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Optimal exposure and interaction of subunit antigens with the immune system are crucial for effective immunity. The epidermis and dermis, which harbor a significant population of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and are broadly connected to the lymphatic system, serve as ideal sites for immunization to fulfill these objectives. However, the stratum corneum barrier severely hinders transdermal delivery of antigens. Here, we developed a transdermal platform integrating yeast-derived biomimetic glucan particles (GPs) and polymeric microneedles to overcome the hurdles and induce effective immunity. GPs served as carriers for encapsulating antigens in a pathogen-like manner. The antigen-loaded particles were concentrated within the tips of polymeric microneedle to solidify as tiny reservoirs, while the needle bodies were shaped using a fast-dissolving matrix. This tip-loaded approach enabled rapid administration for better compliance, followed by an extended antigen release at administration sites, aiming for recruiting more APCs. This microscale platform capacitated a multi-functional approach for subunit vaccine development by optimizing both delivery carriers and dosage forms with modulated release mechanisms to enhance antigen exposure and interaction, thereby promoting effective humoral and cellular immunity. [Display omitted] • The integration of glucan particles and polymeric microneedles enhances immune effects of subunit vaccines. • A tip-loaded approach in microneedle fabrication allows rapid administration while facilitating extended antigen release. • Amplified antigen exposure and antigen interaction with the immune system unlock the gateway to robust immune responses. • A microscale transdermal platform integrating multifunctional strategies ensures generalizability in delivering subunit antigens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ion current rectification (ICR) is one of the electrodynamic properties in asymmetric nanochannels, which has been utilized to develop biosensors, heavy metal ion detection, and ion diodes. Previous studies on ICR mainly focused on long nanopores (length >500 nm), and relatively few studies on ion rectification performance in short nanopores. Here, we use a finite element numerical solution to simulate the effect of coupling asymmetric temperature and surface charge distribution on the ion rectification performance of ultrashort conical nanopores (length = 100 nm). The results show that the ion rectification performance is significantly improved when the inner and outer surfaces of the nanopore are charged non-uniformly, which is more than three times that when the inner surface of the nanopore is charged non-uniformly or the outer surface is charged non-uniformly. In addition, the positive temperature difference enhances the ion enrichment and dissipation and improves the ion rectification performance of nanopores. On the contrary, negative temperature difference inhibits ion enrichment and dissipation in pores, which is not conducive to improving ion rectification performance. Abnormal behavior is observed for nanopores non-uniform charged only on the outer wall surface, where the negative temperature gradient enhances the accumulation and dissipation of ions within the pores, thereby increasing the rectification ratio. In addition, in order to more clearly understand the ion transport behavior in the ultrashort nanopore under asymmetric temperature conditions, we further investigated the influence of the tip radius of the nanopore, the solution volume concentration, and the charge type of each surface charge distribution on the ion current rectification performance. The results reveal the ion transport mechanism of ultrashort conical nanopores and provide practical guidance for designing and optimizing nanofluidic devices. [Display omitted] • Ion current rectification (ICR) performance in ultrashort conical nanopores was investigated. • ICR performance can be improved by configurating the surface charge density. • Temperature distribution has an important impact on ICR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Empirical Mode Decomposition has trouble in finding dividing point and mode mixing. • Multi-scale eigenvalues is useful to restrain the mode mixing in filtering. • Autocorrelation ratio can help find the dividing point. Geomagnetic signals are susceptible to random magnetic signals and short-term, high-amplitude magnetic signals. These interferences can bring nonlinear error and degrade the navigation accuracy. Traditional Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) can reduce the nonlinear error of geomagnetic signal. However, with the mode mixing and the poor stability of finding dividing point by using energy criterion, traditional EMD filter is limited. In this paper, multi-scale eigenvalues EMD (ME-EMD) is proposed. To solve the problem of mode mixing, multi-scale eigenvalues are analyzed to extract the interference signal. To find the precise dividing point, autocorrelation ratio is defined. ME-EMD estimates the SNR of intrinsic mode function (IMF) and finds the dividing point. Experiments demonstrate that ME-EMD can restrain the mode mixing and find the optimal dividing point, and the filter effect of ME-EMD is better than EMD with morphology, and Modified Ensemble EMD, etc., when the geomagnetic signal is interfered by transient signal. ME-EMD reduced the Root Mean Square Error from 23.3041 µT to 1.2689 µT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Intestinal T-cell and NK/T- cell lymphomas are rare and aggressive. The diagnosis is quite difficult, especial in biopsy specimens. This study investigates the clinicopathological features of intestinal T-cell and NK/T-cell lymphomas to aid their differential diagnosis. Methods Clinical data of 27 cases were collected. Including extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTCL-N), monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma (MEITL), peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL, NOS), anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, ALK+ (ALCL, ALK+) and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL). The histologic features, immunohistochemical findings, T-cell receptor gene rearrangement results, and follow-up data were analyzed, with review of literature. Results The age of the patients (N = 27) was 15-85 years (mean, 47.5 years), and male:female ratio, 3.5:1. Abdominal pain and B symptoms were the most common symptoms. Although 85.2% of the patients were in clinical stage I-II, 59.3% died within 1 year. MEITL showed certain distinctive clinic opathological features from ENKTCL-N. Compared to lesions at other sites, there were no differences in the morphological features, immunophenotype and TCR gene rearrangement of intestinal ENKTCL-N, PTCL, NOS, ALCL, ALK+ and AITL. Conclusion Intestinal T-cell and NK/T-cell lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of lymphomas. They could be classified to 5 histological subtypes in our study. ENKTCL-N and MEITL formed the majority of the tumor types. Each subtype has distinctive pathological features, but most of them have diamal prognosis. Highlights • Intestinal T-cell and NK/T-cell lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of lymphomas. • ENKTCL-N and MEITL formed the majority of the tumor types. • MEITL showed certain distinctive clinicopathological features from ENKTCL-N. • Each type has distinctive features, but most of them have dismal prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effects of channel shape and surface charge on the ion current rectification in asymmetric nanochannels were comprehensively investigated. • Simple increase or decrease of the spatial size will not beneficial for improving the ICR performance. • The specified asymmetric surface charge on the outer wall surface can strongly enhance the ICR performance. • The research results provide essential insights on the ion transport and useful guidelines for the design and performance optimization of biological sensors and nanofluidic devices. Ion current rectification (ICR) in nanochannels has attracted increasing attention for its great potential in the applications of ionic circuits and biological sensors. Herein, the influence of nanochannel shape and surface charge on the ion transport and ICR performance of asymmetric nanochannels was numerically investigated. Firstly, three asymmetric nanochannels with different shapes (bullet, conical, and trumpet) were constructed to investigate the spatial size effect on the ICR behavior. And then selected the best-performing one to further analyze the effect of the surface charge on the ICR. In the investigation of spatial size effect, it is found that the increases and the decreases of spatial size will not be beneficial for improving the ICR performance and the conical nanochannel exhibits the best performance. In the investigation of surface charge effect, it is found that specified asymmetric surface charge on the outer wall surface enhances the corresponding ICR performance, revealing the cooperative role with inner wall surface charge. Besides, it is found that the outer wall surface charge is dominant when the nanochannel length is small and the inner wall surface charge is dominant when the nanochannel length is large. Moreover, the finite length enhancement effect for ICR performance is illustrated by tuning the range of outer wall surface charged zone, indicating the charged zone near the entrance and exit plays the dominant role on ion transport. The obtained results provide essential insights on the ion transport and useful guidelines for the design and performance optimization of biological sensors and nanofluidic devices. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new technique for establishing material point method (MPM) models of soil–rock mixture slopes was proposed to accurately analyze the large-deformation failure mechanisms of soil–rock mixture slopes. First, natural rock block contours were obtained through a digital image processing technique, followed by analyzing and reconstructing the rock block contours with the help of the discrete Fourier transform theory. Next, The discrete models of soil–rock mixture slopes for MPM were constructed by combining the stochastic placement algorithm with the digital image processing technique. Moreover, using the MPM, the influences of the content, the size, and morphology of rock blocks on the failure mechanisms of the slopes were investigated in detail. The results reveal that the content, features, and spatial distribution of rock blocks significantly influence the slope failure characteristics. Owing to the existence of rock blocks, the plastic zone of a slope at failure becomes heterogeneous and complex, showing multiple sliding regions and failure modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oleaginous yeast Trichosporon fermentans can degrade oils and fats in soybean oil refinery effluent (SORE) and accumulate intracellular lipids. Effective harvesting techniques for oleaginous yeasts can improve their utilization efficiency. Considering its excellent adhesion properties, Cunninghamella echinulata , a lipid-producing fungus, was introduced to harvest the yeast in SORE via a two-step process. Compared with C. echinulata cultured in traditional medium, namely, potato starch wastewater (PSW), C. echinulata produced from soybean wastewater (SW) achieved a better adhesion for the yeast, reaching 95.24%. Based on kinetic and thermodynamic analysis, it was found that yeasts are gathered by mycelium pellets of C. echinulata by physical adsorption, and the process is controlled by liquid film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion. The porosity of these mycelium pellets was as high as 79.3 ± 0.5%, which contributed significantly to C. echinulata 's ability to adhere to the yeasts. However, when the pH was between 6 and 7, an electric neutralization effect was responsible for the higher adhesion of C. echinulata from SW to T. fermentans compared with that of C. echinulata from PSW. Because the microbial lipids produced by C. echinulata are rich in unsaturated fatty acids (UFAS), the highest proportion of UFAS reached 79.8% of the total fatty acids in microbial lipids extracted from the adhesion products. Compared with the traditional techniques used for harvesting oleaginous yeasts, the efficient adhesion of C. echinulata from SW to the yeasts in SORE represented a cleaner harvest process and improved the quality of the microbial lipids. [Display omitted] • A clean and efficient adhesion-based oleaginous yeast harvest process was developed. • C. echinulata from SW can harvest T. fermentans in SORE via adhesion, efficiently. • C. echinulata adsorbed yeasts via liquid film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion. • Electric neutralization reinforced the adhesion of C. echinulata from SW to yeasts. • The process improved microbial lipid production and wastewater resource utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex antigen composition and limited selection of adjuvants restricted the development of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) subunit vaccines. The evolvement of multiple serotypes of P. aeruginosa also challenges current vaccine candidates due to their poor cross-protection capacity. Herein, we first report a facile strategy to prepare comprehensive antigens loaded nano-vaccines for the rapid development of a P. aeruginosa vaccine with a highly effective cross-protection capacity. Namely, cytosolic antigens derived from bacterial lysates (BL) of PAO1, a drug-resistant P. aeruginosa , were loaded in the mesoporous silica nanospheres (MSNs), while membrane antigens derived from double-layered membrane vesicles (DMVs) of PAO1 were further fused on MSNs surface. The engineered MSN-BL@DMV showed a clear core-shell morphology, and it significantly promoted cellular internalization and maturation of dendritic cells without additional adjuvants. After subcutaneous vaccination, MSN-BL@DMV prepared from PAO1 efficiently migrated to lymph nodes, potently induced the humoral and cellular immune responses with exquisite specificity, and substantially protected mice from the challenge of PAO1 and another drug-resistant P. aeruginosa (PA-XN-1). In summary, the MSNs-based comprehensive antigen delivery system successfully protected mice from different strains of P. aeruginosa infection, providing new insights for treatment of other refractory pathogen infections. [Display omitted] • A nano-vaccine platform was developed, which could facilely incorporate comprehensive antigens of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. • The engineered nano-vaccine could target to lymph nodes and induce potent humoral and cellular immune responses. • In the absence of additional adjuvants, the nano-vaccine generated a strong cross-protection against different strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. • This manner of co-delivery of multiple antigens via nano-vaccines is a simple and translatable approach to prevent drug-resistant bacteria infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal active layer morphology is a prerequisite for high-efficiency all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). Herein, we report that the vertical phase separation as well as microstructures of the polymer donor and acceptor can be finely optimized in layer-by-layer (LbL) processed all-PSCs. By using 1-chloronaphthalene as the solvent additive during the deposition of the polymer acceptor in the top layer and applying thermal annealing on the entire active layer, bulk-heterojunction like morphology with favorable vertical composition distribution, improved lamellar ordering of the polymer donor (PBDB-T), and the formation of polymer fibrils of the polymer acceptor (PYT) have been realized simultaneously. This favorable morphology led to greatly enhanced exciton splitting efficiency, reduced trap density, improved charge transport, and suppressed charge recombination loss. As a result, the LbL processed all-PSCs of PBDB-T/PYT afforded a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.05%, which is one of the highest PCEs for binary all-PSCs. Moreover, a fill factor (FF) of 0.77 has been obtained, which is the highest value for all-PSCs based on polymerized small molecule acceptors up to date. This work demonstrates an effective strategy for morphology optimization of LbL processed all-PSCs, which will greatly contribute to efficiency breakthrough. [Display omitted] Bulk-heterojunction like morphology with favorable vertical composition distribution, improved lamellar ordering of polymer donor, and the formation of fibrils of polymer acceptor have been obtained in layer-by-layer processed all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). A remarkable power conversion efficiency of 16.05% and a record-high fill factor of 0.77 have thus been achieved in all-PSCs based on polymerized small molecular acceptors. • The polymer microstructures can be well regulated in layer-by-layer (LbL) processed all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). • Bulk-heterojunction like morphology with favorable vertical phase separation has been obtained in LbL processed all-PSCs. • A remarkable power conversion efficiency of 16.05% and a record-high fill factor of 0.77 have been achieved in all-PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: H1 was immobilized by modified and natural BC to treat nitrogenous wastewater. The result showed that H1 which was immobilized by natural BC treated nitrate-rich and ammonium-rich wastewater, the efficiencies of TN removal were 50.98% and 60.2%, respectively. While H1 was immobilized by modified BC had higher removal effects than natural BC, were up to 74.3% and 75.75%. Because the organic matter which was added to BC in the process of modification, the removal of CODcr was slightly lower than the natural membrane. It was found that modification can improve toughness of BC, overcame the shortcoming of easy degradation, and which was convenient to recycle H1. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: After the white-rot fungi were immobilized in different ways, not only was its biological activity increased significantly, but also its ability to pure wastewater was enhanced a great deal. In this experiment, white-rot fungi immobilized by polyvinyl alcohol-sodium alginate, bacterial cellulose dynamic adsorption and bacterial cellulose static adsorption, was used to deal with malachite green dye wastewater. The results showed that the most effective way to pure the malachite green wastewater was white-rot fungi immobilization by the bacterial cellulose static adsorption. The color removal rate remained more than 93% on the former six groups of wastewater, which was increased 3% more than free bacteria. It exceeded the other two methods in efficiency and stability of color removal. As an immobilized carrier, bacterial cellulose is biodegradable, immobilized operation simply, etc and applicable to industrial production and this method has a great potential. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose Violence-related injuries are a major cause of death and disability among adolescents in the United States. The objective of this study was to examine trends in adolescent violence-related injuries between 2009 and 2013. Methods This study examined data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–All Injury Program for years 2009–2013. Linear regression was used to assess trends in rates of violence-related injuries among adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years. Results We found overall rates of nonfatal violence-related injuries among all adolescents did not change significantly across the study years ( p = .502). However, self-harm injury rates have significantly increased among female and younger adolescents during the period ( p = .001 and .011, respectively). Conclusions Our results indicate that the overall intentional injury rates in adolescents have been stable; however, rates of self-injury have significantly increased in younger adolescents and females. Future research should focus on exploring causes of increases in self-harm injuries in these subpopulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Gene hypomethylation and hypermethylation can lead to a loss of genetic imprinting in malignancies. The mechanism responsible for overexpression of the imprinted insulin-like growth factor II (IGF2) gene has not been investigated in osteosarcoma. In this study, the expression levels, imprinting status, and the extent of cytosine methylation of the IGF2 gene was evaluated in 20 of 24 cases of osteosarcoma using immunohistochemistry, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, restriction fragment length polymorphism, and bisulfite genomic sequencing. Promoter use analysis indicated that P3- and P4-derived messenger RNAs were more highly expressed than P1 transcripts in the osteosarcoma samples. Loss of imprinting of IGF2 was observed in 3 of 20 of the osteosarcoma samples, but this was not associated with IGF2-specific transcripts. Methylation analysis revealed that the methylation patterns of the differentially methylated region of IGF2 were not uniform, regardless of IGF2-P3 expression. However, the average degree of methylation of the 14 CpG sites in the IGF2-P3 promoter was significantly lower in osteosarcoma samples with P3 transcripts than in osteosarcoma samples without P3 expression (P < .05). This observation was also observed in nontumor samples. These data suggest that hypomethylation of the IGF2-P3 promoter correlates with expression of P3 transcripts in osteosarcoma. Furthermore, elevated IGF2-P3 expression in osteosarcoma tissues is due to P3 promoter hypomethylation, which may represent an early event in progression of osteosarcoma. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: To explore the polymorphisms and mutations of mitochondrial D-Loop region in osteosarcoma and their possible association with carcinogenesis, direct DNA sequencing method was used to detect the variants of the mitochondrial D-Loop in 20 patients with osteosarcoma. We found mutations of the mitochondrial D-Loop in 14/20 (70%) of the tested osteosarcoma samples, including 34 novel mutations. We did not detect any new polymorphisms in osteosarcomas, nor was there any association between variants and the three histopathological subtypes. We identified 89 variant sites, most of which were within the hypervariable I and II (HV I and HV II) regions. These data suggest that mtDNA mutations within the D-Loop region, particularly the HV I and HV II segments, are a frequent event in osteosarcomas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Gluconacetobacter xylinus was used to treat soybean oil refinery effluent (SORE), which is rich in fatty acids, to produce bacterial cellulose (BC) under static conditions. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and oil content removed were over 50% and 65%, respectively, and the maximum BC production obtained reached 1.3 g/L. Feeding sodium soap from oil or fatty acids to G. xylinus further demonstrated that fatty acids could be utilized for BC production. Re-utilization of the treated SORE contributed to increased COD and oil content removal, and BC production. When the SORE was mixed with barm washing effluent at a ratio of 75:25 (v/v) or with 2% corn steep powder as a co-substrate, the BC production was 1.9 g/L and 2.2 g/L, respectively, and good wastewater treatment effects were seen. A series of characterization results indicated that there was no significant difference in the composition, microstructure, and characteristics of the BC produced from a rich medium and SORE. However, compared to BC from a rich medium, BC produced from the SORE displayed slender cellulose fibrils, larger pores in the fiber network, a looser structure, and good water-holding capacity. This study demonstrated that SORE could be utilized by G. xylinus for BC production, thus realizing resource utilization of wastewater. Image 10843 • G. xylinus can utilize SORE to produce BC under static conditions. • The fatty acids in SORE can be effectively bioconverted into BC. • Re-treatment or mixing with a co-substrate of SORE is conducive to BC production. • BC produced from SORE or a rich medium contains only glucose, and is cellulose I. • BC from SORE shows a macro-porous net structure and high water-holding capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of Er/Sr/Cu additions on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Mg alloy during hot extrusion were studied by using metalloscope, scanning electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, stretcher, hardness tester, linear intercept method and equivalent area method in this paper. Experimental results show that, after hot extrusion, the second phases in the whole alloys have been broken into fine particles along the extrusion direction. All of the alloys are composed of fine recrystallized grains except the Al-Mg-Er alloy. Er, Sr and Cu additions can refine the grain size and improve the distribution homogeneity of the grains and increase the ultimate tensile strength, elongation to failure and hardness of Al-Mg alloy. The hardness value which is perpendicular to the longitudinal section of the as-extruded alloys gradually decreases from surface to center of all the alloys from surfce to center except the Al-Mg-Er alloy which firstly decreases and then increases, indicating that the deformation is non-uniformly during the hot extrusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer, especially in children and young adults. The primary treatment for osteosarcoma is a combination of surgery and chemotherapy, however prognoses remain poor due to chemoresistance and early metastases. Osteosarcoma stem cells appear to play central roles in tumor recurrence, metastases and chemoresistance via self-renewal and differentiation. Targeting these cells may provide a novel strategy in the treatment of osteosarcoma. This review summarizes current knowledge of this rare phenotype and recent advances in understanding the functions OSCs (osteosarcoma stem cells) in osteosarcoma, with the aim of improving therapies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The ion transport, fluidic flow and heat transfer in nanochannels were investigated in depth. • Strong height-dependent surface charge was found in overlapping EDL nanochannels. • Larger deviation on ions transport and fluidic flow were found when considering the height effect or not. • The results provide meaning information for the design and performance optimization of nanofluidic devices. The electroviscous effect has been extensively investigated in micro/nano scale ions transport, fluidic flow and heat transfer, etc. Previous researches often used constant surface charge in theoretic calculation and numerical simulations. However, for thick overlapping electric double layer (EDL) nanochannels, the channel height size effect on surface charge cannot be neglected. In this work, we consider the channel height size effect on surface charge to investigate the related ions transport, fluidic flow and heat transfer in nanochannels. The corresponding results show that the deviation considering the height effect or not is significant, especially in the situation of boundary slip. The relative errors of local ionic concentration and potential can reach 50% and 8%, respectively. The maximum relative errors of induced electrical field strength and the ratio of apparent viscosity to fluidic viscosity reach 10% and 9%, respectively, indicating strong height size effect on the fluidic flow. The deviation of Nu is relatively small and almost not affected by the surface charge. These deviations will decrease to zero when the channel height is large enough or the solution concentration is high enough to reach a non-overlapping EDL situation. The results of this work are meaningful to further understand the electroviscous effect in nanochannels, which may provide useful guidelines for the design and performance optimization of nanofluidic devices. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intratumoral environment as a hypoxic, non-inflamed "cold" state is difficult for many agents to accumulate and activate the immune system. Intrinsically, facultative anaerobic Salmonella VNP20009 target the tumor hypoxic areas, invade into tumor cells and exhibit an immune effect. Here we engineer the bacteria by decorating their surface with newly synthesized heptamethine cyanine dyes NHS–N782 and JQ-1 derivatives to obtain the biohybrid agent N –V-J, leading to the deep tumor targeted photothermal therapy and magnified immunotherapy. Due to the mitochondrial targeting capacity of NHS–N782, N –V-J becomes susceptive to the temperature rise when reaching tumors. This synergistic strategy promotes the systemic immunity by creating an inflamed "hot" tumor state from three different dimensions, which include the inherent immunogenicity of bacteria, the near-infrared laser triggered tumor antigens and the downregulation of PD-L1 expression. All these approaches result in effective and long-lasting T cell immune responses to prevent local and distant tumors for extended time. Leveraging the attenuated bacteria to transport dual drugs to the tumor tissues for self-synthetic vaccines provides a novel paradigm to enhance the bacteria-mediated cancer immunotherapy. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The ICR ion transport model that couples the chemical equilibrium boundary with asymmetric temperature in conical nanochannels is proposed. • The rectification ratio of the constant σ model and constant ζ model has a significant deviation compared to the multi-ion model. • The thermal conductivity of the membrane determines the enrichment or depletion of ions to affect the ICR. • The optimal ICR ratio can be optimized by adjusting pH. With the further development of nanotechnology, electrokinetic ion rectification (ICR) is receiving increasing attention. Since the chemical equilibrium boundary is more suitable for expressing the wall charging characteristics and the coincidence of asymmetric temperature with ICR, we first propose an ICR ion transport model that couples the chemical equilibrium boundary with asymmetric temperature. In this work, ICR under different electrical boundary conditions is studied. The effects of membrane thermal conductivity, solution pH, and geometric conditions on the rectification performance are further explored in combination with surface charge and temperature dependence. The results show that the rectification ratio of the constant σ model and constant ζ model has a significant deviation compared to the multi-ion model, and the electrical boundary conditions can be simplified by changing the external conditions. By controlling the thermal conductivity of the membrane, the distribution of temperature difference within the reservoir or nanochannel can be determined, which affects the enrichment or depletion of ions in the nanochannel and ultimately achieves the goal of optimizing the rectification ratio. The optimal ICR ratio can be obtained by adjusting pH, and optimizing geometric conditions can significantly improve rectification performance. These studies provide helpful information for ion transport control and optimization of micro/nanofluid devices. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of lightweight, portable, and even wearable electronics, there is an increasing demand for flexible supercapacitors with excellent electrochemical performance. Here, we present the design and preparation of a novel architecture with SnO 2 dots uniformly confined on the activated porous carbon nanofibers (CNFs) using copper and its oxides as the hard templates for generating holes. Not only does the single electrode itself with a certain loading mass of SnO 2 show larger specific capacitance, better rate capability, and higher conductivity than the bare CNFs and activated CNFs/SnO 2 electrodes, but the assembled quasi-solid-state symmetric supercapacitor also exhibits good flexibility as well as superior electrochemical property with satisfactory energy density and favorable cycling stability, which indicates the great potential for practical applications. This work may provide a versatile and low-cost strategy to construct carbon/metal oxide nanostructures with robust binding force at the interface for adhesive-free supercapacitors. A novel architecture with SnO 2 dots tightly and uniformly confined on the activated porous carbon nanofibers was prepared using copper and its oxides as the hard templates for generating holes, which can be directly applied as the binder-free electrode for high-performance supercapacitor with excellent flexibility. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morphology of pseudomycelium in Trichosporon fermentans is not conducive to the accumulation of lipids and the recovery of yeast cells by sedimentation. In this study, the computational fluid dynamics method was used to study the effects of shear force on the flow field distribution and on the dimorphism transition and dispersion of yeast cells in a 5 L stirred bioreactor, and to explore the sedimentation performance of yeast cells in different forms. It was shown that under the condition of moderate shear force, such as 3.45 Pa corresponding to a stirring speed of 300 rpm as selected in this experiment, most of the yeast cells in the fermentation broth were spherical or short rod-shaped, and there were almost no pseudohyphal yeasts, which contributed to the good sedimentation performance of the yeast cells. The results showed that the appropriate shear force could effectively inhibit the transformation of yeast cells into pseudohyphae, retain a large number of cells in a single cell shape, enhance cell dispersion and facilitate cell contact, absorption and utilization of organic substrates, as well as increase the lipid accumulation in yeast cells. By controlling the shear force, after 40 h of treatment of RSOW using Trichosporon fermentans , the chemical oxygen demand and oil content removal were approximately 95.81% and 88.09%, respectively, which indicate a significant improvement compared with those before optimizing the shear environment. Therefore, based on shear control of the cell morphology to improve yeast cell dispersion and sedimentation performance, the oily wastewater treatment method established in this study can be used to guide the process design of fermented Trichosporon fermentans for the treatment of RSOW and the resource recycling of yeasts. [Display omitted] • A CFD-based method for optimizing flow field for Trichosporon fermentans was established. • An appropriate shear force reduced the formation of pseudohyphal morphology in yeast cells. • The cell dispersion and sedimentation performance was improved by shear force control. • Both refined soybean oil wastewater treatment and lipid production were improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The constant boundary slip condition is not suitable for predicting ion transport and fluidic flow. • The existence of boundary slip greatly improves the electrokinetic energy conversion performance. • The boundary slip is benefited to promote the ion flux rather than ion concentration. • The optimal bulk concentration and the height of nanochannel is demonstrated. Electrokinetic energy conversion in nanochannels has attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, few scholars have studied the impact of the intrinsic distinction between surface charge-dependent and independent slip on power generation performance. In this work, we consider three kinds of boundary conditions, including no slip, independent slip and surface charge-dependent slip, to investigate the ion concentration distribution, velocity and energy conversion performance in nanochannels combined with the electric double layer theory. The results show that the boundary slip can improve the output performance significantly. Besides, due to the restriction of surface charge on boundary slip, the power generation performance under independent slip and dependent slip exhibits a significant deviation. Thus, the independent slip model is not suitable for predicting ion transport and fluidic flow in practical applications. Moreover, the ion concentration and channel height also play an optimizing role in the performance of electrokinetic energy conversion. We find the boundary slip is a benefit to promote the ion flux due to the velocity mechanism but has little effect on ion concentration distribution. The findings of this study can help for better understanding the ion transfer behavior in nanochannels, which provides useful information for the design and optimization of nanochannel power generation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four kinds of bacterial cellulose (BC) were obtained by the stationary culture of Gluconacetobacter xylinus in molasses substitute medium, refined soybean oil wastewater, tofu product wastewater and barm washing effluent (BE) at 30 ℃ for 7 days, respectively. It was found that the BCs produced with different raw materials had differences in their porosity and compactness. The four kinds of BC were used to prepare carbon dots (CDs) using the hydrothermal method, respectively, confirming that the fluorescence intensity of the CDs was positively correlated with the porosity of the BC. Compared to other sources of BC, the BC produced from BE had the highest porosity at 72.57 % and the loosest structure; thus, the resultant CDs (CDs-BE) displayed the strongest fluorescence intensity and were rich in hydroxyl groups. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the effect of raw material micromorphology on the fluorescence properties of CDs. CDs-BE displayed excellent performance in detecting Fe3+ ions with a detection range of 10–250 µM and a detection limit of 74 nM. This study realized the resource utilization of wastewater by fermenting G. xylinus to produce BC, and then prepared CDs with excellent fluorescence properties. [Display omitted] • Bacterial cellulose obtained in food industry wastewaters was used to prepare carbon dots. • High porosity of bacterial cellulose causes high fluorescence intensity of carbon dots. • Barm washing effluent suits for synthezing bacterial cellulose for carbon dots production. • Carbon dots originated from barm washing effluent have a good detection on Fe3+ ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) has received considerable attention as a conceptual paradigm for explaining the invasive and metastatic behavior of cells during cancer progression. Our previous study showed that loss of expression of TSSC3 is positively associated with osteosarcoma malignancy and progression. However, whether TSSC3 mediates EMT in osteosarcoma is poorly understood. In the present study, we determined that TSSC3 downregulation induced cell migration and invasion ability and promoted mesenchymal transition of osteosarcoma cells by upregulating mesenchymal markers and inhibiting the epithelial markers. Furthermore, TSSC3 downregulation elicited a signaling cascade that included increased levels of Wnt3a and LRP5, inactivation of GSK-3β, accumulation of nuclear β-catenin and Snail, the augmented binding of β-catenin to TCF-4, and accordingly increased the expression of Wnt target genes (CD44, MMP7). The gene knockdown of these signaling proteins could inhibit TSSC3 downregulation-promoted EMT, migration, and invasion in osteosarcoma. Finally, TSSC3 overexpression obviously inhibited cell migration, invasion, and repressed mesenchymal phenotypes, reducing lung metastasis through GSK-3β activation. Collectively, TSSC3 downregulation promotes the EMT of osteosarcoma cells by regulating EMT markers via a signal transduction pathway that involves Snail, Wnt-β-catenin/TCF, and GSK-3β. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesostructured ACeO x (A = Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, or Zr) composites with large specific surface area and developed mesoporosity were prepared by inorganic metal precursor spontaneous precipitation (IMSP) method. Influences of catalyst surface area, pore structure, reducibility, and active oxygen concentration on catalytic performance were studied. Both preparation route and metal precursor type affect metal active site dispersion, and the IMSP is a desirable approach for synthesis of metal composites with homogeneous active phase distribution. The original crystalline structure of CeO 2 is well maintained although parts of transition metal cations are incorporated into its framework. The forming of A n + –O 2 − –Ce 4 + connections in ACeO x catalysts could reduce the redox potential of metal species, allowing effective redox cycles during oxidation reactions. CuCeO x demonstrates powerful catalytic efficiency with 99% of chlorobenzene (CB) destructed at 328 °C, which is much lower than the other ACeO x oxides and Cu-doped catalysts synthesized via the incipient impregnation and coprecipitation methods (T 99 > 405 °C). The active site reducibility is the foremost activity determining factor for CB destruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro/nanofluidics based energy conversion has drawn much attention in recent years. In this work, an ion transport model driven by pressure and temperature gradient is proposed to investigate the energy conversion characteristic in nanochannels. The results illustrate that the power generation performance under the different electrical boundary conditions exhibit a significant deviation. The output power is weakened at low and high solution concentrations/pH values, the maximum output power is corresponding to 5% and 50% deviation, respectively. And it is improved with the increasing temperature and pressure gradient due to the significant enhanced current. Especially, the maximum output power of 720 nW/m is obtained when the temperature difference is 20 °C and pressure gradient is 0.025 MPa/μm, which is corresponding to 21% enhancement than isothermal condition. Besides, we found that the Soret effect plays an important role on ion transport and the viscous dissipation effect can be neglected. The obtained results offer the valuable information for the performance optimization in micro/nanofluidic based energy devices. • The wall surface charge and temperature gradient greatly affect the power generation in nanochannels. • The optimal pH value, concentration and pressure gradient on the energy conversion is demonstrated. • The obtained results provide useful guidelines for the design and performance optimization of micro/nanofluidic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]