Dynamic Reversible Oxidation-Reduction of Iodide Ions for Operationally Stable Perovskite Solar Cells under ISOS-L-3 Protocol.

Despite rapid advancements in the photovoltaic efficiencies of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), their operational stability remains a significant challenge for commercialization. This instability mainly arises from light-induced halide ion migration and subsequent oxidation into iodine (I2). The situation is exacerbated when considering the heat effects at elevated temperatures, leading to the volatilization of I2 and resulting in irreversible device degradation. Mercaptoethylammonium iodide (ESAI) is thus incorporated into perovskite as an additive to inhibit the oxidation of iodide anion (I-) and  the light-induced degradation pathway of FAPbI3→FAI+PbI2. Additionally, the formation of a thiol-disulfide/I--I2 redox pair within the perovskite film provides a dynamic mechanism for the continuous reduction of I2 under light and thermal stresses, facilitating the healing of iodine-induced degradations. This approach significantly enhances the operational stability of PSCs. Under the ISOS-L-3 testing protocol (maximum power point (MPP) tracking in an environment with relative humidity of ≈50% at ≈65 °C), the treated PSCs maintain 97% of their original power conversion efficieney (PCE) after 300 h of aging. In contrast, control devices exhibit almost complete degradation, primarily due to rapid thermal-induced I2 volatilization. These results demonstrate a promising strategy to overcome critical stability challenges in PSCs, particularly in scenarios involving thermal effects.

Combining HD-tDCS with music stimulation for patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness: Study protocol for an RCT trial.

BACKGROUND: Patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDOC) pose significant challenges to healthcare workers due to their severe motor impairments and limited interaction with the environment. Non-invasive brain stimulation such as high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) and music stimulation show promise in awakening this population. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we present a protocol aiming at investigating the efficacy of combined HD-tDCS and music stimulation in awakening patients with pDOC through a single-blind, randomized controlled trial. METHODS: Ninety patients with pDOC will be randomly divided into three groups: active HD-tDCS with music stimulation, active HD-tDCS, and sham HD-tDCS. All participants will receive 20 treatment sessions over a period of 10 days and the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised, Glasgow Outcome Scale and electroencephalogram will be used as assessment measures to evaluate their level of consciousness throughout the study. Adverse events and complications will be recorded during treatment. Within-group pre-post comparisons and between-group efficacy comparisons will be conducted to identify the most effective intervention approach. Statistical analysis will be performed using SPSS software with a significance level set at P < 0.05. CONCLUSION: The pursuit of awakening therapy for patients with pDOC remains a clinical research challenge. This study protocol is designed with the aim of introducing an innovative non-pharmacological approach which combined HD-tDCS and music stimulation to facilitate the reinstatement of consciousness in patients with pDOC.

ITGB4 upregulation is associated with progression of lower grade glioma.

Gliomas originating in the neuroepithelium account for about 80% of brain malignancies and are the most common cancer of the central nervous system. Clinical management of gliomas remains challenging despite significant advances in comprehensive therapies, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. The ITGB4 (Integrin subunit beta 4) gene encodes a receptor for laminins and its upregulation in tumor tissues is associated with poor prognosis. However, its role in glioma is not well understood. First, we performed a pan cancer analysis of ITGB4 expression in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Survival analysis was done on Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) and TCGA. Immunohistochemistry was then used to validate the expression and role of ITGB4 in glioma. We finally analyzed the possible mechanism by immune infiltration and single-cell sequencing analysis. Here, we found that ITGB4 is upregulated in glioma and accurately predicts the prognosis of lower grade glioma (LGG). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that ITGB4 is a risk factor for LGG. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed that ITGB4 accurately predicts LGG prognosis. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) cluster analysis showed that ITGB4 was closely related to immune related genes. Immune cell infiltration and single cell sequencing analyses indicated that ITGB4 may be closely related to the microenvironment of gliomas, especially tumor-associated fibroblasts. ITGB4 is a promising diagnostic and therapeutic factor in LGG patients.

Deciphering the interaction between Twist1 and PPARγ during adipocyte differentiation.

Obesity, a worldwide epidemic in recent years, is mainly due to the uncontrolled development of adipose tissues, which includes adipocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Adipocyte differentiation is a process involving multiple transcription factor cascades, and the exact mechanism has not yet been defined. As a bHLH transcription factor, Twist1 exerts its activity by forming homo- or heterodimers with other factors. In this study, we showed Twist1 restricts adipogenesis through PPARγ. Expression of various differentiation markers (including PPARγ and adiponectin) and triglyceride-containing lipid droplets were decreased with overexpression of Twist1. Pathway enrichment analysis of RNA-seq data showed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) caused by Twist1 overexpression were significantly related to lipolysis and PPARγ signaling. This implicates that Twist1 plays important regulatory roles in these processes. ChIP and dual luciferase assays showed that Twist1 could bind either PPARγ or adiponectin promoter to repress their respective transcription or directly to PPARγ protein to regulate its transcriptional activity. Furthermore, Twist1 directly interacted RXRα, which usually forms heterodimer with PPARγ to regulate adipogenesis. Taken together, our results suggest that Twist1 is an inhibitory modulator of adipogenesis and its function is likely through direct interaction with PPARγ protein or its gene promoter.

Effects of trunk training using motor imagery on trunk control ability and balance function in patients with stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of trunk training using motor imagery on trunk control and balance function in patients with stroke. METHODS: One hundred eligible stroke patients were randomly divided into a control group and trial group. The control group was given routine rehabilitation therapy, while the trial group was given routine rehabilitation therapy and trunk training using motor imagery. RESULTS: Prior to treatment, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05) in Sheikh's trunk control ability, Berg rating scale (BBS), Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA), movement length, movement area, average front-rear movement speed, average left-right movement speed, and surface electromyography (sEMG) signal of the bilateral erector spinae and rectus abdominis. After treatment, Sheikh's trunk control ability, FMA, and BBS in the two groups were significantly higher than those before treatment (P < 0.05). The movement length, movement area, the average front-rear movement speed, and the average left-right movement speed in the two groups decreased significantly (P < 0.05). The differences of these indicators between the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05). After treatment, the rectus abdominis and erector spinae on the affected side of the two groups improved when compared with those before treatment (P < 0.05). The rectus abdominis and erector spinae on the healthy side of the trial group descended after treatment (P < 0.05), while little changes were observed on the healthy side of the control group after treatment (P > 0.05). The rectus abdominis and erector spinae on the affected side of the trial group improved when compared with those in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the decline of abdominalis rectus and erector spinal muscle on the healthy side. CONCLUSION: Trunk training using motor imagery can significantly improve the trunk control ability and balance function of stroke patients and is conducive to promoting the recovery of motor function.

Visualization of the elevated levels of hypochlorous acid in Alzheimer's disease with a ruthenium(II) complex-based luminescence probe.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder that devastatingly affects people's lives. Accumulating evidence indicates that the pathological progression of AD is inseparably connected with hypochlorous acid (HClO). However, further exploring the biological function remains an open challenging due to a lack of effective tools to image HClO in AD brains. To this end, a ruthenium(II) luminescence probe, Ru-HClO, is developed for quantitative detection and visualization of HClO in nerve cells and AD brains. Ru-HClO shows quenched luminescence due to the PET process (excited electron transfer from Ru(II) center to diaminomaleonitrile) and the CN bond isomerization in the excited state. The HClO-triggered specific cleavage reaction with Ru-HClO cleaves the CN bond to form highly luminescent Ru-COOH. Ru-HClO shows rapid response speed, high sensitivity and selectivity, excellent biocompatibility, which makes the probe to be applied to semi-quantitative analysis of HClO in nerve cells and high-throughput screening of anti-AD drugs in the AD cell model. Moreover, using Ru-HClO as a probe, present work further validated that the elevated levels of HClO secretion were accompanied by the AD progressed. These findings may provide valuable results for figuring out the biological roles that HClO played in AD but also for accelerating anti-AD therapeutic discovery.

Krill oil treatment ameliorates lipid metabolism imbalance in chronic unpredicted mild stress-induced depression-like behavior in mice.

The pathology of depression involves various factors including the interaction between genes and the environment. The deficiency of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) in the brain and depressive symptoms are closely related. Krill oil contains abundant amounts of n-3 PUFAs incorporated in phosphatidylcholine. However, the effect of krill oil treatment on depression-like behaviors induced by chronic stress and its molecular mechanism in the brain remain poorly understood. Here, we used a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model to evaluate the effect of krill oil on depression-like behaviors and explored its molecular mechanism through lipid metabolomics and mRNA profiles in the whole brain. We observed that CUMS-induced depression-like behaviors were ameliorated by krill oil supplementation in mice. The metabolism of glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids was disrupted by CUMS treatment, which were ameliorated after krill oil supplementation. Further analysis found that differently expressed genes after krill oil supplementation were mainly enriched in the membrane structures and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway, which may be responsible for the amelioration of CUMS-induced depression-like behaviors. Altogether, our results uncovered the relationship between lipid metabolism and CUMS, and provided new strategies for the prevention and treatment of depression.

Revitalizing quality of life: a case report on the beneficial impact of comprehensive rehabilitation therapy in treating upper-limb lymphedema following breast cancer surgery.

Objective: To underscore the paramount significance of incorporating comprehensive rehabilitation therapy as a crucial aspect of managing lymphedema caused by breast cancer surgery, and to illuminate our first-hand experience and insights gained in utilizing this approach. Methods: We present a case report of a breast cancer survivor who had been suffering from persistent left upper-limb edema for over 15 years, who was effectively treated with a combination of conventional rehabilitation (seven-step decongestion therapy) and a comprehensive rehabilitation program (seven-step decongestion therapy, along with core and respiratory function training, as well as functional brace wearing). The efficacy of the rehabilitation therapy was evaluated through a comprehensive assessment. Results: Although the patient underwent the conventional rehabilitation program for one month, only limited improvement was observed. However, after an additional month of comprehensive rehabilitation treatment, the patient exhibited significant improvement in both lymphedema and the overall function of the left upper limb. The patient's progress was quantified by measuring the reduction in arm circumference, which demonstrated a notable decrease. Furthermore, improvements in joint range of motion were observed, with forward flexion of the shoulder enhancing by 10°, forward flexion improving by 15°, and elbow flexion increasing by 10°. In addition, manual muscular strength tests revealed an increase in strength from Grade 4 to Grade 5. The patient's quality of life was also significantly improved, as evidenced by the increase in the Activities of Daily Living score from 95 to 100 points, the increase in the the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: Breast score from 53 to 79 points, and the decrease in the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale score from 24 to 17 points. Conclusion: While seven-step decongestion therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing upper-limb lymphedema caused by breast cancer surgery, it has limitations in treating more chronic cases of the condition. However, when combined with core and respiratory function training and functional brace wearing, seven-step decongestion therapy has been shown to be even more effective in reducing lymphedema and improving limb function, ultimately leading to significant improvements in quality of life.

Rational design on high-performance triboelectric nanogenerator consisting of silicon carbide@silicon dioxide nanowhiskers/polydimethylsiloxane (SiC@SiO2/PDMS) nanocomposite films.

The relatively low output performance of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which faces a challenge in performance improvement, limits its practical applications. Here, a high-performance TENG consisting of a silicon carbide@silicon dioxide nanowhiskers/polydimethylsiloxane (SiC@SiO2/PDMS) nanocomposite film and a superhydrophobic aluminum (Al) plate as triboelectric layers is demonstrated. The 7 wt% SiC@SiO2/PDMS TENG presents a peak voltage of 200 V and a peak current of 30 µA, which are ~ 300 and ~ 500% over that of the PDMS TENG, owing to an increase in dielectric constant and a decrease in dielectric loss of the PDMS film because of electric insulated SiC@SiO2 nanowhiskers. Furthermore, a 10 µF capacitor can be charged up to 3 V within ~ 87 s, which can be continuously operated on the electronic watch for 14 s. The work provides an effective strategy for improving output performance of TENG by adding core-shell nanowhiskers to modulate the dielectric properties of organic materials.

Non-human primate models and systems for gait and neurophysiological analysis.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have garnered extensive interest and become a groundbreaking technology to restore movement, tactile sense, and communication in patients. Prior to their use in human subjects, clinical BCIs require rigorous validation and verification (V&V). Non-human primates (NHPs) are often considered the ultimate and widely used animal model for neuroscience studies, including BCIs V&V, due to their proximity to humans. This literature review summarizes 94 NHP gait analysis studies until 1 June, 2022, including seven BCI-oriented studies. Due to technological limitations, most of these studies used wired neural recordings to access electrophysiological data. However, wireless neural recording systems for NHPs enabled neuroscience research in humans, and many on NHP locomotion, while posing numerous technical challenges, such as signal quality, data throughout, working distance, size, and power constraint, that have yet to be overcome. Besides neurological data, motion capture (MoCap) systems are usually required in BCI and gait studies to capture locomotion kinematics. However, current studies have exclusively relied on image processing-based MoCap systems, which have insufficient accuracy (error: ≥4° and 9 mm). While the role of the motor cortex during locomotion is still unclear and worth further exploration, future BCI and gait studies require simultaneous, high-speed, accurate neurophysiological, and movement measures. Therefore, the infrared MoCap system which has high accuracy and speed, together with a high spatiotemporal resolution neural recording system, may expand the scope and improve the quality of the motor and neurophysiological analysis in NHPs.

LncRNA RASSF8-AS1 knockdown displayed antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects through miR-188-3p/ATG7 pathway in ox-LDL-treated vascular smooth muscle cells.

Background: Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-mediated changes in gene expression contribute to atherosclerosis (AS) development. However, the roles of numerous lncRNAs in AS have not been fully elucidated. Here, we aimed to investigate the potential role of lncRNA RASSF8-AS1 (RASSF8-AS1) in autophagy of human aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (HA-VSMCs). Methods: RASSF8-AS1 expression in patients with AS was extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. RASSF8-AS1 and microRNA-188-3p (miR-188-3p) expression was analyzed in 20 enrolled patients with AS. HA-VSMCs were treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) (25, 50, 75, and 100 µg/mL) for 24 h. Loss- or gain-of-function of RASSF8-AS1, miR-1883p, and autophagy-related 7 (ATG7) was studied using the transfected HA-VSMCs. Cell viability was assessed using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). Apoptosis was detected with annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and propidium iodide (PI). Relative luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm the targeting relationship of miR-188-3p to RASSF8-AS1 or ATG7. Gene expression was detected by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot. Results: RASSF8-AS1 was enriched in the serum of patients with AS and ox-LDL-treated HA-VSMCs. Ox-LDL induced proliferation and autophagy while inhibiting the apoptosis of HA-VSMCs, which was abated by RASSF8-AS1 knockdown. RASSF8-AS1 downregulated miR-188-3p of ox-LDL-treated HA-VSMCs. RASSF8-AS1 knockdown caused an increase in miR-188-3p, which inhibited proliferation and autophagy and induced the apoptosis of ox-LDL-treated HA-VSMCs. miR-188-3p inhibited ATG7 expression in ox-LDL-treated HA-VSMCs. RASSF8-AS1 elevated ATG7 and induced autophagy through sponging miR-188-3p in ox-LDL-treated HA-VSMCs. Conclusions: RASSF8-AS1 regulated autophagy by targeting miR-188-3p, a messenger RNA-binding miRNA that increases ATG7 level, which may be a new target molecule for the prevention and prognosis of AS.

Proteomics and Metabolomics Analysis Reveals the Toxicity of ZnO Quantum Dots on Human SMMC-7721 Cells.

Purpose: ZnO quantum dots (QDs) are composed of less toxic metals than other QDs but have the same interesting photochemical properties. Thus, they have received considerable attention recently. Nevertheless, their toxicity cannot be ignored. Methods: In this study, we incubated ZnO QDs with human SMMC-7721 cells for 24 h to assess their nanotoxicity through proteomics (Fold change >1.5 and p-value <0.05) and metabolomics (Fold change ≥ 1.5; VIP ≥ 1; p-value < 0.05) analyses. Results: Both of 174 and 219 significantly changed metabolites were identified in human SMMC-7721 cells treated with 20 and 50 µg/mL ZnO QDs, respectively. ZnO QDs significantly modified metabolic pathways, including purine metabolism, ferroptosis, morphine addiction, alcoholism, cGMP-PKG signaling, and Cushing syndrome. Moreover, we identified 105 and 8 differentially expressed proteins in cells treated with 20 and 50 µg/mL ZnO QDs, and the pathways of alcoholism and Cushing syndrome were enriched. Conclusion: ZnO QDs did not affect cell viability in a CCK8 assay, but disturbed the level of intracellular metabolites and proteins at 20 µg/mL. The KEGG analyses of the metabolomics and proteomics data both enriched the alcoholism and Cushing syndrome pathways. These results provide an experimental basis for future research on the safe use of nanomaterials.

Neuroprotective effects of neural stem cells pretreated with neuregulin1ß on PC12 cells exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation.

Studies on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury suggest that exogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) are ideal candidates for stem cell therapy reperfusion injury. However, NSCs are difficult to obtain owing to ethical limitations. In addition, the survival, differentiation, and proliferation rates of transplanted exogenous NSCs are low, which limit their clinical application. Our previous study showed that neuregulin1ß (NRG1ß) alleviated cerebral I/R injury in rats. In this study, we aimed to induce human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into NSCs and investigate the improvement effect and mechanism of NSCs pretreated with 10 nM NRG1ß on PC12 cells injured by oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R). Our results found that 5 and 10 nM NRG1ß promoted the generation and proliferation of NSCs. Co-culture of NSCs and PC12 cells under condition of OGD/R showed that pretreatment of NSCs with NRG1ß improved the level of reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and mitochondrial damage in injured PC12 cells; these indexes are related to ferroptosis. Research has reported that p53 and solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) play vital roles in ferroptosis caused by cerebral I/R injury. Our data show that the expression of p53 was increased and the level of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) was decreased after RNA interference-mediated knockdown of SLC7A11 in PC12 cells, but this change was alleviated after co-culturing NSCs with damaged PC12 cells. These findings suggest that NSCs pretreated with NRG1ß exhibited neuroprotective effects on PC12 cells subjected to OGD/R through influencing the level of ferroptosis regulated by p53/SLC7A11/GPX4 pathway.

[Spatio-temporal dynamics of gross primary productivity in China from 1982 to 2017 based on different datasets]. / 不同数据集的1982­2017年中国总初级生产力的时空动态.

Understanding the spatio-temporal variations of gross primary productivity (GPP) of terrestrial ecosystem and its relationship with climatic factors can provide important basis for vegetation restoration and protection. Based on meteorological data and three public GPP datasets (EC-LUE GPP, GLASS GPP, and NIRv GPP), we syste-matically analyzed the spatial-temporal variations of GPP and its response to climate change in China during 1982-2017. All the results based on the three GPP datasets showed that the annual and seasonal GPP in China increased annually from 1982 to 2017, with that in 1998 and 2002 significantly being higher than the average level during the study period, and that in 1989 and 1992 significantly being lower than the average annual GPP. From 1982 to 2017, GPP showed a significant upward trend in most regions of China, with the regions with significant increases accounting for 75.7%, 73.0%, and 69.6% of the whole study area, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between annual GPP and precipitation and temperature, but spatial heterogeneity was strong. Among them, the regions with positive correlation between GPP and temperature were mainly distributed in Northwest and Central China, while the regions with positive correlation between GPP and precipitation were mainly distributed in North China. There was obvious spatial-temporal heterogeneity in regions that GPP being affected by temperature and precipitation in different seasons. Temperature was the limiting factor of GPP in spring, autumn and winter, while summer GPP was mainly affected by precipitation.

Chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced mouse ovarian insufficiency by interrupting lipid homeostasis in the ovary.

Ovarian insufficiency results from a number of disorders, and a certain causal relationship between psychological stress and ovarian insufficiency has been reported, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In our study, C57BL/6J female mice were subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), and depression-like mice were selected and identified according to the behavioral tests. The defective ovarian follicle development, low 17 ß-estradiol (E2), and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels, which were consistent with the clinical characteristics of ovarian insufficiency, indicated that depression-like mice may be used to assess the effects of psychological stress on female reproductive function. To investigate a possible mechanism, lipid homeostasis of the ovary was detected by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis, and the decreased abundance of cholesteryl ester (CE 24:4) was supported to be associated with the downregulated E2. Moreover, granulosa cells did undergo more apoptosis in response to psychological stress, which was caused by downregulated Bcl2 and Bcl2/Bax in granulosa cells. Additionally, the disorder of cell death and growth-related pathways in depression-like mouse ovaries was confirmed by RNA-seq analysis. Taken together, this study will provide a better understanding of the female reproductive problem under psychological stress.

Molecular changes in nucleus accumbens due to amelioration of depressive-like behavior by housing with companion.

Social support are positively and causally related to mental health. Higher levels of perceived social support and group memberships are shown to be associated with lower depression symptomatology and recovery from depression, but the molecular biological mechanism behind its remains largely unknown. Here, we report that accompanying with companion ameliorated chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) induced depression-like behaviors in mice. Accompanying with companion altered RNA expression profiles of nucleus accumbens (NAc) in CUMS-induced susceptible and resilience mice. 117 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found to be associated with depression-like behaviors, 17 DEGs associated with resilient behaviors, 43 DEGs associated with accompanying with companion. Importantly, 234 differentially expressed miRNAs that associated with accompanying with companion were obtained, and the miRNA-mRNA network associated with companion was established in NAc, based on the miRNA and mRNA profiles. Taken together, our findings revealed a potential new approach to improve depression-like behaviors, as well as many potential drug targets for the prevention or treatment of depression.

Triboelectrification-Induced Electricity in Self-Healing Hydrogel for Mechanical Energy Harvesting and Ultra-sensitive Pressure Monitoring.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have shown huge application potential in the fields of micro-nano energy harvesting and multifunctional sensing. However, the damage of triboelectric material is one of the challenges for their practical applications. Herein, we fabricated a flexible TENG employing self-healing hydrogel and fluorinated ethylene propylene film as triboelectric materials for mechanical energy harvesting and pressure monitoring. The prepared hydrogel not only has excellent flexibility, transparency, and self-healing property but also exhibits good mechanical property without plastic deformation and damage under a large stretchable strain of 200%. The output electric signals of TENGs are as high as 33.0 V and 3 µA under a contact frequency of 0.40 Hz and a pressure of 2.9 N, respectively, which can charge a capacitor of 0.22 µF to 24.3 V within 300 s. Note that the voltage retention rate of TENGs after self-healing is up to 88.0%. Moreover, hydrogel-based TENGs can act as a wearable pressure sensor for monitoring human motion, exhibiting a high sensitivity of 105.9 mV/N or 1.73 nA/N under a contact frequency of 0.40 Hz. This research provides a reference roadmap for designing TENGs and self-powered pressure sensors with flexibility, self-healing, and robustness.

Transplantation of Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells-Derived Neural Stem Cells Pretreated with Neuregulin1ß Ameliorate Cerebral Ischemic Reperfusion Injury in Rats.

Ischemic stroke is a common cerebrovascular disease and recovering blood flow as early as possible is essential to reduce ischemic damage and maintain neuronal viability, but the reperfusion process usually causes additional damage to the brain tissue in the ischemic area, namely ischemia reperfusion injury. The accumulated studies have revealed that transplantation of exogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) is an ideal choice for the treatment of ischemia reperfusion injury. At present, the source and efficacy of exogenous NSCs after transplantation is still one of the key issues that need to be resolved. In this study, human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) were obtained and induced into NSCs byadding growth factor and neuregulin1ß (NRG1ß) was introduced during the differentiation process of NSCs. Then, the rat middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) models were established, and the therapeutic effects were evaluated among groups treated by NRG1ß, NSCs and NSCs pretreated with 10 nM NRG1ß (NSCs-10 nM NRG1ß) achieved through intra-arterial injection. Our data show that the NSCs-10 nM NRG1ß group significantly improves neurobehavioral function and infarct volume after MCAO/R, as well as cerebral cortical neuron injury, ferroptosis-related indexes and mitochondrial injury. Additionally, NSCs-10 nM NRG1ß intervention may function through regulating the p53/GPX4/SLC7A11 pathway, and reducing the level of ferroptosis in cells, further enhance the neuroprotective effect on injured cells.

Chimeric Peptides/Proteins Encoded by circRNA: An Update on Mechanisms and Functions in Human Cancers.

The discovery of circular RNAs and exploration of their biological functions are increasingly attracting attention in cell bio-sciences. Owing to their unique characteristics of being highly conserved, having a relatively longer half-life, and involvement in RNA maturation, transportation, epigenetic regulation, and transcription of genes, it has been accepted that circRNAs play critical roles in the variety of cellular processes. One of the critical importance of these circRNAs is the presence of small open reading frames that enable them to encode peptides/proteins. In particular, these encoded peptides/proteins mediate essential cellular activities such as proliferation, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and apoptosis and develop an association with the development and progression of cancers by modulating diverse signaling pathways. In addition, these peptides have potential roles as biomarkers for the prognosis of cancer and are being used as drug targets against tumorigenesis. In the present review, we thoroughly discussed the biogenesis of circRNAs and their functional mechanisms along with a special emphasis on the reported chimeric peptides/proteins encoded by circRNAs. Additionally, this review provides a perspective regarding the opportunities and challenges to the potential use of circRNAs in cancer diagnosis and therapeutic targets in clinics.