A Novel Induction-Type Pressure Sensor based on Magneto-Stress Impedance and Magnetoelastic Coupling Effect for Monitoring Hand Rehabilitation.

Visualization of training effectiveness is critical to patients' confidence and eventual rehabilitation. Here, an innovative magnetoinductive pressure sensor is proposed for monitoring hand rehabilitation in stroke hemiplegic patients. It couples the giant magneto and stress-impedance effects of a square spiral amorphous wire with the giant magnetoelastic effect of a polymer magnet (NdFeB@PDMS). The addition of the magnetoelastic layer results in a sensitivity improvement of 178%, a wide sensing range (up to 1 MPa), fast response/recovery times (40 ms), and excellent mechanical robustness (over 15 000 cycles). Further integration with an LC oscillation circuit enables frequency adjustment into the MHz range resulting in a sensitivity of 6.6% kPa-1 and outstanding linearity (R2 =  0.99717) over a stress range of up to 100 kPa. When attached to a commercial split-fingerboard, the sensor is capable of dynamically monitoring the force in each finger, providing a reading of the rehabilitation process. Unlike conventional inductive sensors, the sensor is based on an inductive force-responsive material (amorphous wire), which significantly boosts the sensitivity. The approach also demonstrates the potential of magnetoelasticity in static pressure sensing, which is highly sensitive to dynamic pressure only through electromagnetic induction. This makes it more suitable for long-term and continuous human health monitoring.

A Guide to Quantify Arabidopsis Seedling Thermomorphogenesis at Single Timepoints and by Interval Monitoring.

Temperature-induced elongation of hypocotyls, petioles, and roots, together with hyponastic leaf responses, constitute key model phenotypes that can be used to assess a plant's capacity for thermomorphogenesis. Phenotypic responses are often quantified at a single time point during seedling development at different temperatures. However, to capture growth dynamics, several time points need to be assessed, and ideally continuous measurements are taken. Here we describe a general experimental setup and technical solutions for recording and measuring seedling phenotypes at single and multiple time points. Furthermore, we present an R-package called "rootdetectR," which allows easy processing of hypocotyl, root or petiole length, and growth rate data and provides different options of data presentation.

Poly(Glutamic Acid-Lysine) Hydrogels with Alternating Sequence Resist the Foreign Body Response in Rodents and Non-Human Primates.

The foreign body response (FBR) to implanted biomaterials and biomedical devices can severely impede their functionality and even lead to failure. The discovery of effective anti-FBR materials remains a formidable challenge. Inspire by the enrichment of glutamic acid (E) and lysine (K) residues on human protein surfaces, a class of zwitterionic polypeptide (ZIP) hydrogels with alternating E and K sequences to mitigate the FBR is prepared. When subcutaneously implanted, the ZIP hydrogels caused minimal inflammation after 2 weeks and no obvious collagen capsulation after 6 months in mice. Importantly, these hydrogels effectively resisted the FBR in non-human primate models for at least 2 months. In addition, the enzymatic degradability of the gel can be controlled by adjusting the crosslinking degree or the optical isomerism of amino acid monomers. The long-term FBR resistance and controlled degradability of ZIP hydrogels open up new possibilities for a broad range of biomedical applications.

A wireless fluorescent sensing device for on-site closed-loop detection of hydrazine levels in the environment.

Given the extensive need for the detection of hydrazine (N2H4) in the biomedical and chemical-pharmaceutical sectors, there is a necessity to devise a fast, sensitive, specific, and portable technique for precisely quantifying hydrazine at environmental levels. In our work, an "OFF-ON" type fluorescent probe namely 2-(4-(10-(naphthalen-2-yl)anthracen-9-yl)phenyl)isoindole-1,3-dione (NAP), which was inspired by the "Gabriel" reaction, was synthesized. The NAP fluorescent cellulose film successfully achieved the detection of hydrazine vapor with a LOD = 0.658 ppm. Compared to previous qualitative methods for detecting hydrazine, this study successfully achieved quantitative identification of hydrazine at low concentrations. In addition, a portable sensor device based on NAP cellulose film was successfully integrated, enabling ultra-sensitive, wireless, remote, and real-time detection of N2H4 vapor. It was determined that the probe (NAP) exhibited excellent detection performance when applied to various environmental samples including distilled water, tap water, creek water, soil and plants. This study introduces a potentially effective approach for detecting hydrazine in real-world settings.

Bioinspired Solar-Driven Osmosis for Stable High Flux Desalination.

The growing global water crisis necessitates sustainable desalination solutions. Conventional desalination technologies predominantly confront environmental issues such as high emissions from fossil-fuel-driven processes and challenges in managing brine disposal during the operational stages, emphasizing the need for renewable and environmentally friendly alternatives. This study introduces and assesses a bioinspired, solar-driven osmosis desalination device emulating the natural processes of mangroves with effective contaminant rejection and notable productivity. The bioinspired solar-driven osmosis (BISO) device, integrating osmosis membranes, microporous absorbent paper, and nanoporous ceramic membranes, was evaluated under different conditions. We conducted experiments in both controlled and outdoor settings, simulating seawater with a 3.5 wt % NaCl solution. With a water yield of 1.51 kg m-2 h-1 under standard solar conditions (one sun), the BISO system maintained excellent salt removal and accumulation resistance after up to 8 h of experiments and demonstrated great cavitation resistance even at 58.14 °C. The outdoor test recorded a peak rate of 1.22 kg m-2 h-1 and collected 16.5 mL in 8 h, showing its practical application potential. These results highlight the BISO device's capability to address water scarcity using a sustainable approach, combining bioinspired design with solar power, presenting a viable pathway in renewable-energy-driven desalination technology.

Covalently grafted human serum albumin coating mitigates the foreign body response against silicone implants in mice.

Implantable biomaterials and biosensors are integral components of modern medical systems but often encounter hindrances due to the foreign body response (FBR). Herein, we report an albumin coating strategy aimed at addressing this challenge. Using a facile and scalable silane coupling strategy, human serum albumin (HSA) is covalently grafted to the surface of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) implants. This covalently grafted albumin coating remains stable and resistant to displacement by other proteins. Notably, the PDMS with covalently grafted HSA strongly resists the fibrotic capsule formation following a 180-day subcutaneous implantation in C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, the albumin coating led to reduced recruitment of macrophages and triggered a mild immune activation pattern. Exploration of albumin coatings sourced from various mammalian species has shown that only HSA exhibited a promising anti-FBR effect. The albumin coating method reported here holds the potential to improve and extend the function of silicone-based implants by mitigating the host responses to subcutaneously implanted biomaterials.

Fibrous capsule-resistant, controllably degradable and functionalizable zwitterion-albumin hybrid hydrogels.

Foreign body response (FBR) represents an immune-mediated cascade reaction capable of inducing the rejection of foreign implants, thereby compromising their in vivo performance. Pure zwitterionic hydrogels have demonstrated the ability to resist long-term FBR, owing to their outstanding antifouling capabilities. However, achieving such a robust anti-FBR effect necessitates stringent requirements concerning the purity of zwitterionic materials, which constrains their broader functional applications. Herein, we present a biocompatible, controllably degradable, and functionalizable zwitterion-albumin hybrid hydrogel. The zwitterionic hydrogel crosslinked with serum albumin exhibits controllable degradation and excels in preventing the adsorption of various proteins and adhesion of cells and bacteria. Moreover, the hydrogel significantly alleviates the host's FBR compared with PEG hydrogels and particularly outperforms PEG-based cross-linker crosslinked zwitterionic hydrogels in reducing collagen encapsulation when subcutaneously implanted into mice. The zwitterion-albumin hybrid hydrogel shows potential as a functionalizable anti-FBR material in the context of implantable materials and biomedical devices.

Complex epistatic interactions between ELF3, PRR9, and PRR7 regulate the circadian clock and plant physiology.

Circadian clocks are endogenous timekeeping mechanisms that coordinate internal physiological responses with the external environment. EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3), PSEUDO RESPONSE REGULATOR (PRR9), and PRR7 are essential components of the plant circadian clock and facilitate entrainment of the clock to internal and external stimuli. Previous studies have highlighted a critical role for ELF3 in repressing the expression of PRR9 and PRR7. However, the functional significance of activity in regulating circadian clock dynamics and plant development is unknown. To explore this regulatory dynamic further, we first employed mathematical modeling to simulate the effect of the prr9/prr7 mutation on the elf3 circadian phenotype. These simulations suggested that simultaneous mutations in prr9/prr7 could rescue the elf3 circadian arrhythmia. Following these simulations, we generated all Arabidopsis elf3/prr9/prr7 mutant combinations and investigated their circadian and developmental phenotypes. Although these assays could not replicate the results from the mathematical modeling, our results have revealed a complex epistatic relationship between ELF3 and PRR9/7 in regulating different aspects of plant development. ELF3 was essential for hypocotyl development under ambient and warm temperatures, while PRR9 was critical for root thermomorphogenesis. Finally, mutations in prr9 and prr7 rescued the photoperiod-insensitive flowering phenotype of the elf3 mutant. Together, our results highlight the importance of investigating the genetic relationship among plant circadian genes.

A Conjugated Microporous Polymer/Wood Aerogel with Physical Adsorption, Chemical Degradation and Antibacterial Self-Cleaning Triple Sewage Treatment Functions.

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) have important applications in the fields of optoelectronics and sewage treatment due to their high specific surface area, broad visible absorption, processability and simple synthesis process. Biocompatibility, recycling, mass production and solar photodegradation are particularly important in wastewater treatment. Here, A CMP with a high specific surface area and a hierarchical pore structure (CPOP) was constructed based on 4,4',4″-Tris(carbazol-9-yl)-triphenylamine (3CZ-TPA). Furthermore, a CMP-loaded wood aerogel (CPOP/wood aerogel) with physical adsorption, chemical degradation, bacterial inhibition and self-cleaning properties was prepared by in situ polymerization and used for wastewater treatment. The obtained CPOP/wood aerogel is highly biocompatible and easy to recycle. In addition, the inherent broad visible light absorption property of CPOP endows it with promising photocatalytic properties. Subsequently, we investigated the photocatalytic mechanism of CPOP, and the results showed that it was mainly affected by peroxyl radicals, which implied and confirmed its microbial self-cleaning for secondary cleaning of water pollutants. The reported studies on CPOP/wood aerogel provide a new direction for water purification materials with excellent adsorption, degradation and antibacterial properties.

A Robust Drug-Target Interaction Prediction Framework with Capsule Network and Transfer Learning.

Drug-target interactions (DTIs) are considered a crucial component of drug design and drug discovery. To date, many computational methods were developed for drug-target interactions, but they are insufficiently informative for accurately predicting DTIs due to the lack of experimentally verified negative datasets, inaccurate molecular feature representation, and ineffective DTI classifiers. Therefore, we address the limitations of randomly selecting negative DTI data from unknown drug-target pairs by establishing two experimentally validated datasets and propose a capsule network-based framework called CapBM-DTI to capture hierarchical relationships of drugs and targets, which adopts pre-trained bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) for contextual sequence feature extraction from target proteins through transfer learning and the message-passing neural network (MPNN) for the 2-D graph feature extraction of compounds to accurately and robustly identify drug-target interactions. We compared the performance of CapBM-DTI with state-of-the-art methods using four experimentally validated DTI datasets of different sizes, including human (Homo sapiens) and worm (Caenorhabditis elegans) species datasets, as well as three subsets (new compounds, new proteins, and new pairs). Our results demonstrate that the proposed model achieved robust performance and powerful generalization ability in all experiments. The case study on treating COVID-19 demonstrates the applicability of the model in virtual screening.

Astragaloside IV protects LO2 cells from oxidative damage caused by radiation-induced bystander effect through Akt/Nrf2 pathway.

Background: The protective effects of astragaloside IV (ASIV) on various diseases are well known, but its potential impact on radiation-induced bystander effect (RIBE) has remained unclear. Objective: This study aimed to explore the protective mechanism of ASIV against oxidative damage caused by RIBE in LO2 cells. Methods: To construct the RIBE model, the conditioned medium from HepG2 cells irradiated with radiation was transferred to nonirradiated LO2 cells. LY294002, a commonly used phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway inhibitor, was added to LO2 cells 1 h before exposing HepG2 cells to radiation. LO2 cells were then collected for analyses after RIBE exposure. Results: The study found that ASIV significantly improved cell proliferation and promoted the recovery of mitochondrial membrane potential while reducing the rate of apoptosis. Western blot analyses demonstrated that ASIV upregulated B-cell lymphoma 2 and downregulated B-cell lymphoma 2-related X protein and cleaved-caspase 3. Measurement of reactive oxygen species, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and malondialdehyde levels showed that ASIV effectively restored the oxidative stress state induced by RIBE. Additionally, immunofluorescence and western blots analyses confirmed that ASIV enhanced the translocation of Nrf2 to the nucleus and activated downstream nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate: quinine oxidoreductase 1 and heme oxygenase 1. Importantly, Akt pathway inhibitor repressed ASIV-induced activation of Nrf2 and its protective effect against RIBE. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that ASIV protects LO2 cells against oxidative damage caused by RIBE through activation of the Akt/Nrf2 pathway.

Discovery of isatin-ß-methyldithiocarbazate derivatives as New Delhi metallo- ß-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) inhibitors against NDM-1 producing clinical isolates.

New Delhi metallo-ß-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) poses a threat to public health due to its capability to hydrolyze nearly all ß-lactam antibiotics, leaving limited treatment options for NDM-1 positive pathogens. Regrettably, there are presently no effective NDM-1 inhibitors in clinical use. This compels us to seek new compounds to combat multi-drug resistant bacterial infections (MDR). In our study, Zndm19 was identified as a new NDM-1 inhibitor through virtual screening and an NDM-1 enzyme activity inhibition assay. Subsequently, we employed the checkerboard method, time-killing assay, and combined disk test to investigate the synergistic bactericidal efficacy of Zndm19 in combination with meropenem (MEM). Meanwhile, molecular docking and site-directed mutagenesis were conducted to uncover the crucial amino acid residues engaged in Zndm19 binding. Finally, we established a mice peritonitis infection model to assess the synergistic effect of Zndm19 and MEM in vivo. Our findings demonstrated that 16 µg/mL of Zndm19 inhibited NDM-1 activity without affecting NDM-1 expression, restoring the bactericidal activity of MEM against NDM-1-positive Escherichia coli in vitro. Furthermore, MET-67, ASP-124, HIS-189, and HIS-250 amino acid residues constituted the active site of Zndm19 in NDM-1. Importantly, this combination therapy exhibited synergistic anti-infection activity in the mice peritonitis infection model, leading to an approximate 60% increase in survival rates and reduction of tissue bacterial load, effectively combating bacterial infection in vivo. In summary, our research validates that the synthetic novel NDM-1 inhibitor Zndm19 holds promise as a drug to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections, especially those harboring NDM-1.

Exploration and Biological Evaluation of 1,3-Diamino-7H-pyrrol[3,2-f]quinazoline Derivatives as Dihydrofolate Reductase Inhibitors.

Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), a core enzyme of folate metabolism, plays a crucial role in the biosynthesis of purines and thymidylate for cell proliferation and growth in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. However, the development of new DHFR inhibitors is challenging due to the limited number of scaffolds available for drug development. Hence, we designed and synthesized a new class of DHFR inhibitors with a 1,3-diamino-7H-pyrrol[3,2-f]quinazoline derivative (PQD) structure bearing condensed rings. Compound 6r exhibited therapeutic effects on mouse models of systemic infection and thigh infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ATCC 43300. Moreover, methyl-modified PQD compound 8a showed a strong efficacy in a murine model of breast cancer, which was better than the effects of taxol. The findings showcased in this study highlight the promising capabilities of novel DHFR inhibitors in addressing bacterial infections as well as breast cancer.

Fluctuating magnetic droplets immersed in a sea of quantum spin liquid.

The search of quantum spin liquid (QSL), an exotic magnetic state with strongly fluctuating and highly entangled spins down to zero temperature, is a main theme in current condensed matter physics. However, there is no smoking gun evidence for deconfined spinons in any QSL candidate so far. The disorders and competing exchange interactions may prevent the formation of an ideal QSL state on frustrated spin lattices. Here we report comprehensive and systematic measurements of the magnetic susceptibility, ultralow-temperature specific heat, muon spin relaxation (µSR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and thermal conductivity for NaYbSe2 single crystals, in which Yb3+ ions with effective spin-1/2 form a perfect triangular lattice. All these complementary techniques find no evidence of long-range magnetic order down to their respective base temperatures. Instead, specific heat, µSR, and NMR measurements suggest the coexistence of quasi-static and dynamic spins in NaYbSe2. The scattering from these quasi-static spins may cause the absence of magnetic thermal conductivity. Thus, we propose a scenario of fluctuating ferrimagnetic droplets immersed in a sea of QSL. This may be quite common on the way pursuing an ideal QSL, and provides a brand new platform to study how a QSL state survives impurities and coexists with other magnetically ordered states.

Transcription factors MdMYC2 and MdMYB85 interact with ester aroma synthesis gene MdAAT1 in apple.

Volatile esters in apple (Malus domestica) fruit are the critical aroma components determining apple flavor quality. While the exact molecular regulatory mechanism remains unknown, jasmonic acid (JA) plays a crucial role in stimulating the synthesis of ester aromas in apples. In our study, we investigated the effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on the production of ester aroma in apples. MeJA treatment significantly increased ester aroma synthesis, accompanied by the upregulation of several genes involved in the jasmonate pathway transduction. Specifically, expression of the gene MdMYC2, which encodes a transcription factor associated with the jasmonate pathway, and the R2R3-MYB transcription factor gene MdMYB85 increased upon MeJA treatment. Furthermore, the essential gene ALCOHOL ACYLTRANSFERASE 1 (MdAAT1), encoding an enzyme responsible for ester aroma synthesis, showed increased expression levels as well. Our investigation revealed that MdMYC2 and MdMYB85 directly interacted with the promoter region of MdAAT1, thereby enhancing its transcriptional activity. In addition, MdMYC2 and MdMYB85 directly bind their promoters and activate transcription. Notably, the interaction between MdMYC2 and MdMYB85 proteins further amplified the regulatory effect of MdMYB85 on MdMYC2 and MdAAT1, as well as that of MdMYC2 on MdMYB85 and MdAAT1. Collectively, our findings elucidate the role of the gene module consisting of MdMYC2, MdMYB85, and MdAAT1 in mediating the effects of JA and promoting ester aroma synthesis in apples.

A highly stable chain-based EuIII metal-organic framework as a turn-on and blue-shift luminescent sensor for dipicolinic acid.

The development of a rapid and selective method for the identification of dipicolinic acid (DPA), a specific biomarker in Bacillus anthracis spores, is of great importance for the avoidance of anthrax infection. Herein, a chain-based EuIII metal-organic framework with the formula {[Eu3(BTDB)3(µ3-OH)3(H2O)]·solvents}n (JXUST-38, H2BTDB = (benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole-4,7-diyl)dibenzoic acid) was obtained using 2-fluorobenzoic acid as the pH regulator. JXUST-38 exhibits good chemical and thermal stability and can specifically recognize DPA in N,N-dimethylformamide solution through luminescence enhancement and blue-shift effects with a detection limit of 0.05 µM. Furthermore, the significant luminescence enhancement and blue shift under UV lamps are obviously observable by the naked eye. The luminescence sensing mechanism is attributed to absorbance-induced enhancement between JXUST-38 and DPA. Test paper and mixed-matrix membrane based on JXUST-38 are designed for DPA detection. In addition, the feasibility of using JXUST-38 in biosensing is discussed in detail.

Novel exotic alleles of EARLY FLOWERING 3 determine plant development in barley.

EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3) is an important regulator of various physiological and developmental processes and hence may serve to improve plant adaptation which will be essential for future plant breeding. To expand the limited knowledge on barley ELF3 in determining agronomic traits, we conducted field studies with heterogeneous inbred families (HIFs) derived from selected lines of the wild barley nested association mapping population HEB-25. During two growing seasons, phenotypes of nearly isogenic HIF sister lines, segregating for exotic and cultivated alleles at the ELF3 locus, were compared for 10 developmental and yield-related traits. We determine novel exotic ELF3 alleles and show that HIF lines, carrying the exotic ELF3 allele, accelerated plant development compared with the cultivated ELF3 allele, depending on the genetic background. Remarkably, the most extreme effects on phenology could be attributed to one exotic ELF3 allele differing from the cultivated Barke ELF3 allele in only one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). This SNP causes an amino acid substitution (W669G), which as predicted has an impact on the protein structure of ELF3. Consequently, it may affect phase separation behaviour and nano-compartment formation of ELF3 and, potentially, also its local cellular interactions causing significant trait differences between HIF sister lines.

Synthesis and Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Betulin Cycloolefin Derivatives by Ruthenium-Catalyzed Ring-Closing Metathesis.

The combination of ring-closing metathesis with betulin enables the design and synthesis of novel biomolecules representing a library of triterpenoid derivatives for potential pharmacological research. In this work, cyclic olefin betulin derivatives were attempted to be prepared by the combination of ring-closing metathesis with betulin. Dicyclohexyl carbodiimide coupling reaction allowed the transformation of betulin into two types of linear olefin derivatives that have different methylene spacer lengths between the olefin and ester groups. Subsequently, betulin-based cycloolefins were synthesized by ring-closing metathesis using Grubbs first-generation catalyst. The influence of different parameters including solvents, temperature, catalysts, and catalyst loading on ring-closing metathesis was investigated. Cytotoxicity results indicated that these betulin-based olefin derivatives, derived from renewable bioresources, have potential applications in the biomedical field.

Solvothermal synthesis and device fabrication of a Eu3+-based metal-organic framework as a turn-on and blue-shift fluorescence sensor toward Cr3+, Al3+ and Ga3.

A novel three-dimensional Eu3+-based metal-organic framework with the formula {[(CH3)2NH2][Eu(BTDI)]·H2O·DMF}n (JXUST-25) was prepared by solvothermal method based on Eu3+ and 5,5'-(benzothiadiazole-4,7-diyl)diisophthalic acid (H4BTDI) with benzothiadiazole (BTD) luminescent groups. Due to the presence of Eu3+ and organic fluorescence ligand, JXUST-25 displays turn-on and blue-shift fluorescence toward Cr3+, Al3+ and Ga3+ with limits of detection (LOD) of 0.073, 0.006 and 0.030 ppm, respectively. Interestingly, the alkaline environment can change the fluorescence of JXUST-25 toward Cr3+/Al3+/Ga3+ and the addition of HCl solution realizes the reversible change of the fluorescence of JXUST-25 toward Cr3+/Al3+/Ga3+. It is noteworthy that the fluorescent test paper and light-emitting diode lamp based on JXUST-25 can effectively detect Cr3+, Al3+ and Ga3+ by the visual changes. In addition, the turn-on and blue-shift fluorescence between JXUST-25 and M3+ ions may be caused by the host-guest interaction and the absorbance caused enhancement mechanism.

Enhanced Heterogeneous Catalytic Activity of Peroxymonosulfate for Rhodamine B Degradation via a CoII-Based Metal-Organic Framework.

A stable metal-organic framework with the formula {[Co(BBZB)(IPA)]·H2O}n (JXUST-23, BBZB = 4,7-bis(1H-benzimidazole-1-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole and H2IPA = isophthalic acid) was constructed by incorporating Co2+ ions and two conjugated ligands under solvothermal conditions. JXUST-23 takes a dinuclear cluster-based layer structure with a porosity of 2.7%. In this work, JXUST-23 was used to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade rhodamine B (RhB), a difficult-to-degrade pollutant in water. Compared with pure PMS or JXUST-23, the JXUST-23/PMS system displays the best degradation ability of RhB in neutral solution. When the mass ratio of JXUST-23 to PMS was 2:3, 99.72% of RhB (50 ppm) was removed within 60 min, and the reaction rate was 0.1 min-1. Furthermore, free radical quenching experiments show that SO4•- was the main free radical during the process of RhB degradation. In addition, JXUST-23 exhibits good reusability for the degradation of the organic dye RhB, making it a potential candidate for environmental remediation.