High-Efficiency Fog Collector: Water Unidirectional Transport on Heterogeneous Rough Conical Wires

An artificial periodic roughness-gradient conical copper wire (PCCW) can be fabricated by inspiration from cactus spines and wet spider silks. PCCW can harvest fog on periodic points of the conical surface from air and transports the drops for a long distance without external force, which is attributed to dynamic as-released energy generated from drop deformation in drop coalescence, in addition to both gradients of geometric curve (inducing Laplace pressure) and periodic roughness (inducing surface energy difference). It is found that the ability of fog collection can be related to various tilt-angle wires, thus a fog collector with an array system of PCCWs is further designed to achieve a continuous process of efficient water collection. As a result, the effect of water collection on PCCWs is better than previous results. These findings are significant to develop and design materials with water collection and water transport for promising application in fogwater systems to ease the water crisis

Cost-Efficient Strategy for Sustainable Cross-Linked Microporous Carbon Bead with Satisfactory CO₂ Capture Capacity

Cross-linked microporous carbon beads (MCBs) were successfully synthesized via a green, convenient, and cost-efficient strategy derived from a renewable sugar source. Such an approach avoids the time-consuming procedure and the use of corrosive chemical activating agents and toxic solvents and only involves a simple carbonization process, which makes it to be applicable for rapid and large-scale industrial production of MCB materials. The obtained MCBs possessed well-defined microporous structure, narrow pore size, and high surface area. Particularly, the microporosity of the resultant MCBs could be easily tailored to arise primary pores of size 0.5–0.9 nm by adjusting the carbonization temperature and reaction time, which remarkably favor the CO₂ capture. The optimal sample of MCBs-9-5 carbonized at 900 °C for 5 h was characterized by high microporosity (80% of the surface area from micropores), especially ultrahigh narrow microporosity (53% of pore volume from micropores of size <1 nm), which endowed it a great satisfactory CO₂ uptake of 4.25 mmol g^–1 at 25 °C and 1 bar. Significantly, a prominent CO₂/N₂ selectivity and superior recyclability of MCBs-9-5 were also achieved. Combined with the simple fabrication, the satisfactory adsorption capacity, and high selectivity, MCBs-9-5 should be a promising adsorbent for CO₂ capture and separation

MiRNA-302a expression profiles in colon cancer tissue, normal prostate tissue, and colon cancer cells.

<p>(<b>A</b>) MiRNA-302a expression was downregulated in colon cancer tissue compared with normal colon tissue. (<b>B</b>) Low levels of miRNA-302a expression were detected in four human colon cancer cell lines, HCT8, HCT116, HT29, and CaCO2. (<b>C</b>) High levels of miRNA-302a expression were detected in HCT8 and HCT116 colon cancer cells stably expressing miRNA-302a (*P<0.05).</p

Overexpression of miRNA-302a induces G1/S phase cell cycle arrest in colon cancer cells.

<p>The proportion of cells in G1-phase increased significantly in HCT8-302a cells (<b>A</b>, <b>C</b>) and HCT116-302a cells (<b>B</b>, <b>D</b>) compared with controls, while the proportion of cells in the S phase were notably less than the controls. (* P<0.05).</p

Fog Harvesting with Harps

Fog harvesting is a useful technique for obtaining fresh water in arid climates. The wire meshes currently utilized for fog harvesting suffer from dual constraints: coarse meshes cannot efficiently capture microscopic fog droplets, whereas fine meshes suffer from clogging issues. Here, we design and fabricate fog harvesters comprising an array of vertical wires, which we call “fog harps”. Under controlled laboratory conditions, the fog-harvesting rates for fog harps with three different wire diameters were compared to conventional meshes of equivalent dimensions. As expected for the mesh structures, the mid-sized wires exhibited the largest fog collection rate, with a drop-off in performance for the fine or coarse meshes. In contrast, the fog-harvesting rate continually increased with decreasing wire diameter for the fog harps due to efficient droplet shedding that prevented clogging. This resulted in a 3-fold enhancement in the fog-harvesting rate for the harp design compared to an equivalent mesh

MiRNA-302a suppresses <i>AKT</i> expression by directly targeting its 3′ untranslated region.

<p><i>AKT</i> mRNA expression was remarkably suppressed in (<b>A</b>) HCT8-302a and HCT116-302a cells, and (<b>B</b>) HCT8-302a tumors. (<b>C</b>) Immunohistochemistry staining indicated lower expression of AKT in HCT8-302a tumors. (<b>D</b>) Relative luciferase activity was notably suppressed in wild-type AKT-3′ untranslated region (UTR) transfected cells. (<b>E</b>) Schematic representation of the luciferase reporter, which carried the wild-type or mutant <i>AKT</i>-3′ UTR. (* P<0.05).</p

Overexpression of miRNA-302a significantly inhibits cell proliferation in colon cancer cells <i>in vitro</i>.

<p>CCK-8 assay was performed to measure proliferation in (<b>A</b>) HCT8 and (<b>B</b>) HCT116 cells. Data represent the mean ± standard deviation of the optical density (OD) value detected at 450 nm from three independent experiments. Cell proliferation was detected in (<b>C</b>) HCT8 and (<b>D</b>) HCT116 cells using EdU assay analyzed by flow cytometry. (<b>E</b>, <b>F</b>) Colony formation assays indicated fewer colonies in miRNA-302a overexpressing HCT8 cells. (*P<0.05).</p

Overexpression of miRNA-302a in colon cancer cells triggers alterations in the AKT-GSK3β-cyclin D1 signaling pathway.

<p>Western blot analyses showed downregulated AKT and cyclin D1 levels, and upregulated GSK3β levels in miRNA-302a overexpressing HCT8 cells. PTEN and PI3K levels were not affected.</p

Overexpression of miRNA-302a significantly inhibits cell proliferation in colon cancer cells <i>in vivo</i>.

<p>HCT8-GFP cells and HCT8-302a cells were injected into the left and right posterior flank of nude mice, respectively (<b>A</b>, <b>B</b>). The tumor volume (<b>C</b>) and mass (<b>D</b>) in the HCT8-302a group were notably lower than in the HCT8-GFP group. (* P<0.05).</p

Fog Harvesting with Harps

Fog harvesting is a useful technique for obtaining fresh water in arid climates. The wire meshes currently utilized for fog harvesting suffer from dual constraints: coarse meshes cannot efficiently capture microscopic fog droplets, whereas fine meshes suffer from clogging issues. Here, we design and fabricate fog harvesters comprising an array of vertical wires, which we call “fog harps”. Under controlled laboratory conditions, the fog-harvesting rates for fog harps with three different wire diameters were compared to conventional meshes of equivalent dimensions. As expected for the mesh structures, the mid-sized wires exhibited the largest fog collection rate, with a drop-off in performance for the fine or coarse meshes. In contrast, the fog-harvesting rate continually increased with decreasing wire diameter for the fog harps due to efficient droplet shedding that prevented clogging. This resulted in a 3-fold enhancement in the fog-harvesting rate for the harp design compared to an equivalent mesh