A superhydrophobic-superoleophilic PVDF membrane is fabricated via an inert solvent-induced phase inversion for effective separation of both micrometer and nanometer-sized surfactant-free and surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions solely driven by gravity, with high separation efficiency (oil purity in filtrate after separation > 99.95 wt%) and high flux, which is several times higher than those of commercial filtration membranes and reported materials with similar permeation properties.

A novel all-inorganic Cu(OH)2 nanowire-haired membrane with superhydrophilicity and underwater ultralow adhesive superoleophobicity is fabricated by a facile surface oxidation of copper mesh that allows effective separation of both immiscible oil/water mixtures and oil-in-water emulsions solely driven by gravity, with extremely high separation efficiency. The all-inorganic membrane exhibits superior solvent and alkaline resistance and antifouling property compared to organic-based membranes.

As an alternative to polymer membranes, ultrathin free-standing single-walled carbon-nanotube network films are used to realize oil/water separation with ultrahigh flux. The films with tunable thickness of the tens of nanometer scale can effectively separate both micrometer and nanometer-sized surfactant-free and surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions with a flux 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than commercial filtration membranes with similar separation performance.

A SWCNT/TiO2 nanocomposite ultrathin film that has superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic properties after UV-light irradiation is successfully prepared by coating TiO2 via the sol-gel process onto an SWCNT ultrathin network film. The robust and flexible SWCNT/TiO2 nanocomposite films with a thickness and pore size of tens of nanometers can separate both surfactant-free and surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions in an ultrafast manner with fluxes up to 30 000 L m(-2) h(-1) bar(-1), which is 2 orders of magnitude higher than commercial filtration membranes with similar separation performance, and with high separation efficiency. Most importantly, the films exhibit excellent antifouling and self-cleaning performance during multiple cycles with the aid of the photocatalytic property of TiO2 nanoparticles. This work provides a route for designing ultrathin and superwetting films for effective separation of oil-in-water emulsions. The SWCNT/TiO2 ultrathin film is potentially useful in treating emulsified wastewater produced in industry and daily life and for purification of crude oil and fuel.

Human gut microbiome is a promising target for managing type 2 diabetes (T2D). Measures altering gut microbiota like oral intake of probiotics or berberine (BBR), a bacteriostatic agent, merit metabolic homoeostasis. We hence conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with newly diagnosed T2D patients from 20 centres in China. Four-hundred-nine eligible participants were enroled, randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) and completed a 12-week treatment of either BBR-alone, probiotics+BBR, probiotics-alone, or placebo, after a one-week run-in of gentamycin pretreatment. The changes in glycated haemoglobin, as the primary outcome, in the probiotics+BBR (least-squares mean [95% CI], −1.04[−1.19, −0.89]%) and BBR-alone group (−0.99[−1.16, −0.83]%) were significantly greater than that in the placebo and probiotics-alone groups (−0.59[−0.75, −0.44]%, −0.53[−0.68, −0.37]%, P < 0.001). BBR treatment induced more gastrointestinal side effects. Further metagenomics and metabolomic studies found that the hypoglycaemic effect of BBR is mediated by the inhibition of DCA biotransformation by Ruminococcus bromii. Therefore, our study reports a human microbial related mechanism underlying the antidiabetic effect of BBR on T2D. (Clinicaltrial.gov Identifier: NCT02861261).

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BackgroundThe gut microbiota evolves from birth and is in early life influenced by events such as birth mode, type of infant feeding, and maternal and infant antibiotics use. However, we still have a gap in our understanding of gut microbiota development in older children, and to what extent early events and pre-school lifestyle modulate the composition of the gut microbiota, and how this impinges on whole body metabolic regulation in school-age children.ResultsTaking advantage of the KOALA Birth Cohort Study, a long-term prospective birth cohort in the Netherlands with extensive collection of high-quality host metadata, we applied shotgun metagenomics sequencing and systematically investigated the gut microbiota of children at 6–9 years of age. We demonstrated an overall adult-like gut microbiota in the 281 Dutch school-age children and identified 3 enterotypes dominated by the genera Bacteroides, Prevotella, and Bifidobacterium, respectively. Importantly, we found that breastfeeding duration in early life and pre-school dietary lifestyle correlated with the composition and functional competences of the gut microbiota in the children at school age. The correlations between pre-school dietary lifestyle and metabolic phenotypes exhibited a striking enterotype dependency. Thus, an inverse correlation between high dietary fiber consumption and low plasma insulin levels was only observed in individuals with the Bacteroides and Prevotella enterotypes, but not in Bifidobacterium enterotype individuals in whom the gut microbiota displayed overall lower microbial gene richness, alpha-diversity, functional potential for complex carbohydrate fermentation, and butyrate and succinate production. High total fat consumption and elevated plasma free fatty acid levels in the Bifidobacterium enterotype are associated with the co-occurrence of Streptococcus.ConclusionsOur work highlights the persistent effects of breastfeeding duration and pre-school dietary lifestyle in affecting the gut microbiota in school-age children and reveals distinct compositional and functional potential in children according to enterotypes. The findings underscore enterotype-specific links between the host metabolic phenotypes and dietary patterns, emphasizing the importance of microbiome-based stratification when investigating metabolic responses to diets. Future diet intervention studies are clearly warranted to examine gut microbe-diet-host relationships to promote knowledge-based recommendations in relation to improving metabolic health in children.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40168-018-0608-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundThe gut microbiota plays important roles in modulating host metabolism. Previous studies have demonstrated differences in the gut microbiome of T2D and prediabetic individuals compared to healthy individuals, with distinct disease-related microbial profiles being reported in groups of different age and ethnicity. However, confounding factors such as anti-diabetic medication hamper identification of the gut microbial changes in disease development.MethodWe used a combination of in-depth metagenomics and metaproteomics analyses of faecal samples from treatment-naïve type 2 diabetic (TN-T2D, n = 77), pre-diabetic (Pre-DM, n = 80), and normal glucose tolerant (NGT, n = 97) individuals to investigate compositional and functional changes of the gut microbiota and the faecal content of microbial and host proteins in Pre-DM and treatment-naïve T2D individuals to elucidate possible host-microbial interplays characterizing different disease stages.FindingsWe observed distinct differences characterizing the gut microbiota of these three groups and validated several key features in an independent TN-T2D cohort. We also demonstrated that the content of several human antimicrobial peptides and pancreatic enzymes differed in faecal samples between three groups.InterpretationOur findings suggest a complex, disease stage-dependent interplay between the gut microbiota and the host and point to the value of metaproteomics to gain further insight into interplays between the gut microbiota and the host.FundThe study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31601073), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2017YFC0909703) and the Shenzhen Municipal Government of China (No. JCYJ20170817145809215). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.