Serum response factor promoting axonal regeneration by activating the Ras-Raf-Cofilin signaling pathway after the spinal cord injury.

INTRODUCTION: Serum response factor (SRF) is important in muscle development, tissue repair, and neuronal regulation. OBJECTIVES: This research aims to thoroughly examine the effects of SRF on spinal cord injury (SCI) and its ability to significantly impact the recovery and regeneration of neuronal axons. METHODS: The researchers created rat models of SCI and scratch injury to primary spinal cord neurons to observe the expression of relevant factors after neuronal injury. RESULTS: We found that the SRF, Ras, Raf, and cofilin levels increased after injury and gradually returned to normal levels. Afterward, researchers gave rats with SCI an SRF inhibitor (CCG1423) and studied the effects with nuclear magnetic resonance and transmission electron microscopy. The SRF inhibitor rodents had worse spinal cord recovery and axon regrowth than the control group. And the apoptosis of primary neurons after scratch injury was significantly higher in the SRF inhibitor group. Additionally, the researchers utilized lentiviral transfection to modify the SRF expression in neurons. SRF overexpression increased neuron migration while silencing SRF decreased it. Finally, Western blotting and RT-PCR were conducted to examine the expression changes of related factors upon altering SRF expression. The results revealed SRF overexpression increased Ras, Raf, and cofilin expression. Silencing SRF decreased Ras, Raf, and Cofilin expression. CONCLUSION: Based on our research, the SRF promotes axonal regeneration by activating the "Ras-Raf-Cofilin" signaling pathway.

Benefits of Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion Versus Static Cold Storage in Liver Transplant: A Comprehensive Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: The magnitude of potential benefits that hypothermic oxygenated perfusion (HOPE) may provide for liver transplantation (LT) patients compared to static cold storage (SCS) remains uncertain. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect that HOPE can offer LT recipients relative to SCS by synthesizing available evidence. Methods: A literature search was conducted in Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and the Cochrane database up to 1 June, 2023. The included studies were pooled for meta-analysis to synthesize their findings. Subgroup analysis was performed to investigate potential differences between HOPE and SCS for specific subgroups. Results: A total of 11 studies comprising 1765 patients were included. Compared with SCS, HOPE was associated with a significant reduction in the incidence of early allograft dysfunction (EAD) (OR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.26-0.50), as well as a noteworthy decrease in graft loss rate within one year (OR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.33-0.97) and a lower occurrence of Clavien-Dindo grade IIIa or higher complications (OR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.43-0.89). Subgroup analysis revealed that HOPE significantly reduced the one-year mortality rate, any biliary complications incidence, and acute rejection of transplanted liver rate in patients who received organs from donation after cardiac death (DCD). Conclusions: HOPE has demonstrated efficacy in reducing the incidence of EAD after LT and shows some potential in diminishing postoperative complications such as biliary complications and acute rejection. This ultimately leads to improved patient prognosis, particularly among those receiving DCD grafts.

Analysis of Related Influencing Factors of Portal Vein Thrombosis After Hepatectomy.

Purpose: To analyze the related factors of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) after hepatectomy. Methods: A retrospective analysis was made on 1029 patients who underwent partial hepatectomy in the first affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from March 2018 to March 2023, including PVT group (n = 24) and non-PVT group (n = 1005). The general and clinical data of the two groups were collected. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the clinical information of the two groups. Result: The proportion of preoperative hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis, ascites, intraoperative blood transfusion, postoperative hemostatic drugs, preoperative prothrombin time, intraoperative portal occlusion time, operation time, international standardized ratio of prothrombin time on the first day after operation, D-dimer on the first day after operation, fibrin degradation products on the first day after operation and postoperative hospital stay in the PVT group were all higher than those in the control group (P < .05). The preoperative platelet and albumin in the PVT group were lower than those in the control group. Intraoperative blood transfusion, liver cirrhosis, ascites, international standardized ratio of postoperative prothrombin time, postoperative fibrin degradation products, hilar occlusion time and albumin were independent risk factors for PVT. Conclusion: There are many influencing factors of PVT after hepatectomy. Clinical intervention should be taken to reduce PVT. Clinical Registration Number: K2023-348.

Moving grating-based laser heterodyne digital holographic microscopy system for measuring dynamic phase of living cell attachment.

We propose a laser heterodyne digital holography microscopy system based on a moving grating, which uses the Doppler principle between a moving grating and beam to achieve a low-frequency bias between the diffracted beams, abandoning traditional heterodyne digital holography that requires multiple acousto-optic modulators. The dynamic phase distribution obtained using the laser heterodyne digital holography phase-reconstruction algorithm was more realistic and analyzable than the results of the angular spectrum algorithm. The structure and algorithm were used to capture the shape characteristics of mouse fibroblasts after ~2 h of incubation (37°C, 5% CO2), and the dynamic phase distribution of the cells was monitored in real-time during the attachment process. The system proposed in this study, with its high spatial resolution and high-precision phase measurement capability, is suitable for both static and live cells.

Antisense yycF and BMP-2 co-delivery gelatin methacryloyl and carboxymethyl chitosan hydrogel composite for infective bone defects regeneration.

Repairing infected bone defects remains a challenge in clinical work. Intractable bacterial infections and insufficient osseointegration are major concerns for infected bone defects. To address these issues, we developed a gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) composite hydrogel with BMP-2 growth factor and GO based antisense technology supported by a PLGA spring. In vitro, photo-crosslinked GelMA composite hydrogels shown excellent biocompatibility and degradability. Relying on the release of BMP-2 from the composite hydrogel provides osteogenic effects. The antisense yycF and BMP-2 were released with the degradation of GelMA and CMCS composite hydrogel. In terms of antimicrobial properties, CMCS, GO and post-transcriptional regulatory antisense yycF from the composite hydrogel synergistically kill S. aureus. In vivo, we implanted the composite hydrogel in a rat model of S. aureus infected femur defect, effectively accelerating bone healing in an infectious microenvironment. This research provides a novel biomaterial that is both antimicrobial and promotes bone regeneration, with the potential to treat infected bone defects.

The spatial phase transition of micro/nano particles and its effect on the cleaning efficiency of laser-plasma shock wave cleaning.

Plasma cleaning is an effective method for removing micro/nanoparticle particles, thus solving the pollution problem of micro/nanoparticle instruments. However, the lack of research on the phase transition evolution law of micro/nanoparticles under the action of plasma affects the popularization and application of this method and is the key factor that affects the cleaning quality. The focus of this study is to analyze this law. Through experimental observation and finite element simulation, the spatial phase transition distribution characteristics of particles and the influence law of laser parameters are analyzed. Moreover, the effect of the particle phase transition on the cleaning process is discussed. The removal threshold and the best removal area of different particles are presented, and a reference and guidance for the follow-up development of laser-plasma shock wave removal technology are provided.

Tailoring the performance of composite PEI nanofiltration membranes via incorporating activated cyclodextrins.

Cyclodextrins (CDs) with unique cavity structures have been used as materials for nanofiltration membrane fabrications. In the present work, the activated CD (O-CD), oxidated by NaIO4, and polyethyleneimine (PEI) were co-deposited on a hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile support, post-treated by glycerol protection and heating treatment, to prepare nanofiltration membranes with low molecular weight cut-off (MWCO). As the cavities in CD present and the aldehyde groups introduced after oxidation, the O-CDs were expected to crosslink the PEI layer and provide extra permeating channels. The filtration experiments showed that the incorporation of O-CDs improved the permeances of the O-CD-PEI/HPAN nanofiltration membranes. The performance can be tailored by the control of the loading or the oxidation degree of the O-CD. At optimal conditions, the permeance increment was nearly double (from 9.2 to 21.1 Lm-2·h-1·bar-1). While the selectivity was without significant sacrifice, the rejection of PEG 200 remained around 90%. Meanwhile, the membrane stability was demonstrated by pro-longed filtratiing a PEG 200 aqueous solution. The constant permeance and rejection confirmed the O-CD-PEI/HPAN membranes were stable. The incorporation of activated CD in PEI offers a facile strategy to promote the permeance of PEI-based membranes.

Development and validation of a risk prediction algorithm for evaluating the efficacy of postoperative adjuvant TACE therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is a lack of a reliable outcome prediction model for patients evaluating the feasibility of postoperative adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization (PA-TACE) therapy. Our goal was to develop an easy-to-use tool specifically for these patients. METHODS: From January 2013 to June 2017, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma from the Liver Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University received postoperative adjuvant Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) therapy after liver cancer resection. A Cox proportional hazards model was established for these patients, followed by internal validation (enhanced bootstrap resampling technique) to further evaluate the predictive performance and discriminanceevaluate the predictive performance and discriminance, and compare it with other predictive models. The prognostic factors considered included tumour number, maximum tumor diameter, Edmondson-Steiner (ES) grade, Microvascular invasion (MVI) grade, Ki67, age, sex, hepatitis B surface antigen, cirrhosis, Alpha-fetoprotein(AFP), Albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade, Child-pugh grade, body mass index (BMI), Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR). RESULTS: The endpoint of the study was overall survival. The median overall survival was 36 (95%CI: 34.0-38.0 ) months, with 1-year, 2-year and 3-year survival rates being 96.3%, 84.0% and 75.3%, respectively. Tumour number, MVI grade, and BMI was incorporated into the model, which had good differentiation and accuracy. Internal validation (enhanced bootstrap ) suggested that Harrell's C statistic is 0.72. The model consistently outperforms other currently available models. CONCLUSION: This model may be an easy-to-use tool for screening patients suitable for PA-TACE treatment and guiding the selection of clinical protocols. But further research and external validation are required.

A Novel Closed-Loop Control to Solve Light Source Power Fluctuations in the Fiber-Optic Gyroscope.

The performance of a gyroscope is directly affected by the fluctuations in the light source power (LSP) in an interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (IFOG). Therefore, it is important to compensate for fluctuations in the LSP. When the feedback phase generated by the step wave completely cancels the Sagnac phase in real-time, the error signal of the gyroscope is linearly related to the differential signal of the LSP, otherwise, the error signal of the gyroscope is uncertain. Herein, we present two compensation methods to compensate for the error of the gyroscope when the error is uncertain, which are double period modulation (DPM) and triple period modulation (TPM). Compared with the TPM, DPM has better performance, but it increases the requirements for the circuit. TPM has lower requirements for the circuit and is more suitable for small fiber- coil applications. The experimental results show that, when the frequency of the LSP fluctuation is relatively low (1 kHz and 2 kHz), DPM and TPM do not differ significantly in terms of performance; both of them can achieve an improvement of about 95% in bias stability. When the frequency of the LSP fluctuation is relatively high (4 kHz, 8 kHz and 16 kHz), DPM and TPM can achieve about 95% and 88% improvement in bias stability, respectively.

Autoimmune regulator (Aire) deficiency results in reduced memory CD8+ T cells after Listeria monocytogenes infection in a murine model.

Homozygous mutations in the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene that cripple thymic negative selection of autoreactive T cells result in autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED). However, how AIRE regulates the T-cell response against foreign pathogens is not well understood. Here, we observed comparable primary CD8+ T cells but a markedly reduced memory T-cell population and protective function in Aire-/- mice compared with wild-type after infection with a strain of recombinant Listeria monocytogenes. In adoptive transfer models, exogenous congenic CD8+ T cells transferred into Aire-/- mice also showed a reduction in the memory T-cell population, indicating an important role for extrathymic Aire-expressing cells in shaping or sustaining memory T cells. Moreover, using a bone marrow chimeric model, we found that Aire expressed in radioresistant cells plays an important role in maintaining the memory phenotype. These results provide important insights into the role of extrathymic Aire in the T-cell response to infection.

Accelerated Healing of Infected Diabetic Wounds by a Dual-Layered Adhesive Film Cored with Microsphere-Loaded Hydrogel Composite Dressing.

Diabetic wounds, a prevalent chronic disease, are associated with older age. The hyperglycemic microenvironment in diabetic wounds significantly reduces the immune system, inducing bacterial invasion. The coupling of tissue repair and antibacterial treatment is critical for infected diabetic ulcer regeneration. In this study, a dual-layered sodium alginate/carboxymethyl chitosan (SA/CMCS) adhesive film cored with an SA-bFGF microsphere-loaded small intestine submucosa (SIS) hydrogel composite dressing with a graphene oxide (GO)-based antisense transformation system was developed to promote infected diabetic wound healing and bacterial eradication. Initially, our injectable SIS-based hydrogel composite stimulated angiogenesis, collagen deposition, and immunoregulation in diabetic wound repair. The GO-based transformation system subsequently inhibited bacterial viability in infected wounds by post-transformation regulation. Meanwhile, the SA/CMCS film provided stable adhesion covering the wound area to maintain a moist microenvironment, which promoted in situ tissue repair. Our findings provide a promising clinical translation strategy for promoting the healing of infected diabetic wounds.

Comparison of different adjuvant therapy regimen efficacies in patients with high risk of recurrence after radical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high recurrence rate even after radical surgery. Postoperative adjuvant transhepatic arterial chemoembolization (PA-TACE), postoperative adjuvant hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (PA-HAIC), postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy (PA-RT), and postoperative adjuvant molecular targeted therapy have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the postoperative recurrence rate. The present network meta-analysis was conducted to compare the effects of PA-TACE, PA-HAIC, PA-RT and postoperative adjuvant molecular targeted therapy on the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in HCC patients after radical resection and to determine the optimal treatment strategy. METHODS: Network meta-analysis was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were used to collect eligible studies up to December 25, 2022. Studies related to PA-TACE, PA-HAIC, and postoperative adjuvant molecular targeted therapy after radical HCC resection was included. The endpoints were OS and DFS, and the effect size was determined using hazard ratio with a 95% confidence interval. R software and "gemtc" package were employed to analyze the results. RESULTS: A total of 38 studies involving 7079 patients with HCC after radical resection were ultimately enrolled to be analyzed. Four postoperative adjuvant therapy measures and two oncology indicators were evaluated. In this study, OS-related investigations validated that PA-Sorafenib and PA-RT markedly enhanced the OS rates in patients after radical resection when compared to PA-TACE and PA-HAIC. However, statistical analysis revealed no significant difference between PA-Sorafenib and PA-RT, as well as PA-TACE and PA-HAIC. In the DFS-related investigations, PA-RT demonstrated superior efficacy over PA-Sorafenib, PA-TACE, and PA-HAIC. Additionally, PA-Sorafenib displayed better efficacy than PA-TACE. Nevertheless, there was no statistical significance between PA-Sorafenib and PA-HAIC, as well as PA-TACE and PA-HAIC. We also performed a subgroup analysis of studies focusing on HCC complicated by microvascular invasion after radical resection. In terms of OS, both PA-RT and PA-Sorafenib demonstrated a noteworthy improvement over PA-TACE, whereas no statistical significance was detected between PA-RT and PA-Sorafenib. Likewise, for DFS, both PA-Sorafenib and PA-RT exhibited superior efficacy compared to PA-TACE. CONCLUSION: In patients with HCC after radical resection and a high risk of recurrence, both PA-Sorafenib and PA-RT significantly improved OS and DFS when compared to PA-TACE and PA-HAIC. Notably, PA-RT exhibited superior efficacy over PA-Sorafenib, PA-TACE, and PA-HAIC in terms of DFS. Similarly, PA-Sorafenib appeared to be more effective than PA-TACE for DFS.

Serum response factor promotes axon regeneration following spinal cord transection injury.

Studies have shown that serum response factor is beneficial for axonal regeneration of peripheral nerves. However, its role after central nervous system injury remains unclear. In this study, we established a rat model of T9-T10 spinal cord transection injury. We found that the expression of serum response factor in injured spinal cord gray matter neurons gradually increased with time, reached its peak on the 7th day, and then gradually decreased. To investigate the role of serum response factor, we used lentivirus vectors to overexpress and silence serum response factor in spinal cord tissue. We found that overexpression of serum response factor promoted motor function recovery in rats with spinal cord injury. Qualitative observation of biotinylated dextran amine anterograde tracing showed that overexpression of serum response factor increased nerve fibers in the injured spinal cord. Additionally, transmission electron microscopy showed that axon and myelin sheath morphology was restored. Silencing serum response factor had the opposite effects of overexpression. These findings suggest that serum response factor plays a role in the recovery of motor function after spinal cord injury. The underlying mechanism may be related to the regulation of axonal regeneration.

Real-Time Compensation for SLD Light-Power Fluctuation in an Interferometric Fiber-Optic Gyroscope.

An interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (IFOG) demodulates a rotation signal via interferometric light intensity. However, the working environments of IFOGs typically involve great uncertainty. Fluctuations in temperature, air pressure, electromagnetic field, and the power system all cause the power of the superluminescent diode (SLD) light source to fluctuate as well. In this invited paper, we studied the effects of SLD power fluctuation on the dynamic and static performance characteristics of a gyro system through the use of a light-power feedback loop. Fluctuations of 0.5 mA, 1 mA, and 5 mA in the SLD source entering the IFOG caused zero-bias stability to be 69, 135, and 679 times worse. We established an effective method to monitor power fluctuations of SLD light sources and to compensate for their effects without increasing hardware complexity or system cost. In brief, we established a real-time power-sensing and -compensating system. Experimental results showed that for every 0.1 mA increase in the fluctuation amplitude of the driving current, the zero-bias stability became 4 to 7 times worse, which could be reduced about 95% through the use of SLD power compensation.

Size Effect of Electrical and Optical Properties in Cr2+:ZnSe Nanowires.

Previous studies have shown that the nano-crystallization process has an appreciable impact on the luminescence properties of nanocrystals, which determines their defect state composition, size and morphology. This project aims to explore the influence of nanocrystal size on the electrical and optical properties of Cr2+:ZnSe nanowires. A first-principles study of Cr2+:ZnSe nanowires with different sizes was carried out at 0 K in the density functional framework. The Cr2+ ion was found to prefer to reside at the surface of ZnSe nanowires. As the size of the nanocrystals decreased, a considerable short-wave-length shift in the absorption of the vis-near infrared wavelength was observed. A quantum mechanism for the wavelength tunability was discussed.

Manufacture of TiO2 nanoparticles with high preparation efficiency and photocatalytic performance by controlling the parameters of pulsed laser ablation in liquid.

This study proposes a method to improve the production efficiency and photocatalytic performance of TiO2 nanoparticles using the pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) method to optimise preparation parameters. In this study, the variation of particle size, morphology, preparation, and catalytic efficiency due to the increase in the number of pulses is studied. The mechanism of particle morphology change is analysed using thermodynamic simulation. The density functional theory (DFT) is used to calculate and characterise the reason why the special structure formed by particle breaking improves the photocatalytic performance. In addition, the influence of the law of solution height on particle breakage is summarised to obtain an optimised preparation parameter. The proposed method provides a reference for the selection of parameters in actual production.

CodY is modulated by YycF and affects biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the leading cause of various infective diseases, including topical soft tissue infections. The goals of this study were to investigate the roles of YycF and CodY in the regulation of biofilm formation and pathogenicity. Methods: Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was conducted to validate the bound promoter regions of YycF protein. We constructed the codY up-regulated or down-regulated S. aureus mutants. The biofilm biomass was determined by crystal violet microtiter assay and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Quantitative RT-PCR analysis was used to detect the transcripts of biofilm-related genes. The live and dead cells of S. aureus biofilm were also investigated by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). We constructed an abscess infection in Sprague Dawley (SD) rat models to determine the effect of CodY on bacterial pathogenicity. We further used the RAW264.7, which were cocultured with S. aureus, to evaluate the effect of CodY on macrophages apoptosis. Result: Quantitative RT-PCR analyses reveled that YycF negatively regulates codY expression. EMSA assays indicated that YycF protein directly binds to the promoter regions of codY gene. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the construction of dual- mutant stains codY + ASyycF and codY-ASyycF. The SEM results showed that the biofilm formation in the codY + ASyycF group was sparser than those in the other groups. The crystal violet assays indicated that the codY + ASyycF group formed less biofilms, which was consistent with the immunofluorescence results of the lowest live cell ration in the codY + ASyycF group. The expression levels of biofilm-associated icaA gene were significantly reduced in the codY + strain, indicating codY negatively regulates the biofilm formation. Furthermore, CodY impedes the pathogenicity in a rat-infection model. After cocultured with bacteria or 4-h in vitro, the apoptosis rates of macrophage cells were lowest in the codY + group. Conclusions: YycF negatively regulate the expression of codY. By interaction with codY, YycF could modulate S. aureus biofilm formation via both eDNA- dependent and PIA- dependent pathways, which can be a significant target for antibiofilm. CodY not only impedes the pathogenicity but also has a role on immunoregulation. Thus, the current evidence may provide a supplementary strategy for managing biofilm infections.

Rapid photodegradation of methylene blue by laser-induced plasma.

A new strategy was established for the degradation of wastewater-based organic pollutants. Laser-induced plasma (LIP) was used as an alternative UV light source to realise rapid photodegradation of methylene blue (MB), an organic pollutant. A conventional 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser was used for plasma excitation to degrade MB solutions. The results show that the LIP effectively degraded the organic matter, and the degradation efficiency was related to the UV component with wavelength less than 400 nm. The compositions of the plasma excited by different dielectric substrates are different owing to various mechanisms involving moderate heat dissipation and sonoluminescence. However, metallic substrates, especially Fe, can enhance the proportion of UV light and accelerate the degradation efficiency. In the process of methylene blue degradation, solution parameters, such as initial dye concentration, pH, irradiation time and hydrogen peroxide concentration, will affect the degradation efficiency. The conditions of effective degradation of methylene blue (10 mg L-1 MB-1 concentration, 50 mL L-1 H2O2 concentration, pH = 3 and P = 60 mW) were obtained in this study, which can provide reference for practical application.

Flexible Wearable Pressure Sensor Based on Collagen Fiber Material.

Flexible wearable pressure sensors play a pivotal role in healthcare monitoring, disease prevention, and humanmachine interactions. However, their narrow sensing ranges, low detection sensitivities, slow responses, and complex preparation processes restrict their application in smart wearable devices. Herein, a capacitive pressure sensor with high sensitivity and flexibility that uses an ionic collagen fiber material as the dielectric layer is proposed. The sensor exhibits a high sensitivity (5.24 kPa-1), fast response time (40 ms), long-term stability, and excellent repeatability over 3000 cycles. Because the sensor is resizable, flexible, and has a simple preparation process, it can be flexibly attached to clothes and the human body for wearable monitoring. Furthermore, the practicality of the sensor is proven by attaching it to different measurement positions on the human body to monitor the activity signal.