Constructing Novel High Dielectric Constant Polyimides Containing Dipolar Pendant Groups with Enhanced Orientational Polarization.

Polymer dielectrics with high dielectric constant are urgently demanded for potential electrical and pulsed power applications. The design of polymers with side chains containing dipolar groups is considered an effective method for preparing materials with a high dielectric constant and low loss. This study synthesizes and comprehensively compare the dielectric properties of novel polyimides with side chains containing urea (BU-PI), carbamate (BC-PI), and sulfonyl (BS-PI) functional groups. The novel polyimides exhibit relatively high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss values due to the enhanced orientational polarization and suppressed dipole-dipole interactions of dipolar groups. In particular, BU-PI containing urea pendant groups presents the highest dielectric constant of 6.14 and reasonably low dielectric loss value of 0.0097. The strong γ transitions with low activation energies derived from dielectric spectroscopy measurements have been further evaluated to demonstrate the enhanced free rotational motion of urea pendant dipoles. In energy storage applications, BU-PI achieves a discharged energy density of 6.92 J cm-3 and a charge-discharge efficiency above 83% at 500 MV m-1. This study demonstrates that urea group, as dipolar pendant group, can provide polymers with better dielectric properties than the most commonly used sulfonyl groups.

Gypenoside A Protects Human Myocardial Cells from Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury via the circ_0010729/miR-370-3p/RUNX1 Axis.

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is one of the major causes of cardiovascular disease. Gypenoside A (GP), the main active component of Gynostemma pentaphyllum, alleviates myocardial I/R injury. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the I/R injury. We explored the protective effect of GP on human cardiomyocytes (HCMs) via the circ_0010729/miR-370-3p/RUNX1 axis. Overexpression of circ_0010729 abolished the effects of GP on HMC, such as suppression of apoptosis and increase in cell viability and proliferation. Overexpression of miR-370-3p reversed the effect of circ_0010729 overexpression, resulting in the stimulation of HMC viability and proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis. The knockdown of miR-370-3p suppressed the effects of GP in HCMs. RUNX1 silencing counteracted the effect of miR-370-3p knockdown and maintained GP-induced suppression of apoptosis and stimulation of HMC viability and proliferation. The levels of RUNX1 mRNA and protein were reduced in cells expressing miR-370-3p. In conclusion, this study confirmed that GP alleviated the I/R injury of myocardial cell via the circ_0010729/miR-370-3p/RUNX1 axis.

The mediating and moderating effects of resilience on the relationship between sleep quality and psychological distress in Chinese women with infertility.

BACKGROUND: Research has widely indicated that the psychological distress experienced by infertile patients during fertility treatments may have a negative effect on the results of assisted reproduction. Although numerous studies have shown that psychological resilience and sleep quality are important influencing factors for psychological distress, the mediating mechanisms of psychological resilience in the relationship between sleep quality and psychological distress for Chinese women in particular remain unclear. Therefore, the current study investigates the association between sleep quality, resilience, and psychological distress in Chinese women with infertility and examines the mediating and moderating roles of resilience on the relationship between sleep quality and psychological distress. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 595 women with infertility who were undergoing IVF-ET were recruited at the Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, from April to November 2019. Participants were instructed to complete four questionnaires, including a questionnaire about socio-demographic and clinical-related information, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), and the Kessler-10 (K10). Pearson's correlation analysis was conducted preliminarily to describe the relationships between sleep quality, resilience, and psychological distress. A mediation model and a moderated model were constructed and analyzed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. The Johnson-Neyman (J-N) technique was then used to identify the regions of significance across the levels of moderator values. RESULTS: Patients in the sample had a high prevalence of psychological distress (48.6%, K10 scores > 22), and mediation analysis indicated that resilience played a partially mediating role in the relationship between sleep quality and psychological distress (indict effect = 0.072, P < 0.001). Moderation analysis indicated that resilience also moderated the association between sleep quality and psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Resilience may play a key role in the relationship between sleep quality and psychological distress. Our findings imply that resilience training may therefore be an effective component of psychological distress intervention in women with infertility.

Synthesis and Characterization of Phenazine-Based Redox Center for High-Performance Polymer Poly(aryl ether sulfone)-5,10-Diphenyl-dihydrophenazine.

Phenazine-based redox-active centers are capable of averting chemical bond rearrangements by coupling during the reaction process, leading to enhanced stabilization of the material. When introduced into a high-performance polymer with excellent physicochemical properties, they can be endowed with electrochemical properties and related prospective applications while maintaining the capabilities of the materials. In this study, a facile C-N coupling method was chosen for the synthesis of serial poly(aryl ether sulfone) materials containing phenazine-based redox-active centers and to explore their electrochemical properties. As expected, the cyclic voltammetry curves of PAS-DPPZ-60, which basically overlap after thousands of cycles, indicate the stability of the electrochemical properties. As an electrochromic material, the transmittance change in PAS-DPPZ-60 exhibits only a slight attenuation after as long as 600 cycles. Meanwhile, as an organic battery cathode material, PAS-DPPZ has a theoretical specific capacity of 126 mAh g-1, and the capacity retention rate is 82.6% after 100 cycles at a 0.1 C current density. The perfect combination of advantageous features between phenazine and poly(aryl ether sulfone) is considered to be the reason for the favorable electrochemical performance of the material series.

Anisotropic Semicrystalline Homopolymer Dielectrics for High-Temperature Capacitive Energy Storage.

High-temperature dielectric polymers are in high demand for powering applications in extreme environments. Here, we have developed high-temperature homopolymer dielectrics with anisotropy by leveraging the hierarchical structure in semicrystalline polymers. The lamellae have been aligned parallel to the surface in the dielectric films. This structural arrangement resembles the horizontal alignment of nanosheet fillers in polymer nanocomposites and nanosheet-like lamellae in block copolymers, which has been proven to provide the optimal topological structure for electrical energy storage. The unique ordering of lamellae in our dielectric films endue a significantly increased breakdown strength and a reduced leakage current compared to amorphous films. This novel approach of enhancing the capacitive energy storage properties by controlled orientation of lamellae in homopolymer offers a new perspective for the design of high-temperature polymer dielectrics.

Sexual dimorphic distribution of G protein-coupled receptor 30 in pain-related regions of the mouse brain.

Sex differences in pain sensitivity have contributed to the fact that medications for curing chronic pain are unsatisfactory. However, the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Brain-derived estrogen participates in modulation of sex differences in pain and related emotion. G protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30), identified as a novel estrogen receptor with a different distribution than traditional receptors, has been proved to play a vital role in regulating pain affected by estrogen. However, the contribution of its distribution to sexually dimorphic pain-related behaviors has not been fully explored. In the current study, immunofluorescence assays were applied to mark the neurons expressing GPR30 in male and female mice (in metestrus and proestrus phase) in pain-related brain regions. The neurons that express CaMKIIα or VGAT were also labeled to observe overlap with GPR30. We found that females had more GPR30-positive (GPR30+ ) neurons in the primary somatosensory (S1) and insular cortex (IC) than males. In the lateral habenula (LHb) and the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), males had more GPR30+ neurons than females. Moreover, within the LHb, the expression of GPR30 varied with estrous cycle phase; females in metestrus had fewer GPR30+ neurons than those in proestrus. In addition, females had more GPR30+ neurons, which co-expressed CaMKIIα in the medial preoptic nucleus (mPOA) than males, while males had more than females in the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA). These findings may partly explain the different modulatory effects of GPR30 in pain and related emotional phenotypes between sexes and provide a basis for comprehension of sexual dimorphism in pain related to estrogen and GPR30, and finally provide new targets for exploiting new treatments of sex-specific pain.

Side-Chain-Type High Dielectric-Constant Dipolar Polyimides with Temperature Resistance.

Innovative dielectric materials with high-temperature resistance and outstanding dielectric properties have attracted tremendous attention in advanced electronical fields. Polyimide(PI) is considered a promising candidate for the modern electronic industry due to its excellent dielectric properties and comprehensive properties. However, the limited-adjustable range of dielectric constant and the difficulty to obtain a high dielectric constant restrict the application of PI as high dielectric materials. Herein, a novel diamine monomer (2,2'-bis((methylsulfonyl)methyl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4,4'-diamine (BSBPA)) containing a rigid biphenyl structure and high dipolar sulfonyl pendant groups is designed for high dielectric polyimides. The rigid biphenyl and polar sulfonyl pendant groups can reasonably optimize the molecular structure and orientational polarization of polyimides to improve their dielectric properties and thermal properties. Moreover, the effect of different bridge linkages on the dielectric properties is studied by using the different dianhydrides. Thus, the PI-BSBPA films especially the DSDA-BSBPA film (DSDA: 3,3',4,4'-diphenylsulfonetetracarboxylic dianhydride) achieve great thermal properties (T5%d of 377 °C and Tg of 358 °C) and excellent dielectric properties (6.95 at 1 kHz) along with high discharged energy density of 5.25 J cm-3 and charge-discharge efficiency of 90%. The collaborative control of main-chain and side-chain engineering is effective to endow the polyimides with high-temperature tolerance and high dielectric performance.

Efficient Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube-Based Stretchable Electrodes for Flexible Electronic Devices.

Stretchable electrodes are highly demanded in various wearable and flexible electronic devices, whereas the efficient fabrication approach is still a challenge. In this work, an efficient shrinking method to fabricate carbon nanotube (CNT)-based stretchable electrodes is proposed. The electrode is a layer of anisotropic CNT wrinkling film coated on a latex balloon substrate (CNT@latex), whose resistivity remains stable after 25 000 stretching cycles of 0 to 50% tensile strain, and can survive up to 500% tensile train. The highly conductive electrode can be used as the current collector of a stretchable Zinc-ion battery, maintaining an output voltage of 1.3 V during the stretching process of 0 to 100%. The applications of the electrode in flexible triboelectric nanogenerators and Joule heating devices are also demonstrated, further indicating their good prospects in the field of stretchable electronic devices.

Combined-Acupoint Electroacupuncture Induces Better Analgesia via Activating the Endocannabinoid System in the Spinal Cord.

Electroacupuncture (EA) therapy has been widely reported to alleviate neuropathic pain with few side effects in both clinical practice and animal studies worldwide. However, little is known about the comparison of the therapeutic efficacy among the diverse EA schemes used for neuropathic pain. The present study is aimed at investigating the therapeutic efficacy discrepancy between the single and combined-acupoint EA and to reveal the difference of mechanisms behind them. Electroacupuncture was given at both Zusanli (ST36) and Huantiao (GB30) in the combined group or ST36 alone in the single group. Paw withdrawal mechanical threshold (PWMT) was measured to determine the pain level. Electrophysiology was performed to detect the effects of EA on synaptic transmission in the spinal dorsal horn of the vGlut2-tdTomato mice. Spinal contents of endogenous opioids, endocannabinoids, and their receptors were examined. Inhibitors of CBR (cannabinoid receptor) and opioid receptors were used to study the roles of opioid and endocannabinoid system (ECS) in EA analgesia. We found that combined-acupoint acupuncture provide stronger analgesia than the single group did, and the former inhibited the synaptic transmission at the spinal level to a greater extent than later. Besides, the high-intensity stimulation at ST36 or normal stimulation at two sham acupoints did not mimic the similar efficacy of analgesia in the combined group. Acupuncture stimulation in single and combined groups both activated the endogenous opioid system. The ECS was only activated in the combined group. Naloxone totally blocked the analgesic effect of single-acupoint EA; however, it did not attenuate that of combined-acupoint EA unless coadministered with CBR antagonists. Hence, in the CCI-induced neuropathic pain model, combined-acupoint EA at ST36 and GB30 is more effective in analgesia than the single-acupoint EA at ST36. EA stimulation at GB30 alone neither provided a superior analgesic effect to EA treatment at ST36 nor altered the content of AEA, 2-AG, CB1 receptor, or CB2 receptor compared with the CCI group. Activation of the ECS is the main contributor of the better analgesia by the combined acupoint stimulation than that induced by single acupoint stimulation.

Spinal GABAergic neurons are under feed-forward inhibitory control driven by Aδ and C fibers in Gad2 td-Tomato mice.

BACKGROUND: Spinal GABAergic neurons act as a critical modulator in sensory transmission like pain or itch. The monosynaptic or polysynaptic primary afferent inputs onto GABAergic neurons, along with other interneurons or projection neurons make up the direct and feed-forward inhibitory neural circuits. Previous research indicates that spinal GABAergic neurons mainly receive excitatory inputs from Aδ and C fibers. However, whether they are controlled by other inhibitory sending signals is not well understood. METHODS: We applied a transgenic mouse line in which neurons co-expressed the GABA-synthesizing enzyme Gad65 and the enhanced red fluorescence (td-Tomato) to characterize the features of morphology and electrophysiology of GABAergic neurons. Patch-clamp whole cell recordings were used to record the evoked postsynaptic potentials of fluorescent neurons in spinal slices in response to dorsal root stimulation. RESULTS: We demonstrated that GABAergic neurons not only received excitatory drive from peripheral Aß, Aδ and C fibers, but also received inhibitory inputs driven by Aδ and C fibers. The evoked inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (eIPSPs) mediated by C fibers were mainly Glycinergic (66.7%) as well as GABAergic mixed with Glycinergic (33.3%), whereas the inhibition mediated by Aδ fibers was predominately both GABA and Glycine-dominant (57.1%), and the rest of which was purely Glycine-dominant (42.9%). CONCLUSION: These results indicated that spinal GABAergic inhibitory neurons are under feedforward inhibitory control driven by primary C and Aδ fibers, suggesting that this feed-forward inhibitory pathway may play an important role in balancing the excitability of GABAergic neurons in spinal dorsal horn.

The PKCγ neurons in anterior cingulate cortex contribute to the development of neuropathic allodynia and pain-related emotion.

BACKGROUND: While the PKCγ neurons in spinal dorsal horn play an indispensable part in neuropathic allodynia, the exact effect of PKCγ neurons of brain regions in neuropathic pain remains elusive. Mounting research studies have depicted that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is closely linked with pain perception and behavior, the present study was designed to investigate the contribution of PKCγ neurons in ACC to neuropathic allodynia and pain-related emotion in newly developed Prkcg-P2A-Tdtomato mice. METHODS: The c-fos expression in response to innocuous stimulation was used to monitor the activity of PKCγ in CCI (chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve) induced neuropathic pain condition. Activating or silencing ACC PKCγ neurons by chemogenetics was applied to observe the changes of pain behavior. The excitability of ACC PKCγ neurons in normal and CCI mice was compared by patch-clamp whole-cell recordings. RESULTS: The PKCγ-Tdtomato neurons were mainly distributed in layer III-Vof ACC. The Tdtomato was mainly expressed in ACC pyramidal neurons demonstrated by intracellular staining. The c-fos expression in ACC PKCγ neurons in response to innocuous stimulation was obviously elevated in CCI mice. The patch clamp recordings showed that ACC PKCγ-Tdtomato neurons were largely activated in CCI mice. Chemogenetic activation of ACC PKCγ neurons in Prkcg-icre mice induced mechanical allodynia and pain-related aversive behavior, conversely, silencing them in CCI condition significantly reversed the mechanical allodynia and pain-related place aversive behavior. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the PKCγ neurons in ACC are closely linked with neuropathic allodynia and pain-related emotional behaviors.

Reduced Sirtuin1 signalling exacerbates diabetic mice hindlimb ischaemia injury and inhibits the protective effect of a liver X receptor agonist.

Diabetes mellitus causes endothelial dysfunction, which further exacerbates peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Improving endothelial function via reducing endothelial oxidative stress (OS) may be a promising therapy for diabetic PAD. Activation of liver X receptor (LXR) inhibits excessive OS and provides protective effects on endothelial cells in diabetic individuals. Therefore, we investigated the effects of LXR agonist treatment on diabetic PAD with a focus on modulating endothelial OS. We used a streptozotocin-induced diabetes mouse model combined with a hindlimb ischaemia (HLI) injury to mimic diabetic PAD, which was followed by LXR agonist treatment. In our study, the LXR agonist T0901317 protected against HLI injury in diabetic mice by attenuating endothelial OS and stimulating angiogenesis. However, a deficiency in endothelial Sirtuin1 (SIRT1) largely inhibited the therapeutic effects of T0901317. Furthermore, we found that the underlying therapeutic mechanisms of T0901317 were related to SIRT1 and non-SIRT1 signalling, and the isoform LXRß was involved in LXR agonist-elicited SIRT1 regulation. In conclusion, LXR agonist treatment protected against HLI injury in diabetic mice via mitigating endothelial OS and stimulating cellular viability and angiogenesis by LXRß, which elicited both SIRT1-mediated and non-SIRT1-mediated signalling pathways. Therefore, LXR agonist treatment may be a promising therapeutic strategy for diabetic PAD.

Interface-Strengthened Polymer Nanocomposites with Reduced Dielectric Relaxation Exhibit High Energy Density at Elevated Temperatures Utilizing a Facile Dual Crosslinked Network.

High-temperature ceramic/polymer nanocomposites with large energy density as the reinforcement exhibit great potential for energy storage applications in modern electronic and electrical power systems. Yet, a general drawback is that the increased dielectric constant is usually achieved at the cost of decreased breakdown strength, thus leading to moderate improvement of energy density and even displaying a marked deterioration under high temperatures and high electric fields. Herein, a new strategy is reported to simultaneously improve breakdown strength and discharged energy density by a step-by-step, controllable dual crosslinking process, which constructs a strengthened interface as well as reduces molecular chains relaxation under elevated temperatures. Great breakdown strength and discharged energy density is achieved in the dual crosslinked network BT-BCB@DPAES nanocomposites at elevated temperatures when compared to noninterfacial-strengthened, BT/DPAES composites, i.e., an enhanced breakdown strength and a discharged energy density of 442 MV m-1 and 3.1 J cm-3 , increasing by 66% and 162%, and a stable cyclic performance over 10 000 cycles is demonstrated at 150 °C. Moreover, the enhancement through the synergy of two crosslinked networks is rationalized via a comprehensive phase-field model for the composites. This work offers a strategy to enhance the electric storage performances of composites at high temperatures.

Synaptic Dynamics of the Feed-forward Inhibitory Circuitry Gating Mechanical Allodynia in Mice.

BACKGROUND: The authors' previous studies have found that spinal protein kinase C γ expressing neurons are involved in the feed-forward inhibitory circuit gating mechanical allodynia in the superficial dorsal horn. The authors hypothesize that nerve injury enhances the excitability of spinal protein kinase C γ expressing interneurons due to disinhibition of the feed-forward inhibitory circuit, and enables Aß primary inputs to activate spinal protein kinase C γ expressing interneurons. METHODS: Prkcg-P2A-tdTomato mice were constructed using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated nuclease 9 technology, and were used to analyze the electrophysiologic properties of spinal protein kinase C γ expressing neurons in both normal conditions and pathologic conditions induced by chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve. Patch-clamp whole cell recordings were used to identify the nature of the dynamic synaptic drive to protein kinase C γ expressing neurons. RESULTS: Aß fiber stimulation evoked a biphasic synaptic response in 42% (31 of 73) of protein kinase C γ expressing neurons. The inhibitory components of the biphasic synaptic response were blocked by both strychnine and bicuculline in 57% (16 of 28) of neurons. Toll-like receptor 5 immunoreactive fibers made close contact with protein kinase C γ expressing neurons. After nerve injury, the percentage of neurons double-labeled for c-fos and Prkcg-P2A-tdTomato in animals walking on a rotarod was significantly higher than that in the nerve injury animals (4.1% vs. 9.9%, 22 of 539 vs. 54 of 548,P < 0.001). Aß fiber stimulation evoked burst action potentials in 25.8% (8 of 31) of protein kinase C γ expressing neurons in control animals, while the proportion increased to 51.1% (23 of 45) in nerve injury animals (P = 0.027). CONCLUSIONS: The Prkcg-P2A-tdTomato mice the authors constructed provide a useful tool for further analysis on how the spinal allodynia gate works. The current study indicated that nerve injury enhanced the excitability of spinal protein kinase C γ expressing interneurons due to disinhibition of the feed-forward inhibitory circuit, and enabled Aß primary inputs to activate spinal protein kinase C γ expressing interneurons.

Enhanced High-Temperature Dielectric Properties of Poly(aryl ether sulfone)/BaTiO3 Nanocomposites via Constructing Chemical Crosslinked Networks.

Heat-resistant and crosslinked polymers/ceramic composites have been prepared and investigated for enhancing high-temperature dielectric properties to adapt the development of advanced electric and electronic systems. Here, a series of crosslinkable heat-resistant poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (DPAES) with large dipole units of -SO2 - are designed and synthesized as matrix, which are blended with BaTiO3 (BT) nanoparticles to fabricate crosslinked polymer composites for boosting high-temperature dielectric properties. The results show that BT/c-DPAES possess great dielectric stability at measured frequency and temperature. Meanwhile, the discharged energy density and efficiency of BT/c-DPAES composites are higher than that of BT/DPAES at high temperatures, e.g., 10 vol% BT/c-DPAES has a discharged energy density of 1.7 J cm-3 and efficiency of 73%, increasing by 42% and 128% in contrast to BT/DPAES, respectively. The enhanced high-temperature energy storage properties can be attributed to the construction of a crosslinked polymer network, reducing leakage current density of composites.

A moderated mediation model of perceived stress, negative emotions and mindfulness on fertility quality of life in women with recurrent pregnancy loss.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the level of fertility related quality of life (FertiQoL) in women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), and to further examine moderated mediation effects of dispositional mindfulness and negative emotions on the relationship between perceived stress and FertiQoL. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 262 participants recruited from the infertility outpatient clinics. A self-administered, structured questionnaire including the Simplified Chinese version of FertiQoL tool, the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10), the Chinese Version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) was used to collect information in this research. The mediation model and moderated mediation model were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. RESULTS: The mean score of Core FertiQoL was 64.59 (SD = 14.76) among women with RPL. Mediation analysis revealed that the association between perceived stress and FertiQoL was partially mediated by negative emotions (indirect effect = - 0.194 for anxiety, and - 0.151 for depression, all P < 0.001). Moderated mediation analysis indicated that the indirect effects of perceived stress on FertiQoL through negative emotions were significantly moderated by dispositional mindfulness. Specifically, the indirect effects of perceived stress on FertiQoL through negative emotions decreased were significant as dispositional mindfulness levels increased. CONCLUSION: Overall, women with RPL experienced poor FertiQoL. The Moderated mediation model provides a better understanding of how perceived stress, negative emotions and dispositional mindfulness work together to affect FertiQoL. Interventions aiming to improve FertiQoL in women with RPL should consider targeting these aspects.

Bioinspired Polymer Nanocomposites Exhibit Giant Energy Density and High Efficiency at High Temperature.

Polymer dielectrics are ubiquitous in advanced electric energy storage systems. However, the relatively low operating temperature significantly menaces their widespread application at high temperatures, such as for hybrid vehicles and aerospace power electronics. Spider silk, a natural nanocomposite comprised of biopolymer chains and crystal protein nanosheets combined by multiple interfacial interactions, exhibits excellent mechanical properties even at elevated temperatures. Inspired by the hierarchical nanostructure of spider silk, poly(aryl ether sulfone) is anchored to the surface of wide bandgap artificial nanosheets to prepare the nanocomposites with nanoconfinement effect. The bioinspired strategy successfully improves the mechanical and electrical performances of the nanocomposite. Owing to the structural-enabled enhancements, the nanocomposites exhibit excellent breakdown strength and electrical energy storage performance at high temperatures. In detail, giant discharged energy density (2.7 J cm-3 ) and high charge-discharge efficiency (>90%) are simultaneously achieved at 150 °C and 400 MV m-1 . Notably, under 500 MV m-1 , the discharged energy density reaches 4.2 J cm-3 , which is the record high discharged energy density among polymer-based dielectrics at 150 °C. This work demonstrates a viable strategy to design high-temperature polymer dielectrics by constructing nanoconfinement in the nanocomposites.

Mst1 participates in the atherosclerosis progression through macrophage autophagy inhibition and macrophage apoptosis enhancement.

Emerging evidence favors the notion that macrophage autophagy plays a prominent role in the pathogenesis of vulnerable plaque, suggesting the therapeutic potential of targeting autophagy in atherosclerosis. Here ApoE(-/-) mice were crossed with Mst1 knockout or Mst1 Tg mice to generate ApoE(-/-):Mst1(-/-) and ApoE(-/-):Mst1Tg mice. All animals were fed high-fat-diet for 4months to induce arterial atherosclerosis. Murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells were subjected to ox-LDL (50µg/mL) in an effort to examine the cellular mechanisms. A significant increase in the levels of Mst1 and p-Mst1 was observed in the aorta of ApoE(-/-) mice. Mst1 knockout significantly reduced atherosclerotic area, decreased lipid core area and macrophage accumulation as compared with ApoE(-/-) mice. Along the same line, Mst1 overexpression increased plaque area, lipid core and macrophage accumulation as compared with ApoE(-/-) mice. Mst1 deficiency significantly increased levels of Beclin1 and LC3II, while decreased that of p62 in aortic atherosclerosis. Moreover, in vitro data indicated that Mst1 knockdown prompted more typical autophagosomes upon ox-LDL challenge. Mst1 knockdown also enhanced autophagic flux as evidenced by GFP-mRFP-LC3 staining, increased LC3-II expression and decreased p62 expression in the presence of bafilomycin A1. Mst1 knockdown decreased, while Mst1 overexpression increased macrophage apoptosis upon ox-LDL exposure. In conclusion, Mst1 deficiency diminishes atherosclerosis and stabilizes atherosclerotic plaques in ApoE(-/-) mice. Mst1 may participate in atherosclerosis progression through inhibition of macrophage autophagy and promotion of macrophage apoptosis.

Clipped speckle autocorrelation metric for spot size characterization of focused beam on a diffuse target.

The clipped speckle autocorrelation (CSA) metric is proposed for estimating the laser beam energy concentration on a remote diffuse target in a laser beam projection system with feedback information. Using the second order statistics of the intensity distribution of the fully developed speckle and the relation of the autocorrelation functions for the clipped and unclipped speckles, we present the theoretical expression of this metric as a function of the normalized CSA function. The simulation technique based on the equivalence of the spatial average and the ensemble time average is provided. Based on this simulation technique, we analyze the influence of the surface roughness of the target on this metric and then show the influencing factors of the metric performance, for example the finite sample effect and aperture size of the observation system. Experimental results are illustrated to examine the capability of this metric and the correctness of the discussion about the metric performance.

Estrogen receptor GPR30 in the anterior cingulate cortex mediates exacerbated neuropathic pain in ovariectomized mice.

Menopausal women experience neuropathic pain 63% more frequently than men do, which may attribute to the estrogen withdrawal. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, the role of estrogen receptors (ERs) in ovariectomized (OVX) female mice following chronic constriction injury (CCI) was investigated. With 17ß-estradiol (E2) supplemented, aggravated mechanical allodynia in OVX mice could be significantly alleviated, particularly after intra-anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) E2 delivery. Pharmacological interventions further demonstrated that the agonist of G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor 30 (GPR30), rather than ERα or ERß in the ACC, exhibited the similar analgesic effect as E2, whereas antagonist of GPR30 exacerbated allodynia. Furthermore, OVX surgery reduced GPR30 expression in the ACC, which could be restored with estrogen supplementation. Selective downregulation of GPR30 in the ACC of naïve female mice induces mechanical allodynia, whereas GPR30 overexpression in the ACC remarkedly alleviated OVX-exacerbated allodynia. Collectively, estrogen withdrawal could downregulate the ACC GPR30 expression, resulting in exacerbated neuropathic pain. Our findings highlight the importance of GPR30 in the ACC in aggravated neuropathic pain during menopause, and offer a potential therapeutic candidate for neuropathic pain management in menopausal women.