Controlled Release of Insulin Based on Temperature and Glucose Dual Responsive Biomicrocapsules

The treatment of diabetes lies in developing novel functional carriers, which are expected to have the unique capability of monitoring blood glucose levels continuously and dispensing insulin correctly and timely. Hence, this study is proposing to create a smart self-regulated insulin delivery system according to changes in glucose concentration. Temperature and glucose dual responsive copolymer microcapsules bearing N-isopropylacrylamide and 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid as main components were developed by bottom-spray coating technology and template method. The insulinoma β-TC6 cells were trapped in the copolymer microcapsules by use of temperature sensitivity, and then growth, proliferation, and glucose-responsive insulin secretion of microencapsulated cells were successively monitored. The copolymer microcapsules showed favorable structural stability and good biocompatibility against β-TC6 cells. Compared with free cells, the biomicrocapsules presented a more effective and safer glucose-dependent insulin release behavior. The bioactivity of secreted and released insulin did not differ between free and encapsulated β-TC6 cells. The results demonstrated that the copolymer microcapsules had a positive effect on real-time sensing of glucose and precise controlled release of insulin. The intelligent drug delivery system is supposed to mimic insulin secretion in a physiological manner, and further provide new perspectives and technical support for the development of artificial pancreas

Alterations of miRNAs and Their Potential Roles in Arsenite-Induced Transformation of Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells

The alterations of micro RNAs (miRNAs) and their potential roles in arsenite-induced tumorigenesis are still poorly understood. In this study, miRNA Array was used to detect the expression level of miRNAs in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells that were transformed by 2.5 μM arsenite for 13 weeks. These cells exhibited a neoplastic phenotype manifested by increased levels of cellular proliferation and migration and clone formation. Subsequently, 191 dysregulated miRNAs were identified to be associated with arsenite-induced transformation by miRNA Array. Among them, six miRNAs were validated by their expression levels with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and 17 miRNAs were further explored via their target genes as well as regulatory network. Three databases, TargetMiner, miRDB, and TarBase, were used to predict the target genes of the 17 miRNAs, and a total of 954 common genes were sorted. Results of Gene Ontology (GO) analyses showed that the 954 genes were involved in diverse terms of GO categories, such as positive regulation of macroautophagy, epithelial cell maturation, and synaptic vesicle clustering. Moreover, results of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses demonstrated that most of these target genes were enriched in various cancer-related pathways, including non-small cell lung cancer, Wnt signaling pathway, cell cycle, and p53 signaling pathway. The miRNA-gene regulatory network, which was constructed by cytoscape software with miRNAs and their target genes, showed that miR-15b-5p, miR-106b-5p, and miR-320d were the core hubs. Collectively, our results provide new insights into miRNA-mediated mechanisms underlying arsenite-induced transformation, although more experimental verification is still needed to prove these predictions

Investigation Of Physical And Chemical Characteristics Of Masonry Stones And Bricks Part 1 Physical Testing

This series of study focused on analysing and assessing the changes of the physical and chemical characteristics of the surfaces of the masonrystones and bricks during the sandblasting cleaning process by conducting various physical and chemical tests. Seven masonry stones and bricks were adopted, including yellow sandstone, red sandstone, limestone, marble, granite, white clay brick and yellow clay brick. The physical testing included evaluating the cleaning degree, determining the Vickers hardness, and detecting the water absorption. Using a digital imaging analysis method, the greyscale and cleanness were introduced to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of masonry building cleaning and confirmed to be useful and appropriate. The cleanness analysis, together with the hardness and water absorption tests showed that a masonry stone or a brick with a higher cleaning degree corresponded to a brighter and harder stone surface. In general, the physical properties were found to vary largely during the building cleaning

Investigation Of Physical And Chemical Characteristics Of Masonry Stones And Bricks During Building Cleaning Part2 Chemical Testing

This series of study focused on analysing and assessing the changes of the physical and chemical characteristics of the surfaces of the masonrystones and bricks during the sandblasting cleaning process by conducting various physical and chemical tests. Seven masonry stones and bricks were adopted, including yellow sandstone, red sandstone, limestone, marble, granite, white clay brick and yellow clay brick. The physical testing included evaluating the cleaning degree, determining the Vickers hardness, and detecting the water absorption. Using a digital imaging analysis method, the greyscale and cleanness were introduced to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of masonry building cleaning and confirmed to be useful and appropriate. The cleanness analysis, together with the hardness and water absorption tests showed that a masonry stone or a brick with a higher cleaning degree corresponded to a brighter and harder stone surface. In general, the physical properties were found to vary largely during the building cleaning

Effects of food wastes based on different components on digestibility and energy recovery in hydrogen and methane co-production

This study was conducted for four organic fractions (carbohydrates, proteins, cellulose, lipids) at an inoculum concentration of 30 % and a total solid (TS) of 8 % to investigate the effect of the main components of food waste on the performance of the two-stage anaerobic digestion. The results showed that the gas phase products were closely related to the composition of the substrate, with the carbohydrate and lipid groups showing the best hydrogen (154.91 ± 2.39mL/gVS) and methane (381.83 ± 12.691mL/gVS) production performance, respectively. However, the increased protein content predisposes the system to inhibition of gas production, which is mutually supported by changes in the activity of dehydrogenase and coenzyme F420. Butyric acid (53.19 %) dominated the liquid phase products in both stages, indicating that all four organic fractions were butyric acid-based fermentation and that the final soluble chemical oxygen demand degradation reached 72.97 %–82.86 %. The carbohydrate and cellulose groups achieved the best energy recovery performance, with conversion rates exceeding 65 %. The above results can provide a useful reference for the resource utilization of food waste

Pyrolysis characteristics of typical biomass thermoplastic composites

The biomass thermoplastic composites were prepared by extrusion molding method with poplar flour, rice husk, cotton stalk and corn stalk. The thermo gravimetric analyzer (TGA) has also been used for evaluating the pyrolysis process of the composites. The results showed that the pyrolysis process mainly consists of two stages: biomass pyrolysis and the plastic pyrolysis. The increase of biomass content in the composite raised the first stage pyrolysis peak temperature. However, the carbon residue was reduced and the pyrolysis efficiency was better because of synergistic effect of biomass and plastic. The composite with different kinds of biomass have similar pyrolysis process, and the pyrolysis efficiency of the composite with corn stalk was best. The calcium carbonate could inhibit pyrolysis process and increase the first stage pyrolysis peak temperature and carbon residue as a filling material of the composite. Keywords: Biomass thermoplastic composite, Calcium carbonate, Pyrolysis characteristi