Wrinkled Interfaces: Taking Advantage of Anisotropic Wrinkling to Periodically Pattern Polymer Surfaces.

Periodically patterned surfaces can cause special surface properties and are employed as functional building blocks in many devices, yet remaining challenges in fabrication. Advancements in fabricating structured polymer surfaces for obtaining periodic patterns are accomplished by adopting "top-down" strategies based on self-assembly or physico-chemical growth of atoms, molecules, or particles or "bottom-up" strategies ranging from traditional micromolding (embossing) or micro/nanoimprinting to novel laser-induced periodic surface structure, soft lithography, or direct laser interference patterning among others. Thus, technological advances directly promote higher resolution capabilities. Contrasted with the above techniques requiring highly sophisticated tools, surface instabilities taking advantage of the intrinsic properties of polymers induce surface wrinkling in order to fabricate periodically oriented wrinkled patterns. Such abundant and elaborate patterns are obtained as a result of self-organizing processes that are rather difficult if not impossible to fabricate through conventional patterning techniques. Focusing on oriented wrinkles, this review thoroughly describes the formation mechanisms and fabrication approaches for oriented wrinkles, as well as their fine-tuning in the wavelength, amplitude, and orientation control. Finally, the major applications in which oriented wrinkled interfaces are already in use or may be prospective in the near future are overviewed.

Slippery Mechanism for Enhancing Separation and Anti-fouling of the Superhydrophobic Membrane in a Water-in-Oil Emulsion: Evaluating Water Adhesion of the Membrane Surface.

Water removal from water-in-oil emulsions with superhydrophobic microporous membranes is an important industrial process, where the interface property between the membrane and feed becomes critical. Here, superhydrophobic isotactic polypropylene (iPP) microporous membranes with the "lotus effect" and "rose-petal effect" were prepared via utilizing micromolding phase separation, where the former surface exhibited a water contact angle of 153° and a sliding angle of 3.2°, while the latter surface exhibited a water contact angle of 151° and adhesive characteristics. Surface topography and wettability analysis revealed that surface hydrophobicity and water adhesion could be improved by reducing the periodic distance and diameter and increasing the height of the micron-scale structure. When treating both water-in-oil emulsions and water-in-oil emulsions containing BSA pollutants, the iPP membrane with the "lotus effect" was superior to that with the "rose-petal effect" in terms of oil permeate flux, separation efficiency, anti-fouling ability, and recyclability (20 cycles). To explain this phenomenon, a "slippery" mechanism was introduced that correlated the sliding angle to the slippery surface of the iPP membrane with the "lotus effect" and its anti-water adhesion property. This work proposed a theoretical platform for investigating the effect of water adhesion on superhydrophobic membranes in terms of oil-water separation efficiency and anti-fouling ability, thereby providing a definite basis for preparing superhydrophobic membranes with efficient separation and fouling resistance capabilities.

Facile Preparation of a Superhydrophobic iPP Microporous Membrane with Micron-Submicron Hierarchical Structures for Membrane Distillation.

A facile method combining micro-molding with thermally-induced phase separation (TIPS) to prepare superhydrophobic isotacticpolypropylene (iPP) microporous membranes with micron-submicron hierarchical structures is proposed in this paper. In this study, the hydrophobicity of the membrane was controlled by changing the size of micro-structures on the micro-structured mold and the temperature of the cooling bath. The best superhydrophobicity was achieved with a high water contact angle (WCA) of 161° and roll-off angle of 2°, which was similar to the lotus effect. The permeability of the membrane was greatly improved and the mechanical properties were maintained. The membrane prepared by the new method and subjected to 60h vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) was compared with a conventional iPP membrane prepared via the TIPS process. The flux of the former membrane was 31.2 kg/m2·h, and salt rejection was always higher than 99.95%, which was obviously higher than that of the latter membrane. The deposition of surface fouling on the former membrane was less and loose, and that of the latter membrane was greater and steady, which was attributed to the micron-submicron hierarchical structure of the former and the single submicron-structure of the latter. Additionally, the new method is expected to become a feasible and economical method for producing an ideal membrane for membrane distillation (MD) on a large scale.

Relationship between Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism and renal cell carcinoma susceptibility.

AIM OF STUDY: Results on the association of Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) susceptibility from the present reports are still debating. This meta-analysis was conducted to assess the association of VDR ApaI (rs7975232), BsmI (rs1544410), TaqI (rs731236), and Fok1 (rs2228570) gene polymorphisms with RCC risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The association studies were recruited from PubMed on May 1, 2016, and eligible reports were extracted and data were synthesized using meta-analysis method. RESULT: Six investigations were included into this meta-analysis for the relationship between VDR gene polymorphism and RCC susceptibility. In this meta-analysis, the ApaI A allele, AA genotype, aa genotype, and Fok1 FF genotype were associated with RCC susceptibility in Asians. However, VDR BsmI and TaqI gene polymorphisms were not associated with the RCC risk in Asians, Caucasians, and overall populations. Furthermore, Fok1 gene polymorphism was not associated with the RCC risk in Caucasians and overall populations. CONCLUSION: ApaI gene polymorphism and Fok1 FF genotype were associated with RCC susceptibility in Asians.

Filament Breakage Monitoring in Fused Deposition Modeling Using Acoustic Emission Technique.

Polymers are being used in a wide range of Additive Manufacturing (AM) applications and have been shown to have tremendous potential for producing complex, individually customized parts. In order to improve part quality, it is essential to identify and monitor the process malfunctions of polymer-based AM. The present work endeavored to develop an alternative method for filament breakage identification in the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) AM process. The Acoustic Emission (AE) technique was applied due to the fact that it had the capability of detecting bursting and weak signals, especially from complex background noises. The mechanism of filament breakage was depicted thoroughly. The relationship between the process parameters and critical feed rate was obtained. In addition, the framework of filament breakage detection based on the instantaneous skewness and relative similarity of the AE raw waveform was illustrated. Afterwards, we conducted several filament breakage tests to validate their feasibility and effectiveness. Results revealed that the breakage could be successfully identified. Achievements of the present work could be further used to develop a comprehensive in situ FDM monitoring system with moderate cost.

MiR-155 negatively regulates c-Jun expression at the post-transcriptional level in human dermal fibroblasts in vitro: implications in UVA irradiation-induced photoaging.

OBJECTIVE: C-Jun plays a critical role in ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation-induced photoaging. The exact mechanisms by which UVA irradiation up-regulates c-Jun expression in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) are still not completely understood. We undertook this study to investigate whether microRNA-155 (miR-155) directly regulates the expression of c-Jun in HDFs in vitro. METHODS: Expression of c-Jun mRNA and protein and miR-155 in UVA-irradiated HDFs were detected using quantitative real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting. Luciferase reporter assays were performed to examine whether a miR-155 binding site in the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of the c-Jun gene is responsible for miR-155-mediated c-Jun regulation in HEK293A cells, and expression of c-Jun mRNA and protein in UVA non-exposed and exposed HDFs trasfected with a miR-155 mimic or a miR-155 inhibitor was detected by quantitative real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting. RESULTS: Expression of miR-155 was markedly reduced and that of c-Jun mRNA and protein was significantly up-regulated in UVA-irradiated HDFs. Luciferase reporter assays indicated that c-Jun is a direct target of miR-155 in HEK293A cells. In both UVA non-exposed and exposed HDFs, miR-155 mimic decreased c-Jun protein levels, while miR-155 inhibitor increased c-Jun protein levels, but both had no effect on c-Jun mRNA expression, which suggest that miR-155-induced c-Jun inhibition occurs at the post-transcriptional level. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that miR-155 directly controls c-Jun expression in HDFs at the post-transcriptional level and might function as a protective miRNA in HDFs.