PTEN hinders the formation of scars by regulating the levels of proteins in the extracellular matrix and promoting the apoptosis of dermal fibroblasts through Bcl-xL.

Hypertrophic scar (HS) is a dermatological condition characterized by an excessive accumulation of proteins in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and an elevated cell count. The development of HS is thought to be linked to the disruption of dermal fibroblast proliferation and apoptosis. The processes of cell proliferation and apoptosis are notably influenced by PTEN. However, the precise mechanisms by which PTEN regulates hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (HSFs) and its overall role in scar formation are still not fully understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of PTEN on hypertrophic scars(HS) and its function in the regulation of scar formation, with the aim of identifying a pivotal molecular target for scar treatment. Our results demonstrate that the overexpression of PTEN (AdPTEN) significantly suppressed the expression of type I collagen (Col I), type III collagen (Col III), and alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in HSFs. Furthermore, it was observed that the introduction of AdPTEN resulted in the suppression of Bcl-xL expression, which consequently led to an increase in the apoptosis of HSFs. Similarly, in the inhibition of collagens expression and subsequent increase in HSF apoptosis were also observed upon silencing Bcl-xL (sibcl-xL). Additionally, the in vitro model demonstrated that both AdPTEN and sibcl-xL were effective in reducing the contraction of FPCL. The findings of our study provide validation for the role of PTEN in inhibiting the development of hypertrophic scars (HS) by modulating the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and promoting apoptosis in hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (HSFs) via Bcl-xL. These results indicate that PTEN and Bcl-xL may hold promise as potential molecular targets for therapeutic interventions aimed at managing hypertrophic scars.

A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of duloxetine hydrochloride enteric-coated tablets in the treatment of refractory chronic cough.

INTRODUCTION: Refractory cough, a chronic cough with an unclear diagnosis or poor treatment response. The symptoms are often stubborn and persistent, causing serious complications and lowering the patient's quality of life. Cough hypersensitivity syndrome (CHS) is proposed as a potential cause, and reducing sensory nerve hyperresponsiveness is suggested as an effective treatment. However, current drugs have low efficacy and benefit rates and numerous side effects. This trail proposes using duloxetine, a selective 5-HT and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, as a potential treatment for refractory cough, which has shown promise in treating pain and depression. Duloxetine may inhibit pain conduction and oxidative stress in peripheral nerves by inhibiting the activity of TRPV1 channels, which play an important role in the peripheral afferent pathway of refractory cough. Meanwhile, the antidepressant effects of duloxetine may also play a role in the treatment of refractory cough. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blind, and controlled trial. A total of 98 individuals will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to duloxetine group and placebo control group (starting with 20 mg QD, increasing 20 mg daily until 20 mg TID). After a screening period, the second stage runs from baseline to the 42nd (last) day of treatment, with follow-up visits on the 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, 35th, 42nd and 49th days. The main end-stage observation indicators include objective cough frequency, cough visual analog scale (VAS), cough symptom score, Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), and cough evaluation test (CET); the secondary end-stage observation indicators include capsaicin cough sensitivity, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Major Depression Inventory (MDI), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7), Life Events Scale (LES-32), induced sputum supernatant. The safety measures will be AEs/SAEs, vital signs, liver and kidney function, fecal occult blood test. DISCUSSION: This study is the first randomized, double-blind, and controlled clinical trial investigating the use of duloxetine in the treatment of refractory coughs. The study aims to provide a high-quality basis for evaluating the efficacy and safety of duloxetine for this condition. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Our study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trials Register ( www.chictr.org.cn/ ) (ChiCTR2000037429) in 28/08/2020.

Bistatic Doppler wind lidar study for wind field measurement over complex terrain.

Atmospheric wind measurement over complex terrain is of great significance. Due to the limitation of the retrieval method, a single wind lidar cannot be applied to detect the horizontally inhomogeneous wind field. Therefore, a bistatic Doppler wind lidar system is studied for meeting the requirement of wind detection over complex terrain. By analyzing the uncertainty of a synthetic wind field, the isosceles triangle is proven to be the optimal layout of the bistatic lidar system. By using the data set of Nanjing sounding data from 2015 and two typical wind field models, the detection accuracy of the bistatic lidar system is estimated. The experimental results show that the bistatic wind lidar can detect the wind field over complex terrain accurately, the wind errors are less than 1 m/s below 4 km, and the relative errors are less than 5%.

Development of a large-field streak tube for underwater imaging lidar.

Streak tube imaging lidar (STIL) can obtain 4-D images of a target, and its performance is mainly determined by the streak tube sensor. To obtain a large field of view, we developed a streak tube with a photocathode length as large as 35.3 mm, which is larger than the commonly used ST-HDR (30 mm). At the same time, the temporal resolution and dynamic spatial resolution are 60 ps and 12 lp/mm, which are very suitable to obtain accurate target coordinates for 4-D imaging. In addition, the streak tube has a high detection sensitivity of 46 mA/W at 500 nm and, hence, prospects in remote imaging. To test the performance of the streak tube, an underwater STIL experiment was conducted. Echo signal processing was performed by means of a bandpass filter and a matched filter, and then the peak detection algorithm was used to reconstruct the image. The results indicate that a spatial resolution better than 9 mm is achieved in the limpid water with a depth of 20 m, and a range accuracy of 1 cm is achieved in the turbid water with a depth of 10 m. Such a performance suggests that the large-field streak tube is of great potential for underwater target imaging and other remote imaging applications.

Metabolic characterization of amniotic fluid of fetuses with isolated choroid plexus cyst.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the amino acid (AA)-related metabolic characteristics of amniotic fluid (AF) obtained by ultrasound-guided amniocentesis from fetuses with isolated choroid plexus cysts of the central nervous system. METHODS: Ultrasound-guided amniocentesis was performed on 17 fetuses with isolated choroid plexus cysts (ICPCs) and 17 normal fetuses. The AF samples from normal pregnancies were matched with the case samples in a 1:1 ratio based upon gestational age. The AF samples from the 34 fetuses were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Then, the peak areas of the metabolites were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and univariate statistical analysis. RESULTS: This study ultimately identified 31 AAs. Seven differentially abundant AAs were screened out, including citrulline, ethanolamine, aspartic acid, valine, 5-hydroxylysine, proline, and isoleucine (p-value<0.05). A total of 4 metabolic pathways were significantly altered in the ICPC group: valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis; valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation; pantothenate and coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis; and arginine biosynthesis. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that fetuses with ICPC have disrupted levels of citrulline, ethanolamine, aspartic acid, valine, 5-hydroxylysine, proline, and isoleucine, which may ultimately affect fetal glucose and lipid metabolism.

Applications of nanomaterials in COVID-19 pandemic.

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents one of the biggest global health threats in the last two decades, so researchers around the world are searching for solutions and treatments for COVID-19. At the time of writing, there are no specific drugs that have demonstrated suitable effectiveness in treating COVID-19. The current challenge involves designing tools for the prevention, rapid and accurate diagnosis, drug delivery, and effective treatment of this novel coronavirus. In this short review, we discuss how nanotechnology offers new ways to combat COVID-19, and how nanomaterials can be applied to control the COVID-19 outbreak. We also summarize relevant studies regarding the use of nanomaterials for preventing viral spread, preparing vaccines, and diagnosing coronavirus, as well as studies that show how nanoparticles can be used as drug delivery systems for the treatment of viral infections. Research on nanotechnology-based diagnosis, drug delivery, and antiviral therapy is currently in the early stages. However, the unique chemical properties of some nanomaterials highlight the broad prospect of nanomaterials in the future, and we propose that they will play an important role in the fight against COVID-19.

Wavelet-Based Kalman Smoothing Method for Uncertain Parameters Processing: Applications in Oil Well-Testing Data Denoising and Prediction.

The low-distortion processing of well-testing geological parameters is a key way to provide decision-making support for oil and gas field development. However, the classical processing methods face many problems, such as the stochastic nature of the data, the randomness of initial parameters, poor denoising ability, and the lack of data compression and prediction mechanisms. These problems result in poor real-time predictability of oil operation status and difficulty in offline interpreting the played back data. Given these, we propose a wavelet-based Kalman smoothing method for processing uncertain oil well-testing data. First, we use correlation and reconstruction errors as analysis indicators and determine the optimal combination of decomposition scale and vanishing moments suitable for wavelet analysis of oil data. Second, we build a ground pressure measuring platform and use the pressure gauge equipped with the optimal combination parameters to complete the downhole online wavelet decomposition, filtering, Kalman prediction, and data storage. After the storage data are played back, the optimal Kalman parameters obtained by particle swarm optimization are used to complete the data smoothing for each sample. The experiments compare the signal-to-noise ratio and the root mean square error before and after using different classical processing models. In addition, robustness analysis is added. The proposed method, on the one hand, has the features of decorrelation and compressing data, which provide technical support for real-time uploading of downhole data; on the other hand, it can perform minimal variance unbiased estimates of the data, filter out the interference and noise, reduce the reconstruction error, and make the data have a high resolution and strong robustness.

Variation Patterns of the Volatiles during Germination of the Foxtail Millet (Setaria Italic): The Relationship between the Volatiles and Fatty Acids in Model Experiments.

Functional and nutritional compounds are increased during foxtail millet germination while bad smell is produced due to the fatty acid oxidation. To eliminate the unpleasant aroma, the origins of the volatiles must be known. A comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry showed forty-nine volatiles containing 8 ketones, 10 aldehydes, 20 alkanes, 4 alcohols, 5 alkenes, and 2 furans were tentatively identified, and they increased during the germination of the foxtail millet. To identify the origin of some volatiles, model experiments by adding 6 fatty acids to the crude enzymes of the foxtail millet was designed, and 17 volatiles could be detected. The saturated fatty acids (palmitic acid and stearic acid) had no contributions to the formation of the volatiles, whereas the unsaturated fatty acid played important roles in the formation of volatiles. Among the unsaturated fatty acids, palmitoleic acid and linoleic acid produced most aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones, while linolenic acid produced the most alkanes and alkenes. This study will be helpful for controlling the smell of germinated seeds from the raw material selection.

Ti3 C2 MXene Paper for the Effective Adsorption and Controllable Release of Aroma Molecules.

Olfactory sensing and perception play an important role in people's daily lives and greatly affects senses, emotions, and behavior. In particular, the development of the controlled release of aroma enhances human's well-being and strengthens interactions with surroundings through olfactory display, especial when combined with visual and audial cues. Here, Ti3 C2 MXene plays a dual-function role as the adsorption site of aroma molecules and the heating source for the controlled release of aroma molecules. Due to abundant termination groups on the surface and the metallic nature, Ti3 C2 MXene provides abundant active sites for the interaction with aroma molecules; simultaneously, MXene can be electrically heated to thermally desorb the aroma molecules from the interaction sites. This approach eliminates the interface incompatibility issues between the heating source and the molecular encapsulation layer in conventional olfactory display system. This work presents the controlled release of the aroma molecule phenethyl alcohol (PA) using Ti3 C2 MXene paper. Ti3 C2 MXene paper serves as the adsorption material and a heating source that achieves 100 °C within 1 s. The relative amount of PA released reaches nearly 100% after 1 min of heating.

A Nonpresodiate Sodium-Ion Capacitor with High Performance.

Sodium-ion capacitors (SICs) have received intensive attention due to their high energy density, high power density, long cycle life, and low cost of sodium. However, the lack of high-performance anode materials and the tedious presodiation process hinders the practical applications of SICs. A simple and effective strategy is reported to fabricate a high-performance SIC using Fe1- x S as the anode material and an ether-based electrolyte. The Fe1- x S electrode is found to undergo a reversible intercalation reaction after the first cycle, resulting in fast kinetics and excellent reversibility. The Fe1- x S electrode delivers a high capacity of 340 mAh g-1 at 0.05 A g-1 , 179 mAh g-1 at high current of 5 A g-1 and an ultralong cycling performance with 95% capacity retention after 7000 cycles. Coupled with a carbon-based cathode, a high-performance SIC without the presodiation process is successfully fabricated. The hybrid device demonstrates an excellent energy density of 88 Wh kg-1 and superior power density of 11 500 W kg-1 , as well as an ultralong lifetime of 9000 cycles with over 93% capacity retention. An innovative and efficient way to fabricate SICs with both high energy and power density utilizing ether-based electrolytes can be realized to eliminate the presodiation process.

Phase-shifting-free resolution enhancement in digital holographic microscopy under structured illumination.

In this paper, we present a phase-shifting-free method to improve the resolution of digital holographic microscopy (DHM) under the structured illumination (SI). The SI used in the system is different from the traditional SI for it is free of the visible structure due to two illumination lights with orthogonal polarization states. To separate the recorded information and also retrieve the object phase, two reference beams with different carrier frequencies and orthogonal polarization states are adopted. The principle component analysis (PCA) algorithm is introduced in the reconstruction process. It is found that the modulated frequency of SI besides the quadratic phases of the imaging system can be easily removed with help of PCA. Therefore, phase-shifting is not required both in recording and reconstruction process. The simulation is performed to validate our method, while the proposed method is applied to the resolution enhancement for amplitude-contrast and phase-contrast objects imaging in experiments. The resolution is doubled in the simulation, and it shows 78% resolution improvement in the experiments.

Characterization of the Key Aroma Compounds in Proso Millet Wine Using Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.

The volatile compounds in proso millet wine were extracted by headspace solid-phase microextraction (85 µm polyacrylate (PA), 100 µm polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), 75 µm Carboxen (CAR)/PDMS, and 50/30 µm divinylbenzene (DVB)/CAR/PDMS fibers), and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; the odor characteristics and intensities were analyzed by the odor activity value (OAV). Different sample preparation factors were used to optimize this method: sample amount, extraction time, extraction temperature, and content of NaCl. A total of 64 volatile compounds were identified from the wine sample, including 14 esters, seven alcohols, five aldehydes, five ketones, 12 benzene derivatives, 12 hydrocarbons, two terpenes, three phenols, two acids, and two heterocycles. Ethyl benzeneacetate, phenylethyl alcohol, and benzaldehyde were the main volatile compounds found in the samples. According to their OAVs, 14 volatile compounds were determined to be odor-active compounds (OAV > 1), and benzaldehyde, benzeneacetaldehyde, 1-methyl-naphthalene, 2-methyl-naphthalene, and biphenyl were the prominent odor-active compounds (OAV > 50), having a high OAV. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed the difference of distribution of the 64 volatile compounds and 14 odor-active compounds with four solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers.

A High-Performance Lithium-Ion Capacitor Based on 2D Nanosheet Materials.

Lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) are promising electrical energy storage systems for mid-to-large-scale applications due to the high energy and large power output without sacrificing long cycle stability. However, due to the different energy storage mechanisms between anode and cathode, the energy densities of LICs often degrade noticeably at high power density, because of the sluggish kinetics limitation at the battery-type anode side. Herein, a high-performance LIC by well-defined ZnMn2 O4 -graphene hybrid nanosheets anode and N-doped carbon nanosheets cathode is presented. The 2D nanomaterials offer high specific surface areas in favor of a fast ion transport and storage with shortened ion diffusion length, enabling fast charge and discharge. The fabricated LIC delivers a high specific energy of 202.8 Wh kg-1 at specific power of 180 W kg-1 , and the specific energy remains 98 Wh kg-1 even when the specific power achieves as high as 21 kW kg-1 .

Ultrafast all-optical solid-state framing camera with picosecond temporal resolution.

A new ultrafast all-optical solid-state framing camera (UASFC) capable of single-shot ultrafast imaging is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. It is composed of an ultrafast semiconductor chip (USC), an optical time-series system (TSS), and a spatial mapping device (SMD) with an USC to transform signal beam information to the probe beam, a TSS to convert the time axis to wavelength-polarization, and a SMD to map wavelength-polarization image to different spatial positions. In our recent proof-of-principle experiment, better performance than ever of this technique is confirmed by giving six frames with ~3 ps temporal resolution and ~30 lp/mm spatial resolution.

Development and applications of transparent conductive nanocellulose paper.

Increasing attention has been paid to the next generation of 'green' electronic devices based on renewable nanocellulose, owing to its low roughness, good thermal stability and excellent optical properties. Various proof-of-concept transparent nanopaper-based electronic devices have been fabricated; these devices exhibit excellent flexibility, bendability and even foldability. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of transparent nanopaper that uses different types of nanocellulose, including pure nanocellulose paper and composite nanocellulose paper. The latest development of transparent and flexible nanopaper electronic devices are illustrated, such as electrochromic devices, touch sensors, solar cells and transistors. Finally, we discuss the advantages of transparent nanopaper compared to conventional flexible plastic substrate and the existing challenges to be tackled in order to realize this promising potential.

Metabolic transformation of indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene and toxicities of its metabolites.

A porphyrin/peroxynitrite biomimetic system was used to study the metabolism of indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IND) induced by peroxynitrite. The metabolites were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electro-spray ionization tandem mass spectrometry as OH-IND, IND-quinone and 2NO2-IND. By stopping the reaction at different stages, we discovered that IND was first transformed to IND-quinone and 2NO2-IND, which were then transformed to OH-IND. Mutation assays including Ames tests and cell transformation experiments showed enhancement of the mutagenicity after the activation by the peroxynitrite/Fe(III)porphyrin system. The results also showed that 2NO2-IND and IND-quinone played key roles in the mutagenicity of PAHs after metabolic activation.

Investigation of dye regeneration kinetics in sensitized solar cells by scanning electrochemical microscopy.

Sensitizers are responsible for the light harvesting and the charge injection in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A fast dye-regeneration process is necessary to obtain highly efficient DSSC devices. Herein, dye-regeneration rates of two DSSC device types, that is, the reduction of immediately formed photo-oxidized sensitizers (ruthenium complex C106TBA and porphyrin LD14, k(ox)') by iodide ions (I(-)) and [Co(bpy)3](2+), and the oxidation of formed photo-reduced sensitizers (organic dye P1, k(re)') by triiodide ions (I3(-)) and the disulfide dimer (T2) are investigated by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). We provide a thorough experimental verification of the feedback mode to compare the kinetics for dye-regeneration by using the above mentioned mediators. The charge recombination at the dye/semiconductor/electrolyte interface is further investigated by SECM. A theoretical model is applied to interpret the current response at the tip under short-circuit conditions, providing important information on factors that govern the dynamics of dye-regeneration onto the dye-sensitized heterojunction.

Fabrication of cobalt porphyrin. Electrochemically reduced graphene oxide hybrid films for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution in aqueous solution.

Here we report on an experimental study of an electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) based on cobalt porphyrin and electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGO) functional multilayer films, which are prepared by the alternating layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of negatively charged graphene oxide (GO) and positively charged [tetrakis (N-methylpyridyl) porphyrinato] cobalt (CoTMPyP) in combination with an electrochemical reduction procedure. The resulting [ERGO@CoTMPyP]n multilayer films display relatively high electrocatalytic activity and superior stability toward HER in alkaline media. Electrochemical studies indicate that CoTMPyP in the multilayer films is the active catalyst for the reduction of protons to dihydrogen.

Engineering Heterostructured Fe-Co-P Arrays for Robust Sodium Storage.

Transition metal phosphides attract extensive concerns thanks to their high theoretical capacity in sodium ion batteries (SIBs). Nevertheless, the substantial volume fluctuation of metal phosphides during cycling leads to severe capacity decay, which largely hinders their large-scale deployment. In this regard, heterostructured Fe-Co-P (FeP/Co2P) arrays are firstly constructed in this work for SIBs. The novel self-supported construction without insulated binders favors fast charge migration and Na+ ion diffusion. In addition, the special heterostructure with abundant heterointerfaces could considerably mitigate the volume change during (de)sodiation and provide increased active sites for Na+ ions. Density functional theoretical (DFT) calculations confirm the built-in electric field in the heterointerfaces, which greatly hastens charge transfer and Na+ ion transportation, thereafter bringing about enhanced electrochemical performance. Most importantly, the FeP/Co2P heterostructure discloses higher electrical conductivity than that of bare FeP and Co2P based on the theoretical calculations. As anticipated, the heterostructured Fe-Co-P arrays demonstrate superior performance to that of Fe-P or Co-P anode, delivering high reversible capacities of 634 mAh g-1 at 0.2 A g-1 and 239 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 after 300 cycles.

Tailoring Alkalized and Oxidized V2CTx as Anode Materials for High-Performance Lithium Ion Batteries.

V2CTx MXenes have gained considerable attention in lithium ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their special two-dimensional (2D) construction with large lithium storage capability. However, engineering high-capacity V2CTx MXenes is still a great challenge due to the limited interlayer space and poor surface terminations. In view of this, alkalized and oxidized V2CTx MXenes (OA-V2C) are envisaged. SEM characterization confirms the accordion-like layered morphology of OA-V2C. The XPS technique illustrates that undergoing alkalized and oxidized treatment, V2CTX MXene replaces -F and -OH with -O groups, which are more conducive to pseudocapacitive properties as well as Na ion diffusion, providing more active sites for ion storage in OA-V2C. Accordingly, the electrochemical performance of OA-V2C as anode materials for LIBs is evaluated in this work, showing excellent performance with high reversible capacity (601 mAh g-1 at 0.2 A g-1 over 500 cycles), competitive rate performance (222.2 mAh g-1 and 152.8 mAh g-1 at 2 A g-1 and 5 A g-1), as well as durable long-term cycling property (252 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 undergoing 5000 cycles). It is noted that the intercalation of Na+ ions and oxidation co-modification greatly reduces F surface termination and concurrently increases interlayer spacing in OA-V2C, significantly expediting ion/electron transportation and providing an efficient way to maximize the performance of MXenes in LIBs. This innovative refinement methodology paves the way for building high-performance V2CTx MXenes anode materials in LIBs.