Cu2O@PNIPAM core–shell microgels as novel inkjet materials for the preparation of CuO hollow porous nanocubes gas sensing layers

There has been long-standing interest in developing metal oxide-based sensors with high sensitivity, selectivity, fast response and low material consumption. Here we report for the first time the utilization of Cu2O@PNIPAM core–shell microgels with a nanocube-shaped core structure for construction of novel CuO gas sensing layers. The hybrid microgels show significant improvement in colloidal stability as compared to native Cu2O nanocubes. Consequently, a homogeneous thin film of Cu2O@PNIPAM nanoparticles can be engineered in a quite low solid content (1.5 wt%) by inkjet printing of the dispersion at an optimized viscosity and surface tension. Most importantly, thermal treatment of the Cu2O@PNIPAM microgels forms porous CuO nanocubes, which show much faster response to relevant trace NO2 gases than sensors produced from bare Cu2O nanocubes. This outcome is due to the fact that the PNIPAM shell can successfully hinder the aggregation of CuO nanoparticles during pyrolysis, which enables full utilization of the sensor layers and better access of the gas to active sites. These results point out great potential of such an innovative system as gas sensors with low cost, fast response and high sensitivitH. J. gratefully acknowledges financial support of the CSC scholarship. S. P. acknowledges funding from the Community of Madrid under grant number 2016-T1/AMB-1695

Periodical metal cylinders for improving heating uniformity of small batch materials in microwave applicators with rotating turntables

Microwave applicators with rotating turntables have been widely applied in many fields, but the heating non-uniformity still limits the further applications. Specifically, when microwave applicators are used to process small batch materials, materials have to be away from the center of rotating turntables, where the problem of heating non-uniformity is more prominent. In order to overcome this difficulty, this paper presents a novel periodical metal cylinder structure to improve the heating uniformity for microwave applicators. With the proposed periodical metal cylinders being placed beneath rotating turntables, electromagnetic fields can be well adjusted, thus improving the heating uniformity. To demonstrate the heating uniformity with the proposed structure, the heating process of the arrays of two and three potato slices in a practical microwave applicator is simulated by the finite element method, respectively. The results show that both the heating uniformity of the two and three potato slices can be improved, which is validated by experiments. Furthermore, the results show that the temperature similarity among the processed potato slices with the proposed structure is better than that without the proposed structure

Comparative Study of Two Insulinlike Proteases in Cryptosporidium parvum

Cryptosporidiumparvum is a common protozoan pathogen responsible for moderate-to-severe diarrhea in humans and animals. The small genome of C. parvum has 22 genes encoding insulinlike proteases (INS) with diverse sequences, suggesting that members of the protein family may have different biological functions in the life cycle. In this study, two members of the INS family, CpINS-4 and CpINS-6 with the Zn2+-binding motif “HXXEH” but different numbers of function domains, were expressed in Escherichia coli and used in the generation of polyclonal antibodies. In both recombinant and native proteins, CpINS-4 and CpINS-6 were spliced into multiple fragments. The antibodies generated recognized their respective recombinant and native proteins and the spliced products, but had minimum cross-reactivity with each other. Anti-CpINS-4 antibodies reacted with the middle region of sporozoites and merozoites, while CpINS-6 had the highest reactivity to the apical region. Polyclonal anti-CpINS-4 antibodies produced 36% reduction in parasite load in HCT-8 cultures at 24 h, while those against CpINS-6, which has one of the function domains missing, failed in doing so. The genes encoding both CpINS-4 and CpINS-6 had the highest expression in the invasion phase of in vitro C. parvum culture. These data suggest that CpINS-4 and CpINS-6 might be expressed in different organelles and play different biological functions in the life cycle of C. parvum

Gut microbiota and serum metabolome reveal the mechanism by which TCM polysaccharides alleviate salpingitis in laying hens challenged by bacteria

ABSTRACT: This paper aimed to evaluate the effect of 3 kinds of TCM polysaccharides instead of antibiotics in preventing salpingitis in laying hens. After feeding the laying hens with Lotus leaf polysaccharide, Poria polysaccharide, and Epimedium polysaccharide, mixed bacteria (E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus) were used to infect the oviduct to establish an inflammation model. Changes in antioxidant, serum immunity, anti-inflammatory, gut microbiota, and serum metabolites were evaluated. The results showed that the 3 TCM polysaccharides could increase the expression of antioxidant markers SOD, GSH, and CAT, and reduce the accumulation of MDA in the liver; the contents of IgA and IgM in serum were increased. Decreased the mRNA expression of TLR4, NFκB, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL1β, IL6, and IL8, and increased the mRNA expression of anti-inflammatory factor IL5 in oviduct tissue. 16sRNA high-throughput sequencing revealed that the 3 TCM polysaccharides improved the intestinal flora disturbance caused by bacterial infection, increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Bacteroides and Actinobacillus, and decreased the abundance of harmful bacteria such as Romboutsia, Turicibacter, and Streptococcus. Metabolomics showed that the 3 TCM polysaccharides could increase the content of metabolites such as 3-hydroxybutyric acid and isobutyl-L-carnitine, and these results could alleviate the further development of salpingitis. In conclusion, the present study has found that using TCM polysaccharides instead of antibiotics was a feasible way to prevent bacterial salpingitis in laying hens, which might make preventing this disease no longer an issue for breeding laying hens