Notes

Proteomic profiling of minimal muscle mass and fat mass: a device learning approach from the KORA S4/FF4 review.
Underwater adhesives (UAs) have promising applications in diverse areas. However, traditional UAs have several drawbacks such as weak and irreversible adhesion behaviors as well as poor performance in biological environments. To address these challenges, we engineered a novel synthetic adhesive based on dynamic hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties, which shows very strong underwater adhesion strength (30-110 kPa) and debonding energy (20-100 J/m2) to diverse substrates. Interestingly, the UAs could also be switched reversibly and repeatedly by the dynamic exchange of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties under alternating temperatures. We also demonstrate the versatile functions and practical value of the UAs for clinical applications as tissue sealants and hemostatic dressing in emergency rescue operations. LY2780301 molecular weight This general and efficient strategy may be generalized to develop additional next generation UAs for many emerging technological and medical applications.Hydrogel fibers are promising carriers for biological applications due to their flexible mechanical properties, well-defined spatial distribution, and excellent biocompatibility. In particular, the droplet-filled hydrogel fibers with the controllable dimension and location of droplets display great advantages to enhance the loading capacity of multiple components and biofunctions. In this work, we proposed a new all-in-water microfluidic system that allows for one-step fabrication of aqueous-droplet-filled hydrogel fibers (ADHFs) with unique morphology and tunable configurations. In the system, the aqueous droplets with equidistance are successfully arranged within the alginate calcium fibers, relying on the design of the pump valve cycle and the select of two immiscible liquids with a stable aqueous interface. The architecture of the ADHF can be flexibly controlled by adjusting the three phase flow rates and the valve switch cycle. The produced ADHFs exhibit high controllability, uniformity, biocompatibility, and stability. The established system enabled the formation of functional human islet organoids in situ through encapsulating pancreatic endocrine progenitor cells within microfibers. The generated islet organoids within droplets exhibit high cell viability and islet-specific function of insulin secretion. The proposed approach provides a new way to fabricate multifunctional hydrogel fibers for materials sciences, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.Conductive hydrogels have drawn significant attention in the field of stretchable/wearable sensors due to their intrinsic stretchability, tunable conductivity, biocompatibility, multistimuli sensitivity, and self-healing ability. Recent advancements in hydrogel- and organohydrogel-based sensors, including a novel sensing mechanism, outstanding performance, and broad application scenarios, suggest the great potential of hydrogels for stretchable electronics. However, a systematic summary of hydrogel- and organohydrogel-based sensors in terms of their working principles, unique properties, and promising applications is still lacking. In this spotlight, we present recent advances in hydrogel- and organohydrogel-based stretchable sensors with four main sections improved stability of hydrogels, fabrication and characterization of organohydrogel, working principles, and performance of different types of sensors. We particularly highlight our recent work on ultrastretchable and high-performance strain, temperature, humidity, and gas sensors based on polyacrylamide/carrageenan double network hydrogel and ethylene glycol/glycerol modified organohydrogels obtained via a facile solvent displacement strategy. The organohydrogels display higher stability (drying and freezing tolerances) and sensing performances than corresponding hydrogels. The sensing mechanisms, key factors influencing the performance, and application prospects of these sensors are revealed. Especially, we find that the hindering effect of polymer networks on the ionic transport is one of the key mechanisms applicable for all four of these kinds of sensors.In this research, we report the rapid and reliable formation of high-performance nanoscale bilayer oxide dielectrics on silicon substrates via low-temperature deep ultraviolet (DUV) photoactivation. The optical analysis of sol-gel aluminum oxide films prepared at various concentrations reveals the processable film thickness with DUV photoactivation and its possible generalization to the formation of various metal oxide films on silicon substrates. The physicochemical and electrical characterizations confirm that DUV photoactivation accelerates the efficient formation of a highly dense aluminum oxide and aluminum silicate bilayer (17 nm) on heavily doped silicon at 150 °C within 5 min owing to the efficient thermal conduction on silicon, resulting in excellent dielectric properties in terms of low leakage current (∼10-8 A/cm2 at 1.0 MV/cm) and high areal capacitance (∼0.4 μF/cm2 at 100 kHz) with narrow statistical distributions. Additionally, the sol-gel bilayer oxide dielectrics are successfully combined with a sol-gel indium-gallium-zinc oxide semiconductor via two successive DUV photoactivation cycles, leading to the efficient fabrication of solution-processed oxide thin-film transistors on silicon substrates with an operational voltage below 0.5 V. We expect that in combination with large-area printing, the bilayer oxide dielectrics are beneficial for large-area solution-based oxide electronics on silicon substrates, while DUV photoactivation can be applied to various types of solution-processed functional metal oxides such as phase-transition memories, ferroelectrics, photocatalysts, charge-transporting interlayers and passivation layers, etc. on silicon substrates.Gas management during electrocatalytic water splitting is vital for improving the efficiency of clean hydrogen production. The accumulation of gas bubbles on electrode surfaces prevents electrolyte access and passivates the electrochemically active surface area. Electrode morphologies are sought to assist in the removal of gas from surfaces to achieve higher reaction rates at operational voltages. Herein, regular arrays of linear ridges with specific microscale separations were systematically studied and correlated to the performance of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The dimensions of the linear ridges were proportional to the size of the oxygen bubbles, and the mass transfer processes associated with gas evolution at these ridges were monitored using a high-speed camera. Characterization of the adhered bubbles prior to detachment enabled the use of empirical methods to determine the volumetric flux of product gas and the bubble residence times. The linear ridges promoted a self-cleaning effect as one bubble would induce neighboring bubbles to simultaneously release from the electrode surfaces. The linear ridges also provided preferential bubble growth sites, which expedited the detachment of bubbles with similar diameters and shorter residence times. The linear ridges enhanced the OER in comparison to planar electrodes prepared by electrodeposition from the same high-purity nickel (Ni). Linear ridges with a separation distance of 200 μm achieved nearly a 2-fold increase in current density relative to the planar electrode at an operating voltage of 1.8 V (vs Hg/HgO). The electrodes with linear ridges having a separation distance of 200 μm also had the highest sustained current densities over a range of operating conditions for the OER. Self-cleaning surface morphologies could benefit a variety of electrocatalytic gas evolving reactions by improving the efficiency of these processes.Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites are highly promising candidates for the upcoming generation of single- and multijunction solar cells. Despite their extraordinarily good semiconducting properties, there is a need to increase the intrinsic material stability against heat, moisture, and light exposure. Understanding how variations in synthesis affect the bulk and surface stability is therefore of paramount importance to achieve a rapid commercialization on large scales. In this work, we show for the case of methylammonium lead iodide that a thorough control of the methylammonium iodide (MAI) partial pressure during co-evaporation is essential to limit photostriction and reach phase purity, which dictate the absorber stability. Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements in ultrahigh vacuum corroborate that off-stoichiometric absorbers prepared with an excess of MAI partial pressure exhibit traces of low-dimensional (two-dimensional, 2D) perovskites and stacking faults that have adverse effects on the intrinsic material stability. Under optimized growth conditions, time-resolved photoluminescence and work functions mapping corroborate that the perovskite films are less prone to heat and light degradation.Cationic polymers are promising antibacterial agents because bacteria have a low propensity to develop resistance against them, but they usually have low biocompatibility because of their hydrophobic moieties. Herein, we report a new biodegradable and biocompatible chitosan-derived cationic antibacterial polymer, 2,6-diamino chitosan (2,6-DAC). 2,6-DAC shows excellent broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 8-32 μg/mL against clinically relevant and multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria including Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Furthermore, 2,6-DAC shows an excellent synergistic effect with various clinically relevant antibiotics proved by decreasing the MICs of the antibiotics against MDR A. baumannii and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to 2.4 log10 reduction of A. baumannii in murine intraperitoneal and lung infection models. The novel chitosan derivative, 2,6-DAC, can be utilized as a biocompatible broad-spectrum cationic antimicrobial agent alone or in synergistic combination with various antibiotics.Electrospinning has been demonstrated to be a versatile technique for producing hydrophobic gas diffusion layers (GDLs) with customized pore structures for the enhanced performance of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. However, the degradation characteristics of custom hydrophobic electrospun GDLs (eGDLs) have not yet been explored. Here, for the first time, we investigate the degradation characteristics of custom hydrophobic eGDLs via an ex situ accelerated degradation protocol using H2O2. The surface contact angle of degraded eGDLs (44 ± 12°) was lower than that of pristine eGDLs (137 ± 6°). The loss of hydrophobicity was attributed to the degradation (via hydrolysis) of the fluorinated monolayers (formed via a direct fluorination treatment) on the electrospun carbon fiber surfaces as evidenced by the reduction in surface fluorine content. Degradation of the surface monolayers affected fuel cell performance under multiple operating conditions. At 100% relative humidity (RH), the loss of monolayers led to higher liquid water content and lower cell voltages compared to the pristine eGDL. At 50% RH, the degraded eGDL led to lower cell voltages due to the lower electrical conductivity of the degraded materials. The lower electrical conductivity was attributed to the oxidation of carbon fibers upon loss of the monolayers. Our results indicate the importance of designing robust hydrophobic surface treatments for the advancement of customized GDLs for effective long-term fuel cell operation.
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