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As various aptasensors are adopted in clinical diagnosis, the development of convenient multiple-target determination is a field of ever-increasing interests. Herein, a label-free and amplified electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensing platform was constructed to detect multiple targets of hemin, glucose and thrombin (TB) using peroxydisulfate (S

Thirteen 2-(N-(3-nitrophenyl)-N-phenylsulfonyl)aminoacetohydroxamic acids which were reported for the first time were designed and synthesized as novel urease inhibitors. Most of them showed higher potency than the positive control acetohydroxamic acid, with 2-(N-(3-nitrophenyl)-N-(4-bromophenylsulfonyl)aminoacetohydroxamic acid (d7) being the most active (IC

Purification and recovery of polar organic solvents such as dimethylformamide (DMF) with high chemical separation speed and low energy cost nanofiltration membranes has been widely investigated, while it is still a difficult challenge that high permeability of solvents and rejection of solutes are achieved simultaneously. In this study, a novel organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes was obtained via coating a thin selective graphene oxide (GO) layer on top of the polyimide porous substrate (PI) which was cross-linked to improve the stability in polar solvents. The resultant GO/cross-linked PI (GO/CLPI) composite membranes feature remarkable sieving capability of >94% for RBss molecules (1018 Da), accompanying high pure solvent permeability of 11.1 L h−1 m−2 bar−1, 4.9 L h−1 m−2 bar−1 and 1.0 L h−1 m−2 bar−1 for water, IPA and DMF, respectively. Different from conventional method of characterization, low field nuclear magnetic resonance technology (LF-NMR) was utilized to confirm that the GO/CLPI membrane shows a higher adsorption capacity for IPA than DMF. This newly technique can be effectively utilized to evaluate the affinity between organic solvents and the surface of membranes.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of bronchiolitis in young children, but there are few safe and effective treatments for this disease. Platycodonis Radix is widely used as an antitussive and expectorant drug for preventing various diseases in lower respiratory tract, in which the polysaccharides are one of the main bioactivity constituents. In this study, the protective effects of the P. Radix polysaccharides (PRP) against RSV-induced bronchiolitis in juvenile mice and RSV-induced apoptosis of epithelial HEp-2 cells were investigated. The results showed that PRP obviously decreased the levels of IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ and TSLP in lung tissues, and reduced the number of inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of RSV-infected mice. Furthermore, it reduced the apoptosis of RSV-infected HEp-2 cells and remarkably inhibited the mRNA expressions of RSV L gene, which indicated that PRP affected transcription and replication of RSV in host cells. Compared with that in RSV-infected group, miR-181a-5p in the PRP-treated group presented the highest relative abundance and its expression was violently reduced by approximately 30%. Mechanistically, PRP had the similar effects as miR-181a-5p antagomir on RSV-induced apoptosis and inflammation in HEp-2 cells via upregulating BCL2, MLL3 and SIRT1, which could be reversed by miR-181a-5p mimic. Therefore, it demonstrated that PRP not only protected against RSV-induced lung inflammation in mice but also inhibited apoptosis of RSV-infected HEp-2 cells via suppressing miR-181a-5p and transcriptionally activating Hippo and SIRT1 pathways.

The whole world is looking for imperative technologies that can produce clean water, clean energy and clean environments with low energy consumption and small footprint. Membrane technology stands out as a potential solution for different applications because of its beneficial advantages. The revolutionary dual-layer (DL) membranes are composed of two layers formed by co-extruding or co-casting two different dope solutions simultaneously in one step. With the advances in dual-layer concept, one can effectively design the membranes with the maximal performance from various polymeric pairs. As a result, DL membranes are increasingly being studied for gas-phase and liquid-phase separations. However, challenges still exist such as parameters or conditions affecting the adhesion/delamination in DL membranes, the methods to fabricate delamination-free membranes, the knowledge to bridge the fabrication conditions and their influence on membrane performance. Therefore, this review not only summarizes the state-of-the-art research on DL membranes but also provides critical insights on these scientific challenges and potential solutions. A future perspective on this technology including other challenges is also given.

Precise molecular separation through a membrane is critical in sustainable water purification applications. Routine separation membranes with inflexible molecular transmission channels are effective for the separation of two substances, which cannot meet the practical treatment requirements of multicomponent complex wastewater. We report a pH-gating membrane (PGM) formed by cross-linking a polyaniline/polyimide substrate with polyethyleneimine. PGMs exhibit tunable and reversible molecular sieving architectures under pH stimuli, which are attributed to the contraction and extension of polyaniline (PANI) chains during the transition between protonation and deprotonation. Based on this smart pH gating property, precise separation of the three-component mixture of Alcian Blue 8 GX, Orange II, and NaCl can be achieved with a single membrane at pH 8 and 2. The dye molecule-to-NaCl selectivity of this membrane reaches 942.1. It outperforms most state-of-art membranes, demonstrating promising applications for the selective separation and recovery of valuable products instead of harmful discharge.

By modulating the synthetic strategy based on changing metal salt used in the synthesis, four new metal(II) complexes, [Cu(MIBA)2(H2O)3]·2H2O (C22H28CuN4O9) (1), [Ni2(MIBA)4(H2O)6]n (C44H48Ni2N8O14) (2), [Co(MIBA)2]n (C22H18CoN4O4) (3) and [Zn(MIBA)2]n (C22H18ZnN4O4) (4) constructed by 4-(1H-2-methylimidazol-1-yl)benzoic acid (HMIBA) were synthesized under hydrothermal/solvothermal conditions and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, powder XRD, FT-IR, TGA and elemental analysis techniques. Although the four complexes were constructed by the same semi-rigid imidazolium carboxylate ligand, their structures are quite different. The structural analyses revealed that complex 1 is a discrete mononuclear unit, which are extended to form 3D supramolecular architectures by hydrogen bonds. Complex 2 features a 1D antenna-like chain, complex 3 exhibit a 2D + 2D → 3D structure, and complex 4 exhibits a 3D → 3D fourfold interpenetrating framework. Furthermore, the fluorescent properties and molecular simulation of the complex 4 was also investigated in the solid state at room temperature.

Background: The Transitional Care Model (TCM) for nursing care has yet to be implemented in China despite its success in Western countries. However, rapid social changes have demanded an upgrade in the quality of nursing care; in 2010, the Chinese government has acknowledged the need to implement the TCM in China. Objective: This study has the following objectives: (1) perform a thorough review of the literature regarding the development and implementation of the TCM in Mainland China within the past 5 years; (2) provide a comprehensive discussion of the current status, problems, and strategies related to the implementation of the TCM in Mainland China; and (3) suggest strategies pertaining to the future of the TCM in China. Design: The current pertinent literature is systematically reviewed. Data sources: Systematic and manual searches in computerized databases for relevant studies regarding the TCM led to the inclusion of 26 papers in this review. Review methods: Abstracts that satisfied the inclusion criteria were reviewed independently by the two authors of this manuscript, and discrepancies were resolved through discussion. The same reviewers independently assessed the paper in its entirety for selected abstracts. Results: The present English literature review revealed a paucity of updated information about the development and implementation of the TCM in Mainland China. Nevertheless, the dramatic growth of the TCM in the past 5 years has had a vital impact within the society and in nursing development. This review also revealed numerous issues regarding the focus of the TCM. Overall implications for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed. Conclusion: Despite the potential of this nursing model to have a successful and beneficial impact in Mainland China, it remains an under-researched topic. Further research on education and training as well as premium policies for nurses under the TCM are needed. Keywords: Transitional Care Model, Continued nursing, Continuity of care, Health care needs, Development, Mainland, China

Efficient water treatment by a membrane with enduring high permeability and rejection is still a challenge because of the commonly recognized trade-off effect and the pore-blocking induced fouling issue. Herein, the scalable production of electro-conductive polyaniline/polyimide membranes for electrocatalysis enhanced filtration is reported for the first time. The prepared membrane presents the following significant advantages: (1) superior dye-solution permeability (204.1 L m−2 h−1 bar−1) while not sacrificing selectivity (99.8% for congo red), which is benefited from the synergic interplay of the enhanced hydrophilicity, enlarged pore size and high adsorption active site; (2) elevated electrical conductivity by almost two orders of magnitude, leading to significantly improved permeability recovery rate (87%) and electro-oxidative pollutant removal; (3) optimal compatibility of the two polymers results in robust mechanical strength without micro-cracks, which realizes large-scale membrane fabrication without performance deterioration. These results indicate that the synergy of electrocatalytic polymers with robust filtration polymers through direct phase inversion strategy will provide a paradigm shift of designing high-performance membranes with practical applications.

Aiming at the two challenging bottlenecks of “trade-off effect” and “membrane fouling” that limit the development of nanofiltration (NF) membranes, this work developed a high-performance NF membrane based on the modification by an asymmetric hydrophilic zoledronic acid (ZA). ZA plays multiple roles: (1) the self-restrictive diffusion effect of piperazine (PIP)/ZA obtained from the reaction of PIP and ZA resulted in smooth membrane surface; (2) the imidazolyl on ZA uninvolved in interfacial polymerization (IP) led to enlarged polyamide network pores and provided more solvent tunnels; (3) all groups of ZA improved the membrane hydrophilicity; (4) the electronegative phosphate groups made a significant contribution to the strong membrane surface electronegativity. As a result, the ZA-modified membrane exhibited nearly five times higher permeability than that of traditional NF membranes, accompanied by perfect selectivity of SO42− and Cl− as well as the outstanding anti-fouling property, indicating its enormous application prospect in water treatment.

Three inorganic–organic hybrids based on Keggin tungstophosphates and lanthanides, [Pr(NMP)6(PW12O40)]n (1), [Eu(NMP)6(PW12O40)]n (2), and [Er2(NMP)12(PW12O40)][PW12O40] (3) (NMP=N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone), have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV–vis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibit 1D infinite zigzag chain structures, while compound 3 exhibits an ionic asymmetric structure due to lanthanide contraction. The three compounds are all photochromic. The magnetic susceptibility for 1 measured over the range 2–300 K shows that there is the dominant antiferromagnetic interaction in the compound. The results of luminescent properties show that compound 2 displays an interesting selectivity for Zn2+ ions. Accepted version

Five strains of Lactobacillus plantarum and 4 strains of Lactobacillus ssp. isolated from fresh meat contained between 1 and 5 plasmids ranging in Mr from 1.3 to 49 MDa. Plasmid-curing studies suggested that maltose utilization is associated with a 49 MDa plasmid (pML291) in Lactobacillus sp. DB29 and 34.5 MDa plasmids in Lactobacillus ssp. DB27, DB28 and DB31. Restriction digestion of pML291 and a putative plasmid deletion derivative, pML292, isolated from a maltose negative mutant of DB29, generated common restriction fragments. Southern blot DNA-DNA hybridization using pML 291 as a probe indicated that there is strong homology between putative maltose plasmids.