Evaluation of cytotoxic and inflammatory properties of clove oil microemulsion in mice

Clove oil is the essential oil of Syzygium aromaticum Merr.and L.M.It is widely used in pharmaceutical applications because of its biological potential including anesthetic,analgesic,antiinflammatory,antibacterial and antioxidant properties[1].The pharmacological efficacy is hindered by the high hydrophobicity of the essential oil;therefore,a thermodynamically stable microemulsion is an alternative attractive preparation for overcoming this problem[2].However,high surfactant concentration used in microemulsion may cause toxicity and other disadvantage to the formulation.This study aimed to investigate the immunotoxic effects of clove oil microemulsion in mice.

Perspective on the perovskite quantum dots for flexible photovoltaics

Owing to the ever-increasing charging demand for portable electronics,display devices and wearable electronic textiles,flexible and lightweight solar cells are highly urgent to be developed.New-generation solution-processable photovoltaic(PV)devices attracted great attentions due to their unique properties of low-cost,lightweight,and large-area printing compatibility with flexible substrates[1].

Droplet Contact Angle Measurement on Microstructures of Octocoral Sclerites-ESEM Image Analysis

This work explores the methodology for micron-scale water droplet contact angle derivation for the warty surface of octocoral sclerites. The calcite-made sclerites of the Red Sea octocoral Dendronephthya hemprichi have been chosen as a model for this study. Water droplet condensation on the sclerites has been in-situ investigated using Quanta 200 FEG （field emission gun） ESEM （environmental scanning electron microscope） under wet environmental conditions. Two different analysis methods of droplet top and side views have been applied to determine the contact angle based on the secondary electron images. The ESEM image analysis for the sclerites indicates that their surface is hydrophilic. The microscopic contact angle is measured to be 45.3°±6.3°. The macroscopic contact angle has been calculated by using the Wenzel model for the surface texturing of the sclerites.

Modification of Clay Crystal Structure with Different Alcohols

Clays attract attention as a nano size material to reinforce the polymers and resins. In this study, montmorillonite clay was modified using industrial solvents that are used in the paint industry. It was shown that the water contact angle could be varied from 20? to 140? which is a real influence for the clay mineral. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that planar basal space could be altered significantly from 12.57 to 15.40 nm showing 22.5% increase in the interlayer spacing and that is really critical for many polymers and coating applications. This study will highlight many new clay nanocomposites and the formation of various clay nanocomposites.

Aquatic Toxicity Studies of Titanium Dioxide and Silver Nanoparticles Using Artemia franciscana Nauplii and Daphnia magna

Manufactured nanomaterials are expected to enter the environment due to the increasing number of productions which results in anthropological discharges coming from different effluents and seepages.This event poses potential threat to the environment especially in the aquatic systems.TiO2(titanium dioxide)and AgNPs(silver nanoparticles)have significant potential in antibacterial and antiparasitic applications,but despite their significant potential,the toxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles such as TiO2 and AgNPs restricts their use especially in humans due to their toxicity.In this study,the behavior and toxicity of TiO2 and AgNPs were investigated in aquatic system using Artemia franciscana nauplii and Daphnia magna.Nauplii and Daphnia were exposed to TiO2 and AgNP dispersions at different concentrations.The mortality rates of the nauplii and daphnia were monitored at 6,24,and 48 h after its exposure.Saltwater results showed that AgNP is highly toxic to the test organisms while TiO2 was non-toxic after 48 h of exposure.For freshwater,100%mortality rate on neonates was obtained from the AgNPs dispersion during the first 6 h of exposure while the mortality rate in TiO2 dispersion was 85%at 100 ppm after 48 h of exposure.

Integrated proteomic profiling identifies amino acids selectively cytotoxic to pancreatic cancer cells

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma(PDAC)is one of the most deadly cancers,characterized by extremely limited therapeutic options and a poor prognosis,as it is often diagnosed during late disease stages.Innovative and selective treatments are urgently needed,since current therapies have limited efficacy and significant side effects.Through proteomics analysis of extracellular vesicles,we discovered an imbalanced distribution of amino acids secreted by PDAC tumor cells.Our findings revealed that PDAC cells preferentially excrete proteins with certain preferential amino acids,including isoleucine and histidine,via extracellular vesicles.These amino acids are associated with disease progression and can be targeted to elicit selective toxicity to PDAC tumor cells.Both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that supplementation with these specific amino acids effectively eradicated PDAC cells.Mechanistically,we also identified XRN1 as a potential target for these amino acids.The high selectivity of this treatment method allows for specific targeting of tumor metabolism with very low toxicity to normal tissues.Furthermore,we found this treatment approach is easy-to-administer and with sustained tumor-killing effects.Together,our findings reveal that exocytosed amino acids may serve as therapeutic targets for designing treatments of intractable PDAC and potentially offer alternative treatments for other types of cancers.

Nickel doped zinc oxide nanoparticles produced by hydrothermal decomposition of nickel-doped zinc hydroxide nitrate

Zinc hydroxide nitrate, an anionic exchanger layered material, undoped as well as doped with 2-10% nickel, was synthesized by using a pH-controlled precipitation method. The layered materials were then used to produce the undoped and nickel-doped zinc oxides by hydrothermal-treatment. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the formation of pure phase undoped and nickel-doped layered materials, as well as the products of the hydrothermal- treated materials, nanostructured zinc oxides. Optical studies of the nanostructured zinc oxides showed a decrease in band gap with increasing content of the doping agent, nicke~.

Critical behavior of the spontaneous polarization and the dielectric susceptibility close to the cubic-tetragonal transition in BaTiO_(3)

Using Landau mean field model,the spontaneous polarization and the dielectric susceptibility are analyzed as functions of temperature and pressure close to the cubic-tetragonal(ferroelectric-paraelectric)transition in BaTiO_(3).From the analysis of the dielectric susceptibility and the spontaneous polarization,the critical exponents are deduced in the classical and quantum limits for BaTiO_(3).From the critical behavior of the dielectric susceptibility,the spontaneous polarization can be described for the ferro-electric–paraelectric(cubic to tetragonal)transition between 4 and 8 GPa at constant temperatures of 0 to 200K in BaTiO_(3) within the Landau mean field model given here.

Thermoelectric properties of Al-doped ZnO: experiment and simulation

Advancement in doping other elements,such as Ce,Dy,Ni,Sb,In and Ga in ZnO^（[1]）,have stimulated great interest for high-temperature thermoelectric application.In this work,the effects of Al-doping in a ZnO system on the electronic structure and thermoelectric properties are presented,by experiment and calculation.Nanosized powders of Zn_（1-x）Al_xO（x=0,0.01,0.02,0.03 and 0.06） were synthesized by hydrothermal method.From XRD results,all samples contain ZnO as the main phase and ZnAl_2O_4（spinel phase） peaks were visible when Al additive concentrations were just 6 at%.The shape of the samples changed and the particle size decreased with increasing Al concentration.Seebeck coefficients,on the other hand,did not vary significantly.They were negative and the absolute values increased with temperature.However,the electrical resistivity decreased significantly for higher Al content.The electronic structure calculations were carried out using the open-source software package which is based on DFT The energy band gap,density of states of Al-doped ZnO were investigated using PAW pseudopotential method within the LDA ＋ U.The calculated density of states was then used in combination with the Boltzmann transport equation^（[3]） to calculate the thermoelectric parameters of Al-doped ZnO.The electronic band structures showed that the position of the Fermi level of the doped sample was shifted upwards in comparison to the undoped one.After doping Al in ZnO,the energy band gap was decreased,Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity were increased.Finally,the calculated results were compared with the experimental results.The good agreement of thermoelectric properties between the calculation and the experimental results were obtained.

New frontiers in biomaterials research for tissue repair and regeneration

The field of biomaterials has recently emerged to augment or replace lost or damaged tissues and organs due to the human body's limited ability to self-heal large defects. Historically, metallic components, polymers, ceramics, and composite materials were utilized as synthetic materials along with natural materials to assist in therapy.Various novel biomaterials were developed to respond to a significant amount of new medical challenges in the past decade. Therefore, there is a need to review these newly developed biomaterials and their potential to improve tissue repair and regeneration in a variety of applications. Here, we briefly review the different strategies and attempts to use novel biomaterials, including self-assembled and macromolecular biomaterials, hydrogels, metamaterials, decellularized tissues, and biomaterials obtained via synthetic biology, used either for tissue repair and regeneration or for therapeutic use by exploiting other mechanisms of healing. All these methods aim to create functional materials, devices, systems, and/or organisms with novel and useful functions on the basis of catalogued and standardized biological building blocks. This review details the various methods and introduces the applications of these biomaterials in tissue repair and regeneration, especially for bone, nerve, and skin applications.