Dopant-Free Pyrene-Based Hole Transporting Material Enables Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Dopant-free hole transporting materials (HTMs) is significant to the stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, we developed a novel star-shape arylamine HTM, termed Py-DB, with a pyrene core and carbon-carbon double bonds as the bridge units. Compared to the reference HTM (termed Py-C), the extension of the planar conjugation backbone endows Py-DB with typical intermolecular π-π stacking interactions and excellent solubility, resulting in improved hole mobility and film morphology. In addition, the lower HOMO energy level of the Py-DB HTM provides efficient hole extraction with reduced energy loss at the perovskite/HTM interface. Consequently, an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.33 % was achieved for dopant-free Py-DB-based PSCs, which is the highest PCE for dopant-free small molecular HTMs in n-i-p configured PSCs. The dopant-free Py-DB-based device also exhibits improved long-term stability, retaining over 90 % of its initial efficiency after 1000 h exposure to 25 % humidity at 60 °C. These findings provide valuable insights and approaches for the further development of dopant-free HTMs for efficient and reliable PSCs.

Integrated multi-omics analysis and machine learning developed a prognostic model based on mitochondrial function in a large multicenter cohort for Gastric Cancer

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer (GC) is a common and aggressive type of cancer worldwide. Despite recent advancements in its treatment, the prognosis for patients with GC remains poor. Understanding the mechanisms of cell death in GC, particularly those related to mitochondrial function, is crucial for its development and progression. However, more research is needed to investigate the significance of the interaction between mitochondrial function and GC cell death.

METHODS

We employed a robust computational framework to investigate the role of mitochondria-associated proteins in the progression of GC in a cohort of 1,199 GC patients. Ten machine learning algorithms were utilized and combined into 101 unique combinations. Ultimately, we developed a Mitochondrial-related-Score (MitoScore) using the machine learning model that exhibited the best performance. We observed the upregulation of LEMT2 and further explored its function in tumor progression. Mitochondrial functions were assessed by measuring mitochondrial ATP, mitochondrial membrane potential, and levels of lactate, pyruvate, and glucose.

RESULTS

MitoScore showed significant correlations with GC immune and metabolic functions. The higher MitoScore subgroup exhibited enriched metabolic pathways and higher immune activity. Overexpression of LETM2 (leucine zipper and EF-hand containing transmembrane protein 2) significantly enhanced tumor proliferation and metastasis. LETM2 plays a role in promoting GC cell proliferation by activating the mTOR pathway, maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis, and promoting glycolysis.

CONCLUSION

The powerful machine learning framework highlights the significant potential of MitoScore in providing valuable insights and accurate assessments for individuals with GC. This study also enhances our understanding of LETM2 as an oncogene signature in GC. LETM2 may promote tumor progression by maintaining mitochondrial health and activating glycolysis, offering potential targets for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of GC.

Morphological and regional spontaneous functional aberrations in the brain associated with Crohn's disease: a systematic review and coordinate-based meta-analyses

Crohn's disease is an acknowledged "brain-gut" disorder with unclear physiopathology. This study aims to identify potential neuroimaging biomarkers of Crohn's disease. Gray matter volume, cortical thickness, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, and regional homogeneity were selected as indices of interest and subjected to analyses using both activation likelihood estimation and seed-based d mapping with permutation of subject images. In comparison to healthy controls, Crohn's disease patients in remission exhibited decreased gray matter volume in the medial frontal gyrus and concurrently increased regional homogeneity. Furthermore, gray matter volume reduction in the medial superior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri, decreased regional homogeneity in the median cingulate/paracingulate gyri, superior frontal gyrus, paracentral lobule, and insula were observed. The gray matter changes of medial frontal gyrus were confirmed through both methods: decreased gray matter volume of medial frontal gyrus and medial superior frontal gyrus were identified by activation likelihood estimation and seed-based d mapping with permutation of subject images, respectively. The meta-regression analyses showed a positive correlation between regional homogeneity alterations and patient age in the supplementary motor area and a negative correlation between gray matter volume changes and patients' anxiety scores in the medial superior frontal gyrus. These anomalies may be associated with clinical manifestations including abdominal pain, psychiatric disorders, and possibly reflective of compensatory mechanisms.

Extracellular Vesicles: A New Star for Gene Drug Delivery

Recently, gene therapy has become a subject of considerable research and has been widely evaluated in various disease models. Though it is considered as a stand-alone agent for COVID-19 vaccination, gene therapy is still suffering from the following drawbacks during its translation from the bench to the bedside: the high sensitivity of exogenous nucleic acids to enzymatic degradation; the severe side effects induced either by exogenous nucleic acids or components in the formulation; and the difficulty to cross the barriers before reaching the therapeutic target. Therefore, for the successful application of gene therapy, a safe and reliable transport vector is urgently needed. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are the ideal candidate for the delivery of gene drugs owing to their low immunogenicity, good biocompatibility and low toxicity. To better understand the properties of EVs and their advantages as gene drug delivery vehicles, this review covers from the origin of EVs to the methods of EVs generation, as well as the common methods of isolation and purification in research, with their pros and cons discussed. Meanwhile, the engineering of EVs for gene drugs is also highlighted. In addition, this paper also presents the progress in the EVs-mediated delivery of microRNAs, small interfering RNAs, messenger RNAs, plasmids, and antisense oligonucleotides. We believe this review will provide a theoretical basis for the development of gene drugs.

Deconvolution-Based Pharmacokinetic Analysis to Improve the Prediction of Pathological Information of Breast Cancer

Pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters, revealing changes in the tumor microenvironment, are related to the pathological information of breast cancer. Tracer kinetic models (e.g., Tofts-Kety model) with a nonlinear least square solver are commonly used to estimate PK parameters. However, the method is sensitive to noise in images. To relieve the effects of noise, a deconvolution (DEC) method, which was validated on synthetic concentration-time series, was proposed to accurately calculate PK parameters from breast dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. A time-to-peak-based tumor partitioning method was used to divide the whole tumor into three tumor subregions with different kinetic patterns. Radiomic features were calculated from the tumor subregion and whole tumor-based PK parameter maps. The optimal features determined by the fivefold cross-validation method were used to build random forest classifiers to predict molecular subtypes, Ki-67, and tumor grade. The diagnostic performance evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was compared between the subregion and whole tumor-based PK parameters. The results showed that the DEC method obtained more accurate PK parameters than the Tofts method. Moreover, the results showed that the subregion-based Ktrans (best AUCs = 0.8319, 0.7032, 0.7132, 0.7490, 0.8074, and 0.6950) achieved a better diagnostic performance than the whole tumor-based Ktrans (AUCs = 0.8222, 0.6970, 0.6511, 0.7109, 0.7620, and 0.5894) for molecular subtypes, Ki-67, and tumor grade. These findings indicate that DEC-based Ktrans in the subregion has the potential to accurately predict molecular subtypes, Ki-67, and tumor grade.

PLAU promotes growth and attenuates cisplatin chemosensitivity in ARID1A-depleted non-small cell lung cancer through interaction with TM4SF1

Loss of ARID1A, a subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, contributes to malignant progression in multiple cancers including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the search for key genes mediating the aggressive phenotype caused by ARID1A loss, we analyzed 3 Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets that contain RNA sequencing data from ARID1A-depleted cancer cells. PLAU was identified as a common gene that was induced in different cancer cells upon ARID1A depletion. Overexpression of PLAU positively modulated NSCLC cell growth, colony formation, cisplatin resistance, and survival under serum deprivation. Moreover, enforced expression of PLAU enhanced tumorigenesis of NSCLC cells in nude mice. Mechanistically, PLAU interacted with TM4SF1 to promote the activation of Akt signaling. TM4SF1-overexpressing NSCLC cells resembled those with PLAU overepxression. Knockdown of TM4SF1 inhibited the growth and survival and increased cisplatin sensitivity in NSCLC cells. The interaction between PLAU and TM4SF1 led to the activation of Akt signaling that endowed ARID1A-depleted NSCLC cells with aggressive properties. In addition, treatment with anti-TM4SF1 neutralizing antibody reduced the growth, cisplatin resistance, and tumorigenesis of ARID1A-depleted NSCLC cells. Taken together, PLAU serves as a target gene of ARID1A and promotes NSCLC growth, survival, and cisplatin resistance by stabilizing TM4SF1. Targeting TM4SF1 may be a promising therapeutic strategy for ARID1A-mutated NSCLC.

Impact of Stone Powder Content on Corrosion Resistance in Reinforced Concrete under Stray Current and Chloride Interactions

Manufactured sand, known for its artificial production, eco-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability, serves as an excellent alternative to natural sand. Stone powder content plays a crucial role in determining the performance of manufactured sand, significantly enhancing concrete compaction and its ability to withstand environmental degradation. This study aims to explore the feasibility of using environmentally and economically advantageous manufactured sand in the construction of subway tunnel segments in coastal areas. It investigates the impact of stone powder content on the corrosion resistance of concrete made with manufactured sand under the combined influence of chloride salts and stray currents. The analysis covers corrosion tendencies, the post-rusting performance of reinforcement bars, the resistance of concrete to chloride transport, and microstructure properties, which are assessed through electron microscope scanning and mercury compression testing. The findings indicate that the corrosion resistance of manufactured sand concrete generally surpasses that of river sand concrete. Furthermore, stone powder content within the 3-8% range leads to a denser concrete microstructure, reduced porosity, lower free-chloride ion levels, increased polarization resistance of post-corrosion reinforcements, lower corrosion current density, and reduced mass loss of reinforcing bars. This research provides valuable theoretical support for promoting the use of environmentally friendly manufactured sand concrete in subway construction projects.

Preparation and Application of Hemostatic Hydrogels

Hemorrhage remains a critical challenge in various medical settings, necessitating the development of advanced hemostatic materials. Hemostatic hydrogels have emerged as promising solutions to address uncontrolled bleeding due to their unique properties, including biocompatibility, tunable physical characteristics, and exceptional hemostatic capabilities. In this review, a comprehensive overview of the preparation and biomedical applications of hemostatic hydrogels is provided. Particularly, hemostatic hydrogels with various materials and forms are introduced. Additionally, the applications of hemostatic hydrogels in trauma management, surgical procedures, wound care, etc. are summarized. Finally, the limitations and future prospects of hemostatic hydrogels are discussed and evaluated. This review aims to highlight the biomedical applications of hydrogels in hemorrhage management and offer insights into the development of clinically relevant hemostatic materials.

[Progress in surgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with tumor thrombus in the inferior vena cava]

Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is one of the most common malignancies of the digestive system,which is prone to be associated with microvascular or macrovascular invasion. Among them,HCC with inferior vena cava tumor thrombus(IVCTT) or right atrium tumor thrombus(RATT) is rare and has a poor prognosis. However,surgical treatment of HCC with IVCTT and (or) RATT is rarely reported and summarized. The review described the classification of HCC tumor thrombus with IVCTT and (or) RATT, summarized the progress of surgical approaches and surgical operations,and introduced a case of thrombectomy after pushing from the outer surface of the atrium,rendering the RATT to the inferior vena cava under non-cardiopulmonary bypass. The review also proposed the prospective treatments for HCC with IVCTT or RATT,providing clinical guidance to hepatobiliary surgeons.

The role of working memory updating and capacity in children's mathematical abilities: A developmental cascade model

BACKGROUND

Previous studies indicated that working memory (WM) updating and WM capacity play essential roles in mathematical ability. However, it is unclear whether WM capacity mediates the effect of WM updating on mathematics, and whether the cascading effects vary with different mathematical domains.

AIMS

The current study aims to explore the longitudinal mediating role of WM capacity between WM updating and mathematical performance, and how the relations change with the age and domains.

SAMPLE

A total of 131 Chinese first-graders participated the study.

METHODS

Participants were required to complete tasks on WM updating and WM capacity in Grade 1 and Grade 2, as well as paper-and-pencil tests on mathematics achievement in Grade 3. The role of WM updating and capacity in the development of pupil's mathematical achievement was examined.

RESULTS

Results revealed that verbal WM updating in Grade 1 predicted basic arithmetic and logical-visuospatial ability in Grade 3 via its cascading effect on verbal WM capacity in Grade 2. Moreover, visuospatial WM updating in Grade 1 predicted visuospatial WM capacity in Grade 2. Visuospatial WM capacity in Grade 1 predicted logical-visuospatial ability in Grade 3 instead of basic arithmetic ability in Grade 3.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggested that WM updating exerts effect on pupil's mathematical performance via WM capacity, meanwhile, this effect depends on children's mathematics domain.

Bioinspired helical-artificial fibrous muscle structured tubular soft actuators

Biological tubular actuators show diverse deformations, which allow for sophisticated deformations with well-defined degrees of freedom (DOF). Nonetheless, synthetic active tubular soft actuators largely only exhibit few simple deformations with limited and undesignable DOF. Inspired by 3D fibrous architectures of tubular muscular hydrostats, we devised conceptually new helical-artificial fibrous muscle structured tubular soft actuators (HAFMS-TSAs) with locally tunable molecular orientations, materials, mechanics, and actuation via a modular fabrication platform using a programmable filament winding technique. Unprecedentedly, HAFMS-TSAs can be endowed with 11 different morphing modes through programmable regulation of their 3D helical fibrous architectures. We demonstrate a single "living" artificial plant rationally structured by HAFMS-TSAs exhibiting diverse photoresponsive behaviors that enable adaptive omnidirectional reorientation of its hierarchical 3D structures in the response to environmental irradiation, resembling morphing intelligence of living plants in reacting to changing environments. Our methodology would be significantly beneficial for developing sophisticated soft actuators with designable and tunable DOF.

Study on the Mechanical Behavior of a Dual-Density Hybrid Lattice Structure under Quasi-Static and Dynamic Compressions

The dual-phase lattice structure composed of the matrix phase (MP) and the reinforcement phase (RP) is a novel hybrid lattice showing excellent energy absorption ability. However, the mechanical behavior of the dual-phase lattice structure under dynamic compression and the enhancement mechanism of the reinforcement phase have not been widely studied with the increase in compression speed. Based on the design requirements of dual-phase lattice materials, this paper combined octet-truss cell structures with different porosities, and the dual-density hybrid lattice specimens were fabricated via the fused deposition modeling technique. Under quasi-static and dynamic compressive loadings, the stress-strain behavior, energy absorption capacity, and deformation mechanism of the dual-density hybrid lattice structure were studied. The results showed that the quasi-static-specific energy absorption of the dual-density hybrid lattice structure was significantly higher than that of the single-density Octet lattice, and with the increase in compression strain rate, the effective specific energy absorption of the dual-density hybrid lattice structure also increased. The deformation mechanism of the dual-density hybrid lattice was also analyzed, and the deformation mode changed from an inclined deformation band to a horizontal deformation band when the strain rate changed from 10^-3 s^-1 to 100 s^-1.

[The influence of different blood pressure management schemes on the quality of postoperative anesthesia recovery in elderly patients undergoing long-time gynecological laparoscopic tumor surgery]

Objective: To investigate the effect of different blood pressure management schemes on the quality of postoperative anesthesia recovery in elderly patients undergoing long-term gynecological laparoscopic tumor surgery. Methods: A total of 57 patients who underwent gynecological tumor surgery in Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine from May to October 2022 were prospectively included. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: the precise blood pressure management group [group P, n=28, aged (69.9±3.6) years] and the control group [group C, n=29, aged (68.6±3.1) years]. Group P adopted a precise blood pressure management scheme, and systolic blood pressure (SBP) fluctuated within±10% of basal blood pressure during operation, while group C adopted a routine blood pressure management scheme, which maintained SBP fluctuation within±20% of basal blood pressure during operation, and SBP≥90 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa). The main outcome measures were the quality of anesthesia recovery (QoR-40) scores of the two groups 24 hours after the operation. The secondary outcome measures included lactate clearance rate and blood glucose change 2 hours after the beginning of the operation and immediately after the operation, post anesthesia recovery score (PARS) and sedation-agitation scale (SAS) 5 min after extubation, intraoperative norepinephrine dosage, volume of fluid administered, blood loss and urine volume, creatinine clearance rate and urea nitrogen clearance rate 24 hours after the operation, anesthesia satisfaction score, length of hospital stay and hospitalization cost, etc. Results: The QoR-40 score of group P [M (Q₁, Q₃)] 24 hours after operation was 192 (190, 195), which was higher than that of group C [170 (163, 178)] (P<0.001). The lactate clearance rates 2 hours after the beginning of the operation and immediately after the operation in group P [M (Q₁, Q₃)] were 31.0% (14.9%, 43.3%) and 21.1% (3.1%, 38.2%), which were higher than those in group C [-12.5% (-43.1%, 11.8%) and -22.2% (-61.3%, -11.1%)] (both P<0.05). The changes in blood glucose 2 hours after the beginning of the operation and immediately after the operation in group P [M (Q₁, Q₃)] were [1.1 (0.9, 1.4) mmol/L and 1.4 (0.9, 1.9) mmol/L], which were higher than those in group C [0.2 (-0.2, 0.5) mmol/L and 0.2 (-0.2, 0.5) mmol/L] (both P<0.05). The intraoperative urine volume, PARS score and SAS score 5 min after extubation, and anesthesia satisfaction score in group P [M (Q₁, Q₃)] were 400 (300, 500) ml, 8 (8, 9), 4 (4, 4) and 8 (8, 9), respectively, which were higher than those in group C [200 (100, 300) ml, 7 (7, 8), 3 (3, 3) and 6 (6, 7), respectively] (all P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in norepinephrine dosage, volume of fluid administered, blood loss, creatinine clearance rate, urea nitrogen clearance rate, length of hospital stay and hospitalization cost between the two groups (all P>0.05). Conclusion: The precise blood pressure management scheme of maintaining SBP fluctuation within±10% of basal blood pressure in elderly patients undergoing long-time gynecological laparoscopic tumor surgery can significantly enhance the quality of postoperative anesthesia recovery, improve the patients' satisfaction, and facilitate the patients' postoperative rehabilitation.

SAA1 Has Potential as a Prognostic Biomarker Correlated with Cell Proliferation, Migration, and an Indicator for Immune Infiltration of Tumor Microenvironment in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays an important part in the initiation and development of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). However, an understanding of the immune infiltration in TME is still unknown. Our study aims to explore the correlation between the TME and the clinical features, as well as the prognosis of ccRCC. In the present study, ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT computational methods were applied to calculate the proportion of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) and the amount of immune and stromal fractions in the ccRCC form The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Then, we sought to find out those immune cell types and genes which may play a significant role and validated them in the GEO database. Furthermore, an immunohistochemical analysis of our external validation dataset was used to detect SAA1 and PDL1 expression in the ccRCC cancer tissues and corresponding normal tissues. Statistical analysis was performed to study the relationship between SAA1 and clinical characteristics, as well as PDL1 expression. Furthermore, a ccRCC cell model with SAA1 knockdown was constructed, which was used for cell proliferation and the migration test. The intersection analysis of the univariate COX and PPI analysis were performed to imply Serum Amyloid A1 (SAA1) as a predictive factor. The expression of SAA1 was significantly negatively correlated to OS and positively correlated to the clinical TMN stage system. The genes in the high-expression SAA1 group were basically enriched in immune-related activities. The proportion of mast cells resting was negatively correlated with SAA1 expression, indicating that SAA1 may be involved in the maintenance of the immune status for the TME. Moreover, the PDL1 expression was positively related to the SAA1 expression and negatively correlated with the patients' prognosis. Further experiments revealed that the knockdown of SAA1 inhibited ccRCC development through suppressing cell proliferation and migration. SAA1 may be a novel marker for the prognosis prediction of ccRCC patients and may play a vital role in the TME by mast cell resting and PDL1 expression. SAA1 has the potential to become a therapeutic target and indicator for immune target therapy in ccRCC treatment.

[Research advances on the function of skin touch receptor Merkel cells]

The reconstruction of tactile function during the repair of skin damage caused by factors including burns is inseparable from the functional regeneration of tactile receptor Merkel cells. Merkel cells mainly exist in the basal layer of the epidermis and are closely connected with nerves to form Merkel cell-nerve complexes, which play an important role in biological organisms. A large number of studies have shown that Merkel cells conduct precise transmission of mechanical force stimuli through the mechanically gated ion channels PIEZO2, and perform the function of tactile receptors. In this paper, we discussed the characteristics of Merkel cells and analyzed the different subgroups that may possibly exist in this type of cells and their functions, at the same time, we investigated the animal model research of touch-related diseases and the clinical diseases related to touch, revealing the importance of Merkel cell function research.

[Clinical effects of free latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap combined with artificial dermis and split-thickness skin graft in the treatment of degloving injury in lower extremity]

Objective: To observe the clinical effects of free latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap combined with artificial dermis and split-thickness skin graft in the treatment of degloving injury in lower limbs. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted. From December 2017 to December 2020, 8 patients with large skin and soft tissue defect caused by degloving injury in lower extremity were admitted to Ningbo No.6 Hospital, including 5 males and 3 females, aged from 39 to 75 years, with wound area of 25 cm×12 cm-61 cm×34 cm. The free latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap with latissimus dorsi muscle in the width of 12-15 cm and flap area of 20 cm×8 cm-32 cm×8 cm was used to repair the skin and soft tissue defect of bone/tendon exposure site or functional area. The other defect was repaired with bilayer artificial dermis, and the flap donor site was sutured directly. After the artificial dermis was completely vascularized, the split-thickness skin graft from thigh was excised and extended at a ratio of 1∶2 to 1∶4 and then transplanted to repair the residual wound, and the donor site of skin graft was treated by dressing change. The survival of latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap, artificial dermis, and split-thickness skin graft after operation was observed, the interval time between artificial dermis transplantation and split-thickness skin graft transplantation was recorded, and the healing of donor site was observed. The appearance and function of operative area were followed up. At the last outpatient follow-up, the sensory recovery of flap was evaluated by British Medical Research Council evaluation criteria, the flap function was evaluated by the comprehensive evaluation standard of flap in Operative Hand Surgery, the scar of lower limb skin graft area and thigh skin donor area was evaluated by Vancouver scar scale, and the patient's satisfaction with the curative effects was asked. Results: The latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap survived in 6 patients, while the distal tip of latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap was partially necrotic in 2 patient and was repaired by skin grafting after resection at split-thickness skin grafting. The artificial dermis survived in all 8 patients after transplantation. The split-thickness skin graft survived in 7 patients, while partial necrosis of the split-thickness skin graft occurred in one patient and was repaired by skin grafting again. The interval time between artificial dermis transplantation and split-thickness skin graft transplantation was 15-26 (20±5) d. The donor site of latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap healed with linear scar after operation, and the thigh skin graft donor site healed with scar after operation. The patients were followed up for 6-18 (12.5±2.3) months. The color and elasticity of the flap were similar to those of the surrounding skin tissue, and the lower limb joint activity returned to normal. There was no increase in linear scar at the back donor site or obvious hypertrophic scar at the thigh donor site. At the last outpatient follow-up, the sensation of the flap recovered to grade S2 or S3; 3 cases were excellent, 4 cases were good, and 1 case was fair in flap function; the Vancouver scar scale score of lower limb skin graft area was 4-7 (5.2±0.9), and the Vancouver scar scale score of thigh skin donor area was 1-5 (3.4±0.8). The patients were fairly satisfied with the curative effects. Conclusions: In repairing the large skin and soft tissue defect from degloving injury in lower extremity, to cover the exposed bone/tendon or functional area with latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap and the residual wound with artificial dermis and extended split-thickness skin graft is accompanied by harvest of small autologous flap and skin graft, good recovery effect of functional area after surgery, and good quality of healing in skin grafted area.

Spontaneous and rapid electro-actuated snapping of constrained polyelectrolyte hydrogels

Venus flytrap and bladderwort, capable of rapid predation through a snapping transition, have inspired various designs of soft actuators and robots with fast actions. These designs, in contrast to their natural counterparts, often require a direct force or pressurization. Here, we report a bistable domal hydrogel structure capable of spontaneous and reversible snapping under an electric field. Unlike a mechanical force, the electric field does not drive the gel directly. Instead, it redistributes mobile ions that direct the migration of water molecules and bends the polyelectrolyte hydrogel. Subject to constraint from surrounding neutral gel, the elastic energy accumulates until suddenly released by snapping, just like the process in natural organisms. Several proof-of-concept examples, including an optical switch, a speedy catcher, and a pulse pump, are designed to demonstrate the versatile functionalities of this unit capable of articulate motion. This work should bring opportunities to devise soft robotics, biomedical devices, etc.

Male Breast Carcinoma Metastatic to the Choroid: A Case Report and Opinions of Management

Male breast carcinoma metastatic to the choroid is very rare and often related to poor prognosis. Herein, we report the findings in a Chinese male breast cancer patient who developed choroidal metastasis, and give opinions on systemic treatments. A 45-year-old Chinese male represented with difficulty breathing and visual impairment in the left eye 6 years after his breast cancer surgery and postoperative adjuvant treatment. PET/CT revealed multi-organs metastasis of the patient. The IHC indicated the lung lesion to be originated from the breast (ER+/PR+/HER2-). Eye examination provided evidence for breast cancer choroidal metastasis. Two cycles of TX (docetaxel + capecitabine) followed by two courses of GP (gemcitabine + cis-platinum) were applied as salvage chemotherapy. Metastases in his lung and bone remained stable. As for choroidal metastasis, a regimen of CDK4/6 inhibitor (Palbociclib) plus fulvestrant was recommended to the patient, which led to a good response. Notably, CDK4/6 inhibitor combined with endocrine therapy may be considered as an effective treatment for hormonal receptor-positive breast cancer patients with choroidal metastasis. We recommend that eye examination should not be neglected in breast cancer patients.

Patterned Electrode Assisted One-Step Fabrication of Biomimetic Morphing Hydrogels with Sophisticated Anisotropic Structures

Anisotropic structures are ubiquitous in nature, affording fascinating morphing behaviors. Biomimetic morphing materials can be developed by spatially controlling the orientations of molecules or nanofillers that produce anisotropic responses and internal stresses under external stimuli. However, it remains a serious challenge to fabricate materials with sophisticated anisotropic architectures. Here, a facile strategy to fabricate morphing hydrogels with elaborately ordered structures of nanosheets, which are oriented under distributed electric field and immobilized by polymerization to form a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) matrix, is proposed. Diverse sophisticated anisotropic structures are obtained by engineering the electric field through the patterns and relative locations of the electrodes. Upon heating, the monolithic hydrogels with through-thickness and/or in-plane gradients in orientation of the nanosheets deform into various three-dimensional configurations. After incorporating gold nanoparticles, the hydrogels become photoresponsive and capable of programmable motions, for example, dynamic twisting and flipping under spatiotemporal stimuli. Such a strategy of using patterned electrodes to generate distributed electric field should be applicable to systems of liquid crystals or charged particles/molecules to direct orientation or electrophoresis and form functional structures. The biomimetically architectured hydrogels would be ideal materials to develop artificial muscles, soft actuators/robots, and biomedical devices with versatile applications.

Luteolin enhances the antitumor efficacy of oncolytic vaccinia virus that harbors IL-24 gene in liver cancer cells

BACKGROUND

Interleukin 24 (IL-24) is an IL-10 family member and a secreted cytokine characterized by cancer-targeted toxicity and can activate apoptosis by sensitizing cancer cells to chemotherapy. Cytotoxic effects of luteolin on different types of cancer cells suppress their growth by acting on the components of the apoptosis signaling cascade. Therefore, our study aimed to prove whether oncolytic vaccinia virus (VV) that harbors IL-24 (VV-IL-24) combine with luteolin exerts a synergistic inhibitory effect in liver cancer cells.

METHODS

Impacts on cell viability of VV-IL-24 and luteolin were assessed by MTT in various liver cancer cell lines. Then, liver cancer cell apoptosis was analyzed via flow cytometry and Western blotting. Besides, the MHCC97-H xenograft mouse model was employed as a means of assessing in vivo antitumor efficacy.

RESULTS

MTT assay confirmed that the combination treatment decreased liver cancer cells viability to a greater degree than treatment with VV-IL-24 or luteolin alone. Flow cytometry and Western blot assay proved that VV-IL-24 plus luteolin induced more liver cancer cells apoptosis than single treatment. Furthermore, in the MHCC97-H xenograft model, 15 days of treatment with VV-IL-24 plus luteolin inhibited tumor growth significantly more than single treatment.

CONCLUSION

These data confirm that the synergistic mechanism of VV-IL-24 and luteolin elicits a stronger tumor growth inhibition than any single therapy. Thus, the combination of VV-IL-24 and luteolin could provide the basis for preclinical research in the treatment of liver cancer.

Chemical anti-corrosion strategy for stable inverted perovskite solar cells

One big challenge for long-lived inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is that commonly used metal electrodes react with perovskite layer, inducing electrode corrosion and device degradation. Motivated by the idea of metal anticorrosion, here, we propose a chemical anticorrosion strategy to fabricate stable inverted PSCs through introducing a typical organic corrosion inhibitor of benzotriazole (BTA) before Cu electrode deposition. BTA molecules chemically coordinate to the Cu electrode and form an insoluble and polymeric film of [BTA-Cu], suppressing the electrochemical corrosion and reaction between perovskite and the Cu electrode. PSCs with BTA/Cu show excellent air stability, retaining 92.8 ± 1.9% of initial efficiency after aging for 2500 hours. In addition, >90% of initial efficiency is retained after 85°C aging for over 1000 hours. PSCs with BTA/Cu also exhibit good operational stability, and 88.6 ± 2.6% of initial efficiency is retained after continuous maximum power point tracking for 1000 hours.

A Rapid, Accurate and Machine-Agnostic Segmentation and Quantification Method for CT-Based COVID-19 Diagnosis

COVID-19 has caused a global pandemic and become the most urgent threat to the entire world. Tremendous efforts and resources have been invested in developing diagnosis, prognosis and treatment strategies to combat the disease. Although nucleic acid detection has been mainly used as the gold standard to confirm this RNA virus-based disease, it has been shown that such a strategy has a high false negative rate, especially for patients in the early stage, and thus CT imaging has been applied as a major diagnostic modality in confirming positive COVID-19. Despite the various, urgent advances in developing artificial intelligence (AI)-based computer-aided systems for CT-based COVID-19 diagnosis, most of the existing methods can only perform classification, whereas the state-of-the-art segmentation method requires a high level of human intervention. In this paper, we propose a fully-automatic, rapid, accurate, and machine-agnostic method that can segment and quantify the infection regions on CT scans from different sources. Our method is founded upon two innovations: 1) the first CT scan simulator for COVID-19, by fitting the dynamic change of real patients' data measured at different time points, which greatly alleviates the data scarcity issue; and 2) a novel deep learning algorithm to solve the large-scene-small-object problem, which decomposes the 3D segmentation problem into three 2D ones, and thus reduces the model complexity by an order of magnitude and, at the same time, significantly improves the segmentation accuracy. Comprehensive experimental results over multi-country, multi-hospital, and multi-machine datasets demonstrate the superior performance of our method over the existing ones and suggest its important application value in combating the disease.

And the nominees are: Using design-awards datasets to build computational aesthetic evaluation model

Aesthetic perception is a human instinct that is responsive to multimedia stimuli. Giving computers the ability to assess human sensory and perceptual experience of aesthetics is a well-recognized need for the intelligent design industry and multimedia intelligence study. In this work, we constructed a novel database for the aesthetic evaluation of design, using 2,918 images collected from the archives of two major design awards, and we also present a method of aesthetic evaluation that uses machine learning algorithms. Reviewers’ ratings of the design works are set as the ground-truth annotations for the dataset. Furthermore, multiple image features are extracted and fused. The experimental results demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach. Primary screening using aesthetic computing can be an intelligent assistant for various design evaluations and can reduce misjudgment in art and design review due to visual aesthetic fatigue after a long period of viewing. The study of computational aesthetic evaluation can provide positive effect on the efficiency of design review, and it is of great significance to aesthetic recognition exploration and applications development.

Facile Preparation of Charcoal Nanomaterial from Fishery Waste with Remarkable Adsorption Ability

In this study, modified activated fishbone charcoal (MAFC) was successfully prepared to remove emulsified oil from oily wastewater. Various characteristic techniques, including SEM, XRD, FTIR, and BET, were employed to investigate the morphology, texture, and surface properties of as-prepared samples. BET results demonstrated that the specific surface area of fishbone charcoal increased from 69.8 m2/g to 206.0 m2/g after treatment with K2CO3 as an activating agent, while the total pore volume of MAFC increased from 0.003 cm3/g to 0.3 cm3/g, accompanied by the formation of abundant pore structures. It was observed that 90.1% of emulsified oil (100 mg/L) was successfully removed by MAFC under our experimental conditions. The results of a kinetic and isotherm model analysis indicated that the adsorption experimental data were not only consistent with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm but were also well-described by the pseudo-second-order adsorption model. It is expected that this highly efficient and inexpensive MAFC can be a promising bio-adsorbent for removing organic pollutants from industrial wastewater.

The Inversion Effect for Chinese Characters is Modulated by Radical Organization

In studies of visual object recognition, strong inversion effects accompany the acquisition of expertise and imply the involvement of configural processing. Chinese literacy results in sensitivity to the orthography of Chinese characters. While there is some evidence that this orthographic sensitivity results in an inversion effect, and thus involves configural processing, that processing might depend on exact orthographic properties. Chinese character recognition is believed to involve a hierarchical process, involving at least two lower levels of representation: strokes and radicals. Radicals are grouped into characters according to certain types of structure, i.e. left-right structure, top-bottom structure, or simple characters with only one radical by itself. These types of radical structures vary in both familiarity, and in hierarchical level (compound versus simple characters). In this study, we investigate whether the hierarchical-level or familiarity of radical-structure has an impact on the magnitude of the inversion effect. Participants were asked to do a matching task on pairs of either upright or inverted characters with all the types of structure. Inversion effects were measured based on both reaction time and response sensitivity. While an inversion effect was observed in all 3 conditions, the magnitude of the inversion effect varied with radical structure, being significantly larger for the most familiar type of structure: characters consisting of 2 radicals organized from left to right. These findings indicate that character recognition involves extraction of configural structure as well as radical processing which play different roles in the processing of compound characters and simple characters.

Radiomic analysis reveals DCE-MRI features for prediction of molecular subtypes of breast cancer

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of features derived from breast dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) and to incorporated clinical information to predict the molecular subtypes of breast cancer. In particular, 60 breast cancers with the following four molecular subtypes were analyzed: luminal A, luminal B, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-over-expressing and basal-like. The breast region was segmented and the suspicious tumor was depicted on sequentially scanned MR images from each case. In total, 90 features were obtained, including 88 imaging features related to morphology and texture as well as dynamic features from tumor and background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) and 2 clinical information-based parameters, namely, age and menopausal status. An evolutionary algorithm was used to select an optimal subset of features for classification. Using these features, we trained a multi-class logistic regression classifier that calculated the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The results of a prediction model using 24 selected features showed high overall classification performance, with an AUC value of 0.869. The predictive model discriminated among the luminal A, luminal B, HER2 and basal-like subtypes, with AUC values of 0.867, 0.786, 0.888 and 0.923, respectively. An additional independent dataset with 36 patients was utilized to validate the results. A similar classification analysis of the validation dataset showed an AUC of 0.872 using 15 image features, 10 of which were identical to those from the first cohort. We identified clinical information and 3D imaging features from DCE-MRI as candidate biomarkers for discriminating among four molecular subtypes of breast cancer.

Voriconazole Composited Polyvinyl Alcohol/Hydroxypropyl-β-Cyclodextrin Nanofibers for Ophthalmic Delivery

Voriconazole (VRC) incorporated in composited polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) blended nanofibers were produced via electrospinning for efficient ophthalmic delivery. The VRC loading capacity increased with increasing HPβCD content. The optimal solution for electrospinning consisted of 8% (w/v) PVA, 4% (w/v) HPβCD and 0.5% (w/v) VRC. The nanofibers exhibited bead-free average fiber diameters of 307±31 nm and VRC was released in vitro in a sustained manner. The VRC nanofibers were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) was used to analyze the molar ratio of HPβCD/VRC in the nanofibers. Compared with a VRC solution, the nanofibers significantly prolonged the half life, and increased the bioavailability of VRC in rabbit tears. No obvious signs of irritation were observed after application in the conjunctival sac. VRC nanofibers are promising for ophthalmic drug delivery and further pharmacodynamics studies are needed.