Tough, Swelling-Resistant, Self-Healing, and Adhesive Dual-Cross-Linked Hydrogels Based on Polymer–Tannic Acid Multiple Hydrogen Bonds

We demonstrate a facile and universal strategy in the fabrication of dual-cross-linked (DC) single network hydrogels with high toughness, “nonswellability”, rapid self-healing, and versatile adhesiveness based on polymer–tannic acid (TA) multiple hydrogen bonds. Two widely used hydrogels, physically cross-linked poly­(vinyl alcohol) and chemically cross-linked polyacrylamide, have been transformed to TA-based DC hydrogels by dipping the corresponding aerogels into TA solution. The second cross-link via multiple polymer–TA hydrogen bonds effectively suppresses the crack propagation, resulting in both DC gels with high mechanical strength. But these two TA-based DC hydrogels go through different deformation mechanisms during the stretching based on analyzing their stress–strain curves using the Mooney–Rivlin equation. Moreover, these DC hydrogels are swelling-resistant, with strong toughness, good self-recoverability, rapid self-healing, and versatile adhesiveness. This work provides a simple route to fabricate multifunctional DC hydrogels, hopefully promoting their applications as biomedical materials

Tannic Acid-Based Multifunctional Hydrogels with Facile Adjustable Adhesion and Cohesion Contributed by Polyphenol Supramolecular Chemistry

Adhesiveness of hydrogels depends on the balance and synergy of their cohesion and adhesion. However, it is a challenge to fabricate catechol-based hydrogels with high adhesiveness because the required condition for cohesion and adhesion of these hydrogels is in conflict with each other: strong cohesion (gelation) requires a weak basic condition, whereas strong adhesion requires an acidic condition. Here, we demonstrated that by utilizing polyphenol supramolecular chemistry, the coexistence of strong cohesion and adhesion can be achieved in a hydrogel via the one-pot method. Poly­(dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride)/tannic acid (PDDA/TA) hydrogel has been studied as a proof of concept. Compared with catechol moieties that covalently grafted on polymer chains, TA can bring high density of pyrogallol/catechol functional groups for polymers via a noncovalent pathway, as well as high acidity in the system. As a result, the cohesion of the hydrogel is enhanced significantly, the highest storage moduli can reach up to ca. 0.15 MPa; besides, the high acidity of the hydrogel prevents pyrogallol/catechol groups from oxidation and guarantees strong adhesion; thus, the hydrogel can adhere to diverse substrates steadily, including tissues, glass, metals, and plastic. Moreover, because of the adjustable adhesiveness via changing the pH, the PDDA/TA hydrogel becomes a unique system with patternable adhesiveness. In addition, the hydrogel has rapid self-healing and high ionic conductivity (∼4.3 S m^–1). This study demonstrates that utilizing polyphenol chemistry in the construction of hydrogels opens a new path toward multifunctional hydrogels with improved properties

Tannic Acid-Based Multifunctional Hydrogels with Facile Adjustable Adhesion and Cohesion Contributed by Polyphenol Supramolecular Chemistry

Adhesiveness of hydrogels depends on the balance and synergy of their cohesion and adhesion. However, it is a challenge to fabricate catechol-based hydrogels with high adhesiveness because the required condition for cohesion and adhesion of these hydrogels is in conflict with each other: strong cohesion (gelation) requires a weak basic condition, whereas strong adhesion requires an acidic condition. Here, we demonstrated that by utilizing polyphenol supramolecular chemistry, the coexistence of strong cohesion and adhesion can be achieved in a hydrogel via the one-pot method. Poly­(dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride)/tannic acid (PDDA/TA) hydrogel has been studied as a proof of concept. Compared with catechol moieties that covalently grafted on polymer chains, TA can bring high density of pyrogallol/catechol functional groups for polymers via a noncovalent pathway, as well as high acidity in the system. As a result, the cohesion of the hydrogel is enhanced significantly, the highest storage moduli can reach up to ca. 0.15 MPa; besides, the high acidity of the hydrogel prevents pyrogallol/catechol groups from oxidation and guarantees strong adhesion; thus, the hydrogel can adhere to diverse substrates steadily, including tissues, glass, metals, and plastic. Moreover, because of the adjustable adhesiveness via changing the pH, the PDDA/TA hydrogel becomes a unique system with patternable adhesiveness. In addition, the hydrogel has rapid self-healing and high ionic conductivity (∼4.3 S m^–1). This study demonstrates that utilizing polyphenol chemistry in the construction of hydrogels opens a new path toward multifunctional hydrogels with improved properties

successive convergence of the optimized structure.avi

The video shows the convergence process of our optimized structure

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The inhibition and toxicity of high acidity and heavy metals on sulfate-reducing bacteria in acid mine drainage (AMD) were targeted. Highly active SRB immobilized particles were prepared using SRB, warm sticker wastes (iron powders), corncobs, and Maifan stones as the main matrix materials, employing microbial immobilization technology. The repair ability and reusability of highly active immobilized particles for AMD were explored. The results indicate that the adaptability of immobilized particles to AMD varied under different initial conditions, such as pH, Mn2+, and SO42-. The adsorption process of immobilized particles on Mn2+ follows the quasi-second-order kinetic model, suggesting that it involves both physical and chemical adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity of immobilized particles for Mn2+ is 3.878 mg/g at a concentration of 2.0 mg/L and pH 6. On the other hand, the reduction process of immobilized particles on SO42- adheres to the first-order reaction kinetics, indicating that the reduction of SO42- is primarily driven by the dissimilation reduction of SRB. The maximum reduction rate of SO42- by immobilized particles is 94.23% at a concentration of 800 mg/L and pH 6. A layered structure with a flocculent appearance formed on the surface of the immobilized particles. The structure’s characteristics were found to be consistent with sulfate green rust (FeII4FeIII2(OH)12SO4·8H2O). The chemisorption, ion exchange, dissimilation reduction, and surface complexation occurring between the matrices in the immobilized particles can enhance the alkalinity of AMD and decrease the concentration of heavy metals and sulfates. These results are expected to offer novel insights and materials for the treatment of AMD using biological immobilization technology, as well as improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind biological and abiotic enhanced synergistic decontamination.</div

Stuck Photoswitching Event Analysis and Correction for Superresolution Single-Molecule Localization Microscopy

Numerous emerging derivatives of superresolution techniques have been proposed to conduct nanoscopic analysis for studying cellular structure. Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) can routinely achieve a superior spatial resolution of 10–20 nm, enabling the observation of protein localization with molecular details. However, the stochastic detection of fluorophores often causes image artifacts from the spurious localizing process due to the disproportionate counting of single-molecule events to molecule numbers. The overaccumulated localizations, which lead to excessively high intensities in rendered images, could hinder the visualization of actual molecular distribution; therefore, the image artifacts stemming from uneven photoswitching events remain unsolved. Here, we propose a simple approach to address this general issue in SMLM with the overaccumulation of localizations from fluorophores at the prolonged emissive state. Our strategy involves extracting the photoswitching pattern from individual single-molecule events. Subsequently, we remove signals from the long-lived emissive state of fluorophores by applying optimized linking and cutoff lengths, thereby correcting localization artifacts. To demonstrate the practicality of our proposed method, we adopted this approach to restore the superresolution results of various cellular structures and organelles. Notably, the treated images manifest superresolved details and balanced intensity; this allows precise interpretation of molecular clusters and suggests its role in imaging processing of SMLM

DataSheet_1_Association between gut microbiota and benign prostatic hyperplasia: a two-sample mendelian randomization study.docx

BackgroundRecent researches have shown a correlation between the gut microbiota (GM) and various diseases. However, it remains uncertain whether the relationship between GM and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is causal.MethodsWe carried out a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, utilizing data from the most extensive GM-focused genome-wide association study by the MiBioGen consortium, with a sample size of 13,266. Data for BPH, encompassing 26,358 cases and 110,070 controls, were obtained from the R8 release of the FinnGen consortium. We employed multiple techniques, such as inverse variance weighted (IVW), constrained maximum likelihood and model averaging methods, maximum likelihood, MR-Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier (MRPRESSO),MR-Egger, and weighted median methods, to investigate the causal relationship between GM and BPH. To evaluate the heterogeneity among the instrumental variables, Cochran’s Q statistics were employed. Additionally, the presence of horizontal pleiotropy was assessed through the application of both MR-Egger and MR-PRESSO tests. The direction of causality was scrutinized for robustness using the MR-Steiger directionality test. A reverse MR analysis examined the GM previously linked to BPH through a causal relationship in the forward MR assessment.ResultsAccording to the analysis conducted using IVW,Eisenbergiella (odds ratio [OR]=0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.85–0.99,P=0.022) and Ruminococcaceae (UCG009) (OR=0.88, 95% CI: 0.79–0.99, P=0.027) were found to reduce the risk of BPH, while Escherichia shigella (OR=1.19, 95% CI: 1.05–1.36, P=0.0082) appeared to increase it. The subsequent reverse MR analysis revealed that the three GM were not significantly influenced by BPH, and there was no noticeable heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy among the instrumental variables.Conclusion: These results indicated a causal relationship between Eisenbergiella, Ruminococcaceae (UCG009), and Escherichia shigella and BPH. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to explore more comprehensively the roles and operational mechanisms of these GM in relation to BPH.</p

The proportion of main components in the waste residue of waste warm stickers.

The proportion of main components in the waste residue of waste warm stickers.</p

Table_1_Association between gut microbiota and benign prostatic hyperplasia: a two-sample mendelian randomization study.xls

BackgroundRecent researches have shown a correlation between the gut microbiota (GM) and various diseases. However, it remains uncertain whether the relationship between GM and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is causal.MethodsWe carried out a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, utilizing data from the most extensive GM-focused genome-wide association study by the MiBioGen consortium, with a sample size of 13,266. Data for BPH, encompassing 26,358 cases and 110,070 controls, were obtained from the R8 release of the FinnGen consortium. We employed multiple techniques, such as inverse variance weighted (IVW), constrained maximum likelihood and model averaging methods, maximum likelihood, MR-Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier (MRPRESSO),MR-Egger, and weighted median methods, to investigate the causal relationship between GM and BPH. To evaluate the heterogeneity among the instrumental variables, Cochran’s Q statistics were employed. Additionally, the presence of horizontal pleiotropy was assessed through the application of both MR-Egger and MR-PRESSO tests. The direction of causality was scrutinized for robustness using the MR-Steiger directionality test. A reverse MR analysis examined the GM previously linked to BPH through a causal relationship in the forward MR assessment.ResultsAccording to the analysis conducted using IVW,Eisenbergiella (odds ratio [OR]=0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.85–0.99,P=0.022) and Ruminococcaceae (UCG009) (OR=0.88, 95% CI: 0.79–0.99, P=0.027) were found to reduce the risk of BPH, while Escherichia shigella (OR=1.19, 95% CI: 1.05–1.36, P=0.0082) appeared to increase it. The subsequent reverse MR analysis revealed that the three GM were not significantly influenced by BPH, and there was no noticeable heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy among the instrumental variables.Conclusion: These results indicated a causal relationship between Eisenbergiella, Ruminococcaceae (UCG009), and Escherichia shigella and BPH. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to explore more comprehensively the roles and operational mechanisms of these GM in relation to BPH.</p

Adsorption kinetic parameters of Mn²⁺ adsorbed by immobilized particles.

Adsorption kinetic parameters of Mn2+ adsorbed by immobilized particles.</p