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Ancientino, a complex dietary fiber supplement mimicking the ancient diet, has improved chronic heart failure, kidney function, and constipation. However, its effect on ulcerative colitis is unknown. This study explores the impact of Ancientino on colitis caused by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and its mechanisms. Data analyses showed that Ancientino alleviated bodyweight loss, colon shortening and injury, and disease activity index (DAI) score, regulated levels of inflammatory factors (tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), and interleukin 6 (IL-6)), reduced intestinal permeability (d-lactate and endotoxin), fluorescein isothiocyanate–dextran (FITC-dextran), and diamine oxidase (DAO), repaired colonic function (ZO-1 and occludin), and suppressed oxidative stress (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and malondialdehyde (MDA)) in vivo and in vitro. In short, this study demonstrated that Ancientino alleviates colitis and exerts an anticolitis effect by reducing inflammatory response, suppressing oxidative stress, and repairing intestinal barrier function. Thus, Ancientino may be an effective therapeutic dietary resource for ulcerative colitis.

Saponins possess a variety of pharmacological effects and exhibit great potential in the food industry as bioactive substances. In this study, extracellular saponin production via the liquid fermentation of Tuber melanosporum occurred with the addition of rutin. For this purpose, medium composition and culture conditions were optimized using single-factor experiments and an orthogonal experiment design. The optimal medium consisted of glucose (43.5 g/L), peptone (6 g/L), KH2PO4 (1.15 g/L), NaCl (0.2 g/L), vitamin B2 (0.082 g/L), vitamin B6 (0.1 g/L), vitamin C (0.02 g/L), and rutin (4.8 g/L). The culture conditions were as follows: 12.5% (v/v) inoculation, medium volume of 50 mL/250 mL flask, culture temperature of 24 °C, shaker speed of 190 rpm, initial pH of 5.7, and culture time of 96 h. Finally, a maximal extracellular saponin content of 0.413 g/L was obtained, which was 134.7% higher than that in the base medium. Rutin proved to be an excellent promoter, because the saponin production was increased by 50.2% compared to that in the optimized medium without rutin. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, and ferric reducing antioxidant power of truffle saponins reached 94.13%, 79.26%, and 42.22 mM, respectively. This study provides a useful strategy for fungal bioactive saponin production by liquid fermentation with the addition of flavonoid compounds.

Membrane distillation is emerging as a promising alternative in zero liquid discharge and brine mining. However, the MD operation with hypersaline solutions is often interrupted by severe scaling formation on the membrane surface. This study aimed to establish a thermodynamic framework to achieve sustainable MD performance in hypersaline processing, enabling the prediction of an operational threshold, above which membrane scaling would not occur. With sodium chloride as the model solute, 2-dimensional temperature and concentration profiles were obtained in CFD to calculate the distribution of supersaturation ratio S in the DCMD flow channel. Through a comprehensive investigation on the effects of temperature and flow dynamics, a preliminary and conservative hydrodynamic threshold represented by a critical Reynolds number Re⁎ at S = 1 was identified, below which scaling formation was inevitable. The relationship between Re⁎ and dimensionless membrane flux (JM/ρvF1) collapsed into one decreasing line, resulting in a semi-empirical correlation and indicating that the operational window can be widened at an elevated feed temperature. Another empirical correlation of Re⁎ was derived based on temperature inputs, providing fast and simple approaches to predict scaling-free operation zone. The hydrodynamic criterion proposed are essential towards establishing the general guideline for achieving sustainable operation in MD hypersaline processing.

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a critical process in the electrolysis of water. Recently, much effort has been dedicated to developing low‐cost, highly efficient, and stable electrocatalysts. Transition metal phosphides are investigated intensively due to their high electronic conductivity and optimized absorption energy of intermediates in acid electrolytes. However, the low stability of metal phosphide materials in air and during electrocatalytic processes causes a decay of performance and hinders the discovery of specific active sites. The HER in alkaline media is more intricate, which requires further delicate design due to the Volmer steps. In this work, phosphorus‐modified monoclinic β‐CoMoO4 is developed as a low‐cost, efficient, and stable HER electrocatalyst for the electrolysis of water in alkaline media. The optimized catalyst shows a small overpotential of 94 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for the HER with high stability in KOH electrolyte, and an overpotential of 197 mV to reach a current density of 100 mA cm−2. Combined computational and in situ spectroscopic techniques show P is present as a surface phosphate ion; that electron holes localize on the surface ions and both (P—O1−) and Co3+—OH− are prospective surface active sites for the HER., A P‐doped Ni foam/CoMoO4 electrocatalyst is successfully prepared by a facile hydrothermal‐annealing method. Optimized P‐doped Ni foam/CoMoO4 shows excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity (94 mV@10 mA cm−2) and remarkable stability in 1 M KOH. A combined in situ spectroscopic and computational study shows the mechanism of P doping and active sites for the catalyst.

Membrane distillation (MD) is emerging as a promising technology for treating the reverse osmosis brines. However, limited cases were reported on the design of a large-scale direct contact MD (DCMD) system. The practical scale-up options for modular matrix design in a multi-element MD system and a multi-subsystem MD train were explored by commercial flowsheet simulator Aspen Plus. Compared to the benchmark single module system, which showed drastically deteriorating membrane performance with increasing membrane area, the multi-element DCMD system with modules in parallel matrix was found to perform better with water production improved slightly but specific power consumption (SPC) greatly reduced down to 0.5% of the single module system. The optimal matrix was obtained at module number of eight for a 20 m2 module due to trade-off relationship between module specifications and effective process driving force in MD. Supported by theoretical analysis, it was found that the matrix array pattern had no influence on the performance of the multi-subsystem DCMD train. Further investigation showed that an 18-subsystem MD train with a membrane area of 200 m2 achieved a 16 times water production rate with only 10% of the SPC, as compared to that of single system with the same membrane area.

In article number 1903674, Guanjie He, Ivan P. Parkin, and co‐workers fabricate self‐standing P‐modified CoMoO(4) materials supported on Ni foam electrocatalyst via a facile hydrothermalannealing method for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The enhanced HER performance and structure‐performance relationship are carefully investigated. [Image: see text]

Correction for ‘Porous cobalt sulfide hollow nanospheres with tunable optical property for magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy’ by Guoqiang Guan et al., Nanoscale, 2018, DOI: 10.1039/c8nr01926f.

To shorten the time of corn stalk pretreatment and increase the degradation of lignin, solid state fermentation (SSF) with Aspegillus oryzae CGMCC5992 in the presence of H 2 O 2 was carried out to degrade lignin in stalk. In this study, the conditions for lignin hydrolysis catalyzed by enzymes produced in SSF for 10 days were optimized by mono-factor-at-a-time design and response surface method (RSM). The removal rate of lignin increased from 30% (before hydrolysis) to 80.3% (after hydrolysis) under the temperature of 55 ° C, pH 6.0, water/stalk ratio of 40, and the concentration of H 2 O 2 at 4% (w/w). In comparison, the removal rate of lignin after 50 days of SSF only reached 57.8%. Proteomic analysis provided support for the increased lignin hydrolysis. Fermentation with A. oryzae CGMCC5992 in the presence of H 2 O 2 increased the amount of peroxidase and intracellular catalase and decreased the amount of extracellular catalase. Therefore, the method introduced in this study can significantly shorten the time of SSF and increase the removal rate of lignin.

Disparities in cancer care have been a long-standing challenge. We estimated the genetic ancestry of The Cancer Genome Atlas patients, and performed a pan-cancer analysis on the influence of genetic ancestry on genomic alterations. Compared with European Americans, African Americans (AA) with breast, head and neck, and endometrial cancers exhibit a higher level of chromosomal instability, while a lower level of chromosomal instability was observed in AAs with kidney cancers. The frequencies of TP53 mutations and amplification of CCNE1 were increased in AAs in the cancer types showing higher levels of chromosomal instability. We observed lower frequencies of genomic alterations affecting genes in the PI3K pathway in AA patients across cancers. Our result provides insight into genomic contribution to cancer disparities.

The applications of inorganic theranostic agents in clinical trials are generally limited to their innate non-biodegradability and potential long-term biotoxicity. To address this problem, herein via a straightforward and tailored space-confined on-substrate route, we obtained rhenium trioxide (ReO3) nanocubes (NCs) that display a good biocompatibility and biosafety. Importantly, their aqueous dispersion has high localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorbance in near-infrared (NIR) region different from previous report, which possibly associates with the charge transfer and structural distortion in hydrogen rhenium bronze (HxReO3), as well as ReO3's cubic shape. Such a high LSPR absorbance in the NIR region endows them with photoacoustic (PA)/infrared (IR) thermal imaging, and high photothermal conversion efficiency (∼57.0%) for efficient ablation of cancer cells. Also, ReO3 NCs show X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging derived from the high-Z element Re. More attractively, those ReO3 NCs, with pH-dependent oxidized degradation behaviors, are revealed to be relatively stable in hypoxic and weakly acidic microenvironment of tumor for imaging and treatment whilst degradable in normal physiological environments of organs to enable effective clearance. In spite of their degradability, ReO3 NCs still possess tumor targeting capabilities. We thus develop a simple but powerful, safe and biodegradable inorganic theranostic platform to achieve PA/CT/IR imaging-guided cancer photothermal therapy (PTT) for improved therapeutic efficacy and decreased toxic side effects.

Crystallization is a complex process of heat and mass transfer, its product quality is affected by many factors, thus it is a challenge to control this process. Modelling and optimization of the manipulated variables is a feasible way to improve the product quality of crystallization. In this paper, a modified numerical scheme is developed to solve the process model of anti-solvent batch crystallization. The proposed numerical scheme can handle growth, nucleation, agglomeration and breakage kinetics by means of the Method of Characteristics (MOC), which provides an accurate and efficient result of the crystal size distribution (CSD). Then Non-linear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) and non-linear Moving Horizon Estimation (MHE) are presented to provide a temperature profile for optimizing the CSD. The result of case studies indicates that the calculated results of the MOC modified process model were in agreement with the experimental results, which indicated that the MOC method could deal with the specific crystallization process efficiently and accurately. The NMPC-MHE optimized temperature control strategy was tested using the verification experiment of anti-solvent crystallization of β-Artemether, the validated result indicated that the method developed had high feasibility and accuracy. The computational time for the MHE and NMPC formulations with 90 control and sampling steps is well within the sampling interval, which allows for real time process control.

Regeneration of periodontal tissue is the most promising method for restoring periodontal structures. To find a suitable bioactive three-dimensional scaffold promoting cell proliferation and differentiation is critical in periodontal tissue engineering. The objective of this study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of a novel porcine acellular dermal matrix as periodontal tissue scaffolds both in vitro and in vivo. The scaffolds in this study were purified porcine acellular dermal matrix (PADM) and hydroxyapatite-treated PADM (HA-PADM). The biodegradation patterns of the scaffolds were evaluated in vitro. The biocompatibility of the scaffolds in vivo was assessed by implanting them into the sacrospinal muscle of 20 New Zealand white rabbits. The hPDL cells were cultured with PADM or HA-PADM scaffolds for 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Cell viability assay, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy were used to evaluate the biocompatibility of the scaffolds. In vitro, both PADM and HA-PADM scaffolds displayed appropriate biodegradation pattern, and also, demonstrated favorable tissue compatibility without tissue necrosis, fibrosis and other abnormal response. The absorbance readings of the WST-1 assay were increased with the time course, suggesting the cell proliferation in the scaffolds. The hPDL cells attaching, spreading and morphology on the surface of the scaffold were visualized by SEM, H&E staining, immnuohistochemistry and confocal microscopy, demonstrated that hPDL cells were able to grow into the HA-PADM scaffolds and the amount of cells were growing up in the course of time. This study proved that HA-PADM scaffold had good biocompatibility in animals in vivo and appropriate biodegrading characteristics in vitro. The hPDL cells were able to proliferate and migrate into the scaffold. These observations may suggest that HA-PADM scaffold is a potential cell carrier for periodontal tissue regeneration.

Bone is a highly vascularized tissue and efficient bone regeneration requires neovascularization, especially for critical-sized bone defects. We developed a novel hybrid biomaterial comprising nanocalcium sulfate (nCS) and fibrin hydrogel to deliver mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and angiogenic factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9), to promote neovascularization and bone formation. MSC and growth factor(s)-loaded scaffolds were implanted subcutaneously into mice to examine their angiogenic and osteogenic potential. Micro CT, alkaline phosphatase activity assay, and histological analysis were used to evaluate bone formation, while immunohistochemistry was employed to assess neovessel formation. The presence of fibrin preserved the nCS scaffold structure and promoted de novo bone formation. In addition, the presence of bone morphogenic protein 2-expressing MSC in nCS and fibrin hydrogels improved bone regeneration significantly. While FGF9 alone had no significant effect, the combination FGF9 and VEGF conjugated in fibrin enhanced neovascularization and bone formation more than 4-fold compared to nCS with MSC. Overall, our results suggested that the combination of nCS (to support bone formation) with a fibrin-based VEGF/FGF9 release system (support vascular formation) is an innovative and effective strategy that significantly enhanced ectopic bone formation in vivo.

An environmentally friendly membrane distillation crystallization (MDC) system is proposed to treat high salinity reverse osmosis (RO) brine with zero discharge. The raw brine from RO desalination plants is concentrated in direct contact MD to produce pure water, and the concentrate is then crystallized to produce solid salts without secondary disposal. A comprehensive analysis on the MDC system has been performed by Aspen flowsheet simulation with a user customized MD model, which was verified by our previous experiments. Simulation results reveal that the total energy consumption is negligibly changed by integration of a crystallization unit into the system, as over 97.8% of the energy was consumed by the heater of the MD subsystem. Higher inlet temperatures of both the feed and permeate streams in the MD module can improve the thermal efficiency. The introduction of a heat recovery unit in the MDC system, to recover the heat in the permeate for feed preheating, can increase the gain output ratio (GOR) by 28%. Moreover, it is shown that in a hollow fiber MD module, the permeate yield is a linear function of the length-to-radius ratio of the membrane module, and a longer MD module can reduce the specific energy consumption. A relatively high feed flow rate is preferred to avoid the potential problem of crystal blockage in the MD module. Accepted version

Previously we showed that intermittent administration of nicotine (NIC) in the dark phase decreased food intake and body weight and this could be blocked when the NIC receptor antagonist mecamylamine was infused into the fourth ventricle. Catecholaminergic neurons adjacent to the fourth ventricle contain NIC receptors and directly innervate the perifornical hypothalamus (PFH) which has been shown to be involved in regulation of feeding. This study explored whether NIC regulates feeding behavior by modulating catecholaminergic input to the PFH. Epinephrine and norepinephrine neuronal input was ablated within the PFH by infusion of 6-hydroxydopamine hydrobromide (6-OHDA), while bupropion was infused to protect dopaminergic neurons. After recovery of body weights to pre-surgery levels, food intake, meal size, meal number and body weight were measured after intermittent NIC injections. The results showed the PFH lesioned animals did not exhibit the typical prolonged drop in food intake, meal size and body weight normally associated with NIC administration. High performance liquid chromatography analyses demonstrated that compared to control rats, 6-OHDA administration significantly reduced PFH norepinephrine and epinephrine levels, but not dopamine levels. These results are consistent with NIC reducing food intake in part by acting through catecholaminergic neurons within or extending through the PFH.

Mass transfer from micrometer and sub-micrometer airborne microdroplets arises in various chemical process, material science, and atmospheric phenomena, such as impinging flow reactor and unsteady pollutant diffusion, where microdroplet oscillation can substantially increase the mass transfer rate. Previous theories, however, do not adequately predict this enhancement of mass transfer, especially in the case of relatively large-amplitude oscillations. We have analyzed slow evaporation of an oscillating microdroplet having a sufficiently low vapor pressure such that it remains at the surrounding gas temperature and has a negligibly small rate of change of diameter. We solved the governing convective diffusion equation numerically to obtain the Sherwood number as a function of the system parameters. These include the oscillation frequency, the maximum velocity, and the initial microdroplet diameter. The theoretical results are compared with mass transfer data from the literature for a dodecanol microdroplet levitated in an electrodynamic balance (EDB) and oscillated by varying the dc levitation voltage and the ac amplitude and frequency. The predicted Sherwood numbers agree with the experimental results with a mean deviation of 9.2%. The analysis shows a distinct periodic change in the mass transfer rate or Sherwood number with a period that is one-half the period of oscillation of the microdroplet.

Objective Macrophages release cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and IL-6, which modulate the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Macrophage release of these cytokines can be modulated by estrogen. Fcγ receptor type IIIA (CD16a) is a receptor expressed on macrophages that selectively binds IgG molecules, an important rheumatoid factor in RA. Binding of CD16 by anti-CD16 monoclonal antibodies stimulates macrophage cytokine release. We undertook this study to test the hypothesis that decreased concentrations of estrogen (17β-estradiol) directly cause an increase in CD16 expression, resulting in increased release of proinflammatory cytokines from monocytes and/or macrophages upon receptor binding. Methods THP-1 cells and female human primary monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages were treated with no 17β-estradiol, physiologic levels (1 × 10−8M) of 17β-estradiol, or 1 × 10−8M 17β-estradiol followed by withdrawal of 17β-estradiol. Surface expression of CD16 and CD16 messenger RNA was measured using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and semiquantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Cytokine release from 17β-estradiol–treated or untreated monocytes was then quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and FACS after crosslinking the receptor with anti-CD16 antibodies. Results CD16 transcript significantly increased in macrophage-like THP-1 cells and in primary, peripheral blood macrophages in the absence of 17β-estradiol, and the observed increase in message was dependent on transcription. CD16 receptor levels on CD14+, transforming growth factor β–treated primary monocytes also increased in cells deprived of 17β-estradiol. Analysis of the cytokines released showed that CD16 crosslinking stimulated significant increases in TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-6 due to the absence of estrogen. Conclusion Estrogen can modulate proinflammatory cytokine release from activated monocytes and/or macrophages, in part through modulation of CD16 expression.

Among four membrane distillation (MD) configurations, direct contact MD (DCMD) and vacuum MD (VMD) exhibit attractive characteristics from different perspectives and have great potential in treating reverse osmosis (RO) brine. Aiming at establishing a quick approach to predict the key output parameters associated with MD module performance and process efficiency, Aspen plus was employed to conduct systematic evaluation for both DCMD and VMD. Due to the lack of built-in MD operation models in Aspen Plus, one dimensional transport models were developed and complied as user customized units to simulate the hollow fiber-based DCMD and VMD modules. The corresponding programming was coded in FORTRAN language. The mathematical models for DCMD and VMD were verified by comparing the simulations results with the experimental and literature data, respectively. By incorporating the boundary-layer effect into the newly-established transport models, steady-state simulations of the respective DCMD and VMD flowsheets were carried out. The results showed that the DCMD presented much lower process efficiency than VMD in terms of permeation flux and specific energy consumption per kg distillate generated, even though it is considered as the simplest and most commonly employed configuration. With the same module specifications and operating conditions at equivalent energy cost, the VMD system demonstrated a minimal 2.5-fold higher average vapor flux (e.g., water recovery capacity) when compared to DCMD. The fundamental difference between the two configurations was revealed through MD mass- and heat-transfer analysis. Based on simulated temperature profiles, it was found that the VMD configuration presented a much higher driving force (transmembrane temperature difference) and negligible conductive heat loss to the membrane, which is a promising feature for achieving high thermal efficiency. Accepted version

A two-dimensional numerical model, involving energy conservation, momentum transport and continuity equations, was developed to provide the profiles of temperature, velocity and pressure of vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) process using hollow fiber module. The theoretical prediction was in good agreement with the experimental results from literature. Four design and operation variables, including feed temperature, hollow fiber length, feed volume flow rate and vacuum pressure, were optimized to minimize water production cost (WPC) using genetic algorithm (GA). A case study shows that the WPC can be decreased by 38.1% in comparison with the non-optimized VMD process. Meanwhile, a general guidance for reducing the WPC was also provided. The feed temperature should be adopted as high as possible, while the hollow fiber length cannot be too long to result in a decrease in water flux and an increase in pressure drop. The flow rate is recommended to take a lower bound value and the moderate degree of vacuum is preferable. This study indicates the importance of VMD system optimization to minimize water production cost. NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore) Accepted version

For the purpose of improving the degree of success of plastic bracket bonding, based on the analysis of the chemical components of plastic brackets, a systematic method for the treatment of the adhesive surface of plastic brackets was introduced in this study. After sandblasting the adhesive surfaces of two commercially available plastic brackets (Spirit and Clear Bracket), a favourable surface treatment was obtained with the application of a silane coupling agent, gamma-methacryloxy propyl trimethoxy silane. The findings showed that (i) the fillers added to the plastic brackets were glass fillers with Si-OH groups distributed on their surfaces; (ii) sandblasting of the bracket surface resulted in exposure of the glass fillers; (iii) combined with sandblasting, silane coupling treatment significantly increased the bond strength (P < 0.05), which was adequate to withstand the forces generated during orthodontic therapy; and (iv) treatment with sandblasting and silane coupling 24 hours before direct bonding did not cause a significant reduction in bond strength. It is concluded that sandblasting and silane coupling treatment offers the benefit of increasing the in vitro bond strength of plastic brackets for orthodontic application.