, based on the theory of cumulative effect of noise proposed by WHO Regional Office for Europe, non-significant but observable differences between groups were further discussed. By analyzing differences of the variation trends and the within-group significant changes of SDNN and HR between the two groups, the results tended to show that the high-sensitive group is more affected by road traffic noise. In addition, the values of SDNN and HR showed observable between-group differences at 55 dB (A) and 65 dB (A) which corresponding to the SPL associated with a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease concerned by epidemiological studies. According to the cumulative effect theory (WHO), these differences in HRV caused by short-term noise stimulation may have the potential to produce physiological response and lead to between-groups differences in prevalence after long-term recurrent effect, and deserve attention and further research.

Organo-Functionalization: An Effective Method in Enhancing the Separation and Antifouling Performance of Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membranes by Improving the Uniform Dispersion of Palygorskite Nanoparticles.

Recently, palygorskite (Pal) has become a promising new membrane additive in flux enhancement and fouling reduction, which is an environmentally friendly nanoclay material under the 2:1 layer composition with 1D tubular structure. However, the aggregation of Pal due to the intermolecular forces is still an obstacle to be solved in improving membrane performance. Herein, Pal nanoparticles were chemically modified by KH550 to weaken the aggregation and improve the dispersibility, and then incorporated into the organic phase to prepare thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes. The results showed that the organo-functionalization could effectively improve the membrane hydrophilicity and dispersion of Pal nanoparticles in the polyamide layer, which contributed to the enhanced water flux (from 25 to 38 L/m2·h), unchanged salt rejection (98.0%) and better antifouling capacity (91% flux recovery rate), which suggested that the organo-functionalization of nanoparticles was an efficient method in further enhancing membrane performance.

Hydrothermal transformation of geopolymers to bulk zeolite structures for efficient hazardous elements adsorption.

This paper reports a facile route to prepare bulk zeolites with tunable phase compositions and microstructures by combining hydrothermal treatment and geopolymer precursor technique. Amorphous Na-based geopolymer (NaGP) is transformed into crystalline analcime following hydrothermal treatments. By systematically investigating the effects of hydrothermal conditions on the phase compositions and microstructures of the products, the optimal hydrothermal procedure is screened as treating NaGP in 1 M NaOH solution at 160 °C for 6 h. Furthermore, we achieve control over phase compositions of the resulting bulk zeolites by tailoring the initial Na/K ratio of geopolymer precursors. For instance, treating the geopolymer precursor with a Na/K ratio of 9: 1 under the optimal hydrothermal procedure leads to the formation of zeolite consisting of analcime and zeolite-P. The as-prepared adsorbents exhibit outstanding adsorption performance for the hazardous elements, among which analcime-zeolite-P shows an adsorption efficiency of 93.3% for Cs+, and NaGP exhibits an adsorption efficiency of 99.6% for Sr2+. Moreover, we reveal the mechanisms underlying the adsorption of Cs+ and Sr2+ in the adsorbents to be chemisorption. Meanwhile, ion exchanges also occur in NaGP and analcime-zeolite-P during Cs+ adsorption. These results render geopolymers and their derived bulk zeolites promising for hazardous elements adsorption.

Comparison of protein extraction methods from excess activated sludge.

In this study, we used chemical methods (acid-thermal (AT) and alkaline-thermal (AKT)), enzymatic methods (single enzyme (SE) and composite enzyme (CE)) and assisted enzymatic methods (ultrasonic assisted enzyme (USE) and thermal assisted enzyme (TE)) to extract proteins from excess activated sludge. The advantages and applicability of each method were compared and analyzed in terms of their protein extraction rate (RP), energy consumption, material consumption and cost, protein hydrolysates and sludge dewatering performance. The results showed that the RP of the chemical methods were more than 75%, which were much higher than those of the enzymatic methods. Moreover, the RP of SE was significantly strengthened by physical means (ultrasonic or thermal), and the average RP was increased by more than 39% compared with that of enzymatic methods. The energy consumption analysis showed that chemical methods consumed significantly more energy than the enzymatic methods. Further analysis of enzymatic methods and assisted enzymatic methods revealed that although the energy consumption of USE was similar to that of SE, its enzyme consumption and cost were lower. In addition, the proteins extracted by USE had a high content of amino acids, which was suitable for the preparation of animal feed. The proteins extracted by AKT had a high content of polypeptides, which was beneficial to the preparation of a protein foaming agent. Furthermore, the sludge dewatering performance after hydrolyzation by the six hydrolysis methods was significantly improved, which was beneficial to the separation of proteins.

Nanostrip flexible microwave enzymatic biosensor for noninvasive epidermal glucose sensing.

Microwave sensors based on microstrip antennas are promising as wearable devices because of their flexibility and wireless communication compatibility. However, their sensitivity is limited due to the reduced sensor size and the potential of biochemical monitoring needs to be explored. In this work, we present a new concept to enhance the microwave signals using nanostrip-based metamaterials. The introduction of the nanostrip structures was achieved by theory and simulations. Experiments prove their enhancement of the electric field and sensing response in the characteristic gigahertz (GHz) wave band. Ordered nanostrips were fabricated on a plastic substrate through a simple nanoscale printing approach. Glucose oxidase is directly doped into the nanostrips, which enables a flexible wearable enzymatic biosensor for glucose sensing. Sensing experiments demonstrated that the nanostrip biosensor gives excellent performance for glucose detection, including high sensitivity, fast response, low detection limit, high affinity, and low power consumption. The applicability of the nanostrip-based sensor as a wearable epidermal device for real-time noninvasive monitoring of glucose in sweat is verified as well.

Analysis of Hydrodynamic Mechanism on Particles Focusing in Micro-Channel Flows.

In this paper, the hydrodynamic mechanism of moving particles in laminar micro-channel flows was numerically investigated. A hydrodynamic criterion was proposed to determine whether particles in channel flows can form a focusing pattern or not. A simple formula was derived to demonstrate how the focusing position varies with Reynolds number and particle size. Based on this proposed criterion, a possible hydrodynamic mechanism was discussed as to why the particles would not be focused if their sizes were too small or the channel Reynolds number was too low. The Re-λ curve (Re, λ respectively represents the channel-based Reynolds number and the particle's diameter scaled by the channel) was obtained using the data fitting with a least square method so as to obtain a parameter range of the focusing pattern. In addition, the importance of the particle rotation to the numerical modeling for the focusing of particles was discussed in view of the hydrodynamics. This research is expected to deepen the understanding of the particle transport phenomena in bounded flow, either in micro or macro fluidic scope.