Biological scaffold as potential platforms for stem cells: Current development and applications in wound healing.

Wound repair is a complex challenge for both clinical practitioners and researchers. Conventional approaches for wound repair have several limitations. Stem cell-based therapy has emerged as a novel strategy to address this issue, exhibiting significant potential for enhancing wound healing rates, improving wound quality, and promoting skin regeneration. However, the use of stem cells in skin regeneration presents several challenges. Recently, stem cells and biomaterials have been identified as crucial components of the wound-healing process. Combination therapy involving the development of biocompatible scaffolds, accompanying cells, multiple biological factors, and structures resembling the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) has gained considerable attention. Biological scaffolds encompass a range of biomaterials that serve as platforms for seeding stem cells, providing them with an environment conducive to growth, similar to that of the ECM. These scaffolds facilitate the delivery and application of stem cells for tissue regeneration and wound healing. This article provides a comprehensive review of the current developments and applications of biological scaffolds for stem cells in wound healing, emphasizing their capacity to facilitate stem cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation, and paracrine functions. Additionally, we identify the pivotal characteristics of the scaffolds that contribute to enhanced cellular activity.

Insight into the probability of ethoxy(pentafluoro)cyclotriphosphazene (PFPN) as the functional electrolyte additive in lithium-sulfur batteries.

Enhancing the flame retardancy of electrolytes and the stability of lithium anodes is of great significance to improve the safety performance of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. It is well known that the most commonly used ether based electrolyte solvents in Li-S batteries have a lower flash point and higher volatility than the ester electrolyte solvents in Li-ion batteries. Hence, lithium-sulfur batteries have greater safety risks than lithium-ion batteries. Herein, ethoxy(pentafluoro)cyclotriphosphazene (PFPN), which is commonly used as a flame retardant for ester electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries, is utilized as both a film-forming electrolyte additive and a flame retardant additive for the ether electrolyte to investigated its applicability in Li-S batteries. It is found that the ether electrolyte containing PFPN not only has good flame retardant properties and a wide potential window of about 5 V, but also can form a stable SEI film on the surface of a lithium anode. As a result, with the ether-based electrolyte containing 10 wt% PFPN, Li-Cu and Li-S batteries all delivered a stable cycling performance with a high coulombic Efficiency and a long-lifespan performance, which were all superior to the batteries using the ether-based electrolyte without PFPN. This study demonstrates an effective solution to solve the problems of flammable ether-based electrolytes and reactive lithium anodes, and it may contribute to the development of safe Li-S batteries.

Circadian rhythm response and its effect on photosynthetic characteristics of the Lhcb family genes in tea plant.

BACKGROUND: The circadian clock, also known as the circadian rhythm, is responsible for predicting daily and seasonal changes in the environment, and adjusting various physiological and developmental processes to the appropriate times during plant growth and development. The circadian clock controls the expression of the Lhcb gene, which encodes the chlorophyll a/b binding protein. However, the roles of the Lhcb gene in tea plant remain unclear. RESULTS: In this study, a total of 16 CsLhcb genes were identified based on the tea plant genome, which were distributed on 8 chromosomes of the tea plant. The promoter regions of CsLhcb genes have a variety of cis-acting elements including hormonal, abiotic stress responses and light response elements. The CsLhcb family genes are involved in the light response process in tea plant. The photosynthetic parameter of tea leaves showed rhythmic changes during the two photoperiod periods (48 h). Stomata are basically open during the day and closed at night. Real-time quantitative PCR results showed that most of the CsLhcb family genes were highly expressed during the day, but were less expressed at night. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that CsLhcb genes were involved in the circadian clock process of tea plant, it also provided potential references for further understanding of the function of CsLhcb gene family in tea plant.

Buffer Chain Model for Understanding Crystallization Competition in Conjugated Polymers.

It remains challenging to comprehensively understand the packing models of conjugated polymers, in which side chains play extremely critical roles. The side chains are typically flexible and non-conductive and are widely used to improve the polymer solubility in organic solutions. Herein, a buffer chain model is proposed to describe link between conjugated backbone and side chains for understanding the relationship of crystallization competition of conductive conjugated backbones and non-conductive side chains. A longer buffer chain is beneficial for alleviating such crystallization competition and further promoting the spontaneous packing of conjugated backbones, resulting in enhanced charge transport properties. Our results provide a novel concept for designing conjugated polymers towards ordered organization and enhanced electronic properties and highlight the importance of balancing the competitive interactions between different parts of conjugated polymers.

Regulating the Topology of Covalent Organic Frameworks for Boosting Overall H2O2 Photogeneration.

Photocatalytic oxygen reduction reactions and water oxidation reactions are extremely promising green approaches for massive H2O2 production. Nonetheless, constructing effective photocatalysts for H2O2 generation is critical and still challenging. Since the network topology has significant impacts on the electronic properties of two dimensional (2D) polymers, herein, for the first time, we regulated the H2O2 photosynthetic activity of 2D covalent organic frameworks (COFs) by topology. Through designing the linking sites of the monomers, we synthesized a pair of novel COFs with similar chemical components on the backbones but distinct topologies. Without sacrificial agents, TBD-COF with cpt topology exhibited superior H2O2 photoproduction performance (6085 and 5448 µmol g-1 h-1 in O2 and air) than TBC-COF with hcb topology through the O2-O2⋅--H2O2, O2-O2⋅--O2 1-H2O2, and H2O-H2O2 three paths. Further experimental and theoretical investigations confirmed that during the H2O2 photosynthetic process, the charge carrier separation efficiency, O2⋅- generation and conversion, and the energy barrier of the rate determination steps in the three channels, related to the formation of *OOH, *O2 1, and *OH, can be well tuned by the topology of COFs. The current study enlightens the fabrication of high-performance photocatalysts for H2O2 production by topological structure modulation.

Effect of Intermittent Low-Pressure Radiofrequency Helium Cold Plasma Treatments on Rice Gelatinization, Fatty Acid, and Hygroscopicity.

To establish the safe and reproducible effects of cold plasma (CP) technology on food products, this study evaluated the gelatinization parameters, fatty acid profile, and hygroscopic properties of rice grains repeatedly treated with low-pressure radiofrequency (RF) helium CP (13.56 MHz, 140 Pa, 120 W-20s, 0-4 times, and 300 g sample). Compared with the untreated (zero times) sample, with an increase in CP treatment times from one to four on rice, the water contact angle and cooking time decreased, while the water absorption rate and freshness index increased, and the pH value remained unchanged. CP repeating treatments essentially had no effect on the gelatinization enthalpy, but significantly increased the peak temperature of gelatinization. From the pasting profile of rice that has been repeatedly CP treated, the peak, breakdown, and setback viscosities in flour paste decreased. CP repeating treatments on rice did not change the short-range molecular order of starch. Compared with the untreated sample, the first helium CP treatment maintained the content of C18:1n9c, C18:2n6c, and C18:3n3, but the second to fourth CP treatment significantly decreased contents of these fatty acids (FAs) as the C18:0 content increased. The first three CP treatments can increase the water and sucrose solvent retention capacity in rice flours. CP repeatedly treated rice first exhibits the similar monolayer water content and solid surface area of water sorption. Principal component analysis shows that contact angle, pasting parameters, and fatty acid profile in milled rice are quite sensitive to CP treatment. Results support that the effect of low-pressure RF 120W helium CP treatment 20 s on rice grains is perdurable, and the improvement of CP intermittent treatments on rice cooking and pasting properties is an added benefit, and the hygroscopic properties of rice was kept.

Non-destructive detection of defective maize kernels using hyperspectral imaging and convolutional neural network with attention module.

Rapid, effective and non-destructive detection of the defective maize kernels is crucial for their high-quality storage in granary. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) coupled with convolutional neural network (CNN) based on spectral and spatial attention (Spl-Spal-At) module was proposed for identifying the different types of maize kernels. The HSI data within 380-1000 nm of six classes of sprouted, heat-damaged, insect-damaged, moldy, broken and healthy kernels was collected. The CNN-Spl-At, CNN-Spal-At and CNN-Spl-Spal-At models were established based on the spectra, images and their fusion features as inputs for the recognition of different kernels. Further compared the performances of proposed models and conventional models were built by support vector machine (SVM) and extreme learning machine (ELM). The results indicated that the recognition ability of CNN with attention series models was significantly better than that of SVM and ELM models and fused features were more conducive to expressing the appearance of different kernels than single features. And the CNN-Spl-Spal-At model had an optimal recognition result with high average classification accuracy of 98.04 % and 94.56 % for the training and testing sets, respectively. The recognition results were visually presented on the surface image of kernels with different colors. The CNN-Spl-Spal-At model was built in this study could effectively detect defective maize kernels, and it also had great potential to provide the analysis approaches for the development of non-destructive testing equipment based on HSI technique for maize quality.

Clinical and CT Quantitative Features for Predicting Liver Metastases in Patients with Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Study with Prospective/External Validation.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate clinical characteristics and quantitative CT imaging features for the prediction of liver metastases (LMs) in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs). METHODS: Patients diagnosed with pathologically confirmed PNETs were included, 133 patients were in the training group, 22 patients in the prospective internal validation group, and 28 patients in the external validation group. Clinical information and quantitative features were collected. The independent variables for predicting LMs were confirmed through the implementation of univariate and multivariate logistic analyses. The diagnostic performance was evaluated by conducting receiver operating characteristic curves for predicting LMs in the training and validation groups. RESULTS: PNETs with LMs demonstrated significantly larger diameter and lower arterial/portal tumor-parenchymal enhancement ratio, arterial/portal absolute enhancement value (AAE/PAE value) (p < 0.05). After multivariate analyses, A high level of tumor marker (odds ratio (OR): 5.32; 95% CI, 1.54-18.35), maximum diameter larger than 24.6 mm (OR: 7.46; 95% CI, 1.70-32.72), and AAE value ≤ 51 HU (OR: 4.99; 95% CI, 0.93-26.95) were independent positive predictors of LMs in patients with PNETs, with area under curve (AUC) of 0.852 (95%CI, 0.781-0.907). The AUCs for prospective internal and external validation groups were 0.883 (95% CI, 0.686-0.977) and 0.789 (95% CI, 0.602-0.916), respectively. CONCLUSION: Tumor marker, maximum diameter and absolute enhancement value in arterial phase were independent predictors with good predictive performance for the prediction of LMs in patients with PNETs. Combining clinical and quantitative features may facilitate the attainment of good predictive precision in predicting LMs.

Study of chondrogenesis of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in curdlan- poly(vinyl alcohol) composite hydrogels and its mechanical properties of freezing-thawing treatments.

The curdlan gel is a natural material produced by bacteria. It utilizes chemical cross-linking reactions to form a 3D porous composite hydrogel, increasing its porosity and water content, and improving its mechanical properties. It can be used in tissue repair and regenerative medicine. Curdlan-Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) composite hydrogel can rapidly swell within 1 min due to its porous structure. Compression tests confirmed that it still maintains its original mechanical strength, even after five repeated freeze-thaw (FT) processes, making it suitable for long-term cryopreservation. The purpose of this study is to transplant umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) on Curdlan-PVA composite hydrogel and observe the chondrocytes on the material. The results of using 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), calcein-acetoxymethyl ester (calcein AM), and Collagen type II-Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) staining, confirmed that UC-MSCs can attach and differentiate into chondrocytes on 3D Curdlan-PVA composite hydrogel.

Cells in the liver microenvironment regulate the process of liver metastasis.

The research of liver metastasis is a developing field. The ability of tumor cells to invade the liver depends on the complicated interactions between metastatic cells and local subpopulations in the liver (including Kupffer cells, hepatic stellate cells, liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, and immune-related cells). These interactions are mainly mediated by intercellular adhesion and the release of cytokines. Cell populations in the liver microenvironment can play a dual role in the progression of liver metastasis through different mechanisms. At the same time, we can see the participation of liver parenchymal cells and nonparenchymal cells in the process of liver metastasis of different tumors. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to summarize the relationship between cellular components of liver microenvironment and metastasis and emphasize the importance of different cells in the occurrence or potential regression of liver metastasis.

NAP1L1 regulates BIRC2 ubiquitination modification via E3 ubiquitin ligase UBR4 and hence determines hepatocellular carcinoma progression.

We have previously shown that nucleosome assembly protein 1-like 1 (NAP1L1) plays an important role in the abnormal proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. However, the effects of NAP1L1 on the malignant behaviour of HCC cells, including cell migration, invasion and apoptosis, remain unclear. Baculoviral IAP repeat-containing 2 (BIRC2) plays a key role in initiating the abnormal proliferation, apoptotic escape and multidrug resistance of HCC cells; however, the mechanisms through which its stability is regulated in HCC remain elusive. Here, we found that knockdown of NAP1L1 inhibited the proliferation of HCC cells and activated apoptotic pathways but did not remarkably affect the migratory and invasive abilities of HCC cells. In addition, knockdown of NAP1L1 did not alter the expression of BIRC2 at the transcriptional level but substantially reduced its expression at the translational level, suggesting that NAP1L1 is involved in the post-translational modification (such as ubiquitination) of BIRC2. Furthermore, BIRC2 was highly expressed in human HCC tissues and promoted the proliferation and apoptotic escape of HCC cells. Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay and mass spectrometry revealed that NAP1L1 and BIRC2 did not bind to each other; however, ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component n-recognin 4 (UBR4) was identified as an intermediate molecule associating NAP1L1 with BIRC2. Knockdown of NAP1L1 promoted the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of BIRC2 through the ubiquitin-protein junction of UBR4, which in turn inhibited the proliferation and apoptotic escape of HCC cells and exerted anti-tumour effects. In conclusion, this study reveals a novel mechanism through which NAP1L1 regulates the ubiquitination of BIRC2 through UBR4, thereby determining the progression of HCC. Based on this mechanism, suppression of NAP1L1 may inhibit tumour progression in patients with HCC with high protein expression of NAP1L1 or BIRC2.

[Clinical characteristics of 267 children with eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease: a multicenter study]. / 267ä¾‹å„¿ç«¥å—œé ¸ç²’ç»†èƒžæ€§èƒƒè‚ é“ç–¾ç— ä¸´åºŠç‰¹å¾åˆ†æžï¼šä¸€é¡¹å¤šä¸­å¿ƒç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the clinical manifestations, endoscopic findings, histopathological changes, treatment, and prognosis of eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease (EGID) in children, with the aim of enhancing awareness among pediatricians about this condition. METHODS: Data of 267 children with EGID were prospectively collected from January 2019 to July 2022 at Jiangxi Children's Hospital, Hunan Children's Hospital, and Henan Children's Hospital. The age of onset, symptoms, physical signs, laboratory examination results, endoscopic findings, histopathological changes, and treatment outcomes were observed. RESULTS: Among the 267 children with EGID, the majority had mild (164 cases, 61.4%) or moderate (96 cases, 35.6%) clinical severity. The disease occurred at any age, with a higher prevalence observed in school-age children (178 cases). The main symptoms in infants were vomiting and hematemesis, while in toddlers, vomiting and bloody stools were prominent. Abdominal pain and vomiting were the primary symptoms in preschool and school-age children. Nearly half (49.4%) of the affected children showed elevated platelet counts on hematological examination, but there was no significant difference in platelet counts among children with mild, moderate, and severe EGID (P>0.05). Endoscopic findings in EGID children did not reveal significant specificity, and histopathological examination showed no specific structural damage. Among them, 85.0% (227 cases) received acid suppression therapy, 34.5% (92 cases) practiced dietary avoidance, 20.9% (56 cases) received anti-allergic medication, and a small proportion (24 cases, 9.0%) were treated with prednisone. Clinical symptoms were relieved in all patients after treatment, but three cases with peptic ulcers experienced recurrence after drug discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS: Mild and moderate EGID are more common in children, with no specific endoscopic findings. Dietary avoidance, acid suppression therapy, and anti-allergic medication are the main treatment methods. The prognosis of EGID is generally favorable in children.

Ovarian cancer with intestinal wall invasion and hyperamylasemia: a case report.

Numerous studies have suggested a robust association between amylase and ovarian cancer. however, few amylase-producing ovarian cancers have been reported because amylase is a rare product of ovarian cancer. A case of an elderly female patient with an upper abdominal unfitness, intestinal wall along with uterine adnexal invasion, and high serum and urinary amylase is summarized in this article. The patient was initially suspected of having a gastrointestinal tumor. Initial laboratory findings showed markedly significantly raised serum and urinary amylase levels. Imaging showed invasion of the intestinal wall and uterine adnexa, and histology of the specimen taken through the abdominal wall lump and electron colonoscopy showed ovarian cancer. The patient's blood amylase levels decreased to normal after 4 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin. Following this, she underwent interval debulking surgery, which included total hysterectomy, bilateral adnexectomy, great omentectomy, appendectomy, resection of pelvic and abdominal lesions, and partial rectal resection. Postoperative pathology and immunohistochemistry staining confirmed a diagnosis of high-grade serous ovarian cancer. This case suggests that in female patients, hyperamylasemia may indicate the presence of ovarian cancer. It is necessary to perform a multisite, multipoint histologic examination to identify the tumor's origin in patients with multiple sites of invasion.

Controlled atmosphere storage drive proteomic change in Chinese Daohuaxiang.

Although the use of a controlled atmosphere is one of the most successful storage techniques, the mechanism thereof in rice storage remains unclear. We stored aromatic rice cultivar Daohuaxiang in a package filled with 98 % N2 and 35 % CO2 for 3 months. We investigated 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline loss, enzyme activities, and proteomics changes of rice during storage. The results showed that the content of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline was reduced by 37.40 %, 25.65 %, and 43.89 % during storage using 98 % N2, 35 % CO2 controlled atmosphere storage, and conventional storage. Controlled atmosphere storage slowed down the increase of malondialdehyde content in Daohuaxiang. The results showed that 26S proteasome regulatory particle triple-A ATPase subunit 6, superoxide dismutase, glutathione transferase, and other key proteins were upregulated during 35 % CO2 regulation. This study provided a meaningful basis for exploring the regulation strategy of aromatic rice quality and strengthening the quality control of aromatic rice industry.

Assessing the Role of BN-Embedding Position in B2N2-Perylenes.

Incorporating heteroatoms can effectively modulate the molecular optoelectronic properties. However, the fundamental understanding of BN doping effects in BN-embedded polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is underexplored, lacking rational guidelines to modulate the electronic structures through BN units for advanced materials. Herein, a concise synthesis of novel B2N2-perylenes with BN doped at the bay area is achieved to systematically explore the doping effect of BN position on the photophysical properties of PAHs. The shift of BN position in B2N2-perylenes alters the π electron conjugation, aromaticity and molecular rigidness significantly, achieving substantially higher electron transition abilities than those with BN doped in the nodal plane. It is further clarified that BN position dominates the photophysical properties over BN orientation. The revealed guideline here may apply generally to novel BN-PAHs, and aid the advancement of BN-PAHs with highly-emissive performance.

Structural and functional insights into the epigenetic regulator MRG15.

MORF4-related gene on chromosome 15 (MRG15), a chromatin remodeller, is evolutionally conserved and ubiquitously expressed in mammalian tissues and cells. MRG15 plays vital regulatory roles in DNA damage repair, cell proliferation and division, cellular senescence and apoptosis by regulating both gene activation and gene repression via associations with specific histone acetyltransferase and histone deacetylase complexes. Recently, MRG15 has also been shown to rhythmically regulate hepatic lipid metabolism and suppress carcinoma progression. The unique N-terminal chromodomain and C-terminal MRG domain in MRG15 synergistically regulate its interaction with different cofactors, affecting its functions in various cell types. Thus, how MRG15 elaborately regulates target gene expression and performs diverse functions in different cellular contexts is worth investigating. In this review, we provide an in-depth discussion of how MRG15 controls multiple physiological and pathological processes.

Root-associated bacteria strengthen their community stability against disturbance of antibiotics on structure and functions.

Antibiotics affect bacterial community structure and functions in soil. However, the response and adaptation of root-associated bacterial communities to antibiotic stress remains poorly understood. Here, rhizobox experiments were conducted with maize (Zea mays L.) upon exposure to antibiotics ciprofloxacin or tetracycline. High-throughput sequencing analysis of bacterial community and quantitative PCR analysis of nitrogen cycling genes show that ciprofloxacin and tetracycline significantly shift bacterial community structure in bulk soil, whereas plant host may mitigate the disturbances of antibiotics on bacterial communities in root-associated niches (i.e., rhizosphere and rhizoplane) through the community stabilization. Deterministic assembly, microbial interaction, and keystone species (e.g., Rhizobium and Massilia) of root-associated bacterial communities benefit the community stability compared with those in bulk soil. Meanwhile, the rhizosphere increases antibiotic dissipation, potentially reducing the impacts of antibiotics on root-associated bacterial communities. Furthermore, rhizospheric effects deriving from root exudates alleviate the impacts of antibiotics on the nitrogen cycle (i.e., nitrification, organic nitrogen conversion and denitrification) as confirmed by functional gene quantification, which is largely attributed to the bacterial community stability in rhizosphere. The present study enhances the understanding on the response and adaptation of root-associated bacterial community to antibiotic pollution.

Association of Cystatin C Level with All-cause Mortality in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis: A Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Blood cystatin C level has been introduced as a promising biomarker to detect early kidney injury in cirrhotic patients. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to investigate the association of blood cystatin C level with all-- cause mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Embase databases were searched from the inception to November 15, 2022. Observational studies evaluating the value of blood cystatin C level in predicting all-cause mortality in patients with ACS were selected. The pooled hazard risk (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated using a random effect model meta-analysis. RESULTS: Twelve studies with 1983 cirrhotic patients were identified. The pooled adjusted HR of all-cause mortality was 3.59 (95% CI 2.39-5.39) for the high versus low group of cystatin C level. Stratified analysis by study design, characteristics of patients, geographical region, sample size, and length of follow-up further supported the predictive value elevated cystatin C level. CONCLUSION: Elevated cystatin C level was an independent predictor of poor survival in patients with liver cirrhosis. Detection of blood cystatin C level may provide important prognostic information in cirrhotic patients.