Reversing the Interfacial Electric Field in Metal Phosphide Heterojunction by Fe-Doping for Large-Current Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Developing non-precious-metal electrocatalysts that can operate with a low overpotential at a high current density for industrial application is challenging. Heterogeneous bimetallic phosphides have attracted much interest. Despite high hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance, the ordinary oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance hinders their practical use. Herein, it is shown that Fe-doping reverses and enlarges the interfacial electrical field at the heterojunction, turning the H intermediate favorable binding sites for HER into O intermediate favorable sites for OER. Specifically, the self-supported heterojunction catalysts on nickel foam (CoP@Ni2P/NF and Fe-CoP@Fe-Ni2P/NF) are readily synthesized. They only require the overpotentials of 266 and 274 mV to drive a large current density of 1000 mA cm-2 (j1000) for HER and OER, respectively. Furthermore, a water splitting cell equipped with these electrodes only requires a voltage of 1.724 V to drive j1000 with excellent durability, demonstrating the potential of industrial application. This work offers new insights on interfacial engineering for heterojunction catalysts.

Thermo-sensitive PLGA-PEG-PLGA hydrogel for sustained release of EGF to inhibit cervical cancer recurrence.

Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in cancer is a key cause of recurrence of cervical cancer (CC). Although the EGF-EGFR pathway has been studied for decades, preventing tumor growth and recurrence caused by peripheral EGF remains a great challenge. In this work, a strategy is proposed to reduce the stimulation of high concentration EGF on tumor growth by using a thermo-sensitive hydrogel. The hydrogel is a triblock copolymer composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and poly (lactide glycolide) (PLGA). Based on the excellent temperature sensitivity, carrier capacity, swelling property and biocompatibility, the hydrogel can absorb the liquid around the tumor by injection and release EGF continuously at low concentration. The inhibitory effect of hydrogel on tumor growth is fully confirmed by an implanted tumor mouse model with human cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa) using triple-immunodeficient NCG mice. Compared with free EGF, the EGF-loaded hydrogel can hardly induce surface plasmon resonance (SPR) response, which proves that hydrogel can effectively weaken cytoskeleton rearrangement and inhibit cell migration by continuously releasing low concentration EGF. In addition, the EGF-loaded hydrogel can reduce cell proliferation by delaying the progress of cell cycle progression. Taken together, the hydrogel can effectively protect tumor microenvironment from the stimulation of high concentration EGF, delay cancer cellular processes and tumor growth, and thus providing an approach for inhibiting tumor recurrence of CC.

Machine learning approaches for diagnosing depression using EEG: A review.

Depression has become one of the most crucial public health issues, threatening the quality of life of over 300 million people throughout the world. Nevertheless, the clinical diagnosis of depression is now still hampered by behavioral diagnostic methods. Due to the lack of objective laboratory diagnostic criteria, accurate identification and diagnosis of depression remained elusive. With the rise of computational psychiatry, a growing number of studies have combined resting-state electroencephalography with machine learning (ML) to alleviate diagnosis of depression in recent years. Despite the exciting results, these were worrisome of these studies. As a result, ML prediction models should be continuously improved to better screen and diagnose depression. Finally, this technique would be used for the diagnosis of other psychiatric disorders in the future.

Influence of different irrigation methods on the alfalfa rhizosphere soil fungal communities in an arid region.

Xinjiang is the largest arid and saline agricultural region in China. The common irrigation methods in this area are traditional flood irrigation and drip irrigation. In this study, we investigated the effects of these two irrigation methods on the fungal diversity, community structures, and functions in alfalfa rhizosphere soil as well as the associated environmental factors in northern Tianshan Mountain (Xinjiang, China). Soil enzyme activities (urease and neutral phosphatase) were significantly higher in the drip-irrigated alfalfa rhizosphere soil than in the flood-irrigated alfalfa rhizosphere soil, whereas the fungal alpha diversity in the drip-irrigated alfalfa rhizosphere soil was significantly lower than that in the flood-irrigated alfalfa rhizosphere soil. Six dominant fungal phyla were identified (>0.1%), with Ascomycota being the most abundant in all soils, followed by Basidiomycota (5.47%), Mortierellomycota (1.07%), Glomeromycota (0.55%), Rozellomycota (0.27%), and Chytridiomycota (0.14%). Ascomycota and Glomeromycota species were significantly less abundant in drip-irrigated alfalfa rhizosphere soil than in flood-irrigated alfalfa rhizosphere soil. A LEFSe analysis identified Cladosporiaceae (20.8%) species as the most abundant marker fungi in drip-irrigated alfalfa rhizosphere soil. Of the 13 fungal functional groups identified on the basis of the functional annotation using the FUNGuild database, Ectomycorrhizal (22.29%) was the primary functional group. Compared with flood irrigation, drip irrigation significantly decreased the relative abundance of Ectomycorrhizal and Arbuscular_Mycorrhizal, while increasing the relative abundance of Plant_Pathogen, although not significantly (P = 0.19). Available potassium was revealed to be the main environmental factor influencing soil enzyme activities, fungal alpha diversity, fungal community structures, and fungal functions in response to the different irrigation methods. In conclusion, drip irrigation may be more appropriate than flood irrigation in the Tianshan dryland agricultural area for enhancing soil enzyme activities, but it may also increase the abundance of plant pathogenic fungi in the soil.

Evaluating a potential model to analyze the function of the gut microbiota of the giant panda.

To contribute to the conservation of endangered animals, the utilization of model systems is critical to analyze the function of their gut microbiota. In this study, the results of a fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) experiment with germ-free (GF) mice receiving giant panda or horse fecal microbiota showed a clear clustering by donor microbial communities in GF mice, which was consistent with the results of blood metabolites from these mice. At the genus level, FMT re-established approximately 9% of the giant panda donor microbiota in GF mice compared to about 32% for the horse donor microbiota. In line with this, the difference between the panda donor microbiota and panda-mice microbiota on whole-community level was significantly larger than that between the horse donor microbiota and the horse-mice microbiota. These results were consistent with source tracking analysis that found a significantly higher retention rate of the horse donor microbiota (30.9%) than the giant panda donor microbiota (4.0%) in GF mice where the microbiota remained stable after FMT. Further analyzes indicated that the possible reason for the low retention rate of the panda donor microbiota in GF mice was a low relative abundance of Clostridiaceae in the panda donor microbiota. Our results indicate that the donor microbiota has a large effect on GF mice microbiota after FMT.

The Effect of Education Intervention on Osteoporotic Fracture and Bone Mineral Density in Elderly Women With Osteoporosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess whether a 5-year follow-up education intervention changed the risk for fragility fractures and increased bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly women with osteoporosis. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial included 104 women who were hospitalized or visited a specialist for osteoporosis care at Sichuan Translational Medicine Research Hospital in China from October 2013 to June 2014. The patients were randomly assigned to either an education intervention group (n = 52) or a control group (n = 52). The intervention was conducted by an endocrinologist who provided the intervention group with personized recommendations. All participants were followed for 5 years. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the patients in the intervention group had a lower risk for fragility fracture, lower pain score, higher BMD at the greater trochanter of the femur, total hip and the first lumbar vertebra, together with higher compliance with anti-osteoporosis drug regimens and higher intake of vitamin D supplements (all P <.05). After adjustment for history of fracture, calcium consumption, age and body mass index (BMI), the association of change in BMD and pain score and the medication possession ratio (MPR) of anti-osteoporosis drugs were both significantly different (P < .05, P < .001, respectively). In subgroup analysis by past fractures, patients who experienced post-fractures were more likely to experience refracture (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The personalized education intervention by endocrinologists can significantly increase the BMD of the greater trochanter of the femur and reduce pain scores in elderly women with osteoporosis, suggesting that this education intervention may serve as an important addition to standard anti-osteoporosis treatment.

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 2 represses cervical cancer progression via inhibiting aerobic glycolysis through promoting pyruvate kinase isozyme type M2 ubiquitination.

Growing evidence has shown that aerobic glycolysis, as a hallmark of cancer cells, plays a crucial role in cervical cancer. The aim of the study is to uncover whether fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 2 (FBP2) is involved in cervical cancer progression via the aerobic glycolysis pathway. FBP2 levels were determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR) and western blotting. Cell growth viability and apoptosis were tested by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry assays. Immunoprecipitation assay was applied for the detection of the FBP2 effect on pyruvate kinase isozyme type M2 (PKM2) ubiquitination. FBP2 level was decreased in cervical cancer, which is closely linked to shorter overall survival. FBP2 decreased cell growth and aerobic glycolysis and increased cell apoptosis, as well as decreased PKM2 expression and increased its ubiquitination level. The above-mentioned roles of FBP2 were weakened followed by PKM2 overexpression. FBP2 inhibited cervical cancer cell growth via inhibiting aerobic glycolysis by inducing PKM2 ubiquitination.

Ultrathin and Highly Tough Hydrogel Films for Multifunctional Strain Sensors.

With good flexibility and biocompatibility, hydrogel-based sensors have been widely used in human motion detection, artificial intelligence, human-machine interface, and other fields. Previous research on hydrogel-based sensors has focused on improving the mechanical properties and signal transmission sensitivity. With the development of human smart devices, there is an increasing demand for hydrogel sensor comfort and more application functions, such as ultrathin structures and recognition functions for contact surfaces, which are realized with higher requirements for the thickness, flexibility, friction resistance, and biocompatibility of hydrogels. Inspired by the ultrathin and flexible characteristics of human organ biofilms, we constructed conductive hydrogel films by using the flim-casting and glycerol-H2O secondary hydration methods. This ultrathin structure enables the hydrogel films to have a high elongation at break of 523.3%, a stress of 3.5 MPa, and a good friction resistance. Combined with the excellent sensing properties (gauge factor = 2.1 and a response time of 200 ms), the hydrogel film-based sensor can not only record human motion signals but also recognize the surface texture and roughness of objects, such as glass, brushes, wood, and sandpaper with mesh sizes of 80, 50, and 24, accurately. In addition, this hydrogel film has a series of excellent properties such as UV shielding, antiswelling ability, and good biocompatibility. This research provides a novel way for the development of emerging soft-material smart devices, such as hydrogel-based electronic skin and soft robots.

Intratumor heterogeneity, microenvironment, and mechanisms of drug resistance in glioma recurrence and evolution / 医学前沿

Glioma is the most common lethal tumor of the human brain. The median survival of patients with primary World Health Organization grade IV glioma is only 14.6 months. The World Health Organization classification of tumors of the central nervous system categorized gliomas into lower-grade gliomas and glioblastomas. Unlike primary glioblastoma that usually develop de novo in the elderly, secondary glioblastoma enriched with an isocitrate dehydrogenase mutant typically progresses from lower-grade glioma within 5-10 years from the time of diagnosis. Based on various evolutional trajectories brought on by clonal and subclonal alterations, the evolution patterns of glioma vary according to different theories. Some important features distinguish the normal brain from other tissues, e.g., the composition of the microenvironment around the tumor cells, the presence of the blood-brain barrier, and others. The underlying mechanism of glioma recurrence and evolution patterns of glioma are different from those of other types of cancer. Several studies correlated tumor recurrence with tumor heterogeneity and the immune microenvironment. However, the detailed reasons for the progression and recurrence of glioma remain controversial. In this review, we introduce the different mechanisms involved in glioma progression, including tumor heterogeneity, the tumor microenvironment and drug resistance, and their pre-clinical implements in clinical trials. This review aimed to provide new insights into further clinical strategies for the treatment of patients with recurrent and secondary glioma.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Robin Accentor Prunella rubeculoides (Passeriformes: Prunellidea).

In this paper, we determined and described the complete mitochondrial genome of Robin Accentor (Prunella rubeculoides), the first complete mitogenome. The complete genome of P. rubeculoides was 16,796 bp in length and contained 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosome RNA genes, and one non-coding control region. The overall base composition of the mitochondrial DNA was 29.7% for A, 23.7% for T, 15.6% for G, and 31.0% for C, with a GC content of 46.6%. This information of P. rubeculoides mitogenome is significance for phylogenetic studies of the family Prunellidea.

Investigating the Fate of MP1000-LPX In Vivo by Adding Serum to Transfection Medium.

BACKGROUND: Cationic liposomes (CLs) based messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine has been a promising approach for cancer treatment. However, rapid lung accumulation after intraveous injection and significantly decreased transfection efficacy (TE) in serum substantially hamper its application. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we attempt to investigate the fate of Mannose-PEG1000-lipoplex (MP1000-LPX) in vivo, a previous reported mRNA vaccine, and potential mechanism in it. METHODS: MP1000-CLs and different type of MP1000-LPX were produced by previous method and characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS). Organ distribution and Luc-mRNA expression of DiD loaded luciferase (Luc-mRNA)-MP1000-LPX were evaluated by IVIS Spectrum imaging system. Cellular transfection and uptake under serum-free and serum-containing conditions were analysed by flow cytometry and counted by FlowJo software. RESULTS: MP1000-CLs had an average size of 45.3 ± 0.9 nm, a positive charge of 39.9 ± 0.9 mV. When MP1000-LPX formed, the particle size increased to about 130 nm, and zeta potential decreased to about 30 mV. All formulations were in narrow size distribution with PDI < 0.3. 6 h after intraveous injection, Luc-MP1000-LPX mostly distributed to liver, lung and spleen, while only successfully expressed Luc in lung. DC2.4 cellular transfection assay indicated serum substantially lowered TE of MP1000-LPX. However, the cellular uptake on DC2.4 cells was enhanced in the presence of serum. CONCLUSION: MP1000-LPX distributed to spleen but failed to transfect. Because serum dramatically decreased TE of MP1000-LPX on DC2.4 cells, but not by impeding its interaction to cell membrane. Serum resistance and avoidance of lung accumulation might be prerequisites for CLs based intravenous mRNA vaccines. Lay Summary: mRNA vaccine has been promising immunotherapy to treat cancer by delivering mRNA encoding tumor antigens to APCs and activating immune system against tumor cells. We are investigating the in vivo fate of MP1000-LPX, a CLs based mRNA vaccine. To see if serum causes the fate, we'll be looking at the influence of serum on transfection and uptake efficacy of MP1000-LPX by DC2.4 cells experiments in vitro. Our findings will imply that serum inhibits transfection but not by decreasing uptake. Thus, we can ultilize serum to enhance transfection if we make intracellular process of MP1000-LPX successful.

Durable and Controllable Smart Windows Based on Thermochromic Hydrogels.

In recent years, the use of smart windows to adjust sunlight to achieve energy conversion has received increasing attention. In this paper, a novel smart window was easily prepared by using thermochromic hydrogels as an interlayer and indium tin oxide films as an electric heating layer. The shielding transmission rates of visible and near-infrared light reached 88.3 and 85.4% at the temperature of 25 °C, respectively. However, the transmittance at a light wavelength of 550 nm was greater than 70% after applying voltage. The smart windows with different components could possess thermochromic temperature ranging from 28 to 35 °C, which was suitable for daily life. The smart window could maintain a stable reversible thermochromic transition. Importantly, the time of light transition and the demand of energy efficiency could be adjusted by controlling the magnitude of the output voltage, which benefited the development of energy-efficient materials.

TOP2A Promotes Cell Migration, Invasion and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Cervical Cancer via Activating the PI3K/AKT Signaling.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Topoisomerases type IIA (TOP2A) was identified to present with a high-expression pattern in cervical cancer. However, TOP2A role in the progression of cervical cancer remains unknown. Here, we aimed to explore the effect and reveal the underlying mechanism of TOP2A in the migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cervical cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression profiles of TOP2A in 20 paired cervical cancer tissues and the paracancerous normal tissues were detected by using Western blotting assay. Transwell chambers were used to test cell migration and invasion abilities. Cell morphology and the expressions of E-cadherin and N-cadherin were detected to assess cell EMT. LY294002 was used to inhibit the activation of PI3K/AKT signaling. RESULTS: Compared with the paracancerous normal tissues, TOP2A was overexpressed in 85% (17/20) cervical cancer tissues. Repression of TOP2A expression in SiHa cells significantly weakened cell migration and invasion abilities, reduced cell numbers in shuttle shape and increased E-cadherin expression while decreased E-cadherin expression. To the opposite, overexpression of TOP2A in Hela cells induced opposite results. In addition, the expression of p-AKT was increased when TOP2A was overexpressed in Hela cells, and p-AKT expression was decreased when TOP2A was silenced in SiHa cells. Moreover, suppression of the PI3K/AKT signaling with LY294002 treatment apparently rescued TOP2A-mediated promotions in cell migration, invasion and EMT in Hela cells. CONCLUSION: This study reveals that TOP2A is abnormally overexpressed in cervical cancer tissues, and TOP2A overexpression leads to cell migration, invasion and EMT via activating PI3K/AKT signaling.

Serum microRNA expression profiling revealing potential diagnostic biomarkers for lung adenocarcinoma / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Recent studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) in the blood circulation can serve as promising diagnostic markers for cancers. This four-stage study aimed at finding serum miRNAs as potential biomarkers for lung adenocarcinoma (LA) diagnosis.@*METHODS@#The study was carried out between 2016 and 2017. The Exiqon miRNA qPCR panel (3 LA vs. 1 normal control [NC] pooled serum samples) was used for initial screening to acquire miRNA profiles. Thirty-five dysregulated miRNAs were further evaluated in the training (24 LA vs. 24 NCs) and testing stages (110 LA vs. 110 NCs) using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays.@*RESULTS@#Four serum miRNAs (miR-133a-3p, miR-584-5p, miR-10b-5p, and miR-221-3p) were significantly overexpressed in LA patients compared with NCs. The diagnostic value of the four-miRNA panel was validated by an external cohort (36 LA vs. 36 NCs). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the four-miRNA panel in the training, testing, and external validation stages were 0.734, 0.803, and 0.894 respectively. Meanwhile, the expression level of miR-221-3p was much higher in LA tumor samples than that in the adjacent normal tissues (19 LA vs. 19 NCs). The expression level of miR-10b-5p was also elevated in the serum-derived exosomes samples (18 LA vs. 18 NCs). The expression of miR-133a-3p, miR-584-5p, and miR-10b-5p was significantly elevated in LA patients with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation compared with NCs.@*CONCLUSION@#The study established a four-miRNA signature in serum that could improve the diagnostic capability of LA.

A flexible, adhesive and self-healable hydrogel-based wearable strain sensor for human motion and physiological signal monitoring.

The advent of hydrogel-based strain sensors has attracted immense research interest in artificial intelligence, wearable devices, and health-monitoring systems. However, the integration of the synergistic characteristics of good mechanical properties, self-adhesiveness, self-healing capability and high strain sensitivity for fabricating hydrogel-based strain sensors is still a challenge. Here, a multifunctional conductive hydrogel composed of a polyacrylamide (PAAm)/chitosan (CS) hybrid network is fabricated for wearable strain sensors. The PAAm network is cross-linked by hydrophobic associations, and the CS network is ionically cross-linked by carboxyl-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (c-MWCNTs). These two networks are further interlocked by physical entanglement and hydrogen bond interactions. The obtained hydrogels exhibit excellent flexibility, puncture resistance and self-healing capability because of the efficient energy dissipation of the dynamic cross-linking network. Moreover, the hydrogels exhibit self-adhesive behavior on various materials, including polytetrafluoroethylene, wood, glass, aluminum, rubber and skin. Notably, the hydrogels can be applied as soft human-motion sensors for real-time and accurate detection of both large-scale and small human activities, including joint motions, speaking, breathing, and even subtle blood pulsation. Therefore, it is anticipated that the flexible, self-adhesive, self-healing and conductive hydrogel-based strain sensor will have promising applications in artificial intelligence, soft robots, biomimetic prostheses, and personal health care.

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells combined with immunotherapy for the treatment of type 1 diabetic mice / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Type l diabetes mellitus is a T cell-mediated autoimmune disease resulting in pancreatic islet cell damage. In this study, immunotherapy was used to deal with type l diabetes mellitus and stem cell transplantation was used to repair damaged islet p cells, attempting to explore a new treatment for type l diabetes mellitus. OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells combined with immunotherapy for the treatment of type l diabetic mice. METHODS: Fifty BALB/c Foxp3-DTR-EGFP positive mice were selected, six of which were randomly selected as normal control group and the remaining of which were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin and diphtheria toxin to prepare an animal model of type l diabetes mellitus. After successful modeling, randomization was performed in model mice and there were four groups: model group (normal saline), immunotherapy group (subcutaneous injection of dexamethasone (10 μg) and insulin (10 μg) mixture), cell transplantation group (injection of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (1 X106 cells per mouse) through the tail vein, and combined treatment group (the combination of immunotherapy and cell transplantation as described above). At 4 weeks after treatment, changes in blood glucose, C-peptide, body mass, pancreatic histopathology and insulin-positive area were observed in each group. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Compared with the normal control group, the blood glucose level of the model group increased (P < 0.01) the C peptide level and body mass decreased (P < 0.01), and the islet was severely atrophied, with decreased number of islet cells and reduced insulin-positive area. (2) Compared with the model group, the blood glucose level of the immunotherapy group decreased (P > 0.05), the C-peptide level and body mass did not change significantly (P > 0.05), the islet cells increased in number, and the insulin-positive area increased. (3) Compared with the model group, the blood glucose level of the cell transplantation group and the combined treatment group decreased (P > 0.05), the C peptide level and body mass increased (P < 0.05), the islet cells increased in number, and the insulin-positive area increased. These findings reveal that either human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells or immunotherapy can improve the islet function of type l diabetic mice, and the combination treatment has better outcomes.

A Facile Strategy to Enhance the Dielectric and Mechanical Properties of MWCNTs/PVDF Composites with the Aid of MMA-co-GMA Copolymer.

A facile strategy is adopted to prepare carboxylic functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube (c-MWCNT) modified high dielectric constant (high-k) poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) composites with the aid of methyl methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate copolymer (MG). The MG is miscible with PVDF and the epoxy groups of the copolymer can react with the carboxylic groups of c-MWCNT, which induce the uniform dispersion of c-MWCNT and a form insulator layer on the surface of c-MWCNT. The c-MWCNTs/MG/PVDF composites with 8 vol % c-MWCNT present excellent dielectric properties with high dielectric constant (~448) and low dielectric loss (~2.36) at the frequency of 1 KHz, the dielectric loss is much lower than the c-MWCNT/PVDF composites without MG. The obvious improvement in dielectric properties ascribes to the existence of MG, which impede the direct contact of c-MWCNTs and PVDF and avoid the formation of conductive network. Therefore, we propose a practical and simple strategy for preparing composites with excellent dielectric properties, which are promising for applications in electronics devices.

Highly tough, anti-fatigue and rapidly self-recoverable hydrogels reinforced with core-shell inorganic-organic hybrid latex particles.

The introduction of SiO2 particles as crosslinking points into hydrogels has been recognized as a suitable way for toughening hydrogels, due to their versatile functionalization and large specific surface area. However, chemically linked SiO2 nanocomposite hydrogels often exhibited negligible fatigue resistance and poor self-recoverable properties due to the irreversible cleavage of covalent bonds. Here, we proposed a novel strategy to improve stretchability, fatigue resistance and self-recoverable properties of hydrogels by using SiO2-g-poly(butyl acrylate) core-shell inorganic-organic hybrid latex particles as hydrophobic crosslinking centers for hydrophobic association. The obtained hydrogel could distribute the surrounding applied stress by disentanglement of the hybrid latex particles from hydrophobic segments. Based on this strategy, the formulated hydrogels showed an excellent tensile strength of 1.48 MPa, superior stretchability of 2511% and remarkable toughness of 12.62 MJ m-3. Moreover, the hydrogels owned extraordinary anti-fatigue, rapid self-recovery and puncture resistance properties. Therefore, this strategy provided a novel pathway for developing advanced soft materials with potential applications in biomedical engineering, such as tendons, muscles, cartilages, etc.

[Effects of spatial structure on predator-prey interactions: A review.] / ç©ºé—´ç»“æž„å¯¹æ•é£Ÿå ³ç³»å½±å“ç ”ç©¶è¿›å±•.

With increasing human disturbances (e.g., spatial fragmentation), drastic changes have taken place in spatial structure, which further affects the structure and function of ecosystem. The consequences of spatial changes on ecological processes are significantly associated with change in predator-prey interactions. Thus, exploring the relationships between spatial structure andpredator-prey interactions was of significance in understanding the underlying mechanisms of ecological changes in fragmented landscapes. This paper summarized current studies about the effects of typical spatial structures on predator-prey interactions, including the spatial size, spatial shape, spatial orientation, spatial distribution and spatial connectivity. Researches indicated that the stability and continuation of predator-prey system generally decreases with decreasing spatial size and connectivity, and excessive increase in the fragmentation of space, as well as changes in spatial shape and orientation which result in excessive increase in the grazing rate of predators. Effect of complicated spatial structure (coupled from above-mentioned structures) on predator-prey interactions, especially multispecies predator-prey interactions, should be focused on in the future.

Transplantation of islet-like cells from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells at different induced stages for the treatment of diabetic mellitus / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND:In previous studies,the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) have been successfully differentiated into islet-like cells in vitro,and insulin expressions have been found.OBJECTIVE:To compare the therapeutic effects of different induced stages of islet-like cells differentiated from hUC-MSCs in a diabetic rat in vivo,so as to find the most suitable induced time in vitro and provide a theoretical basis for clinical treatment of diabetes mellitus.METHODS:Passage 3 hUC-MSCs were differentiated into islet-like cells after 7,14,21,28 days of oriented induction.Eighty male healthy Wistar rats,clean grade,were used in the study.Except eight rats in normal control group,all the rats were injected with streptozotocin at a dose of 70 mg/kg to establish diabetic models.The rats at 10 days after successful modeling were randomly divided into model control group,non-induced group,7-day induction group,14-day induction group,21-day induction group and 28-day induction group.Rats in the normal control group and model control group were given 2 mL of culture medium without any cells and rats in the other groups were implanted withcorresponding cell suspension (2x106 cells) via tail vein for two sessions with an interval of 2 weeks.The blood glucose level,body mass and serum insulin level were detected during the treatment process.The rats were executed to observe the structure changes of each organ at 4 weeks after the second cell transplantation.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) Compared with the model control group,the body mass and the serum insulin level significantly increased and the blood glucose levels significantly decreased in all the transplantation groups (P ＜ 0.05),and the therapeutic effect was best in the 28-day induction group.(2) Compared with the model control group and normal control group,the frozen sections in all the transplantation groups showed that the morphological structures of the liver and kidney were clear with no abnormal changes,such as necrosis and fibrosis,after transplantation.These experimental results show that it is relatively safe and effective to transplant the different induced stages of islet-like cells induced by hUC-MSCs in the treatment of diabetes mellitus,and the therapeutic effect of islet-like cells at 28 days of in vitro induction is most obvious.