Isolation, identification, and induced differentiation of satellite cells from skeletal muscle of adult tree shrews.

A method for the in vitro isolation, purification, identification, and induced differentiation of satellite cells from adult tree shrew skeletal muscle was established. The mixed enzyme digestion method and differential adhesion method were used to obtain skeletal muscle satellite cells, which were identified and induced to differentiate to verify their pluripotency. The use of a mixture of collagenase II, hyaluronidase IV, and DNase I is an efficient method for isolating adult tree shrew skeletal muscle satellite cells. The P3 generation of cells had good morphology, rapid proliferation, high viability, and an "S"-shaped growth curve. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunofluorescence staining indicated that marker genes or proteins were expressed in skeletal muscle satellite cells. After myogenic differentiation was induced, multiple-nucleated myotubes were observed, and the MyHC protein was expressed. The expression of myogenic marker genes changed with the differentiation process. After the induction of adipogenic differentiation, orange-red lipid droplets were observed, and the expression of adipogenic marker genes increased gradually with the differentiation process. In summary, satellite cells from adult tree shrew skeletal muscle were successfully isolated using a mixed enzyme digestion method, and their potential for differentiation into myogenic and adipogenic cells was confirmed, laying a foundation for further in vitro study of tree shrew muscle damage.

High power single-frequency 1112†nm laser by an insertable Nd:YAG/YAG bonded monolithic planar ring oscillator.

A high power single-frequency operation at 1112 nm with novel insertable monolithic planar ring oscillator based on a Nd:YAG/YAG bonded crystal is proposed. In a proof-of-principle experiment, a finely designed coating on the output surface is carried out to ensure single-wavelength oscillation at 1112 nm, together with a half-wave plate and a Tb3Ga5O12 crystal inserted in the open space of the bonded block to realize the unidirectional operation with power scalability. Consequently, the single-frequency laser delivers an output power of 3.9 W at 1112.3 nm with a slope efficiency of 58.6% and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 17.7%. The power fluctuation is measured to be within ± 0.26% over 20 min, and the laser linewidth is estimated to be 4.15 MHz (Δλ = 0.017 pm).

The apple transcription factor MdbHLH4 regulates plant morphology and fruit development by promoting cell enlargement.

The bHLH family, the second largest transcription factor (TF) family in plants, plays a crucial role in regulating plant growth and development processes. However, the biological functions and mechanisms of most bHLH proteins remain unknown, particularly in apples. In this study, we found that MdbHLH4 positively modulates plant growth and development by enhancing cell expansion. Overexpression (OE) of MdbHLH4 resulted in increased biomass, stem and root length, leaf area, and larger areas of pith, xylem, and cortex with greater cell size compared with wild-type apple plants. Conversely, RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated silencing of MdbHLH4 led to reduced xylem and phloem as well as smaller cell size compared to wild-type apple plants. Ectopic expression of MdbHLH4 in tomatoes resulted in enlarged fruits with impaired color appearance, decreased accumulation of soluble solids, and decreased flesh firmness along with larger seeds. Subsequent investigations have shown that MdbHLH4 directly binds to the promoters of MdARF6b and MdPIF4b, enhancing their expression levels. These findings suggest that MdbHLH4 potentially regulates plant cell expansion through auxin and light signaling pathways. These study results not only provide new insights into the roles of bHLH transcription factors in regulating plant growth and development but also contribute to a deeper understanding of their underlying mechanisms.

Nanomedicine strategies to counteract cancer stemness and chemoresistance.

Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) identified by self-renewal ability and tumor-initiating potential are responsible for tumor recurrence and metastasis in many cancers. Conventional chemotherapy fails to eradicate CSCs that hold a state of dormancy and possess multi-drug resistance. Spurred by the progress of nanotechnology for drug delivery and biomedical applications, nanomedicine has been increasingly developed to tackle stemness-associated chemotherapeutic resistance for cancer therapy. This review focuses on advances in nanomedicine-mediated therapeutic strategies to overcome chemoresistance by specifically targeting CSCs, the combination of chemotherapeutics with chemopotentiators, and programmable controlled drug release. Perspectives from materials and formulations at the nano-scales are specifically surveyed. Future opportunities and challenges are also discussed.

Global dynamics of an SIS compartment model with resource constraints.

This paper formulates a mathematical framework to describe the dynamics of SIS-type infectious diseases with resource constraints. We first define the basic reproduction number that determines disease prevalence and analyze the existence and local stability of the equilibria. Subsequently, we analyze the global dynamics of the model, excluding periodic solutions and heteroclinic orbits, using the compound matrix approach. The analysis implies that the model can undergo forward and backward bifurcations depending on critical parameters. In the former scenario, the disease persists when the basic reproduction number under resource constraints exceeds one. In the latter scenario, the backward bifurcation creates bistability dynamics in which the disease may persist or become extinct depending on the initial level of infected individuals and the resource abundance.

The regulation of expression and splicing of transcription factors are related to the muscle damage caused by radiation in tree shrews.

Radiotherapy-induced muscle injury (RIMI) is a major complication of radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Transcription factor (TF) expression and alternative splicing are crucial events in transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation, respectively, and are known to be involved in key signaling pathways contributing to a variety of human disorders, including radiation injury. To investigate the TFs and alternative splicing events involved in RIMI, we constructed a tree shrew model as described previously in which the RIMI group received 20 Gy of irradiation on the tensor veli palatini (TVP) muscles. The irradiated muscles were evaluated by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) 6 months later, and the results compared with those for normal TVP muscles. The alt5p and alt3p events were the two main types of differentially regulated alternative splicing events (RASEs) identified via the Splice sites Usage Variation Analysis (SUVA) software, and these RASEs were highly conserved in RIMI. According to functional enrichment analysis, the differentially RASEs were primarily enriched in pathways related to transcriptional regulation. Furthermore, we identified 16 alternative splicing TFs (ASTFs) in ASTF-differentially expressed gene (DEG) networks based on co-expression analysis, and the regulatory networks were chiefly enriched in pathways linked to cell proliferation and differentiation. This study revealed that RASEs and ASTF-DEG networks may both play important regulatory roles in gene expression network alteration in RIMI. Future studies on the targeting mechanisms and early interventions directed at RASEs and ASTF-DEG networks may aid in the treatment of RIMI.

Nanocellulose-Assisted Construction of Multifunctional MXene-Based Aerogels with Engineering Biomimetic Texture for Pressure Sensor and Compressible Electrode.

Multifunctional architecture with intriguing structural design is highly desired for realizing the promising performances in wearable sensors and flexible energy storage devices. Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is employed for assisting in building conductive, hyperelastic, and ultralight Ti3C2Tx MXene hybrid aerogels with oriented tracheid-like texture. The biomimetic hybrid aerogels are constructed by a facile bidirectional freezing strategy with CNF, carbon nanotube (CNT), and MXene based on synergistic electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding. Entangled CNF and CNT "mortars" bonded with MXene "bricks" of the tracheid structure produce good interfacial binding, and superior mechanical strength (up to 80% compressibility and extraordinary fatigue resistance of 1000 cycles at 50% strain). Benefiting from the biomimetic texture, CNF/CNT/MXene aerogel shows ultralow density of 7.48 mg cm-3 and excellent electrical conductivity (~ 2400 S m-1). Used as pressure sensors, such aerogels exhibit appealing sensitivity performance with the linear sensitivity up to 817.3 kPa-1, which affords their application in monitoring body surface information and detecting human motion. Furthermore, the aerogels can also act as electrode materials of compressive solid-state supercapacitors that reveal satisfactory electrochemical performance (849.2 mF cm-2 at 0.8 mA cm-2) and superior long cycle compression performance (88% after 10,000 cycles at a compressive strain of 30%).

An Improved Matching Practice for Augmenting a Randomized Clinical Trial with External Control.

The use of information from real world to assess the effectiveness of medical products is becoming increasingly popular and more acceptable by regulatory agencies. According to a strategic real-world evidence framework published by U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a hybrid randomized controlled trial that augments internal control arm with real-world data is a pragmatic approach worth more attention. In this paper, we aim to improve on existing matching designs for such a hybrid randomized controlled trial. In particular, we propose to match the entire concurrent randomized clinical trial (RCT) such that (1) the matched external control subjects used to augment the internal control arm are as comparable as possible to the RCT population, (2) every active treatment arm in an RCT with multiple treatments is compared with the same control group, and (3) matching can be conducted and the matched set locked before treatment unblinding to better maintain the data integrity and increase the credibility of the analysis. Besides a weighted estimator, we also introduce a bootstrap method to obtain its variance estimation. The finite sample performance of the proposed method is evaluated by simulations based on data from a real clinical trial.

Compact 200 W level linearly polarized microsecond-pulse Nd:YAG oscillator with nearly diffraction-limited beam quality.

A compact 200 W level diode-side-pumped microsecond (µs) pulse linearly polarized rod Nd:YAG laser oscillator was demonstrated with nearly diffraction-limited beam quality. The oscillator was based on a thermally near-unstable cavity design with two concave lenses in the cavity to enlarge the volume of the fundamental mode, leading to improvement of the laser efficiency and beam quality. Consequently, a record-high average power of 222 W was obtained at a repetition rate of 400 Hz with a 180 µs pulse width, corresponding to an optical-to-optical (o-o) conversion efficiency of 37%. The average beam quality factor was measured to be M2=1.32, resulting in a brightness value as high as of 11.25GW/sr⋅cm2. To the best of our knowledge, this represented the highest average power, the highest o-o efficiency, and the highest brightness for a µs pulse 1064 nm rod Nd:YAG laser oscillator.

Strong, flexible, and highly conductive cellulose nanofibril/PEDOT:PSS/MXene nanocomposite films for efficient electromagnetic interference shielding.

Flexible and light weight electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials with high electromagnetic shielding efficiency (SE) and excellent mechanical strength are highly demanded for wearable and portable electronics. In this work, for the first time, a freestanding and flexible cellulose nanofibril (CNF)/PEDOT:PSS/MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanocomposite film with a ternary heterostructure was manufactured using a vacuum-assisted filtration process. The results show that compared with pure MXene films, the tensile strength of the optimized nanocomposite film increases from 8.88 MPa to 59.99 MPa, and the corresponding fracture strain increases from 0.87% to 4.60%. Intriguingly, the optimized nanocomposite film exhibited an impressive conductivity of 1903.2 S cm-1, which is among the highest values reported for MXene and cellulose-based nanocomposites. Owing to the superior conductivity and unique heterostructure, the nanocomposite film exhibits a high EMI SE value of 76.99 dB at a thickness of only 58.0 µm. Taking into account the robust mechanical properties and remarkable EMI shielding performance, the CNF/PEDOT:PSS/MXene nanocomposite film could be a prospective EMI shielding material for a variety of high-end applications.

An Investigation of the Mechanisms of Radiation-Induced Muscle Injury in a Tree Shrew (Tupaia belangeri) Model.

Background: Animal models suitable for investigating mechanisms behind radiation-induced muscle injury are lacking. We developed a tree shrew model of such injury and investigated pathological changes and mechanisms. Methods: Animals were divided into control (n = 5), radiation-induced acute injury (n = 5), and radiation-induced chronic injury (n = 5) groups. Tensor veli palatini (TVP) muscles of acute injury and chronic injury groups were dissected under a microscope at 1 and 24 weeks after radiation therapy, respectively. TVP muscles were stained with HE and Masson to visualize pathological changes. ELISA was performed to measure oxidative injury. RT-qPCR and immunohistochemical staining was performed to measure expression levels of miR-206 and histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4). Results: Compared to the control group, acute injury group showed a significant decrease in miR-206 expression (.061 ± .38, P < .05) and a significant increase in HDAC4 expression (37.05 ± 20.68, P < .05). Chronic injury group showed a significant decrease in miR-206 expression (.23 ± .19, P < .05) and a significant increase in HDAC4 expression (9.66 ± 6.12, P < .05). Discussion: A tree shrew model of radiation-induced muscle injury was established by exposing TVP muscle region to radiation of 20-Gy. Experimental results indicated that injury caused by radiation persisted despite gradual healing of the TVP muscle and miR-206 regulatory pathway plays a key role in regulating radiation-induced muscle injury.

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Apple CBL Family Reveals That Mdcbl10.1 Functions Positively in Modulating Apple Salt Tolerance.

Abiotic stresses are increasingly harmful to crop yield and quality. Calcium and its signaling pathway play an important role in modulating plant stress tolerance. As specific Ca2+ sensors, calcineurin B-like (CBL) proteins play vital roles in plant stress response and calcium signaling. The CBL family has been identified in many plant species; however, the characterization of the CBL family and the functional study of apple MdCBL proteins in salt response have yet to be conducted in apple. In this study, 11 MdCBL genes were identified from the apple genome. The coding sequences of these MdCBL genes were cloned, and the gene structure and conserved motifs were analyzed in detail. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that these MdCBL proteins could be divided into four groups. The functional identification in Na+-sensitive yeast mutant showed that the overexpression of seven MdCBL genes could confer enhanced salt stress resistance in transgenic yeast. The function of MdCBL10.1 in regulating salt tolerance was also verified in cisgenic apple calli and apple plants. These results provided valuable insights for future research examining the function and mechanism of CBL proteins in regulating apple salt tolerance.

Advanced Nanocellulose-Based Composites for Flexible Functional Energy Storage Devices.

With the increasing demand for wearable electronics (such as smartwatch equipment, wearable health monitoring systems, and human-robot interface units), flexible energy storage systems with eco-friendly, low-cost, multifunctional characteristics, and high electrochemical performances are imperative to be constructed. Nanocellulose with sustainable natural abundance, superb properties, and unique structures has emerged as a promising nanomaterial, which shows significant potential for fabricating functional energy storage systems. This review is intended to provide novel perspectives on the combination of nanocellulose with other electrochemical materials to design and fabricate nanocellulose-based flexible composites for advanced energy storage devices. First, the unique structural characteristics and properties of nanocellulose are briefly introduced. Second, the structure-property-application relationships of these composites are addressed to optimize their performances from the perspective of processing technologies and micro/nano-interface structure. Next, the recent specific applications of nanocellulose-based composites, ranging from flexible lithium-ion batteries and electrochemical supercapacitors to emerging electrochemical energy storage devices, such as lithium-sulfur batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and zinc-ion batteries, are comprehensively discussed. Finally, the current challenges and future developments in nanocellulose-based composites for the next generation of flexible energy storage systems are proposed.

Sustainable preparation of cellulose nanofibrils via choline chloride-citric acid deep eutectic solvent pretreatment combined with high-pressure homogenization.

Developing green and simple methods for the preparation of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) is of great significance. Herein, a green deep eutectic solvent (DES) system based on choline chloride (ChCl) and citric acid (CA) is employed to pretreat cellulose fibers for the preparation of CNFs. The effect of the pretreatment temperature on the chemo-physical properties of the CNFs is comprehensively investigated. A high CNFs yield of up to 84.19% can be achieved under optimized conditions. The optimal CNFs show a narrow diameter distribution and length up to several microns, high crystallinity and thermal stability, as well as excellent dispersibility in water. Furthermore, semi-transparent and flexible cellulose nanopaper (CNP) was fabricated through a facile vacuum filtration process. The optimal CNP shows high tensile strength (175.15 MPa) and toughness (7.51 MJ/m3). Therefore, this work provides a sustainable and facile approach to fabricate CNFs and CNP, which can be potentially used for various high-tech applications.

Sustainable preparation of bifunctional cellulose nanocrystals via mixed H2SO4/formic acid hydrolysis.

In this work, a sustainable and highly efficient approach for preparing bifunctional cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) was proposed through a mixed acid system of sulfuric acid and formic acid (FA). It was found that low-concentration (5-10 wt%) sulfuric acid can significantly improve the hydrolysis efficiency of FA (65-80 wt%), which enabled the highly efficient preparation of CNCs, i.e., the maximum yield of CNCs reached up to 70.65%. The obtained CNCs exhibited a rod-like shape with high crystallinity, and good dispersibility in both water and some organic phases. Moreover, the as-prepared CNCs exhibited high thermal stability, which is much higher than that of the traditionally sulfuric acid hydrolyzed ones. In addition, it was demonstrated that the bifunctional CNCs were able to stabilize various oils to form stable Pickering emulsion gels. Thus, this work provides a promising approach for sustainable preparation of bifunctional CNCs, which may find high-end applications in diverse fields.

Recent advances in cellulose and its derivatives for oilfield applications.

The purpose of this review is to summarize and discuss the recent developments in exploring cellulose and its derivatives in the applications of oilfield chemicals for petroleum drilling and exploiting. We begin with a brief introduction of cellulose and its common water-soluble derivatives, such as the carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, and amphoteric cellulose. Afterwards, the applications of cellulose derivatives in different petroleum exploitation processes, such as drilling, cementing, and fracturing, are set out in detail. Finally, the application perspectives and challenges of cellulose derivatives for oilfield applications are presented. This work demonstrates that cellulose derivatives have wide application prospects in oilfield industry in the future.

Progress in Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Periprosthetic Joint Infection.

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) after joint replacement surgery is a severe complication associated with high morbidity and increased treatment costs. More than 25% of joint implant failures are attributed to PJI. PJI diagnosis and treatment methods have substantially improved in recent years. However, the prevalence of PJI remains high, primarily due to the increased prevalences of obesity, diabetes, and other underlying conditions. Moreover, increasing elderly prefers to total joint replacement surgery. However, due to frailty and comorbidities, most are at increased risk of infectious arthritis and artificial joint infection (PJI). Therefore, PJI management for the elderly requires multilevel and multiangle intervention. In this review, we summarize the risk factors and diagnostic methods currently available for PJI and discuss the current PJI prevention and treatment interventions, especially the management in older adults.

Genome-wide analysis of the apple CaCA superfamily reveals that MdCAX proteins are involved in the abiotic stress response as calcium transporters.

BACKGROUND: Calcium (Ca2+) plays an important role in plant growth and development, and the maintenance of calcium homeostasis is necessary for the survival of all plant species. Ca2+/H+ exchangers (CAXs) are a subgroup of the CaCA (Ca2+/cation antiporter) superfamily. In general, CAX proteins mediate cytosolic Ca2+ entry into vacuoles to prevent excessive accumulation of Ca2+ in the cytosol. The CaCA superfamily has been identified and characterised in many plant species; however, characterisation of the CaCA superfamily and functional study of apple CAX proteins have yet to be conducted in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.). RESULTS: Here, we identified 21 CaCA family proteins in apple for the first time. Phylogenetic and gene structure analysis, as well as prediction of conserved motifs, suggested that these proteins could be classified into four groups: CAX, CCX, NCL, and MHX. Expression analysis showed that the 10 MdCAX genes we cloned strongly responded to calcium and abiotic stress treatments. Collinearity analysis and characterisation of calcium transport capacity resulted in the identification of a pair of segmental duplication genes: MdCAX3L-1 and MdCAX3L-2; MdCAX3L-2 showed strong calcium transport capacity, whereas MdCAX3L-1 showed no calcium transport capacity. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays showed that these two proteins could interact with each other. The high sequence similarity (94.6%) makes them a good model for studying the crucial residues and structural basis of the calcium transport of CAX proteins. Prediction of the protein interaction network revealed several proteins that may interact with CAX proteins and play important roles in plant stress responses, such as SOS2, CXIP1, MHX, NRAMP3, and MTP8. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis indicated that MdCAX proteins have strong calcium transport capacity and are involved in the abiotic stress response in apple. These findings provide new insight and rich resources for future studies of MdCAX proteins in apple.

A nanotherapeutic strategy to overcome chemotherapeutic resistance of cancer stem-like cells.

Tumour heterogeneity remains a major challenge in cancer therapy owing to the different susceptibility of cells to chemotherapy within a solid tumour. Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), which reside in hypoxic tumour regions, are characterized by high tumourigenicity and chemoresistance and are often responsible for tumour progression and recurrence. Here we report a nanotherapeutic strategy to kill CSCs in tumours using nanoparticles that are co-loaded with the differentiation-inducing agent, all-trans retinoic acid, and the chemotherapeutic drug, camptothecin. All-trans retinoic acid is released under hypoxic conditions, leading to CSC differentiation in the hypoxic niche. In differentiating CSC, the reactive oxygen species levels increase, which then causes the release of camptothecin and subsequent cell death. This dual strategy enables controlled drug release in CSCs and reduces stemness-related drug resistance, enhancing the chemotherapeutic response. In breast tumour mouse models, treatment with the nanoparticles suppresses tumour growth and prevents post-surgical tumour relapse and metastasis.

Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots: A Review on the Preparation of γ-Valerolactone from Lignocellulose and Its Application in the Conversion of Lignocellulose.

γ-Valerolactone (GVL), derived from renewable lignocellulosic biomass, has been considered as a cost-competitive and green platform chemical. With the increasingly prominent environmental problems, a deep understanding of the preparation and transformation of GVL is highly needed. Based on the latest progress made with GVL, preparation and applications of GVL are summarized and discussed in this Review. In particular, the state-of-the-art in catalytic production of GVL is described based on the use of noble-metal and non-noble-metal catalysts. The application of GVL for the valorization of lignocellulose would improve the yield of target products such as sugar monomers and furfural. Thus, GVL can be produced from lignocellulose and simultaneously it can also be used for the valorization of lignocellulose, just as in the sustainable and renewable cycle, "the falling leaves returns to their roots". This Review is expected to provide valuable reference and new proposal for the further development and better utilization of GVL.