In this study, we investigate the role of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) as a multifunctional polymeric additive for enhancing the structural integrity and physicochemical stability of a multicomponent soft material system. The incorporation of HEC was achieved through controlled mixing and thermal processing to ensure homogeneous dispersion within the matrix. The presence of HEC led to pronounced improvements in water retention and resistance to environmental stress, which are attributed to the formation of an interconnected polymer network and strengthened intermolecular interactions. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy revealed spectral shifts consistent with enhanced secondary interactions among matrix components, while thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated a systematic increase in thermal stability with increasing HEC content. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the development of a cohesive, film-like surface morphology, indicating improved structural cohesion and reduced susceptibility to aggregation under prolonged exposure conditions. Quantitative analysis confirmed that higher HEC loadings result in proportional enhancements in moisture retention and thermal resistance without altering the fundamental chemical composition of the system. These results suggest that HEC functions as a network-forming stabilizer rather than merely as a rheological modifier, reinforcing both the structural and physicochemical robustness of multicomponent soft material matrices.
Abstract Maple water (Acer saccharum sap) is a traditional seasonal beverage consumed in North America; however, its functional relevance as a bioactive dietary resource remains poorly understood. This study evaluated the anti-inflammatory and skin-protective effects of maple water extract, aiming to bridge traditional consumption with modern functional interpretation. In RAW264.7 macrophages, maple water extract inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide production without cytotoxicity and reduced the expression of key pro-inflammatory mediators, including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6, through modulation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling. In UV-irradiated HaCaT keratinocytes, maple water extract attenuated cytotoxicity, reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and decreased IL-6 expression, suggesting modulation of oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. Furthermore, maple water extract modulated matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1 and MMP-2) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMP-1 and TIMP-2), while increasing the expression of epidermal differentiation markers, including filaggrin, involucrin, and loricrin. Maple water extract also influenced hydration-associated responses through the regulation of hyaluronidase and hyaluronan synthase expression. Collectively, these findings suggest that maple water, as a traditional dietary beverage, may contain bioactive components that contribute to the modulation of inflammation, oxidative stress, and skin barrier function, thereby providing a potential functional basis for its traditional consumption.
The increasing demand for continuous physiological monitoring has accelerated the development of high-sensitivity wearable electrochemical platforms. This study reports the fabrication of a multi-analyte electrochemical sensor based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for the detection of sweat-associated metabolites. To facilitate efficient heterogeneous electron transfer, glucose oxidase (Gox), lactate oxidase (Lox), and urease (Ure) were immobilized onto the SWCNT network through pi-pi interaction using 1-pyrenebutanoic acid succinimidyl ester (PBSE), followed by additional stabilization via 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC)/N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) coupling. The developed platform exhibited concentration-dependent resistance responses within the ranges of 0.02-0.20 mM for glucose, 20-100 mM for lactate, and 50-400 mM for urea under controlled experimental conditions. The resistance-based configuration enabled stable and reproducible signal modulation across these concentration intervals. Although direct testing with human sweat was not performed, the electrochemical behavior of key sweat-related metabolites was systematically evaluated as a preparatory step toward future wearable integration.
This paper focuses on establishing the existence of infinitely many solutions for non-local fractional equations characterized by unbalanced growth and Hardy potentials. We prove that these solutions converge to zero in the L infinity-norm, requiring conditions on the nonlinearity only near the origin and dispensing with assumptions at infinity. As far as we are aware, results for non-local fractional (p,q)-Laplacian problems with singular coefficients such as Hardy potentials have not been extensively studied. To address this gap, we employ the dual fountain theorem together with the modified functional method.
The purpose of this study is to empirically examine government intervention in the venture capital ecosystem, focusing on the case of South Korea. Drawing on prior literature, government policy intervention in venture capital markets is conceptually classified into direct intervention, indirect intervention, and temporal intervention. Direct intervention refers to cases in which the government acts as an active investor and directly participates in investment decision-making, whereas indirect intervention involves the government supplying capital through privately managed venture capital funds while delegating investment selection and management to private actors. Temporal intervention denotes the strategic adjustment of these policy instruments over different stages of market development. Using annual data from the Korea Venture Capital Association and the Korea Fund of Funds covering the period from 2004 to 2022, this study applies time-series econometric analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of indirect government intervention. The empirical results indicate that the current Korean policy regime is best characterized as an indirect intervention model, in which public funds are invested as limited partners in privately managed venture capital funds. The findings show that early-stage venture investment increases with a higher proportion of early-stage–oriented funds and greater use of preferred stock instruments, while an expansion in total venture fund formation is associated with a decline in early-stage investment. Based on these results, the study proposes six policy recommendations aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of indirect government intervention in promoting early-stage venture investment.
