The bamboo fiber is a potential candidate for biomass and power source application. In this study, microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) is prepared from raw fibers of bamboo tree (Bambusa Blumeana J A & J H Schultes) by an alkali treatment at room temperature in association with a bleaching treatment followed by a sulfuric acid hydrolysis. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images indicated that final products ranged from 20 to 40 nm in diameter. The chemical composition measurement and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy showed that both hemicellulose and lignin are mostly removed in the MFC. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) results also show that MFC has crystallinity of more than 70%. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) curves revealed that cellulose microfibers have a two-step thermal decomposition behavior owing to the attachment of sulfated groups onto the cellulose surface in the hydrolysis process with sulfuric acid. The obtained MFCs may have potential applications in alternative power sources as biomass, in pharmaceutical and optical industries as additives, as well as in composite fields as a reinforcement phase.

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IntroductionBreast cancer causes the most cancer-related death in women and is the costliest cancer in the US regarding medical service and prescription drug expenses. Breast cancer screening is recommended by health authorities in the US, but current screening efforts are often compromised by high false positive rates. Liquid biopsy based on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a potential approach to screen for cancer. However, the detection of breast cancer, particularly in early stages, is challenging due to the low amount of ctDNA and heterogeneity of molecular subtypes.MethodsHere, we employed a multimodal approach, namely Screen for the Presence of Tumor by DNA Methylation and Size (SPOT-MAS), to simultaneously analyze multiple signatures of cell free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma samples of 239 nonmetastatic breast cancer patients and 278 healthy subjects.ResultsWe identified distinct profiles of genome-wide methylation changes (GWM), copy number alterations (CNA), and 4-nucleotide oligomer (4-mer) end motifs (EM) in cfDNA of breast cancer patients. We further used all three signatures to construct a multi-featured machine learning model and showed that the combination model outperformed base models built from individual features, achieving an AUC of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.87-0.95), a sensitivity of 65% at 96% specificity.DiscussionOur findings showed that a multimodal liquid biopsy assay based on analysis of cfDNA methylation, CNA and EM could enhance the accuracy for the detection of early- stage breast cancer.

Graphene oxide (GO) significantly affects the electrochemical activity of its composite with polyanline titanium dioxide (TiO2). In this work various composites with different GO contents have been successfully synthesized by chemical method to compare not only their material properties but also electrochemical characteristics with each other. The results of an electrochemical impedance study showed that their electrochemical property has been improved due to the presence of GO in a composite matrix. The galvanodynamic polarization explained that among them the composite with GO/Ani ratio in the range of 1–14 exhibits a better performance compared to the other due to yielding a higher current desity (280 μA cm−2). The TEM and SEM images which presented the fibres of a composite bundle with the presence of PANi and TiO2 were examined by IR-spectra and x-ray diffraction, respectively.

The results of this study of sawdust-polyaniline nanocomposite synthesized by a chemical method for Cr(VI) treatment in the environment are presented. Cr(VI) adsorption on a composite was determined by colorimetry. The results showed that sawdust-polyaniline composite synthesized with an aniline : sawdust ratio equal to 0.5 had an adsorption degree of 21.4 mg g −1 and adsorbed nearly 99% of the Cr(VI) after 2 h. The composite could be used for the adsorption of Cr(VI) from waste water. The Cr(VI) adsorption ability of the composite slightly depends on the pH value of the medium. The adsorption is fast during the first half hour and then the rate decreases.