Integration of photothermal water evaporation with photocatalytic microplastics upcycling via nanofluidic thermal management.

Photothermal heating and photocatalytic treatment are two solar-driven water processing approaches by harnessing NIR and UV-vis light, respectively, which can fully utilize solar energy if integrated. However, it remains a challenge to achieve high performance in both approaches when integrated in a material due to uncontrollable heat diffusion. Here, we report a demonstration of heat confinement on photothermal sites and fluid cooling on photocatalysis sites at the nanoscale, within a well-designed heat and fluid confinement nanofiber reactor. Photothermal and photocatalytic nanostructures were alternatively aligned in electrospun nanofibers for on-demand nanofluidic thermal management as well as easy folding into 3D structures with enhanced light utilization and mass transfer. Such a design showed simultaneously high photothermal evaporation rate (2.59 kg m-2 h-1, exceeding the limit rate) and efficient photocatalytic upcycling of microplastics pollutant into valued products. Enabled by controlled photothermal heating, the valued main product (i.e., methyl acetate) can be evaporated out with 100% selectivity by in situ separation.

Ocr-mediated suppression of BrxX unveils a phage counter-defense mechanism.

The burgeoning crisis of antibiotic resistance has directed attention to bacteriophages as natural antibacterial agents capable of circumventing bacterial defenses. Central to this are the bacterial defense mechanisms, such as the BREX system, which utilizes the methyltransferase BrxX to protect against phage infection. This study presents the first in vitro characterization of BrxX from Escherichia coli, revealing its substrate-specific recognition and catalytic activity. We demonstrate that BrxX exhibits nonspecific DNA binding but selectively methylates adenine within specific motifs. Kinetic analysis indicates a potential regulation of BrxX by the concentration of its co-substrate, S-adenosylmethionine, and suggests a role for other BREX components in modulating BrxX activity. Furthermore, we elucidate the molecular mechanism by which the T7 phage protein Ocr (Overcoming classical restriction) inhibits BrxX. Despite low sequence homology between BrxX from different bacterial species, Ocr effectively suppresses BrxX's enzymatic activity through high-affinity binding. Cryo-electron microscopy and biophysical analyses reveal that Ocr, a DNA mimic, forms a stable complex with BrxX, highlighting a conserved interaction interface across diverse BrxX variants. Our findings provide insights into the strategic counteraction by phages against bacterial defense systems and offer a foundational understanding of the complex interplay between phages and their bacterial hosts, with implications for the development of phage therapy to combat antibiotic resistance.

Image-Guided Photothermal and Immune Therapy of Tumors via Melanin-Producing Genetically Engineered Bacteria.

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a new treatment modality for tumors. However, the efficient delivery of photothermal agents into tumors remains difficult, especially in hypoxic tumor regions. In this study, an approach to deliver melanin, a natural photothermal agent, into tumors using genetically engineered bacteria for image-guided photothermal and immune therapy is developed. An Escherichia coli MG1655 is transformed with a recombinant plasmid harboring a tyrosinase gene to produce melanin nanoparticles. Melanin-producing genetically engineered bacteria (MG1655-M) are systemically administered to 4T1 tumor-bearing mice. The tumor-targeting properties of MG1655-M in the hypoxic environment integrate the properties of hypoxia targeting, photoacoustic imaging, and photothermal therapeutic agents in an "all-in-one" manner. This eliminates the need for post-modification to achieve image-guided hypoxia-targeted cancer photothermal therapy. Tumor growth is significantly suppressed by irradiating the tumor with an 808 nm laser. Furthermore, strong antitumor immunity is triggered by PTT, thereby producing long-term immune memory effects that effectively inhibit tumor metastasis and recurrence. This work proposes a new photothermal and immune therapy guided by an "all-in-one" melanin-producing genetically engineered bacteria, which can offer broad potential applications in cancer treatment.

Deep Learning-Assisted Two-Dimensional Transperineal Ultrasound for Analyzing Bladder Neck Motion in Women With Stress Urinary Incontinence.

BACKGROUND: No universally recognized transperineal ultrasound parameters are available for evaluating stress urinary incontinence. The information captured by commonly used perineal ultrasound parameters is limited and insufficient for a comprehensive assessment of stress urinary incontinence. Although bladder neck motion plays a major role in stress urinary incontinence, objective and visual methods to evaluate its impact on stress urinary incontinence remain lacking. OBJECTIVE: To use a deep learning-based system to evaluate bladder neck motion using two-dimensional transperineal ultrasound videos, exploring motion parameters for diagnosing and evaluating stress urinary incontinence. We hypothesized that bladder neck motion parameters are associated with stress urinary incontinence and are useful for stress urinary incontinence diagnosis and evaluation. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective study including 217 women involved the following parameters: maximum and average speeds of bladder neck descent, ß angle, urethral rotation angle, and duration of the Valsalva maneuver. The fitted curves were derived to visualize bladder neck motion trajectories. Comparative analyses were conducted to assess these parameters between stress urinary incontinence and control groups. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were employed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of each motion parameter and their combinations for stress urinary incontinence. RESULTS: Overall, 173 women were enrolled in this study (82, stress urinary incontinence group; 91, control group). No significant differences were observed in the maximum and average speeds of bladder neck descent and in the speed variance of bladder neck descent. The maximum and average speed of the ß and urethral rotation angles were faster in the stress urinary incontinence group than in the control group (151.2 vs 109.0 mm/s, P=0.001; 6.0 vs 3.1 mm/s, P <0.001; 105.5 vs 69.6 mm/s, P <0.001; 10.1 vs 7.9 mm/s, P=0.011, respectively). The speed variance of the ß and urethral rotation angles were higher in the stress urinary incontinence group (844.8 vs 336.4, P <0.001; 347.6 vs 131.1, P <0.001, respectively). The combination of the average speed of the ß angle, maximum speed of the urethral rotation angle, and duration of the Valsalva maneuver demonstrated a strong diagnostic performance (area under the curve, 0.87). When 0.481*ß anglea + 0.013*URAm + 0.483*Dval = 7.405, the diagnostic sensitivity was 70% and specificity was 92%, highlighting the significant role of bladder neck motion in stress urinary incontinence, particularly changes in the speed of the ß and urethral rotation angles. CONCLUSIONS: A system utilizing deep learning can describe the motion of the bladder neck in women with stress urinary incontinence during the Valsalva maneuver, making it possible to visualize and quantify bladder neck motion on transperineal ultrasound. The speeds of the ß and urethral rotation angles and duration of the Valsalva maneuver were relatively reliable diagnostic parameters.

Top-down design of high-performance V-based MBene anode for Li/Na-ion batteries.

Two-dimensional (2D) MBenes have enormous potential in energy applications. Vanadium metal, with its versatile and tunable electronic states, can further enhance the electrochemical performance of MBenes. However, most MBenes are composed of a few atomic layers as the metal boron (MB) block, e.g., M2B2, which might lead to instability and poor mechanical response. Herein, we designed and predicted 2D V4B6 associated with different terminations (T = Cl, O, S) using a top-down method and global search for parental V4AB6. Among the A element candidates, the P-glued MAB phase exhibited high stability and easy synthesizability. Moreover, 2D V4B6 was feasibly formed and easily exfoliated owing to its weak V-P bonding. Most of the surface functionalization could improve both the mechanical and electrochemical properties of the V4B6 monolayer. In particular, 2D V4B6S2 exhibited a high potential as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with high theoretical capacity (297 mA h g-1), low diffusion barrier (0.166 eV), and low open circuit voltage (0.136 V), outperforming a majority of MXenes and transition metal sulfide layers. This work offers a new strategy for designing desirable 2D layers from parental materials, and tuning their properties via composition and surface functionalization, which could shed light on the development of other 2D metal-ion anodes.

Integrated metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal the molecular mechanism of amino acid transport between source and sink during tea shoot development.

KEY MESSAGE: The weighted gene co-expression network analysis and antisense oligonucleotide-mediated transient gene silencing revealed that CsAAP6 plays an important role in amino acid transport during tea shoot development. Nitrogen transport from source to sink is crucial for tea shoot growth and quality formation. Amino acid represents the major transport form of reduced nitrogen in the phloem between source and sink, but the molecular mechanism of amino acid transport from source leaves to new shoots is not yet clear. Therefore, the composition of metabolites in phloem exudates collected by the EDTA-facilitated method was analyzed through widely targeted metabolomics. A total of 326 metabolites were identified in the phloem exudates with the richest variety of amino acids and their derivatives (93), accounting for approximately 39.13% of the total metabolites. Moreover, through targeted metabolomics, it was found that the content of glutamine, glutamic acid, and theanine was the most abundant, and gradually increased with the development of new shoots. Meanwhile, transcriptome analysis suggested that the expression of amino acid transport genes changed significantly. The WGCNA analysis identified that the expression levels of CsAVT1, CsLHTL8, and CsAAP6 genes located in the MEterquoise module were positively correlated with the content of amino acids such as glutamine, glutamic acid, and theanine in phloem exudates. Reducing the CsAAP6 in mature leaves resulted in a significant decrease in the content of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine, leucine, asparagine, glutamine, and arginine in the phloem exudates, indicating that CsAAP6 played an important role in the source to sink transport of amino acids in the phloem. The research results will provide the theoretical basis and genetic resources for the improvement of nitrogen use efficiency and tea quality.

Based on 3D-PDU and clinical characteristics nomogram for prediction of lymph node metastasis and lymph-vascular space invasion of early cervical cancer preoperatively.

PURPOSE: To develop and validate a nomogram based on 3D-PDU parameters and clinical characteristics to predict LNM and LVSI in early-stage cervical cancer preoperatively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of first diagnosis 138 patients with cervical cancer who had undergone 3D-PDU examination before radical hysterectomy plus lymph dissection between 2014 and 2019 were enrolled for this study. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze the 3D-PDU parameters and selected clinicopathologic features and develop a nomogram to predict the probability of LNM and LVSI in the early stage. ROC curve was used to evaluate model differentiation, calibration curve and Hosmer-Lemeshow test were used to evaluate calibration, and DCA was used to evaluate clinical practicability. RESULTS: Menopause status, FIGO stage and VI were independent predictors of LNM. BMI and maximum tumor diameter were independent predictors of LVSI. The predicted AUC of the LNM and LSVI models were 0.845 (95%CI,0.765-0.926) and 0.714 (95%CI,0.615-0.813). Calibration curve and H-L test (LNM groups P = 0.478; LVSI P = 0.783) all showed that the predicted value of the model had a good fit with the actual observed value, and DCA indicated that the model had a good clinical net benefit. CONCLUSION: The proposed nomogram based on 3D-PDU parameters and clinical characteristics has been proposed to predict LNM and LVSI with high accuracy, demonstrating for the first time the potential of non-invasive prediction. The probability derived from this nomogram may have the potential to provide valuable guidance for physicians to develop clinical individualized treatment plans of FIGO patients with early cervical cancer.

Perioperative echocardiography in minimally invasive surgery for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) is clinically symptomatic and prone to malignant arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Currently, an effective treatment is surgical resection of the hypertrophic ventricular septum to relieve the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction and mitral insufficiency. Our center performs an innovative, minimally invasive right infra-axillary thoracotomy for transaortic septal myectomy. Minimally invasive procedures rely more on perioperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). This study aimed to explore the use of echocardiography during the perioperative period of surgical intervention for HOCM. METHODS: Between August 2021 and April 2022, 27 patients with HOCM underwent cardiac surgery at our hospital. Minimally invasive transaortic septal resection (Morrow myectomy) was performed from the right axilla. The extent of myectomy and need for mitral valve repair were based on perioperative TEE assessment and surgical findings. The demographic parameters and clinical data of patients were recorded. The cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic cross-clamp, and mechanical ventilation times were calculated. TEE was used to assess ventricular wall thickening and anatomical abnormalities of mitral regurgitation, assist in intravenous catheterization, and assess the postoperative gradients of the LVOT. RESULTS: Among the 27 patients with HOCM who underwent transaortic septal myectomy by minimally invasive right infra-axillary thoracotomy, 16 had LVOT obstruction, 2 had mid-LV obstruction, and 9 had both LVOT and mid-LV involvement. TEE provides information about the fine structure of the LV cavity and the etiology of the obstruction. In all cases, LVOT obstruction and mitral valve systolic anterior motion were resolved postoperatively, and the degree of mitral regurgitation was significantly reduced. CONCLUSION: Perioperative echocardiography provides valuable information regarding the complex etiology of LVOT obstruction during minimally invasive right infra-axillary thoracotomy for transaortic septal myectomy. It helps determine the extent of septal resection and assess the need for concomitant mitral valve repair.

Competitive Inhibition of Okanin against Plasmodium falciparum Tyrosyl-tRNA Synthetase.

Malaria is a severe disease that presents a significant threat to human health. As resistance to current drugs continues to increase, there is an urgent need for new antimalarial medications. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) represent promising targets for drug development. In this study, we identified Plasmodium falciparum tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (PfTyrRS) as a potential target for antimalarial drug development through a comparative analysis of the amino acid sequences and three-dimensional structures of human and plasmodium TyrRS, with particular emphasis on differences in key amino acids at the aminoacylation site. A total of 2141 bioactive compounds were screened using a high-throughput thermal shift assay (TSA). Okanin, known as an inhibitor of LPS-induced TLR4 expression, exhibited potent inhibitory activity against PfTyrRS, while showing limited inhibition of human TyrRS. Furthermore, bio-layer interferometry (BLI) confirmed the high affinity of okanin for PfTyrRS. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations highlighted the stable conformation of okanin within PfTyrRS and its sustained binding to the enzyme. A molecular docking analysis revealed that okanin binds to both the tyrosine and partial ATP binding sites of the enzyme, preventing substrate binding. In addition, the compound inhibited the production of Plasmodium falciparum in the blood stage and had little cytotoxicity. Thus, okanin is a promising lead compound for the treatment of malaria caused by P. falciparum.

Microcephaly Gene Mcph1 Deficiency Induces p19ARF-Dependent Cell Cycle Arrest and Senescence.

MCPH1 has been identified as the causal gene for primary microcephaly type 1, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by reduced brain size and delayed growth. As a multifunction protein, MCPH1 has been reported to repress the expression of TERT and interact with transcriptional regulator E2F1. However, it remains unclear whether MCPH1 regulates brain development through its transcriptional regulation function. This study showed that the knockout of Mcph1 in mice leads to delayed growth as early as the embryo stage E11.5. Transcriptome analysis (RNA-seq) revealed that the deletion of Mcph1 resulted in changes in the expression levels of a limited number of genes. Although the expression of some of E2F1 targets, such as Satb2 and Cdkn1c, was affected, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were not significantly enriched as E2F1 target genes. Further investigations showed that primary and immortalized Mcph1 knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) exhibited cell cycle arrest and cellular senescence phenotype. Interestingly, the upregulation of p19ARF was detected in Mcph1 knockout MEFs, and silencing p19Arf restored the cell cycle and growth arrest to wild-type levels. Our findings suggested it is unlikely that MCPH1 regulates neurodevelopment through E2F1-mediated transcriptional regulation, and p19ARF-dependent cell cycle arrest and cellular senescence may contribute to the developmental abnormalities observed in primary microcephaly.

Highly Stable Photo-Assisted Zinc-Ion Batteries via Regulated Photo-Induced Proton Transfer.

Photo-assisted ion batteries utilize light to boost capacity but face cycling instability due to complex charge/ion transfer under illumination. This study identified photo-induced proton transfer (photo-induced PT) as a significant process in photo-(dis)charging of widely-used V2O5-based zinc-ion batteries, contributing to enhanced capacity under illumination but jeopardizing photo-stability. Photo-induced PT occurs at 100 ps after photo-excitation, inducing rapid proton extraction into V2O5 photoelectrode. This process creates a proton-deficient microenvironment on surface, leading to repetitive cathode dissolution and anode corrosion in each cycle. Enabling the intercalated protons from photo-induced PT to be reversibly employed in charge-discharge processes via the anode-alloying strategy achieves high photo-stability for the battery. Consequently, a ~54 % capacity enhancement was achieved in a V2O5-based zinc-ion battery under illumination, with ~90 % capacity retention after 4000 cycles. This extends the photo-stability record by 10 times. This study offers promising advancements in energy storage by addressing instability issues in photo-assisted ion batteries.

The ultrasound-guided versus standard technique for peripheral intravenous catheter placement by nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim: To comprehensively evaluate the efficacy of Ultrasound-guided technique for peripheral intravenous catheter placement by nurses in their daily practice. Background: Peripheral intravenous catheter insertion is a common clinical procedure in healthcare settings. Ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous placement has emerged in recent decades and was recognized as particularly useful in some specific patient groups. Methods: Studies that had compared the ultrasound-guided and traditional approaches were eligible for inclusion and further analysis. The primary outcome was the success rate on the first intravenous insertion attempt. The secondary outcomes included the time needed for successful insertion, and the average number of attempts to establish the IV access. We systematically assess all studies using Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. We calculated the odds ratio and standardized mean difference with 95 % confidence intervals for the outcomes. Data were analyzed and visualized on Review Manager 5.3.4 and Stata 16.0. Results: 23 studies were included (17 randomized controlled trials and six cohort studies) with a population of 2051 patients offered ultrasound-assisted technique and 2479 treated with the conventional approach for comparison. The former approach was associated with a higher success rate on the first attempt in comparison (OR = 2.95, 95 % CI: 1.86, 4.69). This technique also took less time and less acupuncture to patients' skin (SMD = -0.62, 95 % CI: 1.01, -0.23; SMD = -0.55, 95 % CI: 0.92, -0.18). In the sub-group analyses, children were more likely to benefit from ultrasound guided technique. Ultrasound guided technique demonstrated consistent and significant benefits in emergency clinical settings. Hospitals from different geographical locations exhibited similar trends in the three outcomes. Year of publication and study design revealed inconsistent and insignificant outcomes. Conclusions: Ultrasound-guided technique can be a safer, faster, and more effective alternative to the traditional approach for nurses to establish intravenous access across different clinical settings and age groups.

The Contact Properties of Monolayer and Multilayer MoS2-Metal van der Waals Interfaces.

The contact resistance formed between MoS2 and metal electrodes plays a key role in MoS2-based electronic devices. The Schottky barrier height (SBH) is a crucial parameter for determining the contact resistance. However, the SBH is difficult to modulate because of the strong Fermi-level pinning (FLP) at MoS2-metal interfaces. Here, we investigate the FLP effect and the contact types of monolayer and multilayer MoS2-metal van der Waals (vdW) interfaces using density functional theory (DFT) calculations based on Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) level. It has been demonstrated that, compared with monolayer MoS2-metal close interfaces, the FLP effect can be significantly reduced in monolayer MoS2-metal vdW interfaces. Furthermore, as the layer number of MoS2 increases from 1L to 4L, the FLP effect is first weakened and then increased, which can be attributed to the charge redistribution at the MoS2-metal and MoS2-MoS2 interfaces. In addition, the p-type Schottky contact can be achieved in 1L-4L MoS2-Pt, 3L MoS2-Au, and 2L-3L MoS2-Pd vdW interfaces, which is useful for realizing complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) logic circuits. These findings indicated that the FLP and contact types can be effectively modulated at MoS2-metal vdW interfaces by selecting the layer number of MoS2.

Systemic inflammatory regulators and preeclampsia: a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Systemic inflammatory regulators have been associated with preeclampsia (PE) during pregnancy; however, there is inconsistent evidence from animal models and observational results. Methods: Using summary data from genome-wide association studies (GWASs), we performed a bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis of two samples of systemic inflammatory regulators (n = 8,186) and PE (n = 267,242) individuals of European ancestry. As our primary analysis, we used the random-effects inverse-variance weighted (IVW) approach. Sensitivity and pleiotropy analyses were conducted using the MR-Egger method, weighted median, MR Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier (MR-PRESSO), and Cochran's Q test. Results: The results indicate that there is a correlation between a higher circulating level of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-9 (IL-9) and an increased risk of PE (odds ratio [OR] = 1.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09-1.60, p = 0.004 and OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.02-1.62, p = 0.033, respectively). Conversely, lower levels of stem cell growth factor beta (SCGF-ß) (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-0.99, p = 0.027) and interleukin-5 (IL-5) (OR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65-0.98, p = 0.030) are linked to an increased risk of PE. The macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is the downstream inflammatory regulator of PE, according to reverse magnetic resonance imaging studies. Conclusion: Our study suggests that SCGF-ß, IL-5, IL-9, and TNF-α causally affect the PE risk, while PE is causally associated with MIF. Further studies are needed to validate these biomarkers in managing PE.

Recent advances in membrane technologies applied in oil-water separation.

Effective treatment of oily wastewater, which is toxic and harmful and causes serious environmental pollution and health risks, has become an important research field. Membrane separation technology has emerged as a key area of investigation in oil-water separation research due to its high separation efficiency, low costs, and user-friendly operation. This review aims to report on the advances in the research of various types of separation membranes around emulsion permeance, separation efficiency, antifouling efficiency, and stimulus responsiveness. Meanwhile, the challenges encountered in oil-water separation membranes are examined, and potential research avenues are identified.

Structure-Based Virtual Screening, ADMET Properties Prediction and Molecular Dynamics Studies Reveal Potential Inhibitors of Mycoplasma pneumoniae HPrK/P.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) is a frequent cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children. The incidence of childhood pneumonia caused by M. pneumoniae infection has been rapidly increasing worldwide. M. pneumoniae is naturally resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics due to its lack of a cell wall. Macrolides and related antibiotics are considered the optimal drugs for treating M. pneumoniae infection. However, clinical resistance to macrolides has become a global concern in recent years. Therefore, it is imperative to urgently identify new targets and develop new anti-M. pneumoniae drugs to treat MMP. Previous studies have shown that deficiencies in HPrK/P kinase or phosphorylase activity can seriously affect carbon metabolism, growth, morphology, and other cellular functions of M. pneumoniae. To identify potential drug development targets against M. pneumoniae, this study analyzed the sequence homology and 3D structure alignment of M. pneumoniae HPrK/P. Through sequence and structure analysis, we found that HPrK/P lacks homologous proteins in the human, while its functional motifs are highly conserved in bacteria. This renders it a promising candidate for drug development. Structure-based virtual screening was then used to discover potential inhibitors among 2614 FDA-approved drugs and 948 bioactive small molecules for M. pneumoniae HPrK/P. Finally, we identified three candidate drugs (Folic acid, Protokylol and Gluconolactone) as potential HPrK/P inhibitors through molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MDs) simulations, and ADMET predictions. These drugs offer new strategies for the treatment of MPP.

Enhanced reduction of graphene oxide via laser-dispersion coupling: Towards large-scale, low-defect graphene for crease-free heat-dissipating membranes in advanced flexible electronics.

The advancement of flexible electronics demands improved components, necessitating heat dissipation membranes (HDMs) to exhibit high thermal conductivity while maintaining structural integrity and performance stability even after extensive deformation. Herein, we have devised a laser-modulated reduction technique for graphene oxide (GO), enabling the fabrication of high-quality, large-scale, low-defect graphene, which yields high-performance HDMs after orderly deposition. The work underscores the crucial role of the laser wavelength and dispersion liquid's coupling intensity in influencing the morphology and properties of graphene. Optimal coupling effect and energy conversion are realized when a laser of 1064 nm wavelength irradiates a triethylene glycol (TEG)/N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) dispersion. This unique synergy generates high transient energy, which facilitates the deprotonation process and ensures a swift, comprehensive GO reduction. In contrast to conventional water-based laser reduction methods, the accelerated reaction magnifies the size of the graphene sheets by mitigating the ablation effect. After membrane construction with an ordered structure, the corresponding membrane exhibits a high thermal conductivity of 1632 W m-1 K-1, requiring only ∼1/10 of the total preparation time required by other reported methods. Remarkably, the resulting HDM demonstrates superior resilience against creasing and folding, maintaining excellent smoothness and negligible reduction in thermal conductivity after violent rubbing. The combination of exceptional flexibility and thermal conductivity in HDMs paves the way for long-term practical use in the flexible electronics industry.

Size-Effect-Based Dimension Compensations in Wet Etching for Micromachined Quartz Crystal Microstructures.

Microfabrication technology with quartz crystals is gaining importance as the miniaturization of quartz MEMS devices is essential to ensure the development of portable and wearable electronics. However, until now, there have been no reports of dimension compensation for quartz device fabrication. Therefore, this paper studied the wet etching process of Z-cut quartz crystal substrates for making deep trench patterns using Au/Cr metal hard masks and proposed the first quartz fabrication dimension compensation strategy. The size effect of various sizes of hard mask patterns on the undercut developed in wet etching was experimentally investigated. Quartz wafers masked with initial vias ranging from 3 µm to 80 µm in width were etched in a buffered oxide etch solution (BOE, HF:NH4F = 3:2) at 80 °C for prolonged etching (>95 min). It was found that a larger hard mask width resulted in a smaller undercut, and a 30 µm difference in hard mask width would result in a 17.2% increase in undercut. In particular, the undercuts were mainly formed in the first 5 min of etching with a relatively high etching rate of 0.7 µm/min (max). Then, the etching rate decreased rapidly to 27%. Furthermore, based on the etching width compensation and etching position compensation, new solutions were proposed for quartz crystal device fabrication. And these two kinds of compensation solutions were used in the fabrication of an ultra-small quartz crystal tuning fork with a resonant frequency of 32.768 kHz. With these approaches, the actual etched size of critical parts of the device only deviated from the designed size by 0.7%. And the pattern position symmetry of the secondary lithography etching process was improved by 96.3% compared to the uncompensated one. It demonstrated significant potential for improving the fabrication accuracy of quartz crystal devices.

Enhancing bone regeneration and immunomodulation via gelatin methacryloyl hydrogel-encapsulated exosomes from osteogenic pre-differentiated mesenchymal stem cells.

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-Exos) have emerged as promising candidates for cell-free therapy in tissue regeneration. However, the native osteogenic and angiogenic capacities of MSC-Exos are often insufficient to repair critical-sized bone defects, and the underlying immune mechanisms remain elusive. Furthermore, achieving sustained delivery and stable activity of MSC-Exos at the defect site is essential for optimal therapeutic outcomes. Here, we extracted exosomes from osteogenically pre-differentiated human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) by ultracentrifugation and encapsulated them in gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel to construct a composite scaffold. The resulting exosome-encapsulated hydrogel exhibited excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility, facilitating sustained delivery of MSC-Exos. Osteogenic pre-differentiation significantly enhanced the osteogenic and angiogenic properties of MSC-Exos, promoting osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs and angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Furthermore, MSC-Exos induced polarization of Raw264.7 cells from a pro-inflammatory phenotype to an anti-inflammatory phenotype under simulated inflammatory conditions, thereby creating an immune microenvironment conducive to osteogenesis. RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis revealed that MSC-Exos activate the p53 pathway through targeted delivery of internal microRNAs and regulate macrophage polarization by reducing DNA oxidative damage. Our study highlights the potential of osteogenic exosome-encapsulated composite hydrogels for the development of cell-free scaffolds in bone tissue engineering.