Systemic whole transcriptome analysis identified underlying molecular characteristics and regulatory networks implicated in the retina following optic nerve injury.

Optic nerve injuries are severely disrupt the structural and functional integrity of the retina, often leading to visual impairment or blindness. Despite the profound impact of these injuries, the molecular mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. In this study, we performed a comprehensive whole-transcriptome analysis of mouse retina samples after optic nerve crush (ONC) to elucidate changes in gene expression and regulatory networks. Transcriptome analysis revealed a variety of molecular alterations, including 256 mRNAs, 530 lncRNAs, and 37 miRNAs, associated with metabolic, inflammatory, signaling, and biosynthetic pathways in the injured retina. The integrated analysis of co-expression and protein-protein interactions identified an active interconnected module comprising 5 co-expressed proteins (Fga, Serpina1a, Hpd, Slc38a4, and Ahsg) associated with the complement and coagulation cascades. Finally, 5 mRNAs (Fga, Serpinala, Hpd, Slc38a4, and Ahsg), 2 miRNAs (miR-671-5p and miR-3057-5p), and 6 lncRNAs (MSTRG. 1830.1, Gm10814, A530013C23Rik, Gm40634, MSTRG.9514.1, A330023F24Rik) were identified by qPCR in the injured retina, and some of them were validated as critical components of a ceRNA network active in 661W and HEK293T cells through dual-luciferase reporter assays. In conclusion, our study provides comprehensive insight into the complex and dynamic biological mechanisms involved in retinal injury responses and highlights promising potential targets to enhance neuroprotection and restore vision.

Impalement-Resistant, Mechanically Stable, and Anti-Static Superamphiphobic Coatings Enabled by Solvent Regulation and Their Application in Anti-Icing.

Superamphiphobic coatings have good application prospects in many fields but are limited by their low impalement resistance, weak mechanical stability, and easy adhesion of tiny droplets. Here, impalement-resistant, mechanically stable, and antistatic superamphiphobic coatings were fabricated by spraying a mixture of conductive carbon black (CB), silicone-modified polyester adhesive/fluorinated SiO2 microspheres onto Al alloy. The microspheres were obtained by adhesive phase separation and the binding of fluorinated SiO2 to them. The morphology, superamphiphobicity, impalement resistance, and mechanical stability of the coatings could be regulated by using solvents with different boiling points. As a result, the coatings simultaneously exhibited outstanding mechanical stability, impalement resistance, and superamphiphobicity. The addition of conductive CB endowed the coatings with good antistatic and tiny droplet repellent properties. In addition, the coatings exhibited good anti-icing properties due to the steady air layer at the solid-liquid interface and the very small contact area between them. We suppose that the coatings are very promising for practical application in various fields, including anti-icing, due to their outstanding comprehensive properties and simple preparation process.

Attapulgite-Based Stable Superhydrophobic Coatings for Preventing Rain Attenuation of 5G Radomes.

Superhydrophobic coatings hold immense promise for various applications. However, their practical use is currently hindered by issues such as poor stability, high costs, and complex preparation processes. Here, we present the preparation of cost-effective and stable superhydrophobic coatings through fluorination of natural attapulgite (F-ATP) nanorods and subsequent solvent-induced phase separation of a silicone-modified polyester adhesive (SMPA) with the F-ATP nanorods dispersed in it. Phase separation of the F-ATP/SMPA system forms a uniform suspension of microaggregates, which can be easily utilized for preparing superhydrophobic coatings via spray coating. The coatings have a low-surface-energy hierarchical micro/nanostructure due to phase separation of SMPA and adhesion of F-ATP to it. Moreover, the effects of the solvent composition (i.e., phase separation degree of SMPA) and the SMPA/F-ATP mass ratio on the morphology, superhydrophobicity, and stability of the coatings were investigated. After systematic optimization, the coatings exhibit excellent static and dynamic superhydrophobicity as well as high mechanical, chemical, thermal, and UV aging stability. Finally, the coatings were applied to the 5G radome surface and showed good rain attenuation prevention performance. Thus, we are confident that the superhydrophobic coatings have great application potential due to their advantages of outstanding performance, straightforward preparation procedures, cost-effectiveness, etc.

Gross-total resection in optic nerve sheath meningiomas: minimally invasive and cosmetic pleasing.

PURPOSE: The optic nerve sheath meningioma (ONSM) is one of the most challenging tumors in orbital surgery. From the perspective of mental health and patient needs, we analyzed the necessity and importance of the endoscopic transnasal approach (ETA) combined with optic nerve transection (ONT) in gross-total resection (GTR) in ONSM patients with residual vision and aim to broaden the use of ONT for specific people. METHODS: The authors included patients with ONSMs who were treated between 2014 and 2022. We divided those cases into two groups named ETA group and lateral orbitotomy approach (LOA) group. We present the application of ETA and analyze the preoperative indication of the ONT and compared the advantages and disadvantages between ETA and LOA. The degree of tumor resection was based on imaging and surgical evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 23 patients with ONSM were included. Sixteen patients underwent ETA, and seven underwent LOA. Among ETA cases, GTR was achieved in 14 patients with ONT and most patients maintained normal eye movement function (75%) and morphology (93.75%). In the ETA group, 14 patients experienced vision loss, while two other patients saw improvements in vision. And proptosis was alleviated (5.20 ± 2.34 vs 0.27 ± 0.46, p < 0.0001). Six patients with blindness and proptosis of the LOA group resulted in GTR with ONT and ophthalmectomy. Although intracranial extension and recurrence included no cases in the two groups, a significant psychological gap was presented due to cosmetic problems. CONCLUSIONS: Under the premise of reducing damage and improving aesthetics, the selection of ETA combined with ONT to gross-total resect ONSMs successfully provides a minimally invasive access with acceptable complications. As an important adjunct to GTR in the surgical treatment of ONSM, the scope of ONT application should be expanded to relieve the patient's psychological burden.

Design of Waterborne Superhydrophobic Fabrics with High Impalement Resistance and Stretching Stability by Constructing Elastic Reconfigurable Micro-/Micro-/Nanostructures.

Superhydrophobic fabrics have great application potential in many fields including wearable electronic devices, sports textiles, and human health monitoring, but good water impalement resistance and stretching stability are the prerequisites. Here, we report the design of waterborne superhydrophobic fabrics with high impalement resistance and stretching stability by constructing elastic reconfigurable micro-/micro-/nanostructures. Following theoretical analysis, two approaches were proposed and employed: (i) regulating distance between the microfibers of polyester fabrics to decrease the solid-liquid contact area, and (ii) forming reconfigurable two-tier hierarchical micro-/nanostructures on the microfibers by stretching during dipping to further decrease the solid-liquid contact area. The effects of microfiber distance and micro-/nanostructures on microfibers on superhydrophobicity and impalement resistance were studied. The superhydrophobic fabrics show excellent impalement resistance as verified by high-speed water impact, water jetting, and rainfall, etc. The fabrics also show excellent stretching stability, as 100% stretching and 1000 cycles of cyclic 100% stretching-releasing have no obvious influence on superhydrophobicity. Additionally, the fabrics show good antifouling property, self-cleaning performance, as well as high abrasion and washing stability. The experimental results agree with the theoretical simulation very well. We anticipate that this study will boost the development of impalement-resistant and stretching-stable superhydrophobic surfaces.

Robust Superamphiphobic Fabrics with Excellent Hot Liquid Repellency and Hot Water Vapor Resistance.

Superamphiphobic surfaces progress rapidly but suffer from the issues of low repellency to hot liquids, complicated and nonaqueous preparation methods, and low durability. Here, a simple waterborne approach is developed to fabricate robust superamphiphobic fabrics with excellent hot liquid repellency and hot water vapor resistance. First, a perfluorodecyl polysiloxane (FD-POS) aqueous suspension was prepared by hydrolytic cocondensation of (3-glycidyloxy propyl)trimethoxysilane and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane with SiO2 particles. Then, the superamphiphobic fabrics were fabricated by dipping polyester fabrics in the suspension, which were then cured. The fabrics show excellent superamphiphobicity owing to the combination of the hierarchical micro-/nanostructure and FD-POS with very low surface energy. The superamphiphobic fabrics feature excellent hot liquid repellency even for a large volume of 130.0 °C soybean oil and condensed small droplets from ∼90.0 °C water vapor. This is attributed to its high superamphiphobicity, excellent hot water vapor resistance, and outstanding thermal durability. In addition, the superamphiphobic fabrics exhibit high mechanical and chemical durability against washing, abrasion, and immersion in corrosive or organic liquids. Thus, hot liquid repellent superamphiphobic fabrics may find applications in various fields such as antiadhesion of various hot liquids and in efficiently preventing scalding.

Superhydrophobic Coatings with Photothermal Self-Healing Chemical Composition and Microstructure for Efficient Corrosion Protection of Magnesium Alloy.

Self-healing superhydrophobic coatings have a wide potential for practical applications by prolonging their lifespan, but still suffer from some shortcomings, for example, difficulty in repairing microstructure damage, limited self-healing cycles, and more importantly the inability to self-heal while in service. Herein, we present the fabrication of superhydrophobic coatings having photothermal self-healing chemical composition and microstructure for the high performance anticorrosion of Mg alloy. The coatings contain a shape-memory polymer (SMP) primer and an upper superhydrophobic coating composed of fluorinated polysiloxane-modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PF-POS@MWCNTs). The coatings have good superhydrophobicity, photothermal effect, and anticorrosion performance. The coatings show excellent self-healing performance in response to chemical and microstructure damage, such as rapid self-healing under 1 sun irradiation in 10 min, complete self-healing after serious damage (e.g., 10 damage and self-healing cycles and complex microstructure damage), and even self-healing under natural sunlight in 4 h. Moreover, the self-healed coatings show good corrosion protection for magnesium alloy in the neutral salt spray test. These are because of the combination of the SMP primer with good shape-memory effect and the PF-POS@MWCNTs coating with good superhydrophobicity, photothermal effect, and embedded PF-POS. The coatings are self-healable under natural sunlight while in service and thus may find applications in diverse fields.

Facile Preparation of Impalement Resistant, Mechanically Robust and Weather Resistant Photothermal Superhydrophobic Coatings for Anti-/De-icing.

Photothermal superhydrophobic coatings hold great promise in addressing the limitations of conventional superhydrophobic anti-icing coatings. However, developing such coatings with excellent impalement resistance, mechanical robustness and weather resistance remains a significant challenge. Here, we report facile preparation of robust photothermal superhydrophobic coatings with all the above advantages. The coatings were prepared by spraying a dispersion consisting of fluorinated silica nanoparticles, a silicone-modified polyester adhesive and photothermal carbon black nanoparticles onto Al alloy plates followed by thermal curing. Thermal curing caused migration of perfluorodecyl polysiloxane from within the coatings to the surface, effectively maintaining a low surface energy despite the presence of the adhesive. Therefore, combined with the hierarchical micro-/nanostructure, dense yet rough nanostructure, adhesion of the adhesive and chemically inert components, the coatings exhibited remarkable superhydrophobicity, impalement resistance, mechanical robustness and weather resistance. Furthermore, the coatings demonstrated excellent photothermal effect even in the -10 °C, 80 % relative humidity and weak sunlight (0.2 sun) environment. Consequently, the coatings showed excellent passive anti-icing and active de-icing performance. Moreover, the coatings have good generalizability and scalability. We are confident that this study will accelerate the practical implementation of photothermal superhydrophobic coatings.

Stable food grade wax/attapulgite superhydrophobic coatings for anti-adhesion of liquid foods.

Adhesion of liquid foods on their packaging materials has caused significant food wastes and environment pollution, which has attracted great attention. Food grade superhydrophobic coatings are very promising to solve the issue but suffer from low mechanical stability and complex preparation methods. Herein, a food grade superhydrophobic coating for anti-adhesion of liquid foods was prepared by combining edible paraffin wax, polydimethylsiloxane-modified attapulgite natural nanorods and a food grade silicone adhesive. The concentration of polydimethylsiloxane-modified attapulgite, ultrasonication time and the volume ratio of the paraffin wax/attapulgite suspension to the silicone adhesive solution have great influences on wettability and morphology of the coatings. The coatings exhibit good static and dynamic superhydrophobicity due to their hierarchical micro-/nanostructure and low surface energy of the polydimethylsiloxane-modified attapulgite and paraffin wax. Moreover, the coatings exhibit good mechanical and chemical stability. The coatings are also highly repellent towards various liquid foods including the hot ones. Furthermore, the coatings are applicable onto various frequently used flexible and hard food packing materials including polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, aluminium alloy and paper, etc. Thus, the superhydrophobic coatings have great application potential in the food packing industry for anti-adhesion of liquid foods.

Preparation of Mechanically Stable Superamphiphobic Coatings via Combining Phase Separation of Adhesive and Fluorinated SiO2 for Anti-Icing.

Superamphiphobic coatings have widespread application potential in various fields, e.g., anti-icing, anti-corrosion and self-cleaning, but are seriously limited by poor mechanical stability. Here, mechanically stable superamphiphobic coatings were fabricated by spraying the suspension composed of phase-separated silicone-modified polyester (SPET) adhesive microspheres with fluorinated silica (FD-POS@SiO2) on them. The effects of non-solvent and SPET adhesive contents on the superamphiphobicity and mechanical stability of the coatings were studied. Due to the phase separation of SPET and the FD-POS@SiO2 nanoparticles, the coatings present a multi-scale micro-/nanostructure. Combined with the FD-POS@SiO2 nanoparticles of low surface energy, the coatings present outstanding static and dynamic superamphiphobicity. Meanwhile, the coatings present outstanding mechanical stability due to the adhesion effect of SPET. In addition, the coatings present outstanding chemical and thermal stability. Moreover, the coatings can obviously delay the water freezing time and decrease the icing adhesion strength. We trust that the superamphiphobic coatings have widespread application potential in the anti-icing field.

Durable superhydrophobic coatings for prevention of rain attenuation of 5G/weather radomes.

Superhydrophobic coatings are expected to solve the rain attenuation issue of 5G radomes. However, it is very challenging to design and construct such superhydrophobic coatings with good impalement resistance, mechanical robustness, and weather resistance, which remains as one of the main bottlenecks hindering their practical applications. Here, we report the design of superhydrophobic coatings with all these merits mentioned above by spray-coating a suspension of adhesive/fluorinated silica core/shell microspheres onto substrates. The core/shell microspheres are formed by phase separation of the adhesive and adhesion between the adhesive and fluorinated silica nanoparticles. The coatings have an approximately isotropic three-tier hierarchical micro-/micro-/nanostructure, a dense but rough surface at the nanoscale, and chemically inert composition with low surface energy. Consequently, the coatings show excellent impalement resistance, mechanical robustness and weather resistance compared with previous studies, and the mechanisms are revealed. Furthermore, we realize large-scale preparation, extension, and practical application of the coatings for efficiently preventing rain attenuation of 5G/weather radomes. By taking these advantages, we believe that the superhydrophobic coatings have great application potential and market prospect. The findings here will boost preparation and real-world applications of superhydrophobic coatings.

Challenges and strategies for commercialization and widespread practical applications of superhydrophobic surfaces.

Superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces have progressed rapidly in fundamental research over the past 20 years, but their practical applications lag far behind. In this perspective, we first present the findings of a survey on the current state of SH surfaces including fundamental research, patenting, and commercialization. On the basis of the survey and our experience, this perspective explores the challenges and strategies for commercialization and widespread practical applications of SH surfaces. The comprehensive performances, preparation methods, and application scenarios of SH surfaces are the major constraints. These challenges should be addressed simultaneously, and the actionable strategies are provided. We then highlight the standard test methods of the comprehensive performances including mechanical stability, impalement resistance, and weather resistance. Last, the prospects of SH surfaces in the future are discussed. We anticipate that SH surfaces may be widely commercialized and used in practical applications around the year 2035 through combination of the suggested strategies and input from both academia and industry.

Super pressure-resistant superhydrophobic fabrics with real self-cleaning performance.

Detergents are extensively used for laundry, causing significant negative impacts on water bodies, plants and animals. Superhydrophobic fabrics are promising to reduce detergent consumption but suffer from low pressure resistance. Here, we report super pressure-resistant superhydrophobic fabrics prepared using polysiloxane modified SiO2 nanoparticles with epoxy groups. The fabrics show real self-cleaning performance, essentially different from the conventional self-cleaning property of solid particles loosely placed on superhydrophobic surfaces. The contaminated fabrics by various stains can be completely cleaned by home machine laundering without using any detergent whereas the traditional superhydrophobic fabrics cannot. This is owing to excellent abrasion and washing durability, low liquid adhesion force, superior pressure-resistance and vapor-resistance of the fabrics, originating from the low surface energy and dense micro-/nanostructure. Moreover, the superhydrophobic fabrics can be scaled up using the conventional fabric finishing line with low cost. The superhydrophobic fabrics will help significantly reduce the global detergent consumption.

Facile Preparation of Robust Superamphiphobic Coatings on Complex Substrates via Nonsolvent-Induced Phase Separation.

Superamphiphobic surfaces have great potential in many fields but often suffer from complicated, expensive, and time-consuming preparation methods, difficulty in applying them on complex substrates, and low stability. Herein, we show a facile fabrication of robust superamphiphobic coatings on complex substrates. A stock suspension was prepared by nonsolvent-induced phase separation of a silicone-modified polyurethane (Si-PU) adhesive containing fluorinated silica (FD-silica) nanoparticles. Then, superamphiphobic surfaces could be easily fabricated via dip coating in the suspension. The influences of phase separation and Si-PU/FD-silica ratio on the wettability and morphology of the coatings were studied. The coatings feature a microscale dense and nanoscale rough texture due to phase separation and rapid solvent evaporation, which enhances the stability by forming strong linkages among the nanoparticles while achieving high superamphiphobicity by trapping air stably in the nanopores. Consequently, the coatings show excellent static/dynamic superamphiphobicity, superior impalement resistance, and good mechanical, chemical, thermal, and UV aging stability. Additionally, the coatings have good anti-icing performance as demonstrated by the greatly extended water freezing time and weakened ice adhesion force in both simulated and real conditions.

Long-term corrosion protection for magnesium alloy by two-layer self-healing superamphiphobic coatings based on shape memory polymers and attapulgite.

Magnesium (Mg) alloy has wide potential applications due to its unique properties, but is apt to corrosion. Recently, superhydrophobic coatings are receiving great interest for corrosion protection of metals but suffer from short lifespan. Here, we report a strategy for long-term corrosion protection of Mg alloy by designing two-layer self-healing superamphiphobic coatings based on shape memory polymers (SMP) and attapulgite. The superamphiphobic coatings are composed of a bottom SMP coating containing a corrosion inhibitor (1, 2, 3-benzotriazole, BTA) and ceresine wax microparticles and a top superamphiphobic attapulgite coating. The two-layer self-healing coatings have excellent superamphiphobicity and initial anti-corrosion performance. The Mg alloy with the coatings can withstand immersion in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution for 80 days and neutral salt spray with 5 wt% NaCl for 54 days. Furthermore, the coatings show excellent self-healing capability towards various physical damages, such as 10 scratching/self-healing cycles at the same position, hexagonal star scratching and grid scratching. Moreover, the physically damaged coatings exhibit self-healing behavior of the microstructure and superhydrophobicity, driven by the shape memory effect of the bottom SMP layer. Thus, the self-healed coatings can still withstand 60 days of 3.5 wt% NaCl solution immersion and 30 days of 5 wt% NaCl salt spray. This study paves the way for applying super anti-wetting coatings for long-term corrosion protection of metals.

Environmentally friendly, durable and transparent anti-fouling coatings applicable onto various substrates.

Anti-fouling coatings are of great interest because of their unique wettability and self-cleaning property, but their widespread applications are seriously hindered by low stability, heavy usage of fluorinated compounds and low transparency, etc. Here, we report a new kind of smooth anti-fouling coatings based on methyltrimethoxysilane. The coatings were fabricated by preparing a stock solution via hydrolytic condensation of methyltrimethoxysilane in isopropanol, followed by wiping the glass slide with the non-woven fabric that sucked the stock solution. The transparent anti-fouling coatings have excellent anti-fouling properties against various fluids such as water, n-hexadecane, diiodomethane, daily encountered liquids (e.g., milk, coffee, red wine, soy sauce and cooking oil), mark seals, artificial fingerprint liquids and paints (both water-based and oil-based), etc. The fluids can easily roll off from the 4-30° titled coatings. Furthermore, the coatings have good mechanical (200 cycles of friction, scratching and bending), chemical (saline, acidic and basic solutions) and thermal stability (boiling and 300 °C heating) regarding the easy sliding behavior of the probing liquids. In addition, the anti-fouling coatings are applicable onto various substrates via the same procedure. The smooth anti-fouling coatings have huge potential applications, owing to the excellent anti-fouling properties, high stability as well as the non-fluorinated and simple preparation method.

Efficient scald-preventing enabled by robust polyester fabrics with hot water repellency and water impalement resistance.

Scald is a kind of common injury for human beings caused by contacting with hot liquids and/or vapor. Herein, we report the preparation of an advanced fabric for efficient scald-preventing by dip-coating a common polyester fabric in a hexadecyl polysiloxane (HD-POS) aqueous suspension, which was synthesized via a waterborne and nonfluorinated approach. Thanks to the hierarchical micro-/nanostructure of the fabric, stable bonding of the compact HD-POS layer on the polyester microfibers, and inherent high stability and elasticity of HD-POS, the fabric features excellent hot water repellency even for dynamic boiling water with a high water impalement resistance of up to 5 grades according to the water repellency grade test. In addition, the fabric shows extraordinary mechanical stability, e.g., its superhydrophobicity remained nearly unchanged after 200 cycles washing, 10,000 cycles Martindale abraison or 1000 cycles 100% streching and releasing. It also exhibits superior environmental robustness (117 d outdoor test) and chemical robustness (7 d immersion in 1 M HCl or NaOH solution, 60 min ultrosonication in both water and anchol immersion) in various harsh conditions. By applying as an advanced fabric for efficient scald-preventing, it can avoid direct contact of hot water and vapor with rat skin by preventing penetration of hot water and most of vapor. It could also significantly reduce heat conduction and radiation to rat skin by reducing contact time of hot water with the fabric (decreased 10 s more quickly than the pristine fabric to 60 °C when encountering 100 mL of 92 °C water). As a result, the fabric in contact with the skin keeps dry and the fabric temperature is much lower than that of the pristine fabric once encountering hot water, thus showing great potentials as an advanced fabric for efficient scald-preventing applications.

A self-healing superamphiphobic coating for efficient corrosion protection of magnesium alloy.

Magnesium alloys have many excellent properties, but the poor corrosion resistance seriously hinders their widespread applications. Here, we report a self-healing superamphiphobic coating for efficient corrosion protection of magnesium alloy by the combination of a compact self-healing epoxy resin (SHEP) coating and a porous superamphiphobic coating. The coating shows (i) excellent superamphiphobicity with high contact angle, low sliding angle and robust impact/bounce behavior, (ii) excellent anti-corrosion performance as demonstrated by the potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and (iii) excellent self-healing performance as proved by the scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This is owing to synergistic effect of the bi-layer structure. Furthermore, the healed coating retained excellent anti-corrosion performance according to the immersion test and neutral salt spray test. This is because the SHEP layer can effectively drive repair of microstructure of the superamphiphobic layer, and then recover of superamphiphobicity. Therefore, the contact area and contact time of corrosive solutions with the pristine and healed coatings are limited, which efficiently prevents diffusion of corrosive substances such as water, chloride ions and oxygen. The self-healing superamphiphobic coating may find applications in protection of various metal alloys.