The impact of supply chain quality integration on green supply chain management and environmental performance

This study develops a model to investigate the relationships between supply chain quality integration (SCQI) (supplier quality integration and customer quality integration), green supply chain management (GSCM) (green purchasing and customer green cooperation) and environmental performance. The model is empirically tested using data collected from 308 manufacturing companies in China. We find that supplier and customer quality integration have positive impact on green purchasing and customer green cooperation, which improve environmental performance. Supplier and customer quality integration also influence environmental performance indirectly through green purchasing and customer green cooperation. The results provide insights into the mechanisms through which SCQI influences environmental performance, and clarify the complex relationships between SCQI and GSCM, contributing to the quality management and green management literature and practices

Monolithic shape-programmable dielectric liquid crystal elastomer actuators

Macroscale robotic systems have demonstrated great capabilities of high speed, precise, and agile functions. However, the ability of soft robots to perform complex tasks, especially in centimeter and millimeter scale, remains limited due to the unavailability of fast, energy-efficient soft actuators that can programmably change shape. Here, we combine desirable characteristics from two distinct active materials: fast and efficient actuation from dielectric elastomers and facile shape programmability from liquid crystal elastomers into a single shape changing electrical actuator. Uniaxially aligned monoliths achieve strain rates over 120%/s with energy conversion efficiency of 20% while moving loads over 700 times the actuator weight. The combined actuator technology offers unprecedented opportunities towards miniaturization with precision, efficiency, and more degrees of freedom for applications in soft robotics and beyond

Highly Anisotropic Elastic Properties of Suspended Black Arsenic Nanoribbons

Anisotropy, as an exotic degree of freedom, enables us to discover the emergent two-dimensional (2D) layered nanomaterials with low in-plane symmetry and to explore their outstanding properties and promising applications. 2D black arsenic (b-As) with puckered structure has garnered increasing attention these years owing to its extreme anisotropy with respect to the electrical, thermal, and optical properties. However, the investigation on mechanical properties of 2D b-As is still lacking, despite much effort on theoretical simulations. Herein, we report the highly anisotropic elastic properties of suspended b-As nanoribbons via atomic force microscope-based nanoindentation. It was found that the extracted Young's modulus of b-As nanoribbons exhibits remarkable anisotropy, which approximates to 72.2 +- 5.4 and 44.3 +- 1.4 GPa along zigzag and armchair directions, respectively. The anisotropic ratio reaches up to ~ 1.6. We expect that these results could lay a solid foundation for the potential applications of 2D anisotropic nanomaterials in the next-generation nanomechanics and optoelectronics.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Plasmonic Metasurfaces with High UVâ Vis Transmittance for Photopatterning of Designer Molecular Orientations

Recent developments of utilizing plasmonic metasurfaces in photopatterning of designer molecular orientations have facilitated numerous new applications of liquid crystals; while the optical efficiency of the metamasks remains a critical issue, especially in the UV region. Here a new design of plasmonic metasurfaces made of parallelepiped arrays is presented which yield very high and broadband transmission in the UVâ vis wavelength range. It is shown that this plasmonic metamask exhibits two polarization peaks originated from a cavity mode and lattice resonance respectively and demonstrated that complex designer molecular orientations can be photopatterned by using this metamask with significantly reduced exposure time. This type of highâ efficiency broadband plasmonic metasurfaces is not only important for high resolution photopatterning of molecular orientation but also tailorable for various other flat optics applications in the UV and near UV regions.Spatially variant molecular orientations are central to many liquid crystal applications. Here a new design of plasmonic metasurfaces with ultrahigh optical transmissions as metamasks for photopatterning arbitrary designer molecular orientations is presented and it is demonstrated that such metamasks can significantly reduce the exposure time of the photopatterning.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149547/1/adom201900117-sup-0001-S1.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149547/2/adom201900117.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149547/3/adom201900117_am.pd

GSK-3β inhibition by curcumin mitigates amyloidogenesis via TFEB activation and anti-oxidative activity in human neuroblastoma cells

© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.The translocation of transcription factor EB (TFEB) to the nucleus plays a pivotal role in the regulation of basic cellular processes, such as lysosome biogenesis and autophagy. Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system that delivers cytoplasmic constituents to the lysosome, which is important in maintaining cellular homeostasis during environmental stress. Furthermore, oxidative stress is a critical cause for the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Curcumin has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities, and is expected to have potential therapeutic effects in various diseases. In this study, we demonstrated that curcumin regulated TFEB export signalling via inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β); GSK-3β was inactivated by curcumin, leading to reduced phosphorylation of TFEB. We further showed that H2O2-induced oxidative stress was reduced by curcumin via the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in human neuroblastoma cells. In addition, we showed that curcumin induced the degradation of amyloidogenic proteins, including amyloid-β precursor protein and α-synuclein, through the TFEB-autophagy/lysosomal pathway. In conclusion, curcumin regulates autophagy by controlling TFEB through the inhibition of GSK-3β, and increases antioxidant gene expression in human neuroblastoma cells. These results contribute to the development of novel cellular therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.

Modular polyoxometalate-intercalated layered double hydroxide membranes for molecular sieving and in situ regeneration

The design and synthesis of two-dimensional membranes with ultra-high permeability, selectivity, and antifouling properties have been a significant challenge. Herein, we propose a facile approach to design modular polyoxometalate-intercalated layered double hydroxide membranes using a charge-driven self-assembly process. The resultant MgAl-SiW12 membrane shows 4 times higher water permeance (>130 L m−2 h−1 bar−1) than that of its MgAl-NO3 precursor. Excellent retention of >99% for Congo red and Evans blue is achieved by the MgAl-SiW12 membrane, which can be regenerated (permeance recovery > 95%) via a simple UV-vis irradiation cycle. Insertion of the SiW12 cluster into layered double hydroxide allows precise control and modulation of the interlayer’s spacing and hydrophilicity and promotes spontaneous electron migration and interfacial charge carrier separation. Moreover, the ·OH and ·O2− radicals forming during the irradiation process are responsible for the degradation of contaminants

Pressure-Modulated Structural and Magnetic Phase Transitions in Two-Dimensional FeTe: Tetragonal and Hexagonal Polymorphs

Two-dimensional (2D) Fe-chalcogenides with rich structures, magnetisms and superconductivities are highly desirable to reveal the torturous transition mechanism and explore their potential applications in spintronics and nanoelectronics. Hydrostatic pressure can effectively stimulate novel phase transitions between various ordered states and to plot the seductive phase diagram. Herein, the structural evolution and transport characteristics of 2D FeTe were systematically investigated under extreme conditions through comparing two distinct symmetries, i.e., tetragonal (t-) and hexagonal (h-) FeTe. We found that 2D t-FeTe presented the pressure-induced transition from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic states at ~ 3 GPa, corresponding to the tetragonal collapse of layered structure. Contrarily, ferromagnetic order of 2D h-FeTe was retained up to 15 GPa, evidently confirmed by electrical transport and Raman measurements. Furthermore, the detailed P-T phase diagrams of both 2D t-FeTe and h-FeTe were mapped out with the delicate critical conditions. We believe our results can provide a unique platform to elaborate the extraordinary physical properties of Fe-chalcogenides and further to develop their practical applications.Comment: 22 Pages, 5 Figure

Protective role of curcumin in disease progression from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis

Background: Pathological progression from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to liver fibrosis (LF) to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common dynamic state in many patients. Curcumin, a dietary supplement derived from the turmeric family, is expected to specifically inhibit the development of this progression. However, there is a lack of convincing evidence.Methods: The studies published until June 2023 were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library databases. The SYstematic Review Center for Laboratory animal Experimentation (SYRCLE) approach was used to evaluate the certainty of evidence. StataSE (version 15.1) and Origin 2021 software programs were used to analyze the critical indicators.Results: Fifty-two studies involving 792 animals were included, and three disease models were reported. Curcumin demonstrates a significant improvement in key indicators across the stages of NAFLD, liver fibrosis, and HCC. We conducted a detailed analysis of common inflammatory markers IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, which traverse the entire disease process. The research results reveal that curcumin effectively hinders disease progression at each stage by suppressing inflammation. Curcumin exerted hepatoprotective effects in the dose range from 100 to 400 mg/kg and treatment duration from 4 to 10 weeks. The mechanistic analysis reveals that curcumin primarily exerts its hepatoprotective effects by modulating multiple signaling pathways, including TLR4/NF-κB, Keap1/Nrf2, Bax/Bcl-2/Caspase 3, and TGF-β/Smad3.Conclusion: In summary, curcumin has shown promising therapeutic effects during the overall progression of NAFLD–LF–HCC. It inhibited the pathological progression by synergistic mechanisms related to multiple pathways, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and apoptosis regulation

Roles for IFT172 and primary cilia in cell migration, cell division and neocortex development

This work is supported by the grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (31528011, B.L.; 81571332, 91232724, Y.D.), Key Research and Development Program from Hunan Province (2018DK2011), Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (2018SHZDZX01) and ZJLab. We are grateful to Prof. Tamara Caspary for providing the WIM and WT cells. M.P. was funded by a Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) studentship to C.M. and a Scholarship from Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC). L. H. is also a Scholarship awardee of CSC.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Neurophysiological Defects and Neuronal Gene Deregulation in Drosophila mir-124 Mutants

miR-124 is conserved in sequence and neuronal expression across the animal kingdom and is predicted to have hundreds of mRNA targets. Diverse defects in neural development and function were reported from miR-124 antisense studies in vertebrates, but a nematode knockout of mir-124 surprisingly lacked detectable phenotypes. To provide genetic insight from Drosophila, we deleted its single mir-124 locus and found that it is dispensable for gross aspects of neural specification and differentiation. On the other hand, we detected a variety of mutant phenotypes that were rescuable by a mir-124 genomic transgene, including short lifespan, increased dendrite variation, impaired larval locomotion, and aberrant synaptic release at the NMJ. These phenotypes reflect extensive requirements of miR-124 even under optimal culture conditions. Comparison of the transcriptomes of cells from wild-type and mir-124 mutant animals, purified on the basis of mir-124 promoter activity, revealed broad upregulation of direct miR-124 targets. However, in contrast to the proposed mutual exclusion model for miR-124 function, its functional targets were relatively highly expressed in miR-124–expressing cells and were not enriched in genes annotated with epidermal expression. A notable aspect of the direct miR-124 network was coordinate targeting of five positive components in the retrograde BMP signaling pathway, whose activation in neurons increases synaptic release at the NMJ, similar to mir-124 mutants. Derepression of the direct miR-124 target network also had many secondary effects, including over-activity of other post-transcriptional repressors and a net incomplete transition from a neuroblast to a neuronal gene expression signature. Altogether, these studies demonstrate complex consequences of miR-124 loss on neural gene expression and neurophysiology