A Biodegradable, Stretchable, Healable, and Self-Powered Optoelectronic Synapse Based on Ionic Gelatins for Neuromorphic Vision System.

Optoelectronic synapses have gained increasing attentions as a fundamental building block in the development of neuromorphic visual systems. However, it remains a challenge to integrate multiple functions into a single optoelectronic synapse that can be widely applied in wearable artificial intelligence and implantable neuromorphic vision systems. In this study, a stretchable optoelectronic synapse based on biodegradable ionic gelatin heterojunction is successfully developed. This device exhibits self-powered synaptic plasticity behavior with broad spectral response and excellent elastic properties, yet it degrades rapidly upon disposal. After complete cleavage, the device can be fully repaired within 1 min, which is mainly attributed to the non-covalent interactions between different molecular chains. Moreover, the recovery and reprocessing of the ionic gelatins result in optoelectronic properties that are virtually indistinguishable from their original state, showcasing the resilience and durability of ionic gelatins. The combination of biodegradability, stretchability, self-healing, zero-power consumption, ease of large-scale preparation, and low cost makes the work a major step forward in the development of biodegradable and stretchable optoelectronic synapses.

Characterization of Methane Extraction during ScCO2-ECBM: Consideration of Competitive Adsorption of ScCO2 and CH4.

The supercritical CO2 enhanced coalbed methane (ScCO2-ECBM) technology is still in the development stage, and many simulation experiments and theoretical studies related to ScCO2-ECBM are being improved. Previous research works have conducted many studies on the competitive adsorption of CO2 and CH4 in coal, but there is less research on the competitive adsorption of ScCO2 and CH4 and its impact on methane extraction characteristics. In this study, a permeability model considering the competitive effects of effective stress and adsorption swelling on permeability was established. Based on the assumed conditions and permeability evolution model, different injected pressure and initial methane pressure conditions were set to obtain quantitative results of the competitive adsorption of ScCO2 and CH4, permeability changes, and CH4 production. By obtaining the competitive adsorption relationship between ScCO2 and CH4, we analyzed the evolution law of permeability and its impact on CH4 production. It was found that ScCO2 has a stronger competitive adsorption capacity, and the competitive adsorption capacity of ScCO2 and CH4 is more sensitive to injected pressure. Under two different conditions, it was found that the higher the injected pressure or injected differential pressure, the higher the initial permeability. However, due to the greater sensitivity of the competitive adsorption capacity of ScCO2 and CH4 to injected pressure, the greater the injected pressure in the later stage, the greater the decrease in permeability, resulting in a situation where the permeability at an injected pressure of 10 MPa is lower than that at an injected pressure of 8 MPa. A simple comparison was made between gaseous CO2 and ScCO2, and it was found that although injecting ScCO2 has a stronger adsorption swelling capacity that affects permeability changes, its stronger adsorption capacity can effectively displace methane and higher injected pressure, injected temperature, and advantages such as fracturing and extraction that are not yet reflected in the model. This study provides some guidance for numerical simulation of the ScCO2-ECBM process and the enhancement of coalbed methane extraction.

Novel Human Milk Fat Substitutes Based on Medium- and Long-Chain Triacylglycerol Regulate Thermogenesis, Lipid Metabolism, and Gut Microbiota Diversity in C57BL/6J Mice.

Human milk is naturally rich in medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols (MLCT), accounting for approximately 30% of the total fat. However, infant formula fat is prepared using a physical blend of vegetable oils, which rarely contains MLCT, similar to human milk. The differences in MLCT between human milk and infant formulas may cause different lipid metabolisms and physiological effects on infants, which are unknown. This study aimed to analyze the metabolic characteristics of formula lipid containing novel human milk fat substitutes based on MLCT (FL-MLCT) and compare their effects with those of the physical blend of vegetable oils (FL-PB) on lipid metabolism and gut microbiota in mice. Compared with the FL-PB group, the FL-MLCT group showed increased energy expenditure, decreased serum triacylglycerol level, and significantly lower aspartate aminotransferase level, epididymal and perirenal fat weight, and adipocyte size. Moreover, the abundances of Firmicutes/Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Desulfovibrionaceae were significantly decreased in the FL-MLCT group. Novel human milk fat substitutes MLCT could inhibit visceral fat accumulation, improve liver function, and modulate the mice gut microbiota composition, which may contribute to controlling obesity.

Stretchable, Washable, and Anti-Ultraviolet i-Textile-Based Wearable Device for Motion Monitoring.

Smart textiles with multifunction and highly stable performance are essential for their application in wearable electronics. Despite the advancement of various smart textiles through the decoration of conductive materials on textile surfaces, improving their stability and functionality remains a challenging topic. In this study, we developed an ionic textile (i-textile) with air permeability, water resistance, UV resistance, and sensing capabilities through in situ photopolymerization of ionogel onto the textile surface. The i-textile presents air permeability comparable to that of bare textile while possessing enhanced UV resistance. Remarkably, the i-textile maintains excellent electrical properties after washing 20 times or being subjected to 300 stretching cycles at 30% tension. When applied to human joint motion detection, the i-textile-based sensors can effectively distinguish joint motion based on their sensitivity and response speed. This research presents a novel method for developing smart textiles that further advances wearable electronics.

The effect of iron absorption in ferrous gluconate form from enriched rice flour using an in vitro digestion model and a Caco-2 cell model.

Iron deficiency can cause serious diseases in infants and young children such as indigestion, anemia, and nervous system dysplasia. Consumption of high-iron rice flour can prevent iron deficiency. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential application of ferrous gluconate as an iron source in high-iron rice flour used as a type of accessory food for infants and young children. In this study, the differences in iron absorption ability between ferrous gluconate and ferrous fumarate in rice flour with the same ingredients in both high and low phytic acid systems were evaluated. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the bioaccessibility/bioavailability between ferrous gluconate and ferrous fumarate at both low and high phytic acid contents. In low phytic acid and high phytic acid systems, the iron absorption rate of ferrous gluconate is 11.53% and 13.45% higher than that of ferrous fumarate, respectively (p < 0.05). In summary, the iron absorption rate of ferrous gluconate was higher than that of ferrous fumarate in the rice flour system. Additionally, the low phytic acid environment is more conducive to iron uptake and utilization. Therefore, ferrous gluconate can be used as an alternative source of iron in accessory foods for infants and young children.

Efficient energy transport throughout conical implosions.

The double-cone ignition (DCI) scheme has been proposed as one of the alternative approaches to inertial confinement fusion, based on direct-drive and fast-ignition, in order to reduce the requirement for the driver energy. To evaluate the conical implosion energetics from the laser beams to the plasma flows, a series of experiments have been systematically conducted. The results indicate that 89%-96% of the laser energy was absorbed by the target, with moderate stimulated Raman scatterings. Here 2%-6% of the laser energy was coupled into the plasma jets ejected from the cone tips, which was mainly restricted by the mass reductions during the implosions inside the cones. The supersonic dense jets with a Mach number of 4 were obtained, which is favorable for forming a high-density, nondegenerated plasma core after the head-on collisions. These findings show encouraging results in terms of energy transport of the conical implosions in the DCI scheme.

Mimicking Bidirectional Inhibitory Synapse Using a Porous-Confined Ionic Memristor with Electrolyte/Tris(4-aminophenyl)amine Neurotransmitter.

Ionic memristors can emulate brain-like functions of biological synapses for neuromorphic technologies. Apart from the widely studied excitatory-excitatory and excitatory-inhibitory synapses, reports on memristors with the inhibitory-inhibitory synaptic behaviors remain a challenge. Here, the first biaxially inhibited artificial synapse is demonstrated, consisting of a solid electrolyte and conjugated microporous polymers bilayer as neurotransmitter, with the former serving as an ion reservoir and the latter acting as a confined transport. Due to the migration, trapping, and de-trapping of ions within the nanoslits, the device poses inhibitory synaptic plasticity under both positive and negative stimuli. Remarkably, the artificial synapse is able to maintain a low level of stable nonvolatile memory over a long period of time (≈60 min) after multiple stimuli, with feature-inferencing/-training capabilities of neural node in neuromorphic computing. This work paves a reliable strategy for constructing nanochannel ionic memristive materials toward fully inhibitory synaptic devices.

A bionic self-driven retinomorphic eye with ionogel photosynaptic retina.

Bioinspired bionic eyes should be self-driving, repairable and conformal to arbitrary geometries. Such eye would enable wide-field detection and efficient visual signal processing without requiring external energy, along with retinal transplantation by replacing dysfunctional photoreceptors with healthy ones for vision restoration. A variety of artificial eyes have been constructed with hemispherical silicon, perovskite and heterostructure photoreceptors, but creating zero-powered retinomorphic system with transplantable conformal features remains elusive. By combining neuromorphic principle with retinal and ionoelastomer engineering, we demonstrate a self-driven hemispherical retinomorphic eye with elastomeric retina made of ionogel heterojunction as photoreceptors. The receptor driven by photothermoelectric effect shows photoperception with broadband light detection (365 to 970 nm), wide field-of-view (180°) and photosynaptic (paired-pulse facilitation index, 153%) behaviors for biosimilar visual learning. The retinal photoreceptors are transplantable and conformal to any complex surface, enabling visual restoration for dynamic optical imaging and motion tracking.

ANGPTL4, a direct target of hsa-miR-133a-3p, accelerates lung adenocarcinoma lipid metabolism, proliferation and invasion.

BACKGROUND: Globally, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most common type of lung cancer. The secreted protein angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) has been implicated in a number of physiological and pathological processes, including angiogenesis and lipid metabolism. But the role of ANGPTL4 in LUAD remains unknown. METHODS: The expression of ANGPTL4 and miR-133a-3p was confirmed by public database analysis. Xenograft model, MTT, Clone formation and EdU analysis were used to confirm the effects of miR-133a-3p/ANGPTL4 on LUAD cell proliferation and growth. Wound healing and Transwell analysis were used to elucidate the role of miR-133a-3p/ANGPTL4 in LUAD cell migration and invasion. Oil red O staining was used to confirm ANGPTL4 in LUAD lipids production. Dual-luciferase reporter gene analysis was used to demonstrate miR-133a-3p could directly bind ANGPTL4 3'-UTR. WB and PCR were used to confirm the protein expression of ANGPTL4. RESULTS: ANGPTL4 was significantly increased in LUAD samples, which could promote LUAD cell proliferation, migration, invasion, growth and lipid production. miR-133a-3p could directly bind to ANGPTL4 mRNA, and repress the expression ANGPTL4, resulting in suppressing LUAD proliferation and metastasis. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, miR-133a-3p/ANGPTL4 axis might be a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for LUAD patients.