Hutchinsonbrun9344

This should be the magic of air-breathing fish! Supplied from air-breathing fish, this study provides a novel means of improving respiratory capacity in mammal under hypoxia.Breast cancer type 2 susceptibility (BRCA2) protein plays an essential role in the repair mechanism of DNA double-strand breaks and interstrand cross-links by Homologous recombination. Germline mutations identified in the BRCA2 gene confer an increased risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Missense mutations are identified all over the gene, including the DNA binding region of BRCA2 that interacts with FANCD2. However, the majority of these missense mutations are classified as 'Variants of Uncertain Significance' due to a lack of structural, functional and clinical correlations. Therefore, multi-disciplinary in-silico, in-vitro and biophysical approaches have been explored to characterize an unclassified missense mutation, BRCA2 Arg2502Cys, identified from a case-control study. Circular-dichroism and Fluorescence spectroscopy show that the Arg2502Cys mutation in hBRCA2 (residues 2350-2545) decreases the α-helical/β-sheet propensity of the wild-type protein and perturb the tertiary structure conformation. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed alteration in the intramolecular H-bonds, overall compactness and stability of the hydrophobic core were observed in the mutant protein. Principle component analysis indicated that Arg2502Cys mutant exhibited comparatively large conformational transitions and periodic fluctuation. Therefore, to our conclusion, BRCA2 Arg2502Cys mutant perturbed the structural integrity and conformational dynamics of BRCA2.In this study, cellulose-based superabsorbent hydrogel was synthesized from sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na), acrylic acid (AA), and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS) to enhance its water absorbency and salt tolerance for soil-conditioning applications in areas suffering from drought and soil salinization. Superabsorbent hydrogels (SHs) were prepared by CMC-Na and AMPS successfully, using chemical graft technology. Structure, morphology, thermal stability, and water absorbency of SHs were deduced. The cellulose-based hydrogel showed a high salt tolerance that the maximum water absorbency reached 604 and 119% in distilled water and saline water, respectively. The swelling behavior in aqueous solvents indicated that the water absorption of hydrogels was improved with the increasing ratio of CMC-Na. All SHs exhibited adsorption of nitrogen with the maximum adsorption of ammonia nitrogen 30 mg·g-1 and the presence of hydrogels could slow down the loss of nutrients in the soil. This study provided a feasible strategy that AMPS was substituted by CMC-Na to synthesize SHs with strong water absorbency and high salt tolerance which could be efficiently applied in agriculture as a soil conditioner.Sustainable and biodegradable packaging materials are appealing alternatives to the petrochemical-derived and non-biodegradable plastics that currently dominate the market. However, their inferior barrier properties and high cost inhibit their widespread applications. In this work, pristine and esterified lignin were investigated as a functional filler of poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) based bioplastic paper coating formulations. For this, the pristine and esterified lignin (10-50 wt%) were separately dispersed in a solvent and incorporated in PBAT solutions and applied on paper substrates. The effects of varying concentrations of pristine and esterified lignin on the rheology, mechanical, morphology, and barrier properties of the coated paper substrate were investigated. Comprehensive characterization of esterified lignin/PBAT coatings exhibited enhanced dispersion of the lignin fraction in the PBAT, resulting in excellent wet tensile properties and enhanced water, oil, and oxygen barrier performance. Overall, the studied coating formulations have appealing properties for food contact materials, such as paper wraps and paperboard applications, as a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to the incumbent coating materials, such as petroleum sourced waxes and polyolefin-based coatings.Advanced templating methods have shown precise regulation of the micro/nanostructures of inorganic catalysts. Here, on the basis of controlled self-assembly and micro-structures of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), a new bio-mass-mediated templating approach is proposed to control the growth of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). The catalytic performance of the as-prepared Au NPs was evaluated using p-nitrophenol as a model pollutant. TEM, POM, zeta-potential, and rheological measurements were conducted to investigate the structure and catalytic activity of the nano-materials. By regulating the chiral nematic liquid crystal texture formed by the self-assembly of CNCs, the size of Au NPs could be adjusted at the nanoscale dimension, from 1.38 ± 0.38 nm to 4.25 ± 1.24 nm. Depending on the Au size, a high catalytic effect, namely, 98.0% conversion rate, was obtained within 30 min. The conversion rate was maintained at 97.0% even after 3-run cyclic application. Such findings demonstrate the potential of using CNCs as a bio-template to control the growth of nanomaterials.Wound infection especially that induced by drug resistant bacteria has been considered an increasing medical crisis. Herein a biocompatible wound dressing is conveniently constructed by incorporating (Sr0.6Bi0.305)2Bi2O7 (denoted as SBO) with excellent photothermal performance into a facile antibacterial hydrogel (gel) obtained from multiple physical crosslinks among Ag+, carboxymethyl chitosan and polyacrylic acid. The prepared SBO gel features excellent bactericidal activities, hemostasis, adequate mechanical properties, adhesiveness and adsorption capacities to bacterial cells and toxin. The gel can disperse SBO homogeneously in the network and SBO effectively convert visible light energy into localized heat for synergistic sterilization. In vitro assays confirm the potent broad-spectrum bactericidal activities of SBO gel to some common pathogens and drug resistant strains such as MRSA and CAPA. Mice model of MRSA-induced wound infections verified the practical efficacy of SBO gel in combating bacterial infections and accelerating wound healing. Moreover, this is the first report of SBO as a photothermal agent applied in anti-infection treatment. All of these results highlight the potential application of SBO gel in drug-resistant bacteria associated wound management.The study aims to (a) enhance the solubility of a poorly soluble drug by optimization of nanocrystal formulation using the top-down approach and (b) modify the release profile of this drug, which exhibits a short elimination half-life, by the integration of a fast-release phase containing the optimized nanocrystals and a sustained-release phase in a compression-coated tablet. Nanocrystals of the model drug (lornoxicam; LNX) was prepared by simultaneous application of jet-milling and ball-milling techniques. Investigation of the precipitation inhibition capacity, thermal property, and interaction of different polymers with the drug revealed polyvinyl pyrrolidone K30 (PVP) as the most effective stabilizer for nanocrystals. The immediate-release layer containing the optimized nanocrystals (size of 279.5 ± 11.25 nm and polydispersity index of 0.204 ± 0.01) was then compressed on a zero-order sustained-release matrix core using different derivatives of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC). Application of the Design of Experiment approach (DoE) was applied to optimize the formulation of tablet. Analysis of drug concentration in dog plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry demonstrated an improvement in the release behavior of LNX from the optimal compression-coated tablet integrating a HPMC-based sustained release matrix core and a PVP-stabilized lornoxicam nanocrystals coating layer compared to the reference product.Lignin-cellulose nanofibrils (LCNF) are of attracting an increasing interest due to the benefits of maintaining the lignin in the nanomaterial composition. The production of LCNF requires considerable energy consumption, which has been suppressed employing pretreatment of biomass, in which it highlights those that employ enzymes that have the advantage of being more environmentally friendly. Some negative aspects of the presence of lignin in the fiber to obtain cellulose nanofibrils is that it can hinder the delamination of the cell wall and act as a physical barrier to the action of cellulase enzymes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a combined enzymatic pretreatment of laccase and endoglucanase for high content lignin LCNF production. The morphological and chemical properties, visual aspect and stability, crystallinity, mechanical properties, rheology, barrier properties and quality index were used to characterize the LCNF. The laccase loading used was efficient in modifying the lignin to facilitate the action of the endoglucanase on cellulose without causing the removal of this macromolecule. this website This pretreatment improved the quality of LCNF (61 ± 3 to 71 ± 2 points) with an energy saving of 42% and, therefore, this pretreatment could be suitable for industrial production for a variety of applications.Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and their extracellular polymers such as exopolysaccharides can enhance rice salt stress resistance, however, the relevant mechanism remains unclear. In this study, an exopolysaccharides-deficient strain, named ΔpspD, was obtained from Pantoea alhagi NX-11 by chromosomal pspD deletion. The yield and characteristics of ΔpspD exopolysaccharides was obviously different from P. alhagi NX-11 exopolysaccharides (PAPS). Subsequently, hydroponic experiments showed that NX-11 or PAPS could enhance rice salt tolerance, but ΔpspD could not. Furthermore, it was found that PAPS promoted P. alhagi rhizosphere colonization through a direct effect on biofilm formation, as well as through an indirect impact of enhancing the abilities of biofilm formation and chemotaxis by altering rice root exudates. Importantly, the effect of PAPS in promoting the root colonization of NX-11 was specific. Through transcriptome and RT-qPCR analysis, we revealed that this specificity correlated with PAPS-induced lectin overexpression. The specificity between exopolysaccharides and the host microorganism ensures the colonization of the latter, and prevents other microorganisms from hitchhiking to the rice roots.Thermal and rheological properties of methylcellulose (MC) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) hydrogels with chitosan (CHI) were investigated to verify the potential application of these blends as structured systems for oil transport (emulgel, oleogels, and bigels). FTIR confirmed hydrophobic interactions of cellulosic polymers with chitosan. In the temperature sweep, the thermosensitive hydrogels showed their reduced gel point compared to the original polymers. The gelation temperature was reduced from 66.9 °C for pure HPMC to 43.6 °C and 43.6 °C (MC pure polymer) to 39.3 °C when 30% CHI was added for both cases. The addition of 20 and 30% chitosan is enough to modify the extension of the gelation temperature of these polymers. These results indicate that the addition of chitosan enables MC and HPMC to form gels at lower temperatures, which could allow milder thermal conditions to be applied in processing oil carrier systems.