Background
Ceramide is involved in regulating metabolism and energy expenditure, and its abnormal myocardial accumulation may contribute to heart injury or lipotoxic cardiomyopathy. Whether ceramide ...can modulate the electrophysiology of pulmonary veins (PVs) remains unknown.
Materials and methods
We used conventional microelectrodes to measure the electrical activity of isolated rabbit PV tissue preparations before and after treatment with various concentrations of ceramide with or without H2O2 (2 mM), MitoQ, wortmannin or 740 YP. A whole‐cell patch clamp and fluorescence imaging were used to record the ionic currents, calcium (Ca2+) transients, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and sodium (Na+) in isolated single PV cardiomyocytes before and after ceramide (1 μM) treatment.
Results
Ceramide (0.1, 0.3, 1 and 3 μM) reduced the beating rate of PV tissues. Furthermore, ceramide (1 μM) suppressed the 2 mM H2O2‐induced faster PV beating rate, triggered activities and burst firings, which were further reduced by MitoQ. In the presence of wortmannin, ceramide did not change the PV beating rate. The H2O2‐induced faster PV beating rate could be counteracted by MitoQ or wortmannin with no additive effect from the ceramide. Ceramide inhibited pPI3K. Ceramide reduced Ca2+ transients, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ contents, L‐type Ca2+ currents, Na+ currents, late Na+ currents, Na+‐hydrogen exchange currents, and intracellular ROS and Na+ in PV cardiomyocytes, but did not change Na+‐Ca2+ exchange currents.
Conclusion
C2 ceramide may exert the distinctive electrophysiological effect of modulating PV activities, which may be affected by PI3K pathway–mediated oxidative stress, and might play a role in the pathogenesis of PV arrhythmogenesis.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Autotrophic plants have evolved distinctive mechanisms for maintaining a range of homeostatic states for sugars. The on/off switch of reversible gene expression by sugar starvation/provision ...represents one of the major mechanisms by which sugar levels are maintained, but the details remain unclear. α-Amylase (αAmy) is the key enzyme for hydrolyzing starch into sugars for plant growth, and it is induced by sugar starvation and repressed by sugar provision. αAmy can also be induced by various other stresses, but the physiological significance is unclear. Here, we reveal that the on/off switch of αAmy expression is regulated by 2 MYB transcription factors competing for the same promoter element. MYBS1 promotes αAmy expression under sugar starvation, whereas MYBS2 represses it. Sugar starvation promotes nuclear import of MYBS1 and nuclear export of MYBS2, whereas sugar provision has the opposite effects. Phosphorylation of MYBS2 at distinct serine residues plays important roles in regulating its sugar-dependent nucleocytoplasmic shuttling and maintenance in cytoplasm by 14-3-3 proteins. Moreover, dehydration, heat, and osmotic stress repress MYBS2 expression, thereby inducing αAmy3. Importantly, activation of αAmy3 and suppression of MYBS2 enhances plant growth, stress tolerance, and total grain weight per plant in rice. Our findings reveal insights into a unique regulatory mechanism for an on/off switch of reversible gene expression in maintaining sugar homeostatic states, which tightly regulates plant growth and development, and also highlight MYBS2 and αAmy3 as potential targets for crop improvement.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective
Whether oral lichen planus (OLP) was potentially malignant remains controversial. Here, we examined associations of ZNF582 methylation (ZNF582m) with OLP lesions, dysplastic features and ...squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
Materials and Methods
This is a case–control study. ZNF582m was evaluated in both lesion and adjacent normal sites of 42 dysplasia, 90 OSCC and 43 OLP patients, whereas ZNF582m was evaluated only in one mucosal site of 45 normal controls. High‐risk habits affecting ZNF582m such as betel nut chewing and cigarette smoking were also compared in those groups.
Results
OLP lesions showed significantly lower ZNF582m than those of dysplasia and OSCC. At adjacent normal mucosa, ZNF582m increased from patients of OLP, dysplasia, to OSCC. In addition, ZNF582m at adjacent normal sites in OLP patients was comparable to normal mucosa in control group. Dysplasia/OSCC patients with high‐risk habits exhibited significantly higher ZNF582m than those without high‐risk habits. However, ZNF582m in OLP patients was not affected by those high‐risk habits.
Conclusions
OLP is unlikely to be potentially malignant based on ZNF582m levels. ZNF582m may also be a potential biomarker for distinguishing OLP from true dysplastic features and OSCC, and for monitoring the malignant transformation of OLP, potentially malignant disorders with dysplastic features and OSCC.
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CMK, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Fast charging of lithium ion batteries is essential for next‐generation energy‐storage systems. However, the poor ionic and electronic transport of anodes with its rather high mass loading limits the ...practical applications of this technology. Herein, a multiscale design from niobium titanium oxide anode material to electrode structure is proposed for fast charging lithium ion batteries with a practical level of areal capacity (3 mAh cm−2). At the atomic scale, the introduction of oxygen vacancy and surface carbon coating enables niobium titanium oxide (TiNb2O7−x@C) to possess excellent ionic and electronic conductivity. For the microscopic electrode structure, 1D TiNb2O7−x@C fibers are tightly assembled to form a high‐speed transport network of ions and electrons throughout the electrode. As a result, the obtained TiNb2O7−x@C electrode shows excellent rate capability (1.83 mAh cm−2 at 1 C) and cycling stability under an areal capacity of 3 mAh cm−2 (2.35 mAh cm−2 after 100 cycles at 0.5 C) in half‐cells. Significantly, a full‐cell coupled with practical level mass loading of lithium cobalt oxide cathode is demonstrated to deliver 1.55 mAh cm−2 at 3 C for the first time.
A multiscale electrode design strategy is reported to achieve fast ionic and electronic transport for improving the electrochemical performance of TiNb2O7 electrodes at high mass loading (>11 mg cm−2). Moreover, a TiNb2O7–x@C/LiCoO2 full‐cell with practical level mass loading is fabricated, which displays excellent fast‐charging performance.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Lithium metal based anode with hierarchical structure to enable high rate capability, volume change accommodation, and dendritic suppression is highly desirable for all-solid-state lithium metal ...battery. However, the fabrication of hierarchical lithium metal based anode is challenging due to the volatility of lithium. Here, we report that natural diatomite can act as an excellent template for constructing hierarchical silicon-lithium based hybrid anode for high performance all-solid-state lithium metal battery. This hybrid anode exhibits stable lithium stripping/plating performance over 1000 h with average overpotential lower than 100 mV without any short circuit. Moreover, all-solid-state full cell using this lithium metal composite anode to couple with lithium iron phosphate cathode shows excellent cycling stability (0.04% capacity decay rate for 500 cycles at 0.5C) and high rate capability (65 mAh g
at 5C). The present natural diatomite derived hybrid anode could further promote the fabrication of high performance all-solid-state lithium batteries from sustainable natural resources.
The electron positive boron atom usually does not contribute to the frontier orbitals for several lower‐lying electronic transitions, and thus is ideal to serve as a hub for the spiro linker of ...light‐emitting molecules, such that the electron donor (HOMO) and acceptor (LUMO) moieties can be spatially separated with orthogonal orientation. On this basis, we prepared a series of novel boron complexes bearing electron deficient pyridyl pyrrolide and electron donating phenylcarbazolyl fragments or triphenylamine. The new boron complexes show strong solvent‐polarity dependent charge‐transfer emission accompanied by a small, non‐negligible normal emission. The slim orbital overlap between HOMO and LUMO and hence the lack of electron correlation lead to a significant reduction of the energy gap between the lowest lying singlet and triplet excited states (ΔET‐S) and thereby the generation of thermally activated delay fluorescence (TADF).
Reducing the gap: Using a boron atom as the spiro linker between an electron‐deficient pyridyl pyrrolide and an electron‐donating phenylcarbazolyl or triphenylamine fragment, boron complexes with a narrow HOMO–LUMO orbital overlap, small singlet–triplet energy gap (down to 38 meV), and strong thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) were prepared. For the first time boron‐complex‐based OLEDs show a significant TADF contribution.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The emergence of blockchain technology has created a number of potential innovations in handling business activities across various industries. However, few studies discuss the potential influence of ...blockchain technology from a business process re-engineering perspective. This study focuses on the feasibility and inceptive application of supply chain processes. We proposed a blockchain-based framework along with the use of an affiliated technology, i.e., smart contracts, to derive the feasible benefits of the supply chain process design. Through the illustrative design of an integrated process, we provide an achievable use case of the disintermediation of business processes via a conceptual, shared information ledger. This ledger not only facilitates the sharing of tracking information but also promotes a network for multilateral collaboration among supply chain members. The pursuit of transparency and accountability across supply chain processes can potentially influence decentralization and automation. A comparative analysis of the current and proposed frameworks is conducted to support the core reasoning of this study. Additionally, future implications on managerial practice and academic research are explored to provide pervasive suggestions for similar attempts in different sectors. We conclude with an evaluation of the potential influence of blockchain technology on supply chain management.
•Blockchain and smart contract technology can help conduct business process re-engineering (BPR) across enterprise borders.•A blockchain-based BPR framework is proposed and explored to automate business flows in tracking supply chain processes.•Blockchain-based business apps can be designed and implemented using the proposed framework to harvest blockchain benefits.•Blockchain and smart contract based business applications may significantly affect our digital life in the near future.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The commercial ceramic nanoparticle coated microporous polyolefin separators used in lithium batteries are still vulnerable under external impact, which may cause short circuits and consequently ...severe safety threats, because the protective ceramic nanoparticle coating layers on the separators are intrinsically brittle. Here, a nacre‐inspired coating on the separator to improve the impact tolerance of lithium batteries is reported. Instead of a random structured ceramic nanoparticle layer, ion‐conductive porous multilayers consisting of highly oriented aragonite platelets are coated on the separator. The nacre‐inspired coating can sustain external impact by turning the violent localized stress into lower and more uniform stress due to the platelet sliding. A lithium‐metal pouch cell using the aragonite platelet coated separator exhibits good cycling stability under external shock, which is in sharp contrast to the fast short circuit of a lithium‐metal pouch cell using a commercial ceramic nanoparticle coated separator.
A nacre‐inspired coating is fabricated to improve the impact tolerance of the separator in a lithium battery via efficient energy dissipation. Remarkably, the pouch cell using the nacre‐inspired porous aragonite platelet coated separator performs with much lower instantaneous open‐circuit voltage change and faster voltage recovery than the cell using the commercial ceramic nanoparticle coated separator under external impaction.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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