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WS-SLIPS features spontaneous and controllable droplet transport capability to initiate, brake, lock, and resume the directional motion of various liquid droplets under the control of preset DC voltage (∼12 V).

Spatiotemporally controllable droplet manipulation is essential in diverse applications, ranging from thermal management to microfluidics and water harvesting. Despite considerable advances, droplet manipulation without surface or droplet pretreatment is still challenging in terms of response and functional adaptability. Here, a droplet ultrasonic tweezer (DUT) based on phased array is proposed for versatile droplet manipulation. The DUT can generate a twin trap ultrasonic field at the focal point for trapping and maneuvering the droplet by changing the position of the focal point, which enables a highly flexible and precise programmable control. By leveraging the acoustic radiation force resulting from the twin trap, the droplet can pass through a confined slit 2.5 times smaller than its own size, cross a slope with an inclination up to 80°, and even reciprocate in the vertical direction. These findings provide a satisfactory paradigm for robust contactless droplet manipulation in various practical settings including droplet ballistic ejection, droplet dispensing, and surface cleaning.

Bipyridinium derivatives represent the most extensively explored anolyte materials for pH-neutral aqueous organic redox flow batteries, and most derivatives feature two separate electron-transfer steps that cause a sharp decrease in cell voltage during discharge. Here, we propose a strategy to fulfill the concurrent two-electron electrochemical reaction by designing extended bipyridinium derivatives (exBPs) with a reduced energy difference between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of exBPs and the β-highest occupied molecular orbital of the singly reduced form. To demonstrate, a series of exBPs are synthesized and exhibit a single peak at redox potentials of -0.75 to -0.91 V (vs standard hydrogen electrode (SHE)), as opposed to the two peaks of most bipyridinium derivatives. Cyclic voltammetry along with diffusion-ordered spectroscopy and rotating disk electrode experiments confirm that this peak corresponds to a concurrent two-electron transfer. When examined in full-flowing cells, all exBPs demonstrate one charge/discharge plateau and two-electron storage. Continuous galvanostatic cell cycling reveals the side reactions leading to capacity fading, and we disclose the underlying mechanism by identifying the degradation products. By prohibiting the dimerization/β-elimination side reactions, we acquire a 0.5 M (1 M e

Crush syndrome (CS), also known as traumatic rhabdomyolysis, is the leading cause of death following extrication from structural collapse due to earthquakes. Due to the unfeasibility of human studies, animal models are used to study crush syndrome pathophysiology, including biochemistry and treatment regimes. The aim of this systematic literature review was to identify the differences and benefits of various animal models used in the study of CS and provide valuable information for design of future research. A systematic search was conducted in two methods: with the filters "(crush syndrome) AND (crush muscle injury)" and with the keywords "(crush syndrome) AND (animal model)" covering all articles in the PubMed databases. The search generated 378 articles. After screening abstracts, 91 articles were retrieved and read, then 11 repeated articles were removed and 2 reference papers were included. We finally reviewed 82 original articles. There appear to be two primary methods employed for inducing crush syndrome in animal models, which are chemically induced injury and physically induced injury. Chemical method mainly includes intramuscular (IM) injection of tissue extract solution and IM injection of 50% glycerine. Physical method can be classified into invasive and non-invasive physical compression by elasticated material, inflatable band and heavy load. Various species of animals have been used to study CS, including mice (13.4%), rats (68.3%), rabbits (11.0%), canines (4.9%), goats (1.2%), and pigs (1.2%). Small animals are suitable for researches exploring the mechanism of disease or drug efficacy while large animals can work better with clinical application-related researches. In regard to the choice of modeling method, compressing the certain muscle of animals by heavy things is superior to others to cause systemic trauma-related rhabdomyolysis signs. In addition, due to the significant burden of crush injuries on animals, further attention shall be paid to the selection of the most suitable anesthetics and appropriate analgesics.

Phototherapy holds great promise for disease treatment; however, traditional “always-on” photoagents have been restricted to clinical translation due to their nonspecific response and side effects on normal tissues. Here, we show a tumor microenvironment activated photothermal and photoacoustic agent as an activatable prodrug and probe that allows precise cancer diagnosis and treatment. Such an in situ revitalized therapeutic and contrast agent is achieved via controllable plasmonic heating for thermoplasmonic activation. This enables monitoring of signal molecule dynamics, real-time photothermal and photoacoustic imaging of tumors and lymph node metastasis, and targeted photothermal therapy without unwanted phototoxicity to normal tissues. Our study provides a practical solution to the non-specificity problem in phototherapy and offers precision cancer therapeutic and theranostic strategies. This work may advance the development of ultrasensitive disease diagnosis and precision medicine., A tumor microenvironment-activated photoagent is reported for precise photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging via controllable thermoplasmonics. The agent can sensitively image tumors and lymph node metastasis and specifically ablate tumors.

Guided drop transport is of great importance in various water and thermal management technologies. Unidirectional drop transport on a hot surface has been widely developed, but a bidirectional reversal is still challenging. Here, we report a steerable transport of drop impinging on heated concentric microgroove arrays, on which the directionality of drop transport is dictated by the drop boiling modes. In the transition boiling state, the driving force originated from the Laplace pressure difference rendered by the microgrooves, which enables the drop rebounding towards the center of curvature. While in the film boiling state, a net force towards the opposite side is generated between the grooves and the penetrated liquid, that drives the drop far away from the center of curvature. Our experimental and theoretical results uncover that the lateral displacement is controlled by both the Weber number and off-center distance. These findings strengthen our fundamental understanding of drop impact dynamics at high temperatures and are essential for effective cooling of hot-spot cores and drop sieving.

BackgroundThe gut microbiome is a key target for traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) to ameliorate type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Patients with T2DM have quite distinct gut microbiota in comparisons with normal individuals, and it directly influences intestinal permeability. This study aims to investigate the underlying effects of Jianpi Qinghua Decoction on gut microbiota and intestinal permeability in newly diagnosed T2DM patients.Methods / designThis study is a single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 120 subjects with newly diagnosed T2DM. The patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio into placebo group (1/10 Jianpi Qinghua Decoction + maltodextrin twice daily, n = 60) and treatment group (Jianpi Qinghua Decoction twice daily, n = 60). The study drugs will be double blinded to both investigators and participants. The visits will be done at baseline (visit 0), 1 month (visit 1), 2 months (visit 2), 3 months (visit 3). Measures include: anthropometric measures, blood pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (2hPG) and serum insulin, total cholesterol (TC), total triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), safety indexs (including blood routine examination, clinical urine tests, liver/renal profile), identifying intestinal permeability used ELISA testing serum LPS, serum intestinal fatty acid binding protein (IFABP), serum Zonulin concentrations and fecal sample collection for gut microbiota profiling through 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Data will be analyzed using SPSS version 26. DiscussionWe describe a clinical research protocol evaluating the impact of Jianpi Qinghua Decoction on gut microbiota and intestinal permeability in newly diagnosed T2DM patients. We assume that adminstration of Jianpi Qinghua Decoction will correct gut microbial dysbiosis and intestinal permeability, leading to improved glycemic control.Trial registrationChinese clinical trial registry, identifier: ChiCTR2000039423（http://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=62537&htm=4.）.Registered on 27 October 2020.

Personal glucose meter (PGM) is one of the most commercially available POC (point-of-care) devices for monitoring the level of glucose reliably, yet its non-glucose quantification ability is limited since such strategy needs ingenious interface design and tedious enzyme conjugation. Herein, we constructed a portable and sensitive platform that can detect non-glucose target by combining enzyme-encapsulated zeolitic imidazole framework-90 (ZIF-90) with personal glucose meter. ZIF-90 is an ideal carrier and susceptor due to the extraordinary capability of packaging enzyme and stimuli-responsiveness. We selected adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP) as the target model of non-glucose analytes. Upon ATP-induced decomposition of MOF, the released enzyme (glucose oxidase or invertase) catalyzed substrate and gave rise to the change of the glucose concentration for PGM assay. This method determined ATP with a remarkably sensitivity of 233 nM and effective recovery in real serum samples. Our strategy provides a facile and practical approach for measuring the non-glucose target using PGM, and could potentially be applied in bimolecular detection in point-of-care diagnosis.

AimsThis study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the metabolic syndrome with the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) to screen for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in a Shanghai population.MethodsParticipants aged 25-64 years were recruited from a Shanghai population from July 2019 to March 2020. Each participant underwent a standard metabolic work-up, including clinical examination with anthropometry. Glucose status was tested using hemoglobin A1c (HbAlc), 2h-post-load glucose (2hPG), and fasting blood glucose (FBG). The FINDRISC questionnaire and the metabolic syndrome were examined. The performance of the FINDRISC was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC).ResultsOf the 713 subjects, 9.1% were diagnosed with prediabetes, whereas 5.2% were diagnosed with T2DM. A total of 172 subjects had the metabolic syndrome. A higher FINDRISC score was positively associated with the prevalence of T2DM and the metabolic syndrome. Multivariable linear regression analysis demonstrated that the FINDRISC had a linear regression relationship with 2hPG levels (b’= 036, p < 0.0001). The AUC-ROC of the FINDRISC to identify subjects with T2DM among the total population was 0.708 (95% CI 0.639–0.776), the sensitivity was 44.6%, and the specificity was 90.1%, with 11 as the cut-off point. After adding FBG or 2hPG to the FINDRISC, the AUC-ROC among the total population significantly increased to 0.785 (95% CI 0.671–0.899) and 0.731 (95% CI 0.619–0.843), respectively, while the AUC-ROC among the female group increased to 0.858 (95% CI 0.753–0.964) and 0.823 (95% CI 0.730–0.916), respectively (p < 0.001). The AUC-ROC of the metabolic syndrome to identify subjects with T2DM among the total and female population was 0.805 (95% CI 0.767–0.844) and 0.830 (95% CI 0.788–0.872), respectively, with seven as the cut-off point.ConclusionsThe metabolic syndrome performed better than the FINDRISC model. The metabolic syndrome and the FINDRISC with FBG or 2hPG in a two-step screening model are both efficacious clinical practices for predicting T2DM in a Shanghai population.

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are crucial components for advanced energy and environment processes including alkaline fuel cells, redox flow batteries, and industrial effluent treatment; while low anionic conductivity and poor stability remain the major challenges for the widespread implementation of AEMs. Through molecular engineering, comb-shaped AEMs have been proved possessing the capability of delivering both high conductivity and good alkaline stability. However, how to precisely control the side chain topology and how the chain topology would influence the membrane properties need to be further elucidated. We hereby propose a radically novel and readily scalable route towards the controllable synthesis of comb-shaped AMEs and we were able to determine the length of side chains and the number of ionic groups along the side chains. To probe the effect of side chain topology on membrane properties, two types of AEMs of densely grafted short side chains or loosely grafted long side chains with similar ion exchange capacity (IEC, ∼1.7 mmol/g) were synthesized and compared. We found that the comb-shaped AEMs with loosely grafted long chains (LG-LS-DIm), with higher hydroxide conductivity (55 mS cm−1 at 30 °C) and better alkaline stability (∼80 % of IEC retention after soaking in 2 mol L−1 NaOH solution at 60 °C for 25 days), outperform those with densely grafted short chains (HG-SS-DIm) and the benchmark main-chain type AEMs (DIm-PPO), which is also superior to those of conventional linear AEMs with densely functionalized structure.

A droplet impacting on inclined surfaces yields more complex outcomes than on normal impact and the effect of the inclining angle on the impact dynamics is still in controversy. Here, we show that a drop impacting on inclined superhydrophobic surfaces exhibits an asymmetric rebound with a distinctive spreading and retraction along the lateral and tangential directions. Meanwhile, there is an obvious contact time reduction with the increase of the inclining angle and impact velocity. We demonstrate that the contact time reduction is attributed to the asymmetric drop spreading and retraction, which endows a fast drop detachment. Simple analyses are presented to interpret this phenomenon, which is in a good agreement with the experimental results.

Summary The massive-scale integration of renewable electricity into the power grid is impeded by its intrinsic intermittency. The aqueous organic redox flow battery (AORFB) rises as a potential storage solution; however, the choice of positive electrolytes is limited, and the aqueous-soluble organic positive redox-active species reported to date have short lifetimes. Here we report a stable organic molecule for the positive terminal, 4-[3-(trimethylammonio)propoxy]-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TMAP-TEMPO) chloride, exhibiting high (4.62 M) aqueous solubility. When operated in a practical AORFB against a negative electrolyte comprising BTMAP-viologen at neutral pH, the flow cell displayed an open-circuit voltage of 1.1 volts and a Coulombic efficiency of >99.73%. The capacity retention rate is among the highest of all-organic AORFBs reported to date, at 99.993% per cycle over 1,000 consecutive cycles; the temporal capacity fade rate of 0.026% per h is independent of concentration.

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) separate the redox active electrolytes and transfer the charge carriers in redox flow batteries. During the long-term operation of a redox flow battery, the formation and propagation of cracks in AEMs are detrimental, resulting in capacity loss and self-discharge, while replacing the cracked membranes would increase the cost. Here we incorporate self-healing to an AEM through reversible and temperature-controlled Diels-Alder (DA) reaction. We first synthesized a block copolymer from vinylbenzyl chloride and 2-((4-vinylbenzyloxy) methyl) furan by RAFT polymerization. The benzylic chloride moiety was quaternized with trimethylamine to conduct anions, while bismaleimide was added to dynamically connect the furan moieties via DA reaction. By solution casting and reacting at 80 °C, an AEM with dynamic network was prepared. When evaluated for practical application, we found the AEM has a Cl− conductivity of 32.7 mS cm−1 at 80 °C and man-made cracks on the membrane can be self-healed. We then tested its performance in a pH 7 aqueous organic redox flow battery, where it delivered stable cycling performances over 100 consecutive charge/discharge cycles, with a coulombic efficiency of >97% and an energy efficiency of >79%. This membrane is promising for practical applications and what we report here is a useful strategy in rendering conventional AEMs with self-healing property.

Hyperlipidemia is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and has become a significant public health problem. In this study, PacBio single-molecule real-time sequencing technology combined with a metabolomics study of koumiss revealed a series of changes in serum lipids, gut microbiota and viscera indices in hyperlipidemia patients 0, 30 and 60 days following daily koumiss treatment. High density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations significantly increased, while levels of immunoglobulin G and albumin significantly decreased after koumiss treatment. Moreover, the abundance of some Bacteroides, Dorea and Catenibacterium species increased, whereas the abundance of Clostridium and Citrobacter species decreased. Our results indicate that koumiss consumption alleviates the symptoms of hyperlipidemia. This is associated with both the bacterial composition of the koumiss, particularly Lactobacillus and Streptococcus species, and the metabolites present in koumiss, such as s-adenosyl- l -methionine, carnosine, lysophosphatidylinositol and dipeptides. This study provides insight into the mechanisms underpinning the effects of koumiss on hypolipidemic symptoms.

Directional droplet transport is of great importance to various processes including heat transfer, water harvesting and microfluidics. Here, a facile superhydrophobic opening triangular groove surface was proposed, and the directional transport behavior of droplets impacting on the surface was observed. The results show that the essence of the directional transport on the opening triangular groove surface can be attributed to the interaction between the impinging droplet and the groove sidewall, and the directional transport distance is regulated by the contact area during the interaction. Further, by controlling the depth of triangular groove, the triangular opening angle, the impacting point position and the Weber number, the contact area between the droplet and the groove sidewall during the interaction can be changed, leading to the variation of directional transport distance. This study provides a new method for directional droplet transport on superhydrophobic surfaces and offers more options for the manipulation of droplet behavior.

Pueraria, a Chinese herbal medicine, plays an important role in many classic prescriptions for the treatment of diabetes. Puerarin is the main component of pueraria. The current in vivo and in vitro research mainly focus on exploring the potential mechanism of puerarin in inhibiting hepatic gluconeogenesis. The type 2 diabetic rats were established by a combination of small dosage of streptozotocin (STZ) injection with high-fat diet. After the administration of puerarin 4 weeks, the parameters of the glucose and lipid metabolism were determined. HepG2 cells were treated by palmitic acid (PA) to induce the insulin resistance in vitro model. After the treatment of puerarin, the glucose consumption and cell viability were examined. Then, the protein expression of PI3K, Akt, pAkt, pFOXO1, FOXO1, PEPCK and G6pase in liver tissue and HepG2 cells were evaluated by western blot. RT-PCR was used to measure the content of PEPCK, G6pase mRNA in liver tissue. The results showed that puerarin administration significantly decrease the level of FBG, HbA1C and triglycerides in diabetic rats. Mechanistic research showed that puerarin activating PI3K/Akt is puerarin-mediated beneficial effects and can be reversed by inhibitor of PI3K or Akt. In conclusion, puerarin inhibits hepatic gluconeogenesis by activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Despite remarkable progress in oil/water separation and wastewater treatment, the ability to carry out the two processes in a synchronous manner has remained difficult. Here, synchronous oil/water separation and wastewater treatment were proposed on mesh surfaces coated with copper-oxide particles, which possess superwetting and catalytic properties. The superwetting performance generates additional pressure to achieve the permselectivity of the designed mesh, on which the oil phase is selectively repelled while the water phase passes though easily. Moreover, the catalytic performance of the copper oxide forms reactive oxygen species to purify the water during oil/water separation process. We show that the oil/water separation and catalytic degradation efficiencies for organic pollutants can reach more than 99% by adjusting the content of copper oxide on the mesh surfaces. Such a unique design for integrating multifunctionality on single mesh surfaces strongly underpins the synchronization of oil/water separation and wastewater treatment, which will provide a new insight for separating pure water from industrial oil/water mixtures.

Background:IMCLs are an important factor in skeletal muscle insulin resistance. This study aimed to explore the effect of Jianpi Qinghua formula (JPQHF) on IMCLs and its mechanism, as well as the relationship between IMCLs and other skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity factors, thereby elucidating the mechanism by which JPQHF improves insulin sensitivity.Methods: In an in vivo experiment, JPQHF and pioglitazone (PIO) were individually used to treat C57 mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity. In an in vitro experiment, JPQHF and rapamycin in serum were individually used to treat C2C12 cells induced with palmitic acid. The IMCLs of tissue and cells were subjected to oil red O staining. The RNA and protein expression of PPARγ, myogenin, mTORC1 and members of the PI3K/AKT pathway in skeletal muscle tissue and C2C12 cells was examined. Differences between the different intervention groups were determined.Results: IMCLs were significantly increased in mice with obesity induced by a high-fat diet and the C2C12 cell line treated with palmitic acid compared to the corresponding controls. mTORC1 phosphorylation and PPARγ levels were also increased, and AKT phosphorylation and myogenin levels were decreased. Intervention with JPQHF reversed the above changes. In addition, the PPARγ level in C2C12 cells was reduced after intervention with rapamycin, an inhibitor of mTORC1. However, AKT phosphorylation and myogenin levels did not recover after rapamycin intervention.Conclusion: IMCLs were significantly increased in obese C57 mice and palmitic acid-treated C2C12 cells. JPQHF reduced IMCLs both in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, this effect likely occurred through JPQHF-mediated inhibition of the overactivation of mTORC1 and a subsequent reduction in the expression of PPARγ. However, the function of JPQHF in elevating myogenin levels and the PI3K/AKT pathway may not be entirely dependent on mTORC1.

Efficient adhesion of gas bubbles in aqueous environments has great application potentials in various gas-related processes, especially in wastewater treatment. In previous research, much attention has been paid to the design of underwater bubbles transport platforms, however, the bubble adhesion abilities of them are explored insufficiently. Herein, we investigated the bubble adhesion abilities of the superhydrophobic V-shaped pattern (SVP) and a designed superhydrophobic tapered groove (STG). It is revealed that the STG exhibits efficient bubble adhesion abilities compared with the SVP, including bubble retention time (t), adhesion volume and holding efficiency (η). In addition, the STG can retain stable adhesion abilities after several adhesion cycles. We believe that these results provide an alternative approach for subaqueous bubble practical applications.

Directional transport of high-temperature droplets enjoys broad application prospects in the fields of drag reduction and heat transfer. In this paper, two adjacent regions with different surface roughness were constructed on 304 stainless steel by laser etching to control the directional movement of high-temperature droplets. It is found that the regions with different surface roughness have different Leidenfrost temperatures, and the Leidenfrost temperature is lower under smaller roughness. When the droplet hits the boundary of the adjacent regions at high temperatures, it will bounce towards the region with larger roughness spontaneously, and the directional bouncing distance tends to first increase and then decrease with the increase of temperature and Weber number. In addition, when the droplet impacts at the boundary of the adjacent regions which have different Leidenfrost temperatures, the two parts of the droplet will be in transition boiling and film boiling respectively. The resulting Young’s force is the main factor that drives the droplets to bounce directionally.

Adaptive membranes that can intelligently control their permeability or selectivity depending on the surrounding environments are of extraordinary importance in the separation technology area. Herein, we report the pH responsive membranes through covalently grafting weak Polyelectrolytes (poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) or poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP)) onto the regular two dimensional (2D) channels stacked by Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. Attributed to the reversible shrinking/stretching function of PAA (or P4VP) chains with the variation of external pH, the switchable 2D GO channels are thus established successfully. Correspondingly, the resulting PAA@GO and P4VP@GO 2D membranes show promising nano-gating ratios of ∼ 5 accompanied by satisfactory water permeances. Furthermore, the pH responsive 2D channels render these two types of membranes with the adaptive ability of rejecting different sized species according to separation requirements. For disposing industrial alkaline (or acid) effluents, PAA@GO (or P4VP@GO) membranes exhibit outstanding alkaline (or acid) recovery performance as well.

Ion-exchange membranes are the core elements for an electrodialysis (ED) separation process. Phase inversion is an effective method, particularly for commercial membrane production. It introduces two different mechanisms, i.e., thermal induced phase separation (TIPS) and diffusion induced phase separation (DIPS). In this study, anion exchange membranes (AEMs) were prepared by grafting a quaternized moiety (QM,2-[dimethylaminomethyl]naphthalen-1-ol) through brominated poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (BPPO) via the TIPS method. Those membranes were applied for selective bisulfite (HSO3&minus, ) anion separation using ED. The membrane surface morphology was characterized by SEM, and the compositions were magnified using a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). Notably, the membranes showed excellent substance stability in an alkali medium and in grafting tests performed in a QM-soluble solvent. The ED experiment indicated that the as-prepared membrane exhibited better HSO3&minus, separation performance than the state-of-the-art commercial Neosepta AMX (ASTOM, Japan) membrane.

Pueraria, a Chinese herbal medicine, plays an important role in many classic prescriptions for the treatment of diabetes. Puerarin is the main component of pueraria. The current in vivo and in vitro research mainly focus on exploring the potential mechanism of puerarin in inhibiting hepatic gluconeogenesis. The type 2 diabetic rats were established by a combination of small dosage of streptozotocin (STZ) injection with high-fat diet. After the administration of puerarin 4 weeks, the parameters of the glucose and lipid metabolism were determined. HepG2 cells were treated by palmitic acid (PA) to induce the insulin resistance in vitro model. After the treatment of puerarin, the glucose consumption and cell viability were examined. Then, the protein expression of PI3K, Akt, pAkt, pFOXO1, FOXO1, PEPCK and G6pase in liver tissue and HepG2 cells were evaluated by western blot. RT-PCR was used to measure the content of PEPCK, G6pase mRNA in liver tissue. The results showed that puerarin administration significantly decrease the level of FBG, HbA1C and triglycerides in diabetic rats. Mechanistic research showed that puerarin activating PI3K/Akt is puerarin-mediated beneficial effects and can be reversed by inhibitor of PI3K or Akt. In conclusion, puerarin inhibits hepatic gluconeogenesis by activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Membranes with fast and selective transport of protons and cations are required for a wide range of electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices, such as proton‐exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and redox flow batteries. Here we report a new approach to designing solution‐processable ion‐selective polymer membranes with both intrinsic microporosity and ion‐conductive functionality. This was achieved by synthesizing polymers with rigid and contorted backbones, which incorporate hydrophobic fluorinated and hydrophilic sulfonic acid functional groups, to produce membranes with negatively‐charged subnanometer‐sized confined ionic channels. The facilitated transport of protons and cations through these membranes, as well as high selectivity towards nanometer‐sized redox‐active molecules, enable efficient and stable operation of an aqueous alkaline quinone redox flow battery and a hydrogen PEM fuel cell. This membrane design strategy paves the way for producing a new‐generation of ion‐exchange membranes for electrochemical energy conversion and storage applications.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs)-derived photonic materials have confirmed great potential in producing renewable optical and engineering areas. However, it remains challenging to simultaneously possess toughness, strength, and multiple responses for developing high-performance sensors, intelligent coatings, flexible textiles, and multifunctional devices. Herein, the authors report a facile and robust strategy that poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) can be converged into the chiral nematic structure of CNCs by ultraviolet-triggered free radical polymerization in an N,N-dimethylformamide solvent system. The resulting CNC-poly(PEGDMA) composite exhibits impressive strength (42 MPa), stretchability (104%), toughness (31 MJ m

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) derived stratiform membranes exhibit sub-nanometer scale interlayer distances and exceptional anti-swelling property in water environments but they are frustrated in ion rejections. Herein, the in-plane regulating concept to improve ion exclusion of TMD laminates was proposed. We demonstrate this concept using flexible and hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymers as the intercalators to implant TMDs. The resulting TMD/PVA membranes show obviously decreasing ion permeation. Taking the TaS2/PVA membrane as an example, its monovalent, divalent and trivalent ion transport rates reduce by 87, 131 and 168 times respectively compared with the pristine TaS2 membrane. Additionally, the ion permeation behaviors of TMD/PVA membranes reveal long-term and cyclic stability. For the practical desalination process under the forward osmosis mode, the TaS2/PVA membrane shows an extraordinarily high water flux of 3.9 L m-2 h-1 together with a promising NaCl rejection of 98.7%, which is superior to the existing two dimensional membranes.

Human breast milk contains commensal lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and Bifidobacterium . Several reports have suggested that human milk is a direct source of commensal bacteria found in the infant gut, and some commensal LAB and Bifidobacterium in human milk may bring positive effects to the health of breast-fed babies by shaping their gut microbiota. Therefore, researching on LAB and Bifidobacterium in breast milk is important. A total of 25 human breast milk samples were collected in Huhhot city of Inner Mongolia. The bacterial DNA of all samples was extracted, and the target sequences of LAB and Bifidobacterium were amplified using specific primers. The PCR products were sequenced by Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) single-molecule, real-time sequencing technology (SMRT). Then the diversity and composition of LAB and Bifidobacterium were analyzed at species level using bioinformatic methods. We found 120 species of LAB including Lactobacillus delbrueckii , Lactobacillus plantarum , Lactobacillus gallinarum , Lactobacillus fermentum , Staphylococcus epidermidis , Streptococcus parauberis , Streptococcus mitis , Streptococcus salivarius and so on, as well as 11 species of Bifidobacterium including Bifidobacterium catenulatum , Bifidobacterium longum , Bifidobacterium stercoris and Bifidobacterium bifidum and so on. Among them, the species Lactobacillus delbrueckii , Lactobacillus plantarum , Lactobacillus gallinarum , Lactobacillus fermentum , Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Streptococcus salivarius were detected in all samples. Additionally, almost all of the detected Bifidobacterium species were present in all samples, except Bifidobacterium pseudolongum and Bifidobacterium mongoliense and. The lactation stage had a significant effect on the diversity and composition of LAB but not Bifidobacterium . Results from PERMANOVA based on Bray-Curtis distances further confirmed the significant effect of lactation stage on LAB structure in human milk ( P 0.05). To compare the structure of the LAB community among three milk groups (i.e. colostrum, less than 5 d after delivery; transitional milk, 5–14 d after delivery; mature milk, more than 15 d after delivery), we performed Bray-Curtis PCoA based on OTU distribution and abundance. The PCoA results suggested apparent LAB structural differences among the three groups, as the symbols representing the individual groups were separated on the score plot with only minor overlap. In addition, the relative abundances of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ( P 0.01) and Lactobacillus plantarum ( P 0.05) in colostrum and mature milk were significantly higher than that of the transitional milk. Significantly more Lactobacillus rhamnosus was found in colostrum than in transition milk and mature milk ( P 0.05), whereas, the Lactobacillus helveticus in transition milk was remarkably higher than another two stages human milk ( P 0.05). However, there was no difference in the distribution of Bifidobacterium species among human milk of three lactation stages. The breast milk from the sampled mothers in Inner Mongolia could be divided into three subtypes according to the LAB composition: the first subtype contained high proportion of Lactobacillus delbrueckii (>50%); the second subtype had less than 50% of Lactobacillus delbrueckii together with more Lactobacillus plantarum and other unclassified LAB species; the third subtype contained more than 5% of Lactobacillus gallinarum . Interestingly, the three subtypes were largely consistent with the grouping by lactation stage except for the colostrum. Nevertheless, most colostrum samples belonged to the first and second subtypes. We also found significant correlations between some LAB and Bifidobacterium . In recent years, we have started isolating probiotics from human breast milk in order to identify suitable probiotic bacteria in breast milk of the Chinese population. This study has established a new method to assess the diversity of LAB and Bifidobacterium , which will serve as reference and guiding protocol for screening probiotics in human breast milk.

Hypothesis Droplet depositing onto hot surfaces above the so-called Leidenfrost temperature will float on a cushion of its own vapor. The vapor flow below the drop could be rectified by asymmetric surface textures, resulting the self-propelled droplet motion. Asymmetric structures like ratchets are used to rectify Leidenfrost droplet movement. Hence, it is possible to enhance the droplet mobility using surfaces with combined asymmetric macro/micro-structures. Experiments Continuous scale-like microcraters stacked end-to-end were fabricated on steel surfaces by wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM). The crater orientation always vectored towards the machining direction (MD), which oriented the droplet motion. Further, by integrating micro and macro-ratchets, dual-scale ratchets were constructed by one-step process using WEDM. The travelling velocities of Leidenfrost droplets on dual-scale and traditional single-scale ratchets were compared and the enhanced mechanism on dual-scale ratchets was analyzed. Findings One-step process was developed to fabricate transport platforms for Leidenfrost droplets, that continuous scale-like microcraters formed simultaneously on the macroratchets. The highest droplet travelling velocity was achieved compared to previous research. Further study shows that the enhanced drop mobility is attributed to the dual-scale roughness which endows a larger propelling force. This finding presents a high-efficiency method to fabricate transport platforms for Leidenfrost droplets.