PCB-C4D coupled with paper-based microfluidic sampling for the rapid detection of liquid conductivity.

The detection of liquid electrical conductivity has board applications in food safety testing, water quality monitoring, and agricultural soil analysis. Electrodes used in traditional liquid electrical conductivity detection come into direct contact with liquid, leading to electrode contamination and affecting the accuracy of the detection results. The capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D) method effectively addresses this issue. However, impurity particles present in the solution can compromise the consistency and repeatability of detection results. This study combines paper-based microfluidic technology with printed circuit board-capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (PCB-C4D) to address this issue. Prior to sample detection, in situ rapid filtration is employed to remove impurity particles from the raw solution sample, significantly enhancing detection consistency and reliability. Simultaneously, Optimization of PCB-C4D parameters, channel size, filtration time, and solution drop rate ensures optimal detection conditions. A compact kit design facilitates reliable assembly of the PCB-C4D electrodes and paper-based channel, enhancing practicality. Practical measurements on the conductivity of orange juice, cucumber, and soil solution further validate the method's accuracy, rapidity, and effectiveness in in situ conductivity detection. This work advances the practical application of PCB-C4D technology.

Research advances on circulating long noncoding RNAs as biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as myocardial ischemia, myocardial infarction, heart failure, atherosclerosis, hypertension, arrhythmia, and their complications diseases are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, it is necessary to develop new diagnostic markers for CVD. LncRNAs have become a new class of biomarkers in CVD with good development prospects. Numerous studies have confirmed lncRNAs feasibility as diagnostic, prognostic and predictive tools for different types of CVD. In this review, we summarized the available knowledge regarding the clinical application value and pathophysiological mechanism of circulating lncRNA as potential biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. We reviewed the scope of application and changes of circulating lncRNAs such as ZFAS1, CDR1AS, CHAST, UCA1, HOTAIR, MIAT, NEAT1, LIPCAR, H19, NRF, NRON, MHRT, PVT1, Heat2, CASC7, GAS5, MALAT1, APPAT, HIF1A-AS1, KCNQ1OT1, NEXN in different kinds of CVD and discussed their clinical application potential as biomarker, which can help us better understand the mechanism of CVD.

Improving the electrospinning process of fabricating nanofibrous membranes to filter PM2.5.

To mitigate PM2.5 emissions is becoming a pressing concern, because these particles pose a threat to public health. Evidence shows that bead-free nanofiber with diameter of <100 nm is more likely to capture the PM2.5, however, currently it is impossible to fabricate bead-free nanofiber with such diameter without introduction of other substances. To fabricate bead-free polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers with diameter of <100 nm, we improved the electrospinning process of membrane fabrication via design of experiment (DOE), and we then used these nanofibers to filter PM2.5 emissions from burning cigarettes and fused deposition modeling (FDM) three-dimensional (3D) printing. The DOE was based on a L27 (313) orthodoxy array, which consists of six controllable factors, that is, the concentration of solution, the spinning voltage, the rotating speed, the tip-to-collector distance, the flow rate of the syringe pump, and the electrospinning temperature, each of them has three levels. The results showed that the nanofibers of the least diameter (i.e., 77 nm) can be fabricated under the following condition: 8 wt% PAN solution, 12 kV voltage, 5000 r/min, 12 cm tip-to-collector distance, 0.6 ml/h flow rate, and 50 °C electrospinning temperature. Range analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the concentration of PAN solution has the most significant effect on the diameter, and their values are positively correlated. An examination in a two-chamber filtering device showed the PAN membrane with the least fiber diameter has a PM2.5 filtration efficiency of 99.26%. A filtration test on standard FDM 3D printing process showed the membrane has a PM2.5 removal efficiency of 81.16%. This work could mitigate PM2.5 emissions from cigarette tobacco and FDM 3D printing, and it would be used to other scenarios, such as industrial and traffic emissions.