46 research outputs found

    Modulation of the aggregation behaviour and physicochemical properties of 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide in aqueous solutions by β-CD

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    <p>The modulation of aggregation behaviour of ionic liquids (ILs) in aqueous media is one of the important research topics. In the present work, aggregation behaviour of 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([C<sub>12</sub>mim]Br) modulated by beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) has been investigated by using conductivity, volume, fluorescence, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The results suggested that the addition of β-CD significantly affects the aggregation of [C<sub>12</sub>mim]Br in aqueous solutions. For example, the apparent critical micelle concentration increases with the increase of β-CD concentration; the average micellar size reduced with the increasing concentration of β-CD, and the process for micelle formation of [C<sub>12</sub>mim]Br in aqueous β-CD solution is driven by entropy at lower temperature, while driven by enthalpy at higher temperature. It is expected that findings in this study would shed light on the potential applications of IL in supramolecular chemistry.</p

    PPAR-α Agonist Fenofibrate Reduces Insulin Resistance in Impaired Glucose Tolerance Patients with Hypertriglyceridemia: A Cross-Sectional Study

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    <p><strong>Article full text</strong></p> <p><br> The full text of this article can be found <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13300-017-0257-4"><b>here</b>.</a><br> <br> <strong>Provide enhanced digital features for this article</strong><br> If you are an author of this publication and would like to provide additional enhanced digital features for your article then please contact <u>[email protected]</u>.<br> <br> The journal offers a range of additional features designed to increase visibility and readership. All features will be thoroughly peer reviewed to ensure the content is of the highest scientific standard and all features are marked as ‘peer reviewed’ to ensure readers are aware that the content has been reviewed to the same level as the articles they are being presented alongside. Moreover, all sponsorship and disclosure information is included to provide complete transparency and adherence to good publication practices. This ensures that however the content is reached the reader has a full understanding of its origin. No fees are charged for hosting additional open access content.<br> <br> Other enhanced features include, but are not limited to:<br> • Slide decks<br> • Videos and animations<br> • Audio abstracts<br> • Audio slides<u></u></p

    Two-Step Freezing in Alkane Monolayers on Colloidal Silica Nanoparticles: From a Stretched-Liquid to an Interface-Frozen State

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    The crystallization behavior of an archetypical soft/hard hybrid nanocomposite, that is, an <i>n-</i>octadecane C<sub>18</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub>-nanoparticle composite, was investigated by a combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and variable-temperature solid-state <sup>13</sup>C nuclear magnetic resonance (VT solid-state <sup>13</sup>C NMR) as a function of silica nanoparticles loading. Two latent heat peaks prior to bulk freezing, observed for composites with high silica loading, indicate that a sizable fraction of C<sub>18</sub> molecules involve two phase transitions unknown from the bulk C<sub>18</sub>. Combined with the NMR measurements as well as experiments on alkanes and alkanols at planar amorphous silica surfaces reported in the literature, this phase behavior can be attributed to a transition toward a 2D liquid-like monolayer and subsequently a disorder-to-order transition upon cooling. The second transition results in the formation of a interface-frozen monolayer of alkane molecules with their molecular long axis parallel to the nanoparticles’ surface normal. Upon heating, the inverse phase sequence was observed, however, with a sizable thermal hysteresis in accord with the characteristics of the first-order phase transition. A thermodynamic model considering a balance of interfacial bonding, chain stretching elasticity, and entropic effects quantitatively accounts for the observed behavior. Complementary synchrotron-based wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) experiments allow us to document the strong influence of this peculiar interfacial freezing behavior on the surrounding alkane melts and in particular the nucleation of a rotator phase absent in the bulk C<sub>18</sub>

    Photodecomposition of Ferrocenedicarboxylic Acid in Methanol to Form an Electroactive Infinite Coordination Polymer and Its Application in Bioelectrochemistry

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    Accurately characterizing the product of photodecomposition of ferrocene derivatives remains a longstanding challenge due to its structural complexity and strong dependence on the solvent and the substituent. Herein, photodecomposition of ferrocenedicarboxylic acid (FcDC) in methanol is found for the first time to form an electroactive infinite coordinate polymer (ICP) with uniform size, good water stability and photostability, and excellent electrochemical activity. The possible mechanism for the ICP formation is proposed based on the fission of the Fe-ring bond and deprotonation of FcDC under light irradiation. The dissociated Fe<sup>2+</sup> is first oxidized to Fe<sup>3+</sup> that consequently coordinates with the deprotonated ferrocene dicarboxylate to produce ICP nanoparticles. This work not only provides a new insight into the product formation of the photodecomposition of ferrocene derivatives but also offers a mild and simple route to the synthesis of electroactive ICPs

    Confined Crystallization of <i>n</i>‑Hexadecane Located inside Microcapsules or outside Submicrometer Silica Nanospheres: A Comparison Study

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    Crystallization and phase transition behaviors of <i>n</i>-hexadecane (<i>n</i>-C<sub>16</sub>H<sub>34</sub>, abbreviated as C<sub>16</sub>) confined in microcapsules and <i>n</i>-alkane/SiO<sub>2</sub> nanosphere composites have been investigated by the combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction (XRD). As evident from the DSC measurement, the surface freezing phenomenon of C<sub>16</sub> is enhanced in both the microcapsules and SiO<sub>2</sub> nanosphere composites because the surface-to-volume ratio is dramatically enlarged in both kinds of confinement. It is revealed from the XRD results that the novel solid–solid phase transition is observed only in the microencapsulated C<sub>16</sub>, which crystallizes into a stable triclinic phase via a mestastable rotator phase (RI). For the C<sub>16</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub> composite, however, no novel rotator phase emerges during the cooling process, and C<sub>16</sub> crystallizes into a stable triclinic phase directly from the liquid state. Heterogeneous nucleation induced by the surface freezing phase is dominant in the microencapsulated sample and contributes to the emergence of the novel rotator phase, whereas heterogeneous nucleation induced by foreign crystallization nuclei dominates the C<sub>16</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub> composite, leading to phase transition behaviors similar to those of bulk C<sub>16</sub>

    Dual-Responsive Self-Assembled Monolayer for Specific Capture and On-Demand Release of Live Cells

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    We report a dual-responsive self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a well-defined rough gold substrate for dynamic capture and release of live cells. By incorporating 5′-triphosphate (ATP) aptamer into a SAM, we can accurately isolate specific cell types and subsequently release captured cells at either population or desired-group (or even single-cell) levels. On one hand, the whole SAMs can be disassembled through addition of ATP solution, leading to the entire release of the captured cells from the supported substrate. On the other hand, desired cells can be selectively released using near-infrared light irradiation, with relatively high spatial and temporal precision. The proposed dual-responsive cell capture-and-release system is biologically friendly and is reusable with another round of modification, showing great usefulness in cancer diagnosis and molecular analysis

    Atorvastatin Decreased Circulating RANTES Levels in Impaired Glucose Tolerance Patients with Hypercholesterolemia: An Interventional Study

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    <p><strong>Article full text</strong></p> <p><br> The full text of this article can be found <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13300-017-0227-x"><b>here</b>.</a><br> <br> <strong>Provide enhanced digital features for this article</strong><br> If you are an author of this publication and would like to provide additional enhanced digital features for your article then please contact <u>[email protected]</u>.<br> <br> The journal offers a range of additional features designed to increase visibility and readership. All features will be thoroughly peer reviewed to ensure the content is of the highest scientific standard and all features are marked as ‘peer reviewed’ to ensure readers are aware that the content has been reviewed to the same level as the articles they are being presented alongside. Moreover, all sponsorship and disclosure information is included to provide complete transparency and adherence to good publication practices. This ensures that however the content is reached the reader has a full understanding of its origin. No fees are charged for hosting additional open access content.<br> <br> Other enhanced features include, but are not limited to:<br> • Slide decks<br> • Videos and animations<br> • Audio abstracts<br> • Audio slides<u></u></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p

    Double Crystalline Multiblock Copolymers with Controlling Microstructure for High Shape Memory Fixity and Recovery

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    The shape memory performance of double crystalline poly­(butylene succinate)-<i>co</i>-poly­(ε-caprolactone) (PBS-<i>co</i>-PCL) multiblock copolymers with controlling microstructure was studied, and the corresponding microstructure origin was further quantitatively analyzed by wide and small-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS and SAXS) experiments. It was found that the multiblock copolymer with higher PCL content, proper deformation strain, and inhibited crystallization of PBS (lower crystallinity and smaller crystal size, which could be realized by quenching from the melt) would exhibit better shape memory fixity and recovery performance. WAXS and SAXS results revealed that the shape fixity ratio (<i>R</i><sub>f</sub>) was closely related with the relative crystallinity of the PCL component, while the shape recovery ratio (<i>R</i><sub>r</sub>) strongly relied on the deformation and recovery behavior of the PBS and PCL components that changed along with compositions and deformation strains. For the copolymer with higher PCL content (BS<sub>30</sub>CL<sub>70</sub>), at the lower deformation strain (0% ∼ 90%), both the PBS and PCL components after recovery had no orientation (labeled as stage I), resulting in almost complete recovery; with the deformation strain increasing (90% ∼ 200%), it was the irreversible deformation of the PCL component that largely took responsibility for the decreased <i>R</i><sub>r</sub> (stage II). On the contrary, when the PCL content decreased to 50 <i>wt</i> % (BS<sub>50</sub>CL<sub>50</sub>), stage I (0% ∼ 50%) and stage II (50% ∼ 100%) appeared in much lower strains; with the deformation strain increasing (100% ∼ 200%), the irreversible deformation of both PBS and PCL components was mainly responsible for the further reduction of <i>R</i><sub>r</sub> (stage III). It could exhibit excellent shape memory performance for biodegradable double crystalline multiblock copolymers by controlling the composition, deformation strain, and crystallization, which might have wide application prospects in biomedical areas

    Trace MicroRNA Quantification by Means of Plasmon-Enhanced Hybridization Chain Reaction

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    Quantifying trace microRNAs (miRNAs) is extremely important in a number of biomedical applications but remains a great challenge. Here we present an enzyme-free amplification strategy called plasmon-enhanced hybridization chain reaction (PE-HCR) for quantifying trace miRNAs with an outstanding linear range from 1 fM to 1 pM (<i>r</i><sup>2</sup> = 0.991), along with a detection limit of 0.043 fM (1300 molecules in 50 μL of sample). The merits of the PE-HCR assay, including high sensitivity and specificity, quantitative detection, no enzyme involvement, low false positives, and easy-to-operate procedures, have been demonstrated for high-confidence quantification of the contents of miRNAs in even single cancer cells. The PE-HCR assay may open up new avenues for highly sensitive quantification of biomarkers and thus should hold great potentials in clinical diagnosis and prognosis

    The parameters of glucose metabolism after acarbose or metformin treatment in normal weight, overweight and obese patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

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    <p>Data are shown as difference (95% CI) vs baseline. FBG: fasting blood glucose; PBG: 2 h post-challenge blood glucose; FINS: fasting insulin; HbA1C: hemoglobin A1c; HOMA-IR: homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance; HOMA-β: homeostasis model assessment of β cell function.</p><p>*significantly different at <i>P</i> <0.05 vs baseline;</p><p>**significantly different at <i>P</i> <0.01 vs baseline.</p
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