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Epoxy resin (EP) has attracted considerable attention in packaging, electronic devices, aerospace, and coatings fields owing to its remarkable chemical and physical performance. However, the inherent flammable performance and unfavorable brittle nature seriously restricted its application in sophisticated industry. Herein, an efficient reactive 9,10‐dihydro‐9‐oxa‐10‐phosphaphenanthrene‐10‐oxide (DOPO)‐based flame retardant (DB‐DAD) was prepared by a facile "one‐pot" method. Due to their synergistic gas‐phase and solid‐phase flame‐retardant effects, DB‐DAD modified EP composites (EP/DB‐DAD composite) easily achieved UL‐94 V‐0 ratings, and an EP/DB‐DAD composite with a 0.32 wt% phosphorus content had an excellent (30.2%) limiting oxygen index. In addition, the amounts of heat and smoke decreased by 28.1% and 24.8%, respectively. Due to the introduction of long and flexible aliphatic chains, the EP/DB‐DAD composites exhibited satisfactory mechanical properties, the flexural and tensile toughness of EP/6% DB‐DAD were 82.5% and 62.2% higher than those of neat EP, respectively. Furthermore, EP/DB‐DAD composite showed good transparency (>85%) and favorable UV shielding performance. The EP/DB‐DAD composite with good comprehensive performance is extremely promising to accelerate EP application in high‐tech industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In order to fabricate tough hydrogels with superior formability, polyacrylamide/sodium alginate (PAM/SA) interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogels were produced with ionically crosslinked SA interpenetrated in covalently crosslinked PAM. TGA results show that the heat resistance of PAM/SA IPN hydrogel is improved as compared to that of the individual component. Swelling studies indicate that increasing either chemical crosslinker content or ionic crosslinking via adding more N, N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) or SA results in lower ESR. It is concluded by tensile test that loosely crosslinked PAM coupled with tightly crosslinked SA improve mechanical strength for hydrogels based on covalent/ionic crosslinking. PAM/SA hydrogels via 'one-pot' method can form different complex shapes with mechanical properties comparable to conventional double network (DN) gels. The fracture strength of PAM0.05/SA20 reaches level of MPa, approaching 2.0 MPa. The work strives to provide method to tune mechanical and physical properties for hydrogels, which is hopefully to guide the design of hydrogel material with desirable properties. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41342. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The quality of life of patients receiving long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD) is significantly impacted by the onset of peritoneal fibrosis (PF), and one of the pathological changes is mesothelial-mesenchymal transition (MMT). In this study, we investigated the potential roles of miR-454-3p and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in the progression of peritoneal MMT and the underlying mechanisms., Methods: Peritoneums were collected to detect morphology via hematoxylin-eosin staining and differentially expressed miRNAs were detected via RT-qPCR. PD effluent-derived cell populations in the peritoneal cavity were isolated from the effluents of 20 PD patients to determine miR-454-3p, STAT3, and MMT markers via Western blotting and RT-qPCR. The relationship between miR-454-3p and STAT3 was examined via a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Western blotting and RT-qPCR were utilized to evaluate the expression of STAT3, MMT markers, and glycolytic enzymes. Immunofluorescence staining revealed the localization and expression of MMT markers and STAT3., Results: MiR-454-3p was downregulated in the peritoneums and PD effluent-derived cell populations of long-term PD patients. High glucose (HG) treatment promoted HMrSV5 cell MMT and glycolysis. MiR-454-3p overexpression alleviated HG-induced MMT and suppressed the expression of STAT3 and glycolytic enzymes. In contrast, the miR-454-3p inhibitor exacerbated HG-induced MMT and promoted the expression of glycolytic enzymes and STAT3. Moreover, STAT3 was the target of miR-454-3p., Conclusions: This study demonstrated the protective role of miR-454-3p in HG-induced MMT and glycolysis in HMrSv5 cells, suggesting that miR-454-3p may prevent MMT by suppressing glycolytic enzymes via the STAT3/PFKFB3 pathway in the HG environment.

Aims: To determine natural compounds with inhibitory effects toward SARS-CoV-2 Mpro from Chinese herbal medicines., Materials & Methods: ∼1200 natural compounds from 19 Chinese herbal medicines were collected. Computational methods including molecular docking, drug-likeness assessment, molecular dynamics simulation and molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area analysis were combined to obtain potent inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro., Results: Top 20 compounds mainly originated from Ranunculus ternatus and Picrasma quassioides exhibited low binding free energies which below -9.0 kcal/mol. Compounds Japonicone G and Picrasidine T were obtained with favorable drug-likeness. Moreover, the complex of Japonicone G and Mpro had prominent stability., Conclusion: Natural compound Japonicone G is highly promising as a potent inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2 for further study., Competing Interests: The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed., (© 2023 Shengxiang Yang.)