Good Stability Research Articles

Coumarin-hemicyanine-based ratiometric fluorescent probes for detection of strong acidity

Fluorescent probes for determination of strongly acidic pH values are urgently needed, especially the ones with ratiometric signal changes. Here, two fluorescent probes (CP and CyC) based on coumarin-hemicyanine were synthesized. Both probes emitted red fluorescence under weakly acidic to weakly alkaline conditions, whereas blue fluorescence under strongly acidic conditions. Notably, probe CP displayed good stability, water solubility, anti-interference ability, repeated utilization and instant response. Encouraged by the good performance, probe CP based test strips were used to indicate the pH of aqueous solutions, and to detect HCl or NH3 vapor in air reversibly.

Active Thermochemical Barrier Coatings Using Metal Oxides: First Experimental Results.

A new concept of active thermal coating based on the use of reversible thermochemical reactions is presented in this paper. The new active thermal barrier coating uses redox reactions to buffer the temperature changes that a metallic component may suffer at high temperatures. The heat is stored when the temperature is equal/above the reduction temperature of the active coating (endothermic reaction) and the heat is released when the temperature is equal/below the oxidation temperature (exothermic reaction). The paper describes the development and testing of a reactive thermal barrier coating based on the redox reaction of Co3O4 and its cyclability. Co3O4 was chosen as a reference material due to the high enthalpy of reaction (844 kJ/kg) and redox reversibility. The activity of coatings with 1, 2, and 3 Co3O4 layers was demonstrated by simultaneous thermal analysis, showing good stability for 5 five cycles.

Green fractionation and hydrolysis of fish meal to improve their techno-functional properties

A green strategy employing water as solvent has been adopted to obtain protein hydrolysates from fish meal (FM), its water-soluble fraction (WSP), and its non-water-soluble fraction (NSP). The techno-functional properties of the hydrolysates have been investigated and compared to hydrolysates obtained with Alcalase®. In general, SWH hydrolysates presented higher content of free amino acids and higher degree of hydrolysis, which reflected on the molecular size distribution. However, Alcalase® hydrolysates presented better solubility (from 74 ± 4% for NSP at pH = 2 up to 99 ± 1% for WSP at pH = 4–7). According to fluorescence experiments, FM and NSP hydrolysates showed the highest surface hydrophobicity, which has been related to better emulsifying properties and higher emulsion stability. The emulsions stabilized with 2%wt. of SWH-treated NSP showed the smallest particle sizes, with D[4,3] = 155 nm at day 0, and good stability, with D[4,3] = 220 nm at day 7, proving that water fractionation followed by SWH treatment is a good method to improve the techno-functional properties of the hydrolysates.

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF RED GINGER RHIZOME EXTRACT SOAP AS AN ANTIBACTERIAL

Objective: Current research work aimed to develop a formulation of red ginger into a stable soap preparation, effective as an antibacterial and safe for long-term use. Methods: The maceration method was used to extract red ginger rhizome. In the formulation, there are variations in the concentration of the extract, where Formulation I (FI) 3%, Formulation II (FII) 5%, Formulation III (FIII) 7%, and Formulation IV (FIV) 0%. The evaluation of the preparation includes tests such as sensory evaluation, homogeneity, pH, viscosity and flow properties, density, foam height, and stability, as well as antibacterial activity using the agar diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25932 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. Results: The percentage of extract yield obtained was 2.38%. All three formulations of soap have shown good stability during the 28-day evaluation (significant>0.05), indicating no significant changes during storage, and the inhibitory power of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 bacteria in the three successive formulations was 9.03±0.4; 12.21±0.3; 15.26±0.4 (mm) respectively, while that of Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 was 6.01±0.6; 10.32±0.4; 12.58±0.6 (mm). Conclusion: The evaluation results, all formulations have good stability during storage. The variation in concentration of red ginger extract will affect the inhibitory power against test bacteria. F III, with an extract content of 7% has better antibacterial activity compared to other formulations.

Degradation of Levofloxacin by Electroactivated Sodium Persulfate on Carbon Cloth Cathode Modified with Cerium-Based Metal Organic Frameworks (Ce-MOF) Derivatives

Levofloxacin (LFX), which is difficult to degrade effectively due to its molecular stability, has become an problem that needs to be solved urgently. The advanced oxidation technology of persulfate has received increasing attention from researchers. In this study, a Ce-MOF derivative (Ce-MOF-T) was prepared by hydrothermal synthesis and calcination, which synergistically responded to electroactivation to generate sulfate radicals for the efficient degradation of LFX. It has been proven that electrical activation and the Ce-MOF derivatives work together to generate sulfate radicals and effectively degrade LFX. Ce-MOF-550-modified carbon cloth was used as the cathode and a platinum electrode as the anode, the concentration of LFX was 20 mg·L−1, the loading of Ce-MOF-550 was 15 mg, pH = 5, the concentration of sodium persulfate (PMS) was 0.3 g·L−1, the current density was 100 A·m−2, and the degradation rate was 82.05% after 1 h of reaction and 95% after 3 h of reaction. After five cycle tests, the degradation rate was still higher than 75.00%, indicating that the material had good stability. In addition, the degradation of LFX was consistent with a quasi-primary kinetic reaction with apparent rate constants of 2.26 × 10−2 min−1.

Carbon nanotubes grafting aminated epoxy resin with improved elasticity and surface adhesion for enhanced thermal management performance

It is a great challenge to develop thermal interface materials that enable fast heat transfer between the surface of microelectronic materials and heat sinks. In this paper, multi-walled carbon nanotube/epoxy composites (EP-NH2-x) were synthesized by amidation reaction using aminated epoxy resin as matrix and carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes. EP-NH2-x can reduce the interfacial thermal resistance and the promotion of phonon conduction through the chemical bonding connection between the resin and the carbon nanotubes, which will in turn improve the thermal conductivity of the composites. The thermal conductivity of EP-NH2-10 reaches 0.531 W·m−1·K−1 at a and has good variable temperature cycling stability, internal elasticity and surface adhesion. This work highlights the potential application of carbon materials to improve the thermal conductivity of epoxy resins.

Bendable, lamellar MXene membrane electrodes with diverse diffusion pathways for potential application in miniaturized capacitive deionization devices

Flexible devices have shown great application potential in portable and miniaturized devices. However, work on flexible electrodes for capacitive deionization (CDI) has not been well developed due to the issues of desalination property, processability, and availability under actual bending conditions. Herein, we constructed a kind of flexible lamellar MXene membrane by assembling Ti3C2Tx sheets with both crumpled and perforated structures and studied their desalination performance in conventional planar and bent configurations. The crumpled and perforated features in Ti3C2Tx (C-P-TC) nanosheets could optimize the in-plane and out-of-plane diffusion channels of the stacked samples, respectively, effectively improving the accessibility of membranes. As a result, the desalination performance of such C-P-TC electrodes was superior to that of those assembled from crumpled or perforated sheets alone. Significantly, this flexible C-P-TC electrode still showed excellent performance at real bend deformation, which possessed not only almost the same CDI capacity as the traditional planar configuration but also good cycling stability. This work not merely proposes an alternative strategy to improve the CDI performance of lamellar MXene electrodes by regulating the nanostructures of channels but also confirms their effective deionization ability under real bent state, greatly facilitating the potential use of flexible electrodes in miniaturized CDI devices.

Boosting electrocatalytic hydrogen generation from water splitting with heterostructured MoS2/NiFe2O4 composite in alkaline media

Design and synthesis of earth-abundant and robust bifunctional electrocatalysts have been greatly sought for commercialization of the technology for clean and renewable energy and replacement of the energy equipment based on fossil fuels. In this work, a facile hydrothermal approach is used to synthesize MoS2/NiFe2O4-based nanocomposite as a novel electrocatalyst for alkaline water splitting. Surface analysis was conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Benefiting from the synergy of lamellar MoS2 and crystalline NiFe2O4, the obtained MoS2/NiFe2O4 composite shows excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (η10 = 190 mV, η50 = 279 mV) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) (η50 = 350 mV, η100 = 360 mV) activity with high TOF (0.01 s−1@190 mV for HER and 0.24 s−1 @360 mV for OER) and displays good electrochemical stability. Explicitly, the electrocatalyst requires a cell voltage of 1.69 V to drive overall water splitting at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. Density functional theory (DFT) results demonstrated that the MoS2/NiFe2O4 composite electrocatalyst has smaller hydrogen adsorption free energy (|ΔGH*|) than pristine MoS2 and NiFe2O4, which demonstrates the effective adsorption and cleavage of water on the catalyst surface. This work thus presents an approach for the synthesis and rational design of metal oxide/metal sulfide hybrids as an electrocatalyst with high performance for overall water splitting.

One-step growth of Cu-doped carbon dots in amino-modified carbon nanotube-modified electrodes for sensitive electrochemical detection of BPA.

Copper-doped carbon dots and aminated carbon nanotubes (Cu-CDs/NH2-CNTs) nanocomposites were synthesized by a one-step growth method, and the composites were characterized for their performance. An electrochemical sensor for sensitive detection of bisphenol A (BPA) was developed for using Cu-CDs/NH2-CNTs nanocomposites modified with glassy carbon electrodes (GCE). The sensor exhibited an excellent electrochemical response to BPA in 0.2M PBS (pH 7.0) under optimally selected conditions. The linear range of the sensor for BPA detection was 0.5-160μM, and the detection limit (S/N = 3) was 0.13μM. Moreover, the sensor has good interference immunity, stability and reproducibility. In addition, the feasibility of the practical application of the sensor was demonstrated by the detection of BPA in bottled drinking water and Liu Yang River water.

Preparation and Application of CO2-Resistant Latex in Shale Reservoir Cementing

With the application of CO2 fracturing, CO2 huff and puff, CO2 flooding, and other stimulation technologies in shale reservoirs, a large amount of CO2 remained in the formation, which also lead to the serious corrosion problem of CO2 in shale reservoirs. In order to solve the harm caused by CO2 corrosion, it is necessary to curb CO2 corrosion from the cementing cement ring to ensure the long-term stable exploitation of shale oil. Therefore, a new latex was created using liquid polybutadiene, styrene, 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid, and maleic anhydride to increase the cement ring’s resistance to CO2 corrosion. The latex’s structure and characteristics were then confirmed using infrared, particle size analyzer, thermogravimetric analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. The major size distribution of latex is between 160 and 220 nm, with a solid content of 32.2% and an apparent viscosity of 36.8 mPa·s. And it had good physical properties and stability. Latex can effectively improve the properties of cement slurry and cement composite. When the amount of latex was 8%, the fluidity index of cement slurry was 0.76, the consistency index was 0.5363, the free liquid content was only 0.1%, and the water loss was reduced to 108 mL. At the same time, latex has a certain retarding ability. With 8% latex, the cement slurry has a specific retarding ability, is 0.76 and 0.5363, has a free liquid content of just 0.1%, and reduces water loss to 108 mL. Moreover, latex had certain retarding properties. The compressive strength and flexural strength of the latex cement composite were increased by 13.47% and 33.64% compared with the blank cement composite. A long-term CO2 corrosion experiment also showed that latex significantly increased the cement composite’s resilience to corrosion, lowering the blank cement composite’s growth rate of permeability from 46.88% to 19.41% and its compressive strength drop rate from 27.39% to 11.74%. Through the use of XRD and SEM, the latex’s anti-corrosion mechanism, hydration products, and microstructure were examined. In addition to forming a continuous network structure with the hydrated calcium silicate and other gels, the latex can form a latex film to attach and fill the hydration products. This slows down the rate of CO2 corrosion of the hydration products, enhancing the cement composite’s resistance to corrosion. CO2-resistant toughened latex can effectively solve the CO2 corrosion problem of the cementing cement ring in shale reservoirs.

Magnetron Sputtered SnO₂ Layer Combined with NiCo−LDH Nanosheets for High‐Performance All‐Solid‐State Supercapacitors

AbstractNickel‐cobalt layered double hydroxide (NiCo−LDH) has attracted much attention because of its excellent electrochemical properties and regulability. And it is a potential pseudocapacitive electrode material, which is commonly used in supercapacitors and lithium‐ion batteries. Its application in the field of supercapacitors can improve the energy density, power density and cycle life of devices. However, NiCo−LDH still faces some challenges, such as poor electrical conductivity and the capacity attenuation caused by agglomeration of layered structures, which require further research and optimization. In this paper, SnO2 films were prepared on carbon cloth (CC) by magnetron sputtering method, and Ni−Co LDH nanosheets were grown by hydrothermal reaction to obtain NiCo−LDH@SnO2 composites. Due to the synergistic effect between NiCo−LDH and SnO2, NiCo−LDH@SnO2 composites exhibit high Cs and good cyclic stability. In addition, an all‐solid‐state flexible asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) was assembled with activated carbon (AC) anodes, showing good specific capacitance(Cs) and energy density. And a high initial capacitance can still be retained after 10,000 cycles. This paper shows that NiCo−LDH@SnO2 shows excellent application potential in supercapacitors.

Size- and Shape-controlled Biodegradable Polymer Brushes Based on l-Amino Acid for Intracellular Drug Delivery and Deep-Tissue Penetration.

We report size- and shape-controlled polymer brushes based on l-amino acid bioresource and study the role of polymer topology on the enzymatic biodegradation and deep-tissue penetration under in vitro and in vivo. For this purpose, l-tyrosine-based propargyl-functionalized monomer is tailor-made and polymerized via solvent-free melt polycondensation strategy to yield hydrophobic and clickable biodegradable poly(ester-urethane)s. Postpolymerization click chemistry strategy is applied to make well-defined amphiphilic one-dimensional rodlike and three-dimensional spherical polymer brushes by merely varying the lengths of PEG-azides in the reaction. These core-shell polymer brushes are found to be nontoxic and nonhemolytic and capable of loading clinical anticancer drug doxorubicin and deep-tissue penetrable near-infrared biomarker IR-780. In vitro enzymatic drug-release kinetics and lysotracker-assisted real-time live-cell confocal bioimaging revealed that the rodlike polymer brush is superior than its spherical counterparts for faster cellular uptake and enzymatic biodegradation at the endolysosomal compartments to release DOX at the nucleus. Further, in vivo live-animal bioimaging by IVIS technique established that the IR-780-loaded rodlike polymer brush exhibited efficient deep-tissue penetration ability and emphasized the importance of polymer brush topology control for biological activity. Polymer brushes exhibit good stability in the blood plasma for more than 72 h, they predominately accumulate in the digestive organs like liver and kidney, and they are less toxic to heart and brain tissues. IVIS imaging of cryotome tissue slices of organs confirmed the deep-penetrating ability of the polymer brushes. The present investigation opens opportunity for bioderived and biodegradable polymer brushes as next-generation smart drug-delivery scaffolds.

A sandwich-structured multifunctional platform based on self-assembled Ti3C2Tx@Au NPs films, antibiotics, and silent region SERS probe for the capture, determination, and drug resistance analysis of Gram-positive bacteria.

A multifunctional surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platform integrating sensitive detection and drug resistance analysis was developed for Gram-positive bacteria. The substrate was based on self-assembled Ti3C2Tx@Au NPs films and capture molecule phytic acid (IP6) to achieve specific capture of Gram-positive bacteria and different bacteria were analyzed by fingerprint signal. It had advantages of good stability and homogeneity (RSD = 8.88%). The detection limit (LOD) was 102CFU/mL for Staphylococcus aureus and 103CFU/mL for MRSA, respectively. A sandwich structure was formed on the capture substrate by signal labels prepared by antibiotics (penicillin G and vancomycin) and non-interference SERS probe molecules (4-mercaptobenzonitrile (2223cm-1) and 2-amino-4-cyanopyridine (2240cm-1)) to improve sensitivity. The LOD of Au NPs@4-MBN@PG to S. aureus and Au NPs@AMCP@Van to MRSA and S. aureus were all improved to 10 CFU/mL, with a wide dynamic linear range from 108 to 10CFU/mL (R2 ≥ 0.992). The SERS platform can analyze the drug resistance of drug-resistant bacteria. Au NPs@4-MBN@PG was added to the substrate and captured MRSA to compare the SERS spectra of 4-MBN. The intensity inhomogeneity of 4-MBN at the same concentrations of MRSA and the nonlinearity at the different concentrations of MRSA revealed that MRSA was resistant to PG. Finally, the SERS platform achieved the determination of MRSA in blood. Therefore, this SERS platform has great significance for the determination and analysis of Gram-positive bacteria.

Fabrication of porous biochar supported Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst for efficient degradation of ciprofloxacin in seawater under visible light irradiation: Mechanistic investigation and intermediates analysis

Efficient separation of photocarriers is a critical approach for advancing high-performance photocatalyst systems to effectively remove environmental contaminants. In this investigation, a hydrothermal technique was employed to synthesize composites of Bi2MoO6 and porous biochar derived from banana peels (BPB). The samples underwent various characterization methods to assess their composition, morphology, and photoelectrochemical properties. The BPB/Bi2MoO6 composite exhibited a synergistic adsorption and photocatalytic impact in eliminating the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) from pure water and seawater. The optimized BPB/Bi2MoO6 sample displayed a significant degradation efficiency of 98.7 % for CIP after 90 min of visible-light exposure in pure water. In artificial seawater, the degradation efficiency for CIP remained high at 93.6 %, which was 12.2 times greater than that of pure Bi2MoO6. The study also explored the impact of various factors such as catalyst dosage, solution pH, and pollutant concentration on the photocatalytic performance of BPB/Bi2MoO6. Moreover, the catalyst exhibited enhanced efficiency in the adsorption-photocatalytic degradation of CIP within a continuous flow reaction system. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the composite's exceptional adsorption capacity, enhanced response to visible light, and efficient separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. Furthermore, the BPB/Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst displayed good stability and recyclability over five consecutive photodegradation cycles. Radical trapping and electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments verified that the degradation of CIP was mainly driven by •OH and h+ radicals. A thorough investigation employing density functional theory (DFT), radical trapping and ESR tests, and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was conducted to elucidate the degradation mechanism and pathways. Furthermore, toxicity assessment software was utilized to illustrate the progressive reduction in toxicity of the intermediate products. In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the role of biochar in enhancing the photocatalytic degradation of pollutants and offers guidance for the future development of environmentally friendly photocatalysts.

A comparative study between nanostructured lipid carriers and invasomes for the topical delivery of luteolin: Design, optimization and pre-clinical investigations for psoriasis treatment

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin condition manifested by hyper-proliferation and reactive aberrant epidermal differentiation, in which genetic and environmental factors have a significant role. The current context is focused on designing novel nanovesicular systems (invasomes) incorporating terpenes with reported anti-inflammatory potential and loaded with a nutraceutical compound (luteolin/Lut) for treatment of psoriasis. Additionally, their topical efficacy in psoriasis treatment compared to lipid-based nanocarriers (nanostructured lipid carriers) was investigated. Invasomes were assessed regarding their particle size (PS), zeta potential (ζ-potential), drug entrapment (EE%), storage stability, in-vitro drug release profile and release kinetics. The optimized vesicles were investigated for their ex-vivo skin deposition and in-vitro anti-inflammatory potential in comparison with nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs). The optimized formulation was selected to carry out the in-vivo study using rat model of imiquimod-induced psoriasis. Luteolin-invasomes were found to have spherical shape and promising colloidal properties. They possessed PS ranging from 277.80 to 812.91 nm, negative ζ-potential (−35.22–38.55 mV), and high EE% values, which ranged from 89.38 to 99.75 %. Furthermore, they exhibited good stability properties and significant sustainment of drug release in comparison to NLCs. In addition, they were able to enhance Lut deposition by 2.1-fold in the stratum corneum (SC) and 5.5-fold in epidermis and dermis compared to control suspension of Lut. Moreover, invasomes showed more potential to retain Lut into deep skin layers 1.5-fold higher than NLCs. They also displayed higher in-vitro anti-inflammatory activity compared to plain invasomes and control suspension, and comparable activity compared to NLCs. In the in-vivo animal study, the ability of Lut to alleviate psoriatic symptoms was significantly enhanced after its encapsulation in invasomal dispersions, where Lut-invasomes possessed a great inhibitory potential compared to the control Lut suspension, and even to Lut-NLCs. This suggests their efficiency in treating psoriasis, delineating them promising for further use in treating other inflammatory skin conditions.

An impedancemetric NH3 sensor based on Ag nanoparticle decorated NiFe2O4 sensing electrode prepared by electrochemical exsolution method

An impedancemetric NH3 sensor was prepared using Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as the solid electrolyte and Ag nanoparticle decorated NiFe2O4 (NiFe2O4/Ag) prepared by electrochemical exsolution as the sensing electrode (SE). The feasibility of electrochemical exsolution was confirmed by XRD and TEM characterization. After a voltage of −2 V was applied across the sensor based on NiFe2Ag0.05O4.025 for 1000 s, a large number of Ag nanoparticles as the second phase appear on the surface of the NiFe2O4 particles and attached to the matrix. The effects of exsolution time, temperature, and voltage on the sensing performance of the sensor were investigated. After electrochemical exsolution, the response value and sensitivity of the sensor are significantly improved compared to the sensor before exsolution and the limit of detection (LOD) of the sensor is reduced from 50 ppm to 10 ppm at 500 °C. In addition, the reproducibility of the electrochemical exsolution is good, and the sensor exhibits good stability. More importantly, the immunity of the sensor to NOx is significantly improved using the electrochemical exsolution SE.

A New Approach in Lipase-Octyl-Agarose Biocatalysis of 2-Arylpropionic Acid Derivatives

The use of lipase immobilized on an octyl-agarose support to obtain the optically pure enantiomers of chiral drugs in reactions carried out in organic solvents is a great challenge for chemical and pharmaceutical sciences. Therefore, it is extremely important to develop optimal procedures to achieve a high enantioselectivity of the biocatalysts in the organic medium. Our paper describes a new approach to biocatalysis performed in an organic solvent with the use of CALB-octyl-agarose support including the application of a polypropylene reactor, an appropriate buffer for immobilization (Tris base—pH 9, 100 mM), a drying step, and then the storage of immobilized lipases in a climatic chamber or a refrigerator. An immobilized lipase B from Candida antarctica (CALB) was used in the kinetic resolution of (R,S)-flurbiprofen by enantioselective esterification with methanol, reaching a high enantiomeric excess (eep = 89.6 ± 2.0%). As part of the immobilization optimization, the influence of different buffers was investigated. The effect of the reactor material and the reaction medium on the lipase activity was also studied. Moreover, the stability of the immobilized lipases: lipase from Candida rugosa (CRL) and CALB during storage in various temperature and humidity conditions (climatic chamber and refrigerator) was tested. The application of the immobilized CALB in a polypropylene reactor allowed for receiving over 9-fold higher conversion values compared to the results achieved when conducting the reaction in a glass reactor, as well as approximately 30-fold higher conversion values in comparison with free lipase. The good stability of the CALB-octyl-agarose support was demonstrated. After 7 days of storage in a climatic chamber or refrigerator (with protection from humidity) approximately 60% higher conversion values were obtained compared to the results observed for the immobilized form that had not been stored. The new approach involving the application of the CALB-octyl-agarose support for reactions performed in organic solvents indicates a significant role of the polymer reactor material being used in achieving high catalytic activity.

Hot deformation, processing maps, and microstructural evolution of Ti/Ni/Ti layered composites

Ti/Ni/Ti layered composites, which combine the advantages of Ti and Ni, are widely used in sensor and biomedical applications due to their light weight, high strength, high conductivity, good stability and excellent corrosion resistance. However, it is difficult to control the structural parameters, microstructure, and mechanical properties of layered composites during co-deformation processing due to the distinct differences in the crystal structure, mechanical properties, and deformation behavior of Ti and Ni layers. In this paper, the hot deformation, processing maps, and microstructural evolution of Ti/Ni/Ti layered composites during hot deformation processing are investigated through hot compression tests at 550–850 °C/0.001–1.0 s−1, with a reduction of 65%. It is shown that the composites exhibit mainly dynamic recovery or similar dynamic recrystallization characteristics. Combined with the interface structure, processing maps and microstructure, the optimal parameters for Ti/Ni/Ti layered composites are 680–730 °C/0.007–0.015 s−1. During co-deformation, the microstructural evolution of the constituent layers is very complex. The deformation mechanism is mainly dynamic recovery (DRV), or DRV and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) in Ti layer, and work hardening (WH) or DRV in Ni layer.

Eco-Friendly Spiking Approach Based on Microfluidics for Preparation of Matrix Reference Materials.

Medicated bath is the most common spiking method used in the development of matrix reference materials for aquatic products; however, the environmental issues caused by the treatment of waste liquid after medicated bath cannot be ignored. We proposed an environmentally friendly spiking method based on microfluidics, which significantly improved the drug utilization rate without the need for subsequent drug residue treatment. Finely processed minced fish samples were fully mixed with quinolone drugs, and minced fish gel microspheres were prepared by microfluidic technology, utilizing the gel's water-locking function to enhance the drug-loading capacity. The results showed that this method can significantly increase the drug-loading capacity of the matrix (2.33-4.03 times) compared with the traditional spiking methods. In addition, the matrix reference material prepared by this method has good stability, and the drug concentration was adjustable and controllable.

Energy landscape analysis and time-series clustering analysis of patient state multistability related to rheumatoid arthritis drug treatment: The KURAMA cohort study.

Rheumatoid arthritis causes joint inflammation due to immune abnormalities, resulting in joint pain and swelling. In recent years, there have been considerable advancements in the treatment of this disease. However, only approximately 60% of patients achieve remission. Patients with multifactorial diseases shift between states from day to day. Patients may remain in a good or poor state with few or no transitions, or they may switch between states frequently. The visualization of time-dependent state transitions, based on the evaluation axis of stable/unstable states, may provide useful information for achieving rheumatoid arthritis treatment goals. Energy landscape analysis can be used to quantitatively determine the stability/instability of each state in terms of energy. Time-series clustering is another method used to classify transitions into different groups to identify potential patterns within a time-series dataset. The objective of this study was to utilize energy landscape analysis and time-series clustering to evaluate multidimensional time-series data in terms of multistability. We profiled each patient's state transitions during treatment using energy landscape analysis and time-series clustering. Energy landscape analysis divided state transitions into two patterns: "good stability leading to remission" and "poor stability leading to treatment dead-end." The number of patients whose disease status improved increased markedly until approximately 6 months after treatment initiation and then plateaued after 1 year. Time-series clustering grouped patients into three clusters: "toward good stability," "toward poor stability," and "unstable." Patients in the "unstable" cluster are considered to have clinical courses that are difficult to predict; therefore, these patients should be treated with more care. Early disease detection and treatment initiation are important. The evaluation of state multistability enables us to understand a patient's current state in the context of overall state transitions related to rheumatoid arthritis drug treatment and to predict future state transitions.