Lignin/Polyacrylonitrile Composite Hollow Fibers Prepared by Wet-Spinning Method

Lignin is the second most abundant and inexpensive natural biopolymers on earth. In this work, lignin/polyacrylonitrile composite fibers were prepared by wet-spinning method. A transition from solid fiber to hollow fiber was observed when the volume fraction of water in a mixed dimethyl sulfoxide/water coagulation bath was increased. The rheological measurements results showed that the spinning solution had no chemical reactions and was stable at the spinning conditions. Lots of interconnected macro- and medium pores (50–90 nm) were formed inside the wall section of these hollow fibers. The change of coagulation solvent had little influence on the outer diameters of the fibers. The formations of the hollow structure and the pores are ascribed to a diffusion controlled procedure. The reaction between formaldehyde and hydroxyl groups (−OH) in lignin molecule was found to improve slightly fiber modulus and thermal stability. This study provides a facial way to prepare lignin-based hollow fibers for many applications

Hexahydro‑<i>s</i>‑triazine: A Trial for Acid-Degradable Epoxy Resins with High Performance

Hexahydro-<i>s</i>-triazine (HT) derivatives are acid-sensitive compounds. 4,4′,4″-(1,3,5-Hexahydro-<i>s</i>-triazine-1,3,5-triyl) tris­(<i>N</i>-(2-aminoethyl) benzamide) (HT-A) bearing three amino groups was synthesized as a curing agent to prepare the acid-degradable epoxy resin. The chemical structures of HT-A and its precursor were confirmed by ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. The synthesized HT-A, as well as the commercialized 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) (for use as the control) were used to cure diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), respectively. The property examinations performed by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and tensile test demonstrated that the HT-A-cured epoxy presented high thermal and mechanical properties which were comparable with those of the DDM cured one. Meanwhile, degradation investigation indicated that the HT-A-cured epoxy could be controllably degraded with strong acid stimuli. Thus, HT-A has a great potential to produce recyclable thermosets with satisfactory properties

Top-Seeded Solution Growth and Optical Properties of Deep-UV Birefringent Crystal Ba₂Ca(B₃O₆)₂

Single crystals of the birefringent material Ba₂Ca­(B₃O₆)₂ (BCBO) with dimensions up to 40 × 28 × 10 mm³ were successfully grown by top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) method from B₂O₃–NaF flux. It exhibits high transmittance in the range of 190–3000 nm with UV cutoff of 178 nm, which is much shorter than that (189 nm) of the commercial UV birefringent crystal, the high-temperature phase of BaB₂O₄ (α-BBO). Meanwhile, BCBO crystal has large birefringence (Δ<i>n</i> = <i>n</i>_o – <i>n</i>_e = 0.2524–0.0862) in the wavelength range from 178 to 3000 nm and without phase transition from room temperature to the melting point. A prototype of Glan–Taylor polarizer made from BCBO crystal showed an optical extinction ratio of 10⁴:1, which is comparable to those of commercial birefringence crystals. The experimental results demonstrate that the BCBO crystal can be a new promising birefringent crystal for UV, especially the sub-200 nm deep-UV range

Additional file 1: of DNA methylome profiling at single-base resolution through bisulfite sequencing of 5mC-immunoprecipitated DNA

Table S1. No adverse effect of methylated AluI-linker on MeDIP enrichment. Table S2. Evidence of a decreased percentage of sequenced AluI-linker following removal with streptavidin coupled beads. Table S3. AluI-linker sequences and primers used in this study. Table S4. The qPCR primers used to evaluate MeDIP recovery efficiency. Figure S1. Comparison of the concordance mCG sites identified from MB-seq and BS-seq. Figure S2. Example for the false positive exclusion of MeDIP-seq by MB-seq. Figure S3. The differences of read depth of each genomic feature between MB-seq and MRB-seq based on D-value distribution. Figure S4. Scatter plots showing the relationship between density of methyl groups in MB-Seq and MRB-seq for different genomic features. Figure S5. The methylation levels of BS-seq in gene-associated regions. Figure S6. Comparison of the methylation level differences between BS-seq, MB-seq and MRB-seq. Figure S7. Coverage of CGI and none-CGI promoter. (a) Coverage of each CGI distributed with methylation of C on genome. (b) Coverage of each none CGI promoter distributed with methylation of C on genome. (DOC 2899 kb

Establishment of stably transduced <i>Arhgef11</i> knockdown cell lines using shRNA lentiviral methodology.

<p>A number of shRNA lentiviral constructs (shRNA1-4) were tested for optimal knockdown of <i>Arhgef11</i> in both NRK and HEK293T cells (see <b><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0132553#pone.0132553.s002" target="_blank">S2 Fig</a></b>). (<b>A</b>) Real-time PCR confirmation of shRNA3 <i>Arhgef11</i> knockdown and subsequent impact on RhoA and ROCK in NRK stably transduced cells compared to scrambled control (LVC). (<b>B</b>) Real-time PCR confirmation of shRNA3 <i>Arhgef11</i> knockdown and impact on RhoA and ROCK in HEK293T stably transduced cells compared to scrambled control (LVC). (<b>C</b>) Western analysis and densitometry measurements of ARHGEF11, RhoA, and ROCK between NRK-LVC and NRK-shRNA3.(<b>D</b>) Western analysis and densitometry measurements of ARHGEF11, RhoA, and ROCK between HEK293T-LVC and HEK293T-shRNA3. n = 4–6 independent samples/group, *p<0.05 versus LVC, Error bar are ±SD.</p

Analysis of the Rho-ROCK signaling pathway and RhoA activity in stably transduced <i>Arhgef11</i> knockdown cell lines.

<p>Cell-culture experiments were performed under several experimental conditions: 1) control (DMEM medium); 2) fasudil (F) (10μg/ml) treated for 4hrs; 3) serum free (SF) for 24 hours, or 4) serum free for 24 hrs + fasudil treated for 4 hours (SF+F). (<b>A</b>) Real time PCR of <i>Arhgef11</i>, <i>RhoA</i>, <i>Rock1</i>, <i>MLC</i> and <i>Cofilin</i> of HEK293-shRNA3 compared to LVC (scrambled control). (<b>B</b>) RhoA activity between LVC and HEK293-shRNA3 under each experimental condition. (<b>C</b>) Western analysis of Rho-Rock pathway in LVC and HEK293-shRNA3 between control and fasudil treatment; and (<b>D</b>) Western analysis of Rho-Rock pathway in LVC and HEK293-shRNA3 between control and serum free conditions. Similar results were observed for LVC and NRK-shRNA3 for control versus fasudil (<b><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0132553#pone.0132553.s003" target="_blank">S3 Fig</a></b>). n = 6 independent samples per group/treatment, *p<0.05 versus LVC. Error bars are ±SD.</p

Real-time PCR and western analysis of TGFß-1 induced epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and impact on RhoA-Rock pathway in primary proximal tubule cell (PTC).

<p>Primary PTC cells (day 5, >60% confluent) were grown from S and Arhgef11-congenic kidney (at 4 weeks of age) and treated with TGFß-1 (10 ng/ml) for 48 hrs. (<b>A</b>) Real-time PCR of markers indicative of EMT. (<b>B</b>) Western analysis and densitometry of E-Cadherin and N-Cadherin EMT markers. (<b>C</b>) Representative phase contrast and immunofluorescence of stress fibers formation (F-Actin) and Vimentin (EMT markers) between S and Arhgef11-congenic PTC exposed to TGFß-1. n = 4–6 independent samples, *p<0.05 versus S, †p<0.05 versus S+ TGFß-1. Error bar are ±SD.</p

Blood pressure, proteinuria, and renal function measurements and correlation with changes in <i>Arhgef11</i> expression.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Systolic blood pressure in S, Arhgef11-congenic (C), and SHR at week 4 and 24 (n = 6 per group). (<b>B</b>) Proteinuria as a measure of renal injury (n = 6–20). (<b>C</b>) Creatinine clearance as an indication of renal function (n = 4–6 per group). (<b>D</b>) Renal expression of <i>Arhgef11</i> from week 2 (before phenotypic differences between strains) until week 24 (n = 6 per group/time). Arhgef11-congenic is genetically similar to the S rat, except for allelic difference in <i>Arhgef11</i> (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0132553#pone.0132553.s002" target="_blank">S2 Fig</a>) and few surrounding genes. *p<0.05 versus S, †, p<0.05 versus S and C. SE are presented.</p

<i>In vivo</i> assessment of albumin re-uptake by infusion via FITC-albumin and immunofluorescence imaging.

<p>FITC-labeled albumin was infused in S, Arhgef11-congenic and SHR (n = 5–6 per group) at a rate of 100 ul/min for 15 min. Subsequently, kidneys were collected, fixed in a 10% buffered formalin solution, processed and sectioned, and imaged. Threshold image analysis was used to measure the degree of fluorescence in the kidney from each strain (n = 2 sections per kidney and 10–15 images per section). Kidneys from Arhgef11-congenic exhibited an increase in tubular fluorescence/punctate regions of active albumin uptake compared to kidney from S. Fluorescence in SHR kidney was low as little albumin is filtered and remains in glomerular vasculature. Af, afferent arteriole; Ef, efferent arteriole; GC, glomerular capillary, PT, proximal tubule. The thicker the blue arrow the more protein that occurs in the ultrafiltrate and enters the proximal tubule/urine. The number of curved arrows denote active reuptake of filtered protein. *p<0.05 versus S. Error bar are +SE.</p

ARHGEF11 localization and actin (F-actin) cytoskeleton immunofluorescence.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Localization of ARHGEF11 in stably transduced NRK cells [-LVC (lentiviral scramble control) or–shRNA3]. ARHGEF11 is located near the nucleus and throughout the cell under control conditions for both LVC and LVC-shRNA3 cells, Under serum free conditions ARHGEF11 appears to be distributed throughout the cell and toward the cell membrane. (<b>B</b>) Immunofluorescence of F-actin in stably transduced NRK cells under control, serum free and fasudil treatment. Cells cultured under serum free conditions develop stress fibers and demonstrate elongation of cells. NRK-shRNA3 cells demonstrate a significant reduction in stress fibers, similar to pharmacological imbibition of ROCK by fasudil, as cell length/width ratio decreases to baseline with genetic knockdown of <i>Arhgef11</i>. *p<0.05, n = 3 independent samples/20 random images per slide (6–10 cells per view). Error bars are ±SD.</p