Ionogels of Sugar Surfactant in Ethylammonium Nitrate: Phase Transition from Closely Packed Bilayers to Right-Handed Twisted Ribbons

In the simplest ionic liquid, ethylammonium nitrate (EAN), ionogels with high mechanical strength were prepared from a surfactant with a disaccharide polar head. Phase structures from closely packed bilayers to right-handed twisted ribbons were determined via freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM) observations. The phase transition mechanism was investigated deeply and systematically. The temperature contributes to suitable tail chain conformations of surfactant molecules for adapting to different self-assembled structures including right-handed twisted ribbons and bilayers. Two different arrays were revealed for different bilayers by the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements. The rheological and tribological properties of the ionogels were investigated. The better lubricating property and antiwear capability of the ionogels compared to the EAN may be attributed to the structure characteristics and the good thixotropic properties

Initial.m from Dynamics and locomotion of flexible foils in a frictional environment

Over the past few decades, oscillating flexible foils have been used to study the physics of organismal propulsion in different fluid environments. Here, we extend this work to a study of flexible foils in a frictional environment. When the foil is oscillated by heaving at one end but is not free to locomote, the dynamics change from periodic to non-periodic and chaotic as the heaving amplitude increases or the bending rigidity decreases. For friction coefficients lying in a certain range, the transition passes through a sequence of <i>N</i>-periodic and asymmetric states before reaching chaotic dynamics. Resonant peaks are damped and shifted by friction and large heaving amplitudes, leading to bistable states. When the foil is free to locomote, the horizontal motion smoothes the resonant behaviours. For moderate frictional coefficients, steady but slow locomotion is obtained. For large transverse friction and small tangential friction corresponding to wheeled snake robots, faster locomotion is obtained. Travelling wave motions arise spontaneously, and move with horizontal speed that scales as transverse friction to the 1/4 power and input power that scales as transverse friction to the 5/12 power. These scalings are consistent with a boundary layer form of the solutions near the foil's leading edge

DataSheet1_Prognosis and immune infiltration analysis of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related genes in bladder urothelial carcinoma.xlsx

Background: Abnormal activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress sensors and their downstream signalling pathways is a key regulator of tumour growth, tumour metastasis and the response to chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. However, the study of ER stress on the immune microenvironment of bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) is still insufficient.Methods: Firstly, 23 ER stress genes were selected to analyse their expression differences and prognostic value in BLCA based on the existing BLCA genome atlas data. According to the expression level of ER stress-related genes in BLCA, two independent clusters were identified using consensus cluster analysis. Subsequently, the correlation between these two clusters in terms of the immune microenvironment and their prognostic value was analysed. Finally, we analysed the prognostic value of the key ER stress gene HSP90B1 in BLCA and its corresponding mechanism that affects the immune microenvironment.Results: Consensus clustering showed a worse prognosis and higher expression of immunoassay site-related genes (HAVCR2, PDCD1, CTLA4, CD274, LAG3, TIGIT and PDCD1LG2) in cluster 1 compared with cluster 2. Additionally, both TIMER and CIBERSORT algorithms showed that the expression of immune infiltrating cells in cluster 1 was significantly higher than that in cluster 2. Subsequently, HSP90B1 was identified as a key ER stress gene in BLCA, and its high expression indicated poor prognosis and was closely related to PD1. We also analysed the correlation between HSP90B1 expression and immune-infiltrating cell related biomarkers, which showed positive results. Finally, we verified the prognostic value of HSP90B1 in BLCA using an immunohistochemical assay in a tissue microarray of 100 patients with BLCA, validating the potential of HSP90B1 as a prognostic biomarker in patients with BLCA.Conclusion: Our work reveals that ER stress genes play a crucial role in the BLCA immunological milieu, and HSP90B1 is a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for cancer immunotherapy.</p

Local and Sustained Gene Delivery in Silica-Collagen Nanocomposites

Local delivery of biomolecules from hydrogels is highly challenging because of their rapid diffusion and degradation. Gene therapy represents an alternative that allows for the prolonged production of proteins by transfected cells. In this study, we have developed nanocomposites consisting of DNA-polyethylenimine-silica nanoparticle complexes coencapsulated with fibroblasts within collagen hydrogels. Through the modulation of the particle size and polyethylenimine molecular weight, it was possible to achieve “in-gel” transfection permitting the sustained production of biomolecules from hydrogels over 1 week. Alternative configurations consisting of particle addition to cellularized gels and cell culture in the presence of complex-containing hydrogels were also investigated. These studies demonstrated that particle encapsulation limits DNA and silica dissemination outside the collagen hydrogels. They also show the key role of cell proliferation within collagen hydrogels on the transfection efficiency. Such nanocomposites therefore constitute promising materials for the development of novel gene delivery systems to promote tissue repair

Rapid-Forming and Self-Healing Agarose-Based Hydrogels for Tissue Adhesives and Potential Wound Dressings

To meet the progressive requirements of advanced engineering materials with superior physicochemical performances, self-healing and injectable hydrogels (AD hydrogels) based on agarose with pH-response were prepared through dynamic covalent Schiff-base linkages by simply mixing nontoxic agarose–ethylenediamine conjugate (AG-NH₂) and dialdehyde-functionalized polyethylene glycol (DF-PEG) solutions. The self-healing and injectable capabilities of the hydrogels without any external stimulus are ascribed to dynamic covalent Schiff-base linkages between the aldehyde groups of DF-PEG and amine groups on AG-NH₂ backbone. It is demonstrated that the AD hydrogels possess interconnected porous morphologies, rapid gelation time, excellent deformability, and good mechanical strength. The incorporated Schiff’s base imparts the hydrogels to the remarkable tissue adhesiveness. In vivo hemostatic tests on rabbit liver demonstrate that the hydrogels are able to stanch the severe trauma effectively. Compared with the conventional gauze treatment, the total amount of bleeding sharply declined to be (0.19 ± 0.03) g, and hemostasis time was strikingly shorter than 10 s after treating with AD hydrogels. In summary, the self-healing ability, cytocompatibility, and adhesion characteristic of the pH-responsive hydrogels make them promising candidates for long-lived wound dressings in critical situations

Rapid-Forming and Self-Healing Agarose-Based Hydrogels for Tissue Adhesives and Potential Wound Dressings

To meet the progressive requirements of advanced engineering materials with superior physicochemical performances, self-healing and injectable hydrogels (AD hydrogels) based on agarose with pH-response were prepared through dynamic covalent Schiff-base linkages by simply mixing nontoxic agarose–ethylenediamine conjugate (AG-NH₂) and dialdehyde-functionalized polyethylene glycol (DF-PEG) solutions. The self-healing and injectable capabilities of the hydrogels without any external stimulus are ascribed to dynamic covalent Schiff-base linkages between the aldehyde groups of DF-PEG and amine groups on AG-NH₂ backbone. It is demonstrated that the AD hydrogels possess interconnected porous morphologies, rapid gelation time, excellent deformability, and good mechanical strength. The incorporated Schiff’s base imparts the hydrogels to the remarkable tissue adhesiveness. In vivo hemostatic tests on rabbit liver demonstrate that the hydrogels are able to stanch the severe trauma effectively. Compared with the conventional gauze treatment, the total amount of bleeding sharply declined to be (0.19 ± 0.03) g, and hemostasis time was strikingly shorter than 10 s after treating with AD hydrogels. In summary, the self-healing ability, cytocompatibility, and adhesion characteristic of the pH-responsive hydrogels make them promising candidates for long-lived wound dressings in critical situations

Rapid-Forming and Self-Healing Agarose-Based Hydrogels for Tissue Adhesives and Potential Wound Dressings

To meet the progressive requirements of advanced engineering materials with superior physicochemical performances, self-healing and injectable hydrogels (AD hydrogels) based on agarose with pH-response were prepared through dynamic covalent Schiff-base linkages by simply mixing nontoxic agarose–ethylenediamine conjugate (AG-NH₂) and dialdehyde-functionalized polyethylene glycol (DF-PEG) solutions. The self-healing and injectable capabilities of the hydrogels without any external stimulus are ascribed to dynamic covalent Schiff-base linkages between the aldehyde groups of DF-PEG and amine groups on AG-NH₂ backbone. It is demonstrated that the AD hydrogels possess interconnected porous morphologies, rapid gelation time, excellent deformability, and good mechanical strength. The incorporated Schiff’s base imparts the hydrogels to the remarkable tissue adhesiveness. In vivo hemostatic tests on rabbit liver demonstrate that the hydrogels are able to stanch the severe trauma effectively. Compared with the conventional gauze treatment, the total amount of bleeding sharply declined to be (0.19 ± 0.03) g, and hemostasis time was strikingly shorter than 10 s after treating with AD hydrogels. In summary, the self-healing ability, cytocompatibility, and adhesion characteristic of the pH-responsive hydrogels make them promising candidates for long-lived wound dressings in critical situations

First Fluorinated Zwitterionic Micelle with Unusually Slow Exchange in an Ionic Liquid

The micellization of a fluorinated zwitterionic surfactant in ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) was investigated. The freeze-fracture transmission electron microscope (FF-TEM) observations confirm the formation of spherical micelles with the average diameter 25.45 ± 3.74 nm. The micellization is an entropy-driven process at low temperature but an enthalpy-driven process at high temperature. Two sets of ¹⁹F NMR signals above the critical micelle concentration (cmc) indicate that the unusually slow exchange between micelles and monomers exists in ionic liquid; meanwhile, surfactant molecules are more inclined to stay in micelle states instead of monomer states at higher concentration. Through the analysis of the half line width (Δν_1/2), we can obtain the kinetic information of fluorinated zwitterionic micellization in an ionic liquid

High speed adaptive optics line-scan confocal retinal imaging system.

<p>LS1, LS2: Light sources. SLD: Superluminescent diode. CL: Cylindrical lens. DF: Dichroic filter. L1-L5: Lenses. BS1, BS2: Beam splitter. S1-S5: Spherical mirrors. GS: Galvanometric scanner. FM1, FM2: Flat mirrors. WS: Wavefront sensor. DM: Deformable mirror. The imaging path and the wavefront sensing path are indicted by dark red and yellow lines, respectively.</p

Schematic of the image acquisition timing diagram.

<p>The galvanometric scanner is driven by the sawtooth signal generated by a function generator. One period scanning of the galvanometric scanner forms a frame including 512 lines. Each line includes a time for exposure to collect imaging photons (the line exposure time) and a time for reading out the image data (readout time). The line control signal (L-Sync) has two programmable parameters: “Line Period” and “Line Exposure Time.” Given a fixed line numbers per frame, the line period is determined by the frame rate or the time for acquiring a frame, e.g., for a frame consisting of 512 lines, the line period for the frame rate 200 Hz is 9.7 μs, within which a maximum time of 8.4 μs can be used for camera exposure to collect imaging photons, and a minimum 1.3 μs must be reserved for data readout. The table listed the line period time and the maximum exposure time during each line under different frame rates. The L-Sync is sent to the frame grabber. When the frame grabber receives the frame synchronization signal (F-Sync) from the function generator, it starts to record a frame and a counter triggered by the L-Sync will record the number of lines acquired. When the counter reaches 512, the frame grabber will finish acquisition and wait for the next F-Sync. The F-Sync was purposely set with a delay to avoid image distortion at the beginning of each frame.</p