Poly(pentahydropyrimidine)-Based Hybrid Hydrogel with Synergistic Antibacterial and Pro-Angiogenic Ability for the Therapy of Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Bacterial infection and impaired angiogenesis make the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) extremely challenging. Cationic polymers are expected to treat infected wounds due to their excellent antibacterial properties, but still, it is difficult to meet the therapeutic needs of pro-angiogenesis and anti-infections due to their simple construction units and outmoded synthesis methods. Herein, a cationic poly(pentahydropyrimidine) (PPHP) library with strong modifiability is synthesized to construct a hybrid hydrogel with synergistic therapeutic effects for the treatment of infected DFUs. It is found that the as-synthesized hybrid hydrogel can up-regulate angiogenesis-related gene (HIF-1, VEGF, and bFGFR/bFGF) expression and targeted disruption of bacterial cell membranes, which finally promotes the healing of infected DFU (wound healing rate: 92%) within 10 days. This hydrogel, thus, holds great promise in developing new strategies to significantly enhance the treatment of DFU and other bacterial-infected pathological diagnoses.     

An adaptive unscented Kalman filter approach to secure state estimation for wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks are vulnerable to false data injection attacks, which may mislead the state estimation. To solve this problem, this paper presents a chi-square test-based adaptive secure state estimation (CTASSE) algorithm for state estimation and attack detection. Taking advantage of Kalman filters, attack signal together with process noise or measurement noise are described as total white Gaussian noise with uncertain covariance matrix. The chi-square test method is used in the adaptation of the total noise covariance and attack detection. Then, a standard adaptive unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is used for the state estimation. Finally, simulation results show that the proposed CTASSE algorithm performs better than other UKFs in state estimation and is also effective in real-time attack detection.     

Unraveling the Charge Storage and Activity-Enhancing Mechanisms of Zn-Doping Perovskite Fluorides and Engineering the Electrodes and Electrolytes for Wide-Temperature Aqueous Supercabatteries

Herein, a trimetallic Ni–Co–Zn perovskite fluoride (ABF₃) (denoted as KNCZF) electrode material is explored for advanced aqueous supercabatteries (ASCBs), with KNCZF and activated carbon–FeBiCu@reduced graphene oxides (AC–FeBiCu@rGO) as cathode and anode, respectively, which outperform aqueous supercapacitors (ASCs) and batteries (ABs) with AC and FeBiCu@rGO anodes because of the synergistic effect of pseudocapacitive (KNCZF), capacitive (AC), and faradaic (FeBiCu@rGO) responses. One of the important findings is that the KNCZF shows a typical bulk phase conversion mechanism for charge storage in the alkaline media with the transition of ABF₃ perovskite nanocrystals into amorphous metal oxides/(oxy)hydroxides nanosheets, showing the redox-active and redox-inert roles for the Ni/Co and Zn species, respectively, which can be deduced by various ex-situ techniques. Another interesting finding is that the redox-inert Zn species largely enhance the activity of Ni/Co redox-active species in the ABF₃ materials, mainly owing to the promotion of surface electroactive sites, adsorption of OH^?, and charge transfer of surface Ni/Co atoms by Zn-doping, which can be proved by ex-situ characterizations and theoretical calculations. Overall, this study reveals the structure–activity relationship and charge storage mechanisms of Zn-doping ABF₃ materials for advanced ASCBs, showing a great impact on developing advanced electrochemical energy storage.     

立体停车位液压系统控制策略及节能控制技术研究

针对目前立体停车位均采用阀控液压动力系统,存在系统效率低、能耗大等问题,将伺服电机直驱定量泵的节能技术应用于立体停车位的液压系统中.采用滑模变结构算法与模糊控制算法相结合的模糊滑模控制算法作为立体停车位各个工况切换的控制策略,相比于工业中常用的模糊PID控制算法,模糊滑模变结构控制能够对系统设定流量需求进行快速响应,在多个工况切换时,波动小、稳定速度快.同时对使用节能技术的立体停车位运行时的功率、能耗及系统效率进行测试,结果表明使用伺服电机直驱定量泵的液压节能系统与使用传统阀控液压系统相比,能耗降低了31.2%,系统效率提高了33.2%,具有较好的节能效果.     

Phosphorus and phosphide nanomaterials for sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries have received remarkable attention as next-generation high-performance electrochemical energy storage devices because of their cost effectiveness and the broad geographical distribution of sodium. As a critical component of sodium-ion batteries, anode materials, especially nanostructured anodes, have a significant effect on the electrochemical performance of sodium-ion batteries. Recent research indicates that phosphorus and metal phosphides show great promise as anode candidates for sodium-ion batteries because of their low cost and relatively high theoretical gravimetric and volumetric specific capacities. In this review, we systematically summarize recent research progress on state-of-the-art nanostructured phosphorus and phosphides, including the synthetic strategies, Na-storage mechanisms, and the relationship between the nanostructure and electrochemical performance. Moreover, we present an overview of future challenges and opportunities based on current developments.

Open image in new window

     

Research on lease and sale of electric vehicles based on value engineering

Electric vehicles (EVs) acknowledged as potential means of transportation tools in the near future are widely accepted as the development trend of automobile industry due to its environment protection and fuel energy saving properties. As a product containing new technologies and concepts with little market experience and consumer identification, studying its life cycle operation modes will help to figure out an optimal approach to conduct EVs manufacturing and service. The two common operation modes, lease and sale of EVs, have their own advantages and weaknesses under different scenarios and consumer psychological status. Research and comparisons on the function, cost and value of two operation modes in full life cycle will simulate the rapid development of EVs forming a mature and dynamic operation mechanism. This paper utilised approaches in value engineering, putting forward customer requirements and technical elements of EV lease and sale based on quality assessment and customer-perceived value, proposing the metric method of function and cost coefficient by mathematical modelling, and conducting value coefficient analysis and comparison based on customer’s risk aversion psychology. An illustrative example raised for studying operation mode of three different kinds of EVs based on the analysis of value coefficient, providing guideline for manufacturer and servicers of EVs.     

Anti prostate cancer using PEGylated bombesin containing,cabazitaxel loading nano-sized drug delivery system

Context: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most-frequently diagnosed cancer in men. Cabazitaxel was approved for the treatment of patients with hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen.

Objective: In this study, bombesin (BN), a ligand reported to specifically target GRP overexpressing prostate tumor, was applied for the construction of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (LPNs), and used for the targeted delivery of cabazitaxel (CAB) to prostate cancer.

Methods: BN-polyethylene glycol-1,2-Distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (BN-PEG-DSPE) was synthesized. CAB loaded, BN-PEG-DSPE contained LPNs (BN-CAB-LPNs) were prepared. Their particle size, zeta potential and drug encapsulation efficiency (EE) were evaluated. In vitro cytotoxicity study of BN-CAB-LPNs was tested in LNCaP human prostatic cancer cell line (LNCaP cells). In vivo anti-tumor efficacy of the carriers was evaluated on mice bearing prostate cancer model.

Results: The optimum BN-CAB-LPNs formulations had a particle size of 184.9?nm and a 26.5?mV positive surface charge. The growth of LNCaP cells in vitro was obviously inhibited. BN-CAB-LPNs also displayed better anti-tumor activity than the other formulations in vivo.

Conclusion: The results demonstrated that BN-CAB-LPNs can sufficiently deliver CAB to the cancer cells and enhance the anti-tumor capacity. Thus, BN-CAB-LPNs can be proved to be a superior nanomedicine which can achieve better therapeutic efficacy of prostate tumor.     

Application potential of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSCs) based tissue-engineering for spinal cord defect repair in rat fetuses with spina bifida aperta

Spina bifida aperta are complex congenital malformations resulting from failure of fusion in the spinal neural tube during embryogenesis. Despite surgical repair of the defect, most patients who survive with spina bifida aperta have a multiple system handicap due to neuron deficiency of the defective spinal cord. Tissue engineering has emerged as a novel treatment for replacement of lost tissue. This study evaluated the prenatal surgical approach of transplanting a chitosan–gelatin scaffold seeded with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in the healing the defective spinal cord of rat fetuses with retinoic acid induced spina bifida aperta. Scaffold characterisation revealed the porous structure, organic and amorphous content. This biomaterial promoted the adhesion, spreading and in vitro viability of the BMSCs. After transplantation of the scaffold combined with BMSCs, the defective region of spinal cord in rat fetuses with spina bifida aperta at E20 decreased obviously under stereomicroscopy, and the skin defect almost closed in many fetuses. The transplanted BMSCs in chitosan–gelatin scaffold survived, grew and expressed markers of neural stem cells and neurons in the defective spinal cord. In addition, the biomaterial presented high biocompatibility and slow biodegradation in vivo. In conclusion, prenatal transplantation of the scaffold combined with BMSCs could treat spinal cord defect in fetuses with spina bifida aperta by the regeneration of neurons and repairmen of defective region.