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Although traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of death and disability worldwide, there is currently a lack of effective therapeutic drugs or targets. To reveal the complex pathophysiologic mechanisms of TBI, we performed transcriptome analysis of the mouse cerebral cortex and immunohistochemical analysis of human cerebral tissues. The genes Mt1, Mt2, Il33, and Fth1 were upregulated post-TBI and enriched in pathways associated with inflammatory response, oxidative phosphorylation, and ferroptosis. As an agonist of MT1/2, melatonin (MLT) has anti-oxidative stress, anti-inflammatory, and anti-ferroptosis properties after TBI. However, whether these upregulated genes and their corresponding pathways are involved in the neuroprotective effect of MLT remains unclear. In this study, interventions to inhibit MT1/2, IL-33, and ferroptosis (i.e., ferritin H (Fth)-KO) were applied post-TBI. The results showed that MLT attenuated TBI-induced cerebral edema and neurological outcomes by inhibiting inflammation and ferroptosis. Mechanistically, MLT mainly suppressed inflammatory responses and ferroptosis via the activation of MT2 and IL-33 pathways. Building on the previous finding that Fth deletion increases susceptibility to ferroptosis post-TBI, we demonstrated that Fth depletion remarkably exacerbated the post-TBI inflammatory response, and abolished the anti-inflammatory effect of MLT in vivo and in vitro. What’s more, the post-TBI anti-inflammatory effect of MLT, which occurs by promoting the transformation of M2 phenotype macrophages, was dependent on Fth. Taken together, these results clarified that MLT alleviates inflammation- and ferroptosis-mediated brain edema and neurological deficits by activating the MT2/IL-33/Fth pathway, which provides a novel target and theoretical basis for MLT to treat TBI patients.

Designing robust binders has been demonstrated to be an effective and facile strategy to stabilize Si anodes. However, the binders that performed well for Si nanoparticles are not applicable for low-cost and accessible Si micron-powders. Hence, a novel binder design strategy is still greatly required for practical micron-Si anodes. Herein, a robust water-based network binder (named as c-PTP-Alg) has been designed via coupling potassium tripolyphosphate (PTP) inorganic oligomer with alginic acid (Alg) organic macromolecule. Owing to the unique structure of PTP, a network with high mechanical resistance can be constructed in c-PTP-Alg binder via strong ion-dipole interactions. Moreover, the highly soluble and dispersed PTP inorganic oligomer in water prevents the organic macromolecule from aggregation. This induces a homogeneous texture in the c-PTP-Alg binder, which enables the polar groups in the composite binder to anchor micron-Si particles efficiently. Therefore, by simply applying the c-PTP-Alg binder, a significantly improved electrochemical performance of micron-Si anode with a high reversible capacity of 1599.9 mAh g

With the rapid development of the textile industry, a large amount of dyeing wastewater discharge has caused great harm to the ecological environment. In this work, a dual-network, composite hydrogel adsorbent with excellent mechanical properties, good reusability, and large adsorption capacity was prepared by introducing chitosan cross-linked polyvinylamine into the N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide cross-linked polyacrylic acid network. The dual cross-linking network gave the hydrogel excellent mechanical properties with maximum tensile stress and strain up to 1.9 MPa and 920 %. The adsorption capacity of methylene blue on hydrogel was up to 596.14 mg/g. In addition, the prepared hydrogel exhibited good reusability, and their adsorption efficiency remained above 85 % in five consecutive cycles. The adsorption behavior was well fitted by Pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir equation, indicating that the hydrogel was chemisorbed to the dye as a monolayer. The adsorption mechanism analysis showed that the electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding between the functional groups of the hydrogels and methylene blue molecules contributed to the good adsorption capacity. Overall, the synthesized composite hydrogels could be used as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue dye, particularly from textile industry wastewater.

Plasticizer is an important assistant in the production process of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which can effectively improve the plasticity of PVC. However, the durability and plasticizing effect of traditional phthalate plasticizers need to be further improved. In this paper, a variety of copolyesters are designed and synthesized from succinic acid, hexanediol and other four different diols. The plasticizing performance of the copolyester is characterized by FT-IR, H-NMR, XPS and DMA. It is found that the side chain groups in the structural units of the copolyester have a great influence on its plasticizing properties. The glass transition temperature of PVC plasticized by polybutylene succinate 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol ester (PSCH) is 8.1℃ lower than the temperature of PVC which is plasticized by DOP, and the elongation at break is increased by 104.7%. The obtained copolyester plasticizer with flexible long alkane chains and polar C-Cl groups shows improved solvent extraction resistance and better compatibility between plasticizer and PVC compared DOP. It is verified that the hydrogen bonding interaction between the C = O group of plasticizers and α-hydrogen of PVC exhibited in FT-IR, XPS and solubility parameters DS is the main reason for the effective plasticizing efficiency of PSCH on PVC.

The susceptibility of peptides to proteolytic degradation in human serum significantly hindered the potential application of peptide-based antifouling biosensors for long-term assaying of clinical samples. Herein, a robust antifouling biosensor with enhanced stability was constructed based on peptides composed of d-amino acids (d-peptide) with prominent proteolytic resistance. The electrode was electropolymerized with poly(3,4-ehtylenedioxythiophene) and electrodeposited with Au nanoparticles (AuNPs), and the d-peptide was then immobilized onto the AuNPs, and a typical antibody specific for immunoglobulin M (IgM) was immobilized. Because of the effect of d-amino acids, the d-peptide-modified electrode surface showed prominent antifouling capability and high tolerance to enzymatic hydrolysis. Moreover, the d-peptide-modified electrode exhibited much stronger long-term stability, as well as antifouling ability in human serum than the electrode modified with normal peptides. The electrochemical biosensor exhibited a sensitive response to IgM linearly within the range of 100 pg mL

Flexible electronic devices based on reversible bonds for self-curing capabilities arouses extensive interest. However, most of the composite conductive elastomers have the problems of poor mechanical properties and slow recovery of mechanical properties during multiple stretching, which hinder their stability in continuous operation. In this study, hyperbranched-MWCNTs/hyperbranched-PDMS self-healable conductive elastomers inspired by cephalopods were successfully developed. The prepared conductive elastomer exhibited good self-healing ability (91%) at room temperature excited by multiple reversible interactions. The prepared elastomer had outstanding mechanical properties and anti-fatigue ability, so that it can cope with more arduous tasks. Moreover, the elastomer was sensitive to the change of stress states and can be used as a stable strain sensor. Therefore, the self-repairing conductive elastomer has potential practicability in the fields of human-computer interaction, motion monitoring, soft robot and so on.

Both epithelial-to-mesenchymal (EMT) and endothelial-to-mesenchymal (EndMT) transitions have shown to contribute to the development and progression of kidney fibrosis. It has been reported that apelin, a regulatory peptide, alleviates EMT by inhibiting the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) pathway in renal diseases. Additionally, fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) has been shown to be a key inhibitor of EndMT through suppression of the TGFβ/Smad pathway. In this study, we found that apelin and FGFR1 were spatially close to each other and that the apelin and FGFR1 complex displayed inhibitory effects on TGFβ/Smad signaling as well as associated EndMT in diabetic kidney fibrosis. In cultured human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HMVECs), we found that the anti-EndMT and anti-TGFβ/Smad effects of apelin were dampened in FGFR1-deficient cells. Either siRNA- or an inhibitor-mediated deficiency of apelin induced the Smad3 phosphorylation and EndMT. Streptozotocin-induced CD-1 diabetic mice displayed EndMT and associated kidney fibrosis, which were restored by apelin treatment. The medium from apelin-deficient endothelial cells stimulated TGFβ/Smad-dependent EMT in cultured HK2 cells. In addition, depletion of apelin and the FGFR1 complex impaired CEBPA expression, and TGFβ-induced repression of CEBPA expression contributed to the initiation of EndMT in the endothelium. Collectively, these findings revealed that the interaction between apelin and FGFR1 displayed renoprotective potential through suppression of the TGFβ/Smad/CEBPA-mediated EndMT/EMT pathways.

Self-healing conductive elastomers have been widely used in smart electronic devices, such as wearable sensors. However, nano fillers hinder the flow of polymer segments, which make the development of conductive elastomer with rapid repair and high ductility a challenge. In this work, thioctic acid (TA) was grafted onto amino-modified polysiloxane (PDMS-NH2) by dehydration condensation of amino group and carboxyl group. By introducing gold nanoparticles, a dynamic network based on S-Au interaction was constructed. The dynamic gold cross-linking could effectively dissipate the energy exerted by external force and improve the extensibility of conductive elastomer. In addition, S-Au interaction had a good optothermal effect, so that the elastomer rapidly healed under NIR irradiation, and the repair efficiency reached 92%. We further evaluated the performance of the conductive elastomer as a strain sensor. The sample could accurately monitor the bending of human joints and small muscle state changes. This kind of self-healable conductive elastomer based on dynamic S-Au interaction has great potential in the fields of interpersonal interaction and health monitoring.

Objectives To evaluate the adaptability between posts and post spaces and the rationality of cores fabricated by two digital custom posts and cores processes. Materials and methods Titanium posts and cores were fabricated by digital scanning impression technology or digital scanning wax-pattern technology on tooth defect molds of incisors, premolars, and molars, with traditional lost-wax casts of these teeth as the controls. Micro-CT and a laboratory scanner were used to determine intervals between post wall and root canal wall of the root apex, middle, and cervix of each sample in cross-, sagittal, and coronal sections; intervals between the end of post and tooth; diameters of cervical, middle, and incisal part at cross-, sagittal, and coronal sections of each sample, as well as shoulder widths. Results Three fabrication processes showed significant differences in intervals between post-and-core prostheses and root canal wall, diameters of all parts of cores, and shoulder widths. Scanning impression showed significant advantages in the main part of posts and cores in incisors and premolars, while the scanning wax-pattern process showed obvious inferiorities in premolars and molars. As to core spatial size, values of measured sites in the scanning impression process were closer to the standard than those of the traditional process, while differences between the measured value of the scanning wax-pattern process were much more obvious than in the traditional process. Conclusion The digital custom posts and cores employed scanning impression improved rationality and precision of post-and-core dimensions compared with the two other processes. Clinical relevance Fabrication using digital design and processing for custom posts and cores has better precision and adaptability.

Exploiting macromolecule binders has been demonstrated as an effective approach to stabilize a Si anode with a huge volume change. The macromolecule polymer binders with vast intra/intermolecular interactions lead to an inferior dispersion of binders on a Si active material. Herein, a potassium triphosphate (PTP) inorganic oligomer was exploited as a robust binder to alleviate the problem of capacity fading in Si-based electrodes. PTP has abundant P-O- bonds and P═O bonds, which can form strong ion-dipolar and dipolar-dipolar forces with a hydroxylated Si surface (Si-OH). Particularly, the PTP inorganic oligomer has a short-chain structure and high water solubility, resulting in a superior dispersion of the PTP binder on Si nanoparticles (nano-Si) to effectively enhance the mechanical stability of Si-based electrodes. Hence, the as-prepared Si-based anode exhibits obviously improved electrochemical performance, delivering a charge capacity of 1279.7 mAh g-1 after 300 cycles at 800 mA g-1 with a high capacity retention of 72.7%. Moreover, using the PTP binder, a dense Si anode can be achieved for high volumetric energy density. The success of this study shows that the PTP inorganic oligomer as a binder has great significance for future advanced binder research.

In this work, the corrosion behavior of medium-carbon steels (45, 45Cu and 45Cuq steels) in acidic chloride environment was investigated. The results indicated that the micro-galvanic effect between the anodic ferrite matrix phase and the cathodic cementite secondary phase notably affected the corrosion resistance of the three steels. For 45 steel, serious pitting corrosion happened in and around the pearlite regions, and a large number of lamellar cementite was fixed in the corrosion pits. Meanwhile, the continuously increasing superficial area of cathodic cementite enhanced the micro-galvanic corrosion, resulting in a rapidly increase in corrosion rate with time. While for 45Cu and 45Cuq steels, macroscopic uniform corrosion occurred, and the cementite accumulation was markedly reduced as compared with 45 steel, thus the micro-galvanic effect was weakened and the corrosion rate was decreased accordingly. Among these, 45Cuq steel showed the most stable and excellent corrosion resistance during long-term corrosion, indicating the occurrence of a synergistic effect between cementite spheroidization and Cu alloying, thereby significantly improving the corrosion resistance of 45 steel.

In this work, the beneficial effect of Sn addition on the corrosion resistance mechanism of Cr–Mo low alloy steel was studied. Results demonstrated that Sn improves the corrosion resistance of the steel matrix mainly by influencing the microstructural transformation. Sn addition and the synergistic effect of Sn, Cr, and Mo promote the formation of α-FeOOH, SnO2, SnO, Cr(OH)3, and molybdates, lead to the improved protection and stability of the rust layer. This synergistic effect also endows the inner rust layer with cation selectivity, preventing the further penetration of Cl− and inhibiting the localized corrosion of steel.

Silicone elastomers are widely used in aviation, electronics, automotive, and medical device fields, and their overuse inevitably causes recycled problems. In addition, the elastomers are subject to attack by bacteria and fire during use in some application scenarios, which is a safety hazard. Therefore, there is a great need to prepare silicone elastomers with improved antibacterial, flame retardant, self-healing, and recyclable functions. A new strategy is proposed to prepare silicone elastomers with bio-based tannic acid as cross-linkers to solve this problem by using polydimethylsiloxane as a soft chain segment and 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid as an intermediate chain extender. Based on the phenol carbamate bonding and hydrogen bonding interactions, the elastomer has efficient self-healing ability and can achieve dynamic dissociation at 120 °C for complete recovery. In addition, due to the unique spatial structure and polyphenolic hydroxyl groups of tannic acid, the mechanical properties of the elastomer are greatly improved with an antimicrobial efficiency of over 90% and a final oxygen index of 25.5%. The multifunctional silicone elastomer has great potential applications in recyclable refractory materials and antimicrobial materials.

The corrosion behavior of the as-received steel and the spheroidized steel in acidic chloride environment was investigated. The results indicate the corrosion mode and corrosion rate of two steels are diverse due to their difference in microstructure. For as-received steel with ferrite-pearlite microstructure, severe localized corrosion happens on the pearlite regions, and plenty of cathodic cementite remains in the pits, further strengthening the micro-galvanic effect and accelerating the corrosion rate. While for spheroidized steel with tempered martensite microstructure, the nanosized cementite particles evenly distributed on the ferrite substrate are easy to fall off, which can significantly reduce the cementite accumulation on the steel surface, relieving the acceleration effect of micro-galvanic corrosion.

TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) is an essential protein kinase for activation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and induction of the type I interferons (IFN-I). Although the biochemical regulation of TBK1 activation has been studied, little is known about how enterovirus 71 (EV71) employs the deubiquitinases (DUBs) to regulate TBK1 activation for viral immune evasion. Here, we found that EV71 infection upregulated the expression of ubiquitin-specific protease 24 (USP24). Further studies revealed that USP24 physically interacted with TBK1, and can reduce K63-linked polyubiquitination of TBK1. Knockdown of USP24 upregulated TBK1 K63-linked polyubiquitination, promoted the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of IRF3, and in turn improved IFN-I production during EV71 infection. As a consequence, USP24 knockdown dramatically inhibited EV71 infection. This study revealed USP24 as a novel regulator of TBK1 activation, which promotes the understanding of immune evasion mechanisms of EV71 and could provide a potential strategy for treatment of EV71 infection.

Background Asthma has been regarded as an inflammatory disease, and group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are implicated in asthma pathogenesis. However, no strategy is available to block ILC2s function. Efficiency is also limited due to the use of systemic or subcutaneous routes of administration. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of nanoparticles targeting suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2), which is the ILC2 receptor, to alleviate lung inflammation in the murine model of asthma. Methods The ultra-small SPIO nanoparticles were firstly synthesized, OVA-induced mice were administered by anti-ST2-conjugated nanoparticles. The inflammatory degree of the lung was investigated by H&E. The percentages of ILC2s and CD4+T cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue were determined by FACS. Th2-cytokine and OVA-IgE levels were detected by real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively. Results Treatment with anti-ST2-conjugated nanoparticles significantly alleviated airway inflammation, IL-33 and IL-13 levels and the percentage of CD4+T cells. The percentage of ILC2s was increased, whereas the levels of IL-13 and IL-5 expressed by ILC2s were reduced. Conclusion In the present study, we demonstrated that anti-ST2-conjugated nanoparticles can efficiently control lung inflammation in OVA-induced mice by reducing the ability of ILC2s to produce IL-5 and IL-13, thereby reducing CD4+T cells. Our study also demonstrated that the nanoparticle delivery system could improve the performance of anti-ST2, which may be used as a strategic tool to expand the current drug market.

A type of silsesquioxane-based flexible polyimide aerogel was synthesized by 3,3′,4,4′-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA), 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl and octa(aminopropylsilsesquioxane) (POSS-NH2) with a facile thermal curing and atmospheric drying process. POSS-NH2 was introduced into the polyimide backbone as a cross-linking agent. The obtained aerogel possessed high hydrophobicity with a water contact angle exceeding 143°. And the aerogels showed good cyclic adsorption capacity for various organic solvents, such as acetone, methanol, ethyl acetate, etc. After 15 adsorption experiments, the original adsorption capacity of the aerogels (more than 3 times their own weight) was still maintained. SEM and BET confirmed that the introduction of POSS-NH2 could form a larger pore structure inside the aerogel, thereby achieving an improvement in adsorption performance. The results indicated this kind of aerogel might be flexibly utilized as adsorbent materials for oil pollutants and harmful organic reagents in the field of wastewater treatment.

Flexible conductive composites can be used as wearable strain sensors, which are widely used in the fields of new-generation robotics, electronic skin, and human detection. However, how to make conductive composites that simultaneously possess flexibility, stretchability, self-healing, and sensing capability is challenging research. In this work, we innovatively designed and prepared a silicone polymer conductive composite. MXenes and amino poly(dimethylsiloxane) were modified by small biomolecules via an esterification reaction and a Schiff base reaction, respectively. The modified MXenes are uniformly dispersed, which endows the composite with good electrical conductivity. The reversibility of multiple hydrogen bonds and imine bonds in the composite system makes it have ideal tensile properties and high-efficiency self-healing ability without external stimulation. The conductive composite containing 10 wt % A-MXenes showed an elongation of 81%, and its mechanical strength could reach 1.81 MPa. After repair, the tensile properties and the electrical conductivity could be restored to 98.4 and 97.6%, respectively. In addition, the conductive composite is further evaluated for the value of wearable strain sensors. Even after cut-healed processes, the conductive composite can still accurately detect tiny human movements (including speaking, swallowing, and pressing). This kind of self-healing MXene/PDMS elastomers based on the modification of small biomolecules has great potential as wearable strain sensors. This simple preparation method provides guidance for future multifunctional flexible electronic materials.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women worldwide and is the second leading cause of cancer‐related deaths in women. Increasing evidence has validated the vital role of the immune system in BC development and recurrence. In this study, we identified an immune‐related prognostic signature of BRCA that could help delineate risk scores of poor outcome for each patient. This prognostic signature comprised information on five danger genes—TSLP, BIRC5, S100B, MDK, and S100P—and three protect genes RARRES3, BLNK, and ACO1. Kaplan‐Meier survival curve showed that patients classified as low‐risk according to optimum cut‐off risk score had better prognosis than those identified within the high‐risk group. ROC analysis indicated that the identified prognostic signature had excellent diagnostic efficiency for predicting 3‐ and 5‐years relapse‐free survival (RFS). Multivariate Cox regression analysis proved that the prognostic signature is independent of other clinical parameters. Stratification analysis demonstrated that the prognostic signature can be used to predict the RFS of BC patients within the same clinical subgroup. We also developed a nomogram to predict the RFS of patients. The calibration plots exhibited outstanding performance. The validation sets (GSE21653, GSE20711, and GSE88770) were used to external validation. More convincingly, the real time RT‐PCR results of clinical samples demonstrated that danger genes were significantly upregulated in BC samples, whereas protect genes were downregulated. In conclusion, we developed and validated an immune‐related prognostic signature, which exhibited excellent diagnostic efficiency in predicting the recurrence of BC, and will help to make personalized treatment decisions for patients at different risk score., This study developed and validated an immune‐related prognostic signature, which exhibited excellent diagnostic efficiency in predicting the recurrence of BC, and will help to make personalized treatment decisions for patients at different risk score.