Unveiling the Structural Origins of Dynamic Diversity in Pd-Based Metallic Glasses.

The ß-relaxation is one of the major dynamic behaviors in metallic glasses (MGs) and exhibits diverse features. Despite decades of efforts, the understanding of its structural origin and contribution to the overall dynamics of MG systems is still unclear. Here two palladium-based Pd─Cu─P and Pd─Ni─P MGs are reported with distinct different ß-relaxation behaviors and reveal the structural origins for the difference using the advanced X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and absorption fine structure techniques together with the first-principles calculations. The pronounced ß-relaxation and fast atomic dynamics in the Pd─Cu─P MG mainly come from the strong mobility of Cu atoms and their locally favored structures. In contrast, the motion of Ni atoms is constrained by P atoms in the Pd─Ni─P MG, leading to the weakened ß-relaxation peak and sluggish dynamics. The correlation of atomic dynamics with microscopic structures provides a way to understand the structural origins of different dynamic behaviors as well as the nature of aging in disordered materials.

Identification and characterization of Toll-like receptor 14d in Northeast Chinese lamprey (Lethenteron morii).

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in innate immunity of defense against bacterial or viral pathogens. To study the biological characteristics and functions of the TLR genes, TLR14d was identified from Northeast Chinese lamprey (Lethenteron morii) and named LmTLR14d. LmTLR14d coding sequence (cds) is 3285 bp in length and encodes 1094 amino acids (aa). The results showed that LmTLR14d has the typical structure of TLR molecule, which contains the extracellular domain of leucine-rich repeats (LRR), transmembrane domain, and intracellular domain of Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR). The phylogenetic tree showed that LmTLR14d is a homologous gene of TLR14/18 in bony fish. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) revealed that LmTLR14d was expressed in various healthy tissues, including immune and non-immune tissues. Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection up-regulated LmTLR14d in the supraneural body (SB), gill, and kidney tissues of infected Northeast Chinese lamprey. Immunofluorescence results showed that LmTLR14d was located in the cytoplasm of HEK 293T cells in clusters, and its subcellular localization was determined by the TIR domain. The immunoprecipitation results showed that LmTLR14d could recruit L.morii MyD88 (LmMyD88) but not L.morii TRIF (LmTRIF). Dual luciferase reporter results showed that LmTLR14d significantly enhanced the activity of L.morii NF-κß (LmNF-κß) promoter. Furthermore, co-transfection of LmTLR14d with MyD88 significantly enhanced the L.morii NF-κß (LmNF-κß) promoter activity. LmTLR14d can induce the expression of inflammatory cytokine genes il-6 and tnf-α downstream of NF-κB signal. This study suggested that LmTLR14d might play an important role in the innate immune signal transduction process of lamprey and revealed the origin and function of teleost-specific TLR14.

Pretreating mesenchymal stem cells with IL-6 regulates the inflammatory response of DSS-induced ulcerative colitis in rats.

The immunomodulatory properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been broadly investigated in research on inflammatory diseases including ulcerative colitis. Treating MSCs with an inflammatory stimulus before transplantation is an adaptive strategy that helps MSCs survive in areas of inflammation and promotes the regulation of local immune responses. This study aimed to examine the effects of pretreating bone marrow MSCs (BMSCs) with Interleukin-6 (IL-6) on attenuation of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis in rats. Experimental ulcerative colitis was induced in Wistar rats by administering 2% DSS in their water for 7 days and normal water for the next 3 days. The experimental group received 1 × 106/0.4 ml of BMSCs that were treated with IL-6 for 24 h. Histological changes, colon length, and disease activity index were compared among groups, and the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß in homogenate supernatants were evaluated using ELISA. IL-6-pretreated BMSCs significantly reduced the colonic damage score. The colon length shortened by 6.1 ± 0.14 cm for the rats that received IL-6-pretreated BMSCs, whereas the control group rats' value was 3.8 ± 0.14 cm on the 14th day. The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were significantly decreased in the colons of the IL-6-pretreated BMSCs group compared with those of the control group (p < 0.05). This study revealed that IL-6-pretreated BMSCs ameliorated DSS-induced colitis via local anti-inflammatory action and suggested that IL-6-pretreated BMSCs are a promising therapeutic agent for ulcerative colitis treatment.

Soft and Stretchable Liquid Metal-Elastomer Composite for Wearable Electronics.

Soft devices, especially capacitive stress (or strain) sensors, are important for applications, including wearable medical monitoring, electronic skin, and soft robotics. The incorporation of liquid metal particles (LMPs) into highly deformable elastomers as inclusions ameliorates the mechanical compliance caused by a rigid filler. The high dielectric constant and liquid feature of LMPs are suitable for soft sensors with high sensitivity and a large real-time dynamic detection range. Here, a class of LM-elastomer composites are introduced with elastic and high dielectric properties, making them uniquely suitable for the application of soft stress sensors. The prepared stretchable soft stress sensor can detect the bending degree of the finger, monitor physiological signals in real time, and distinguish the vibration from the pronunciation of different letters. The nanoscale X-ray computational tomography (nano-CT) measurements indeed detect the changes of LMPs under stress, i.e., LMPs in the matrix distribute from uneven to relatively uniform, agglomerate, and even connect each other to have a conduction path in the composition with high LMP contents, which cause the changes in the physical properties of devices under operation. The cognition of LMP changes in composites under stress is instructive for promoting their further applications in the field of soft devices.

Molecular Characterization and Chemotactic Function of CXCL8 in Northeast Chinese Lamprey (Lethenteron morii).

Chemokine-induced chemotaxis of leukocytes is an important part of the innate immunity and has been shown to mediate inflammation in all groups of jawed vertebrates. For jawless vertebrates, hagfish leukocytes are known to show chemotaxis toward mammalian complement anaphylotoxin and Gram-negative bacteria lipopolysaccharide. However, whether chemokines mediate chemotaxis of leukocytes in jawless vertebrates has not been conclusively examined. Here, we show C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8, also named interleukin 8) of the Northeast Chinese lamprey (Lethenteron morii) (designated as LmCXCL8) induces chemotaxis in its leukocytes. We identified LmCXCL8 and found it possesses the characteristic N-terminal cysteine residues and GGR (Gly-Gly-Arg) motif. The Lmcxcl8 gene was found to be expressed in all examined tissues, and its expression was inducible in the lamprey challenged by an infectious bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A recombinant LmCXCL8 protein elicited concentration-dependent chemotaxis in peripheral blood leukocytes isolated from the Northeast Chinese lamprey. Based on these results, we conclude that LmCXCL8 is a constitutive and inducible acute-phase cytokine that mediates immune defense and trace the chemotactic function of chemokine to basal vertebrates.

Deaths of colon neuroendocrine tumors are associated with increasing metastatic lymph nodes and lymph node ratio.

BACKGROUND: Colon neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are uncommon. Currently, the impact of the number of metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) and lymph node ratio (LNR) on survival has been well investigated in other colon malignancies, but both remain nebulous for patients with colon NETs. METHODS: Surgically resected patients with histologically proven nonmetastatic colon NETs were queried from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 1988 and 2011. Patients with lymph nodes involved were investigated and categorized into four LNs-based classifications (≤4, >4-10, >10-13, and >13) or three LNR-based subgroups (≤0.51, >0.51-0.71, and >0.71) according to the threshold, determined by Harrell's C statistic. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed by log-rank test and Cox stepwise regression analysis, respectively. RESULTS: Eight hundred fifty-one patients met the inclusion criteria. Among them, higher LNR and LNs classification are associated with a worse prognosis. The 10-year NETs-specific survival rate was 78.3% (74.2-82.6%), 61.3% (52.4-71.7%), 40.8% (20.7-80.7%) for patients in the ≤4, >4-10, and 10-13 LNs groups, respectively. When patients were classified with LNR, the observed 10-year NETs-specific survival rate was 79.9% (74.8-85.5%) for ≤0.51, 57.4% (43.8-75.2%) for >0.51-0.71, and 40.0% (31.0-51.5%) for >0.71. In stratified analysis, higher LNs and LNR groups have worse prognosis only in patients with advanced T stage (T3-T4). Regarding stage migration, the LNR-based system did not show superiority to LNs-based classification. CONCLUSIONS: Current TNM staging classification could be improved by considering the count of metastatic nodes and LNR instead of a simple record of lymph node status (N1 or N0) for colon NETs.

Northeast Chinese lamprey (Lethenteron morii) MyD88: Identification, expression, and functional characterization.

Myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) is a key adaptor of Toll-like receptors (TLR), an important pattern recognition receptor of the innate immune system. To study the origin and evolution of the vertebrate TLR signaling pathway in innate immune systems, we analyzed the biological characteristics and functions of the MyD88 gene in Northeast Chinese lamprey (Lethenteron morii) using PCR amplification, real-time PCR analysis, dual luciferase reporter gene assay, immunofluorescence assay, and other methods. Bioinformatics analysis showed that LmMyD88 has a modular structure consisting of Toll/IL-1R domain (TIR) and death domain (DD), which is typical of the MyD88 family. A phylogenetic tree showed that the homology of LmMyD88 was consistent with the phylogenetic status of lampreys. Tissue expression analysis indicated that the mRNA expression was expressed in some normal tissues of larval and adult L. morii. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the expression of LmMyD88 in tissues, such as gill and kidney, of the adult increased significantly after infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Subcellular localization results showed that LmMyD88 was expressed in the nucleus, cytoplasm, and other parts. A dual luciferase reporter assay indicated that LmMyD88 activated nuclear factor kappa B downstream of the TLR signaling pathway. This study suggested that LmMyD88 might play an important role in the innate immune signal transduction process of L. morii.

[Genetical investigation on a rare genealogy of congenital camptodactyly].

Introduced a rare genealogy of autosomal dominant inheritance disease, which cardinal signs were congenital camptodactyly and functional disturbance of the proximal interphalangeal joints of the II, III, IV, V fingers. Part cases had congenital high myopia.