Fecal incontinence is an unresolved problem, which has a serious effect on patients, both physically and psychologically. For patients with severe symptoms, treatment with an artificial anal sphincter could be a poten...Fecal incontinence is an unresolved problem, which has a serious effect on patients, both physically and psychologically. For patients with severe symptoms, treatment with an artificial anal sphincter could be a potential option to restore continence. Currently, the Acticon Neosphincter is the only device certified by the US Food and Drug Administration. In this paper, the clinical safety and efficacy of the Acticon Neosphincter are evaluated and discussed. Furthermore, some other key studies on artificial anal sphincters are presented and summarized. In particular, this paper highlights that the crucial problem in this technology is to maintain long-term biomechanical compatibility be- tween implants and surrounding tissues. Compatibility is affected by changes in both the morphology and mechanical properties of the tissues surrounding the implants. A new approach for enhancing the long-term biomechanical compatibility of implantable artificial sphincters is proposed based on the use of smart materials.展开更多
Molecular switches that can undergo reversible switching between two or more different states in response to external stimuli have been used in the fabrication of various optoelectronic devices and smart materials for...Molecular switches that can undergo reversible switching between two or more different states in response to external stimuli have been used in the fabrication of various optoelectronic devices and smart materials for many decades, and also found many applications in sensing, molecular self-assembly and photo-controlled biological systems. Recently, mechanically interlocked molecules, such as rotaxanes and catenanes, and molecular rotary motors based on overcrowded alkenes have emerged as two new kinds of molecular switches. Some novel applications of above-mentioned molecular switches have been discovered. In this mini review, we mainly highlight noticeable achievements over the past decade in this field, and summarize the applications of new types of molecular switches, for instance, controlling the chiral space to regulate catalytic reaction as organocatalysts, controlling molecular motions, synthesizing a peptide in a sequence-specific manner and modulating the wettability of the self-assembled monolayers.展开更多
Stimuli responsive materials have recently been the subject of tremendous research efforts owing to their numerous potential applications. Although there currently exist many different types of ＂smart＂ materials, th...Stimuli responsive materials have recently been the subject of tremendous research efforts owing to their numerous potential applications. Although there currently exist many different types of ＂smart＂ materials, those based on photoresponsive transformations are especially attractive. In this review, we focus on a relatively new class of photochromic molecules based on the photochemistry of chelate organoborates, which form intensely colored, base-stabilized boriranes.Recent efforts to exploit the reactivity of these systems are summarized, and future prospects in materials science discussed.展开更多
Chiral separation that is closely related to daily life is a meaningful research. Polysaccharide-(e.g., cellulose, amylose derivatives) based chiral packing materials afford powerful chiral stationary phases(CSPs) tow...Chiral separation that is closely related to daily life is a meaningful research. Polysaccharide-(e.g., cellulose, amylose derivatives) based chiral packing materials afford powerful chiral stationary phases(CSPs) toward a broad range of racemic compounds. However, considering the explosive growth of specific chiral drugs, the separation efficiencies of these CSPs need further improvement, which calls for new approaches and strategies. Smart polymers can change their physical or chemical properties dynamically and reversibly according to the external stimuli(e.g., thermo-, pH, solvent, ion, light, critical parameters for chromatographic separation) exerted on them, subsequently resulting in tunable changes in the macroscopic properties of materials. In addition to their excellent controllability, the introduction of chiral characteristics into the backbones or side-chains of smart polymers provides a promising route to realize reversibly conformational transition in response to the chiral analytes. This dramatic transition may significantly improve the performance of materials in chiral separation through modulating the enantioselective interactions between materials and analytes. With the help of chirality-responsive polymers, intelligent and switchable CSPs could be developed and applied in column-liquid chromatography. In these systems, the elution order or enantioselectivity of chiral drugs can be precisely modulated, which will help to solve many challenging problems that involve complicated enantiomers. In this paper we introduce some typical examples of smart polymers that serve as the basis for a discussion of emerging developments of CPSs, and then briefly outline the recent CSPs based on natural and certain synthetic polymers.展开更多
基金supported by the Shanghai Pujiang Program(No.09PJ1406500)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.30970704,51075263,51121063,and 50821003)the Foundation from the State Key Laboratory of Mechanical Systems and Vibration(No.MSVZD201203),China
文摘Fecal incontinence is an unresolved problem, which has a serious effect on patients, both physically and psychologically. For patients with severe symptoms, treatment with an artificial anal sphincter could be a potential option to restore continence. Currently, the Acticon Neosphincter is the only device certified by the US Food and Drug Administration. In this paper, the clinical safety and efficacy of the Acticon Neosphincter are evaluated and discussed. Furthermore, some other key studies on artificial anal sphincters are presented and summarized. In particular, this paper highlights that the crucial problem in this technology is to maintain long-term biomechanical compatibility be- tween implants and surrounding tissues. Compatibility is affected by changes in both the morphology and mechanical properties of the tissues surrounding the implants. A new approach for enhancing the long-term biomechanical compatibility of implantable artificial sphincters is proposed based on the use of smart materials.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21272073,21421004,21190033)the National Basic Research Program of China(2011CB808400)+1 种基金the Fok Ying Tong Education Foundation(121069)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,and the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission
文摘Molecular switches that can undergo reversible switching between two or more different states in response to external stimuli have been used in the fabrication of various optoelectronic devices and smart materials for many decades, and also found many applications in sensing, molecular self-assembly and photo-controlled biological systems. Recently, mechanically interlocked molecules, such as rotaxanes and catenanes, and molecular rotary motors based on overcrowded alkenes have emerged as two new kinds of molecular switches. Some novel applications of above-mentioned molecular switches have been discovered. In this mini review, we mainly highlight noticeable achievements over the past decade in this field, and summarize the applications of new types of molecular switches, for instance, controlling the chiral space to regulate catalytic reaction as organocatalysts, controlling molecular motions, synthesizing a peptide in a sequence-specific manner and modulating the wettability of the self-assembled monolayers.
基金financially supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN:1193993-2013)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21501017)
文摘Stimuli responsive materials have recently been the subject of tremendous research efforts owing to their numerous potential applications. Although there currently exist many different types of ＂smart＂ materials, those based on photoresponsive transformations are especially attractive. In this review, we focus on a relatively new class of photochromic molecules based on the photochemistry of chelate organoborates, which form intensely colored, base-stabilized boriranes.Recent efforts to exploit the reactivity of these systems are summarized, and future prospects in materials science discussed.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21104061,21275114,91127027,51173142)the China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists(51325302)+2 种基金the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China(2013CB933002)the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities(B13035)Hubei Provincial Department of Education for financial assistance through the Chutian Scholar Program
文摘Chiral separation that is closely related to daily life is a meaningful research. Polysaccharide-(e.g., cellulose, amylose derivatives) based chiral packing materials afford powerful chiral stationary phases(CSPs) toward a broad range of racemic compounds. However, considering the explosive growth of specific chiral drugs, the separation efficiencies of these CSPs need further improvement, which calls for new approaches and strategies. Smart polymers can change their physical or chemical properties dynamically and reversibly according to the external stimuli(e.g., thermo-, pH, solvent, ion, light, critical parameters for chromatographic separation) exerted on them, subsequently resulting in tunable changes in the macroscopic properties of materials. In addition to their excellent controllability, the introduction of chiral characteristics into the backbones or side-chains of smart polymers provides a promising route to realize reversibly conformational transition in response to the chiral analytes. This dramatic transition may significantly improve the performance of materials in chiral separation through modulating the enantioselective interactions between materials and analytes. With the help of chirality-responsive polymers, intelligent and switchable CSPs could be developed and applied in column-liquid chromatography. In these systems, the elution order or enantioselectivity of chiral drugs can be precisely modulated, which will help to solve many challenging problems that involve complicated enantiomers. In this paper we introduce some typical examples of smart polymers that serve as the basis for a discussion of emerging developments of CPSs, and then briefly outline the recent CSPs based on natural and certain synthetic polymers.
