Phytic Acid-Functional Cellulose Nanocrystals and Their Application in Self-Healing Nanocomposite Hydrogels.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have garnered significant attention as a modifiable substrate because of their exceptional performances, including remarkable degradability, high tensile strength, high elastic modulus, and biocompatibility. In this article, the successful adsorption of phytic acid (PA) onto the surface of cellulose nanocrystals @polydopamine (CNC@PDA) was achieved. Taking inspiration from mussels, a dopamine self-polymerization reaction was employed to coat the surface of CNCs with PDA. Utilizing Pickering emulsion, the CNC@PDA-PA nanomaterial was obtained by grafting PA onto CNC@PDA. An environmentally friendly hydrogel was prepared through various reversible interactions using poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and Fe3+ as raw materials with the assistance of CNC@PDA-PA. By multiple hydrogen bonding and metal-ligand coordination, nanocomposite hydrogels exhibit remarkable mechanical properties (the tensile strength and strain were 1.82 MPa and 442.1%, respectively) in addition to spectacular healing abilities (96.6% after 5 h). The study aimed to develop an innovative approach for fabricating nanocomposite hydrogels with exceptional self-healing capabilities.

Disruption of the gastric epithelial barrier in Correa's cascade: Clinical evidence via confocal endomicroscopy.

BACKGROUND: Gastric epithelial barrier disruption constitutes a crucial step in gastric cancer (GC). We investigated these disruptions during the Correa's cascade timeline to correlate epithelial barrier dysfunction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted as a single-center, non-randomized clinical trial in China from May 2019 to October 2022. Patients with chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG), gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM), low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (LGIN), high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN), and intramucosal carcinoma underwent probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE). The pCLE scoring system was used to assess gastric epithelial barrier disruption semi-quantitatively. RESULTS: We enrolled 95 patients who underwent a pCLE examination. The control group consisted of 15 individuals, and the experimental group included 17 patients with CAG, 27 patients with GIM, 20 patients with LGIN, and 16 patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). Apart from CAG, which showed no significant difference compared to the control group, a significantly higher incidence of gastric epithelial barrier damage was found in the GIM, LGIN, and EGC groups compared to the control group (Kruskal-Wallis H test = 69.295, p < 0.001). There is no difference in LGIN patients between GIM and LGIN areas, and there is no difference between the two groups compared with the EGC group. The intestinal metaplasia area in LGIN patients causes more severe gastric epithelial damage compared to that in non-LGIN patients. Additionally, compared to control group, a significant difference (p < 0.001) was noted between individuals with Helicobacter pylori-positive atrophic gastritis and those with IM, whereas no significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed among individuals with H. pylori-negative atrophic gastritis. CONCLUSIONS: The gastric epithelial barrier remains dysfunctional from the initiation of H. pylori infection to GC progression. Beyond the "point of no return," subsequent carcinogenesis processes may be attributed to other mechanisms.

Structural Element of Vitamin U-Mimicking Antibacterial Polypeptide with Ultrahigh Selectivity for Effectively Treating MRSA Infections.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) exhibit mighty antibacterial properties without inducing drug resistance. Achieving much higher selectivity of AMPs towards bacteria and normal cells has always been a continuous goal to be pursued. Herein, a series of sulfonium-based polypeptides with different degrees of branching and polymerization were synthesized by mimicking the structure of vitamin U. The polypeptide, G2 -PM-1H+ , shows both potent antibacterial activity and the highest selectivity index of 16000 among the reported AMPs or peptoids (e.g., the known index of 9600 for recorded peptoid in "Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 6412."), which can be attributed to the high positive charge density of sulfonium and the regulation of hydrophobic chains in the structure. The antibacterial mechanisms of G2 -PM-1H+ are primarily ascribed to the interaction with the membrane, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and disfunction of ribosomes. Meanwhile, altering the degree of alkylation leads to selective antibacteria against either gram-positive or gram-negative bacteria in a mixed-bacteria model. Additionally, both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that G2 -PM-1H+ exhibited superior efficacy against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) compared to vancomycin. Together, these results show that G2 -PM-1H+ possesses high biocompatibility and is a potential pharmaceutical candidate in combating bacteria significantly threatening human health.

Multi-axial Self-driven X-ray Detection by a Two-dimensional Biaxial Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Perovskite Ferroelectric.

Metal halide perovskite ferroelectrics combining spontaneous polarization and excellent semiconducting properties is an ideal platform for enabling self-driven X-ray detection, however, achievements to date have been only based on uniaxiality, which increases the complexity of device fabrication. Multi-axial ferroelectric materials have multiple equivalent polarization directions, making them potentially amenable to multi-axial self-driven X-ray detection, but the report on these types of materials is still a huge blank. Herein, a high-quality (BA)2(EA)2Pb3I10 (1) biaxial ferroelectric single crystal was successfully grown, which exhibited significant spontaneous polarization along the c-axis and b-axis. Under X-ray irradiation, bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) was exhibited along both the c-axis and b-axis, with open circuit voltages (Voc) of 0.23 V and 0.22 V, respectively. Then, the BPVE revealed along the inversion of polarized direction with the polarized electric fields. Intriguingly, due to the BPVE of 1, 1 achieved multi-axial self-driven X-ray detection for the first time (c-axis and b-axis) with relatively high sensitivities and ultralow detection limits (17.2 nGyair s-1 and 19.4 nGyair s-1, respectively). This work provides a reference for the subsequent use of multi-axial ferroelectricity for multi-axial self-driven optoelectronic detection.

The development of priority decision model for old urban community renovation in China.

Old urban community renovation is an important task of urban renewal in China. In order to ensure the quality and efficiency of renovation work, the government requires a method to assess the priority for old urban community renovation. This paper proposes an evaluation model from a more comprehensive perspective. It establishes the evaluation index system with CIPP model. The method of Cloud-VIKOR is selected to construct the evaluation model. Finally, selects nine case communities to verify the evaluation model. The results show that the evaluation index system covers the whole process of renovation project and the evaluation indexes proposed in the existing research. The priority decision result of 9 case communities is basically consistent with the actual renovation sequence and does not change greatly due to the fluctuation of decision-making mechanism coefficient or the evaluation index weight. This evaluation model can help decision-makers diagnose and optimize the renovation project.

Fabrication of anti-freezing and self-healing nanocomposite hydrogels based on phytic acid and cellulose nanocrystals for high strain sensing applications.

For hydrogel-based flexible sensors, it is a challenge to enhance the stability at sub-zero temperatures while maintaining good self-healing properties. Herein, an anti-freezing nanocomposite hydrogel with self-healing properties and conductivity was designed by introducing cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and phytic acid (PA). The CNCs were grafted with polypyrrole (PPy) by chemical oxidation, which were used as the nanoparticle reinforcement phase to reinforce the mechanical strength of hydrogels (851.8%). PA as a biomass material could form strong hydrogen bond interactions with H2O molecules, endowing hydrogels with prominent anti-freezing properties. Based on the non-covalent interactions, the self-healing rate of the hydrogels reached 92.9% at -15 °C as the content of PA was 40.0 wt%. Hydrogel-based strain sensors displayed high sensitivity (GF = 0.75), rapid response time (350 ms), good conductivity (3.1 S m-1) and stability at -15 °C. Various human movements could be detected by using them, including small (smile and frown) and large changes (elbow and knee bending). This work provides a promising method for the development of flexible wearable sensors that work stably in frigid environments.

Design of Cellulose Nanocrystal-Based Self-Healing Nanocomposite Hydrogels and Application in Motion Sensing and Sweat Detection.

Hydrogels, as flexible materials, have been widely used in the field of flexible sensors. Human sweat contains a variety of biomarkers that can reflect the physiological state of the human body. Therefore, it is of great practical significance and application value to realize the detection of sweat composition and combine it with human motion sensing through a hydrogel. Based on mussel-inspired chemistry, polydopamine (PDA) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were coated on the surface of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) to obtain CNC-based nanocomposites (CNCs@PDA-Au), which could simultaneously enhance the mechanical, electrochemical, and self-healing properties of hydrogels. The CNCs@PDA-Au was composited with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel to obtain the nanocomposite hydrogel (PVA/CNCs@PDA-Au) by freeze-thaw cycles. The PVA/CNCs@PDA-Au has excellent mechanical strength (7.2 MPa) and self-healing properties (88.3%). The motion sensors designed with PVA/CNCs@PDA-Au exhibited a fast response time (122.9 ms), wide strain sensing range (0-600.0%), excellent stability, and fatigue resistance. With the unique electrochemical redox properties of uric acid, the designed hydrogel sensor successfully realized the detection of uric acid in sweat with a wide detection range (1.0-100.0 µmol/L) and low detection limit (0.42 µmol/L). In this study, the dual detection of human motion and uric acid in sweat was successfully realized by the designed PVA/CNCs@PDA-Au nanocomposite hydrogel.

CLC-3 regulates TGF-ß/smad signaling pathway to inhibit the process of fibrosis in hypertrophic scar.

Objective: To study the role and mechanism of chloride channel-3 (ClC-3) in the formation of hypertrophic scar by constructing ClC-3 interference vectors and examining their effects on human hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (HSFB). Methods: Human HSFB and human normal skin fibroblasts (NSFB) were used in this study, and ClC-3 interference vectors were constructed to transfect cells. ClC-3 inhibitors NPPB and Tamoxifen were used to treat cells. Cell migration and the expression of TGF-ß/Smad, CollagenⅠ,CollagenⅢ were examined to explore the role of ClC-3 in the formation of hypertrophic scar. Results: Compared with the normal skin tissue, the positive expression of ClC-3 and TGF-ß in the scar tissue was significantly increased. The relative expression of ClC-3 and TGF-ß1 in HSFB cells was higher than that in NSFB cells. Interfering with the expression of CLC-3 can inhibit the migration of HSFB cells and the expression of TGF- ß/Smad, CollagenⅠ/Ⅲ. The experiment of HSFB cells treated by CLC-3 inhibitors can also obtain similar results. Conclusion: Inhibiting CLC-3 can reduce the formation of hypertrophic scars.

In Situ Generation of H2O2 over MoOx Decorated on Cu2O@CuO Core-Shell Particle Nanoarchitectonics for Boosting Photocatalytic Oxidative Desulfurization.

Photocatalytic oxidation desulfurization (PODS) has emerged as a promising, ecofriendly alternative to traditional, energy-intensive fuel desulfurization methods. Nevertheless, its progress is still hindered due to the slow sulfide oxidation kinetics in the current catalytic systems. Herein, we present a MoOx decorated on a Cu2O@CuO core-shell catalyst, which enables a new, efficient PODS pathway by in situ generation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with saturated moist air as the oxidant source. The photocatalyst delivers remarkable specific activity in oxidizing dibenzothiophene (DBT), achieving a superior rate of 7.8 mmol g-1 h-1, while maintaining a consistent performance across consecutive reuses. Experimental investigations reveal that H2O2 is produced through the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and both H2O2 and the hydroxyl radicals (•OH) generated from it act as the primary reactive species responsible for sulfide oxidation. Importantly, our catalyst accomplishes complete PODS of real diesel fuel, underscoring an appealing industrial prospect for our photocatalyst.