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With the deteriorating environmental pollution by oil spill accidents and industrial sewage emissions, stimuli-responsive superwettable materials have been of considerable interest for its intriguing application in oil-water separation. Herein, we report a facile room temperature method to fabricate mussel-inspired cotton fabric with pH-responsive superwettability, by combining in situ generation of silver particles to construct roughness with self-assembly of long alkyl thiols terminated with methyl and carboxyl groups to endow hydrophobicity and responsiveness. The fabricated pH-responsive cotton fabric showed superhydrophobicity with water contact angle (WCA) up to 153° under acidic and neutral conditions while superhydrophilicity with WCA at 0° under alkaline condition. Importantly, the cotton fabric was successfully applied in bidirectional oil-water separation, exhibiting high separation efficiency and excellent reversibility. Furthermore, the pH-responsive cotton fabric also demonstrated superior self-cleaning property and antibacterial activity to E. coli and S. aureus. Our method to construct pH-responsive cotton fabric is simple, and no special techniques, chemicals or control of atmosphere is required. Our findings conceivably stand out as a new tool to fabricate functional superwettable materials and surfaces with responsiveness to external stimuli for various oil-pollution treatments and other potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The super-hydrophilic polymer coating film can easily be be peeled off from a substrate with the existence of water, which is a fatal drawback in practical applications. Herein, a facile approach is proposed to prepare UV-curable super-hydrophilic polyacrylate coating film that is chemically grafted on the surface of γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane-modified glass substrate. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy confirmed that the polyacrylate coating films were successfully grafted onto the glass substrate and exhibited rough micro-groove structure. The obtained polyacrylate coating film possessed super-hydrophilicity with the water contact angle close to nearly zero as well as good transmittance and antifogging property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Chin-brow vertical angle (CBVA) is very important in correction of thoracolumbar kyphotic deformity in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), especially for the patients with cervical ankylosis. In previous study, Suk et al. stated that the patients with CBVA between -10° and 10° had better horizontal gaze. Unfortunately, in our clinical practice, we found the patients with CBVA between -10° and 10° after surgery usually complained of difficulty in cooking, cleaning, desk working and the like, although they had excellent horizontal gaze. In other words, for the patients with cervical ankylosis, good horizontal gaze existed together with poor downward gaze. Then, which condition do the patients prefer? Is there a compromise solution that makes a better quality life possible for the patients? In this research, we studied AS patients with cervical ankylosis, aiming to investigate the optimal CBVA for deformity correction.Methods: 25 AS thoracolumbar kyphotic patients with cervical ankylosis were studied, whose function and expectation of visual field related to life quality were assessed by questionnaire before and after surgery. Pre- and post-operative CBVA were obtained on lateral photos of the patients with free-standing posture, and 50 cases of CBVA were included, which were divided into six groups according to the angle irrespective of surgery (Group A, CBVA <0°; Group B, 0° ≤ CBVA < 10°; Group C, 10° ≤ CBVA < 20°; Group D, 20° ≤ CBVA < 30°; Group E, 30° ≤ CBVA < 40°; Group F, CBVA ≥ 40°). Kruskal-Wallis test was used to assess all the groups in terms of various items in the questionnaire, while Mann-Whitney test was used to assess every two groups.Results: In overall evaluation, Group C (10°-20°) obtained the optimal expectation (p < 0.05); Group B, C and D (0°-30°) obtained better function (p < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between the 3 groups. In appearance, Group A, B and C (<20°) were better than the other groups both in function and expectation (p < 0.05), without dramatic difference among the three groups. In outdoor activities, Group A, B, C and D (<30°) were better in most of the items (p < 0.05). In indoor activities, Group C and D (10-30°) were much better (p < 0.05).Conclusion: AS thoracolumbar kyphotic patients with cervical ankylosis had the best satisfaction when 10° ≤ CBVA < 20°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]