The β-Carotene (BC), an important precursor of vitamin A (VA), possesses antioxidant activity but is fat-soluble and has low bioavailability. In previous in-vitro assays evaluating antioxidant and 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) free radical scavenging, both BC and VA showed a strong ability to scavenge radicals and protected cells from oxidative stress. Here, we used artificially simulated gastrointestinal digestion and Caco-2 cell absorption models to evaluate the bioavailability of the BC during gastrointestinal digestion and absorption using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. We observed high absorptive and transfer rates of BC and detected retinol metabolites (Vitamin A). Therefore, BC can be detected in the acidic gastrointestinal environment using HPLC. Optimised method provided better separation of BC and VA in the column, improving the accuracy of the test results. 相似文献
Ceramic microparticles have great potentials in various fields such as materials engineering, biotechnology, microelectromechanical systems, etc. Morphology of the microparticle performs an important role on their application. To date, it remains difficult to find an effective and controllable way for fabricating nonspherical ceramic microparticles with 3D features. This work demonstrates a method that combines UV light lithography and single emulsion opaque-droplet-templated microfluidic molding to prepare the crescent-shaped ceramic microparticles. By tailoring the intensity of UV light and flow rate of fluid, the shapes of microparticles are accordingly tuned. Therefore, varieties of crescent-shaped microparticles and their variations have been fabricated. After sintering, the crescent-shaped alumina ceramic microparticles were obtained. Benefitting from the light absorption and scattering behavior of most ceramic nanoparticles, this system can serve as a general platform to produce crescent-shaped microparticles made from different materials, and hold great potentials for applications in microrobotics, structural materials in MEMS, and biotechnology. 相似文献
Synthetic active matters are perfect model systems for non-equilibrium thermodynamics and of great potential for novel biomedical and environmental applications. However, most applications are limited by the complicated and low-yield preparation, while a scalable synthesis for highly functional microswimmers is highly desired. In this paper, an all-solution synthesis method is developed where the gold-loaded titania-silica nanotree can be produced as a multi-functional self-propulsion microswimmer. By applying light, heat, and electric field, the Janus nanotree demonstrated multi-mode self-propulsion, including photochemical self-electrophoresis by UV and visible light radiation, thermophoresis by near-infrared light radiation, and induced-charge electrophoresis under AC electric field. Due to the scalable synthesis, the Janus nanotree is further demonstrated as a high-efficiency, low-cost, active adsorbent for water decontamination, where the toxic mercury ions can be reclaimed with enhanced efficiency. 相似文献
The slight-alkalization of generator internal cooling water (GICW) is widely used to inhibit the corrosion of hollow copper conductor and thereby ensure the safe operation of the generator. CO2 inleakage is increasingly identified as a potential security risk for GICW system. In this paper, the influence of CO2 inleakage on the slight-alkalization of GICW was theoretically discussed. Based on the equilibriums of the CO2-NaOH-H2O system, CO2 inleakage saturation was derived to quantify the amount of the dissolved CO2 in GICW. This parameter can be directly calculated with the measured conductivity and the [Na+] of GICW. The influence of CO2 inleakage on the slight-alkalization conditioning of GICW and the measurement of its water quality parameters were then analyzed. The more severe the inleakage, the narrower the water quality operation ranges of GICW, resulting in the more difficult the slight-alkalization conditioning of GICW. The temperature calibrations of the conductivity and the pH value of GICW show non-linear correlations with the amount of CO2 inleakage and the NaOH dosage. This study provides insights into the influence of CO2 inleakage on the slight-alkalization of GICW, which can serve as the theoretical basis for the actual slight-alkalization when CO2 inleakage occurs. 相似文献
Construction of multifunctional stimuli-responsive nanotherapeutics enabling improved intratumoral penetration of therapeutics and reversal of multiple-drug resistance (MDR) is potent to achieve effective cancer treatment. Herein, we report a general method to synthesize pH-dissociable calcium carbonate (CaCO3) hollow nanoparticles with amorphous CaCO3 as the template, gallic acid (GA) as the organic ligand, and ferrous ions as the metallic center via a one-pot coordination reaction. The obtained GA–Fe@CaCO3 exhibits high loading efficiencies to both oxidized cisplatin prodrug and doxorubicin, yielding drug loaded GA–Fe@CaCO3 nanotherapeutics featured in pH-responsive size shrinkage, drug release, and Fenton catalytic activity. Compared to nonresponsive GA–Fe@silica nanoparticles prepared with silica nanoparticles as the template, such GA–Fe@CaCO3 confers significantly improved intratumoral penetration capacity. Moreover, both types of drug-loaded GA–Fe@CaCO3 nanotherapeutics exhibit synergistic therapeutic efficacies to corresponding MDR cancer cells because of the GA–Fe mediated intracellular oxidative stress amplification that could reduce the efflux of engulfed drugs by impairing the mitochondrial-mediated production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). As a result, it is found that the doxorubicin loaded GA–Fe@CaCO3 exhibits superior therapeutic effect towards doxorubicin-resistant 4T1 breast tumors via combined chemodynamic and chemo-therapies. This work highlights the preparation of pH-dissociable CaCO3-based nanotherapeutics to enable effective tumor penetration for enhanced treatment of drug-resistant tumors.
This paper is prepared in honour of Professor E.T. Brown for his outstanding contributions to rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering and also for his personal influence on the first author's research career in geomechanics and geotechnical engineering. As a result, we have picked a topic that reflects two key research areas in which Professor E.T. Brown has made seminal contributions over a long and distinguished career. These two areas are concerned with the application of the critical state concept to modelling geomaterials and the analysis of underground excavation or tunnelling in geomaterials.Partially due to Professor Brown's influence, the first author has also been conducting research in these two areas over many years. In particular, this paper aims to describe briefly the development of a unified critical state model for geomaterials together with an application to cavity contraction problems and tunnelling in soils. 相似文献