Self-Assembly Dipeptide Hydrogel: The Structures and Properties

Self-assembly peptide-based hydrogels are well known and popular in biomedical applications due to the fact that they are readily controllable and have biocompatibility properties. A dipeptide is the shortest self-assembling motif of peptides. Due to its small size and simple synthesis method, dipeptide can provide a simple and easy-to-use method to study the mechanism of peptides’ self-assembly. This review describes the design and structures of self-assembly linear dipeptide hydrogels. The strategies for preparing the new generation of linear dipeptide hydrogels can be divided into three categories based on the modification site of dipeptide: 1) COOH-terminal and N-terminal modified dipeptide, 2) C-terminal modified dipeptide, and 3) uncapped dipeptide. With a deeper understanding of the relationship between the structures and properties of dipeptides, we believe that dipeptide hydrogels have great potential application in preparing minimal biocompatible materials.

Transverse Asymmetry of the Index Modulation Profile in Few-Mode Fiber Bragg Grating

The transverse asymmetry of the index modulation profile in the asymmetric few-mode fiber Bragg grating (FM-FBG) was investigated. The transverse asymmetry of the index modulation profile will lead to mode conversion between modes with the different azimuthal orders, and this asymmetry is characterized by the attenuation coefficient α. We evaluated that the value of attenuation coefficient α was 0.2 μm−1, and grating amplitude χ was 2.8 × 10−4 for FM-FBG inscribed by UV single-side illumination. We found that the optimized value of α was 0.16 μm−1, at which the maximum mode conversion efficiency of LP01–LP11 can be achieved. The results of this paper provide great potential application in few-mode fiber (FMF) devices and mode division multiplexing (MDM) optical communication.

Feeding preparation strategy for the supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) system for disposing of liquid hazardous waste

Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) technology has a great potential application for the disposal of liquid hazardous wastes. The feeding process is vital for the safety and normal operation of SCWO. This paper describes the feeding preparation strategy of SCWO with multilevel grouping and programming. Based on the physicochemical properties, the liquid hazardous wastes from various industrial manufacturers were first grouped into acid, neutral and alkaline groups. By mixing between samples, the primary grouping tanks were determined to be acid, alkali, amphoteric reacting, organic and organic high-chlorine liquid wastes. By distributing acid, alkali, amphoteric reacting liquid wastes into organic wastes, three parallel feeding routes are regulated for the homogenizing tank phase, which avoids the reaction between wastes. By calculating with the linear programming optimization model of MATLAB, the waste compatibility ratio of each feeding route was determined to meet the feeding requirements of SCWO. The feeding preparation strategy of this paper provides a practical instruction for the SCWO design and operation.

Selective electrocatalytic hydroboration of aryl alkenes

A CH3CN-involved electrochemical mono- or di-functional borylation reaction with alkenes and HBpin as substrates was reported. Functional group transformation and gram-scale synthesis demonstrated the utility of this method and showed great potential application.

The Electrode Materials of Supercapacitor Based on TiO2 Nanorod/MnO2 Ultrathin Nanosheet Core/Shell Arrays

A hierarchical structure of TiO2 nanorod/MnO2 ultrathin nanosheet core/shell nanocomposite arrays on a conductive substrate has been prepared by two facile steps of hydrothermal reaction and annealing progress, which serving as electrodes present great potential application for high-performance supercapacitors. By adjusting the concentration of precursor aqueous solution, it can be found that the thickness of the MnO2 shell in the as-designed hierarchical electrode material can be facilely controlled. By comparison, the obtained TiO2 nanorod/MnO2 ultrathin nanosheet as an electrode material can achieve the best electrochemical performance in terms of the area-specific capacitance up to 34.79 mF/cm2 from the cyclic voltammetry (CV) test at the scan rate of 5 mV/s. Furthermore, the composited electrode has also demonstrated good stability, with the capacitance retention rate of about 91% through the cycle experiment test after 1000 cycles.

Properties and applications of dental polyamides

Introduction: By examining numerous thermoplastic and flexible materials that would aesthetically and functionally surpass acrylates used for the production of dental prostheses, polyamides were discovered as materials with great potential application in prosthodontics. The aim of this study was to describe polyamide materials used for the production of partial dentures. Material and methods: The main methodological approach of this study was a systematic search of the literature in two electronic databases: Google Scholar and PubMed using predefined keyword combinations. Results: The advantage of polyamide dentures is the comfort and ease of accommodation of the patient, with preserved optimal mechanical and physical properties. The dentures are flexible but rigid enough to be resistant to shock and fractures. Due to their low specific weight, polyamide dentures are light, extremely thin and do not interrupt patient speech. Excellent aesthetics are provided by a high choice of working colors and high translucency of the material, which ensures that the soft tissue that's covered by the denture base or clasp is seen through the prosthesis and gives it a more natural appearance in the patient's mouth. Conslusion: Polyamides, unlike acrylates, do not contain residual monomers, so they have an greater degree of biocompatibility. They can be used for the production of both complete and partial dentures, in combination with a Cr-Co skeleton, or crowns and bridges.

MOF-derived novel porous Fe3O4@C nanocomposites as smart nanomedical platforms for combined cancer therapy: magnetic-triggered synergistic hyperthermia and chemotherapy

Smart Fe3O4@C-PVP@DOX nanomedical platforms hold great potential application in the precise treatments of clinical cancer.

Nonreciprocal terahertz beam steering based on magneto-optic metagratings

In this work, an active nonreciprocal THz beam steering has been proposed based on a transversely magnetized metal/InSb metagrating. The nonreciprocal dispersion relation and phase shift characteristics of the metal/InSb waveguide are investigated in details. A metagrating structure with gradient phase shift has been designed based on the metal/InSb waveguide. Under the external magnetic field (EMF), the THz beam can be changed among 0, +1st, and −1st order of the metagrating. Due to the nonreciprocity of the metal/InSb metagrating, the deflection angle can be controlled by changing the positive and negative directions of the EMF, to realize bilateral symmetric scanning from −67.8° to 67.8° with over 70% diffraction efficiency, and this device also exhibits the nonreciprocal one-way transmission as an isolator with the isolation of 13 dB. This low-loss, large deflection degree, nonreciprocal beam scanner has a great potential application in the THz regime.

A New Thermal Controlling Material with Positive Temperature Coefficient for Body Warming: Preparation and Characterization

Positive temperature coefficient (PTC) materials have many applications in self-regulating heating; however, they are generally used in the high temperature range, and their use in the room temperature range have rarely been reported. A new kind of PTC material with the Curie temperature of 37 °C was proposed in this study. The material was prepared by adding 6wt % carbon black (CB) and 5wt % dioctyl phthalate (DOP) into the copolymer of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and lauric acid (LA) (1:3). The results showed that it had an exceptionally high PTC intensity of 5.5 and rationally low electrical resistivity of 600 Ω·cm. at room temperature. And this PTC material also shows a preferable repeatability in the PTC intensity after the thermal cycle of 4th. Moreover, the PTC material shows a great potential application in warming the human body in a cold environment.

Preservation of Meat Products with Bacteriocins Produced by Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Meat

Bacteriocins are ribosomal-synthesized antimicrobial peptides that inhibit the growing of pathogenic and/or deteriorating bacteria. The most studied bacteriocin-producing microorganisms are lactic acid bacteria (LAB), as they have great potential application in food biopreservation, since the majority have GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status. The LAB-producing bacteriocins and/or bacteriocins produced by these bacteria have been widely studied, with the emphasis on those derived from milk and dairy products. On the other hand, isolates from meat and meat products are less studied. The objective of this review is to address the main characteristics, classification, and mechanism of action of bacteriocins and their use in food, to highlight studies on the isolation of LAB with bacteriocinogenic potential from meat and meat products and also to characterize, purify, and apply these bacteriocins in meat products. In summary, most of the microorganisms studied areLactococcus,Enterococcus,Pediococcus, andLactobacillus, which produce bacteriocins such as nisin, enterocin, pediocin, pentocin, and sakacin, many with the potential for use in food biopreservation.