No abstract

No abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) offer an emerging market of self-sufficient power sources, converting the mechanical energy of the environment to electricity. Recently reported high power densities for the TENGs provide new applications opportunities, such as self-powered sensors. Here in this research, a flexible graphene oxide (GO) paper was fabricated through a straightforward method and utilized as the electrode of TENGs. Outstanding power density as high as 1.3 W.m−2, an open-circuit voltage up to 870 V, and a current density of 1.4 µA.cm−2 has been extracted in vertical contact-separation mode. The all-flexible TENG has been employed as a self-powered humidity sensor to investigate the effect of raising humidity on the output voltage and current by applying mechanical agitation in two forms of using a tapping device and finger tapping. Due to the presence of superficial functional groups on the GO paper, water molecules are inclined to be adsorbed, resulting in a considerable reduction in both generated voltage (from 144 V to 14 V) and current (from 23 µA to 3.7 µA) within the range of relative humidity of 20% to 99%. These results provide a promising applicability of the first suggested sensitive self-powered GO TENG humidity sensor in portable/wearable electronics.

Background P. aeruginosa is considered as one of the most important pathogens, and high antibiotic resistance to P. aeruginosa has become an alarming concern. This study attempts to further improve curcumin solubility and stability by producing the involved nanoparticle and investigate the effect of this nanoparticle on those virulence genes of P. aeruginosa in pathogenicity and biofilm formation. Methods In this study, the curcumin nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized, and the antibacterial and antibiofilm effects of Nano-curcumin and curcumin were investigated by microdilution broth and microtiter plate, respectively. In addition, cytotoxic effect of Nano-curcumin on human epithelial cell lines (A549) was determined. The effects of Nano-curcumin on P. aeruginosa virulence genes, mexD, mexB, and mexT (efflux pumps), lecA (adhesion), nfxB (negative regulator of MexCD-OprJ), and rsmZ (biofilm formation) were determined using real-time quantitative PCR. Results Synthesized Nano-curcumins were soluble in water, which inhibited the growth of multidrug-resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa at 128 µg/mL, whereas it was inhibited at 256 µg/mL for soluble curcumin in DMSO. Sub-inhibitory concentrations of Nano-curcumin reduced biofilm formation and, at 64 μg/mL, disrupted 58% of the established bacterial biofilms. In addition, curcumin nanoparticle downregulated the transcription of virulence genes except nfxB and exerted no cytotoxic effect on human epithelial cell lines (A549). Conclusions Results suggest that Nano-curcumin could be potentially used to reduce P. aeruginosa virulence and biofilm. However, in vivo studies with respect to an animal model are necessary to validate these results.

No abstract

No abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a fascinating class of crystalline porous materials composed of metal ions and organic ligands. Due to their attractive properties, MOFs can potentially offer biomedical field applications, such as drug delivery and imaging. This study aimed to systematically identify the affecting factors on the MOF characteristics and their effects on structural and biological characteristics. An electronic search was performed in four databases containing PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase, using the relevant keywords. After analyzing the studies, 20 eligible studies were included in this review. As a result, various factors such as additives and organic ligand can influence the size and structure of MOFs. Additives are materials that can compete with ligand and may affect the nucleation and growth processes and, consequently, particle size. The nature and structure of ligand are influential in determining the size and structure of MOF. Moreover, synthesis parameters like the reaction time and initial reagents ratio are critical factors that should be optimized to regulate the size and structure. Of note is that the nature of the ligand and using a suitable additive can control the porosity of MOF. The more extended ligands aid in forming large pores. The choice of metallic nodes and organic ligand, and the MOF concentration are important factors since they can determine toxicity and biocompatibility of the final structure. The physicochemical properties of MOFs, such as hydrophobicity, affect the toxicity of nanoparticles. An increase in hydrophobicity causes increased toxicity of MOF. The biodegradability of MOF, as another property, depends on the organic ligand and metal ion and environmental conditions like pH. Photocleavable ligands can be served for controlled degradation of MOFs. Generally, by optimizing these affecting factors, MOFs with desirable properties will be obtained for biomedical applications.

No abstract