The structural and electrochemical properties of manganese dioxide with 3×3 tunnels bearing the crystallographic structure of the mineral todorokite were investigated for use as a new cathode ...material for zinc ion cells. The large 3×3 tunnel of todorokite facilitates fast Zn2+ diffusion to the inner region of a particle compared to the conventional medium-sized 2×2 tunnels of cryptomelane. Todorokite was synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment of layered Na-birnessite in a concentrated Mg-containing solution according to a known method. In electrochemical studies, a promising discharge capacity of 108mAh/g at C/2 and a good rate performance were observed in the potential range of 0.7V–2.0V. Structural and morphological analyses of the discharged and charged electrodes indicate that a reversible intercalation of zinc ions into the tunnel occurs during the discharge–charge process.
Models of gene control have emerged from genetic and biochemical studies, with limited consideration of the spatial organization and dynamics of key components in living cells. We used live-cell ...superresolution and light-sheet imaging to study the organization and dynamics of the Mediator coactivator and RNA polymerase II (Pol II) directly. Mediator and Pol II each form small transient and large stable clusters in living embryonic stem cells. Mediator and Pol II are colocalized in the stable clusters, which associate with chromatin, have properties of phase-separated condensates, and are sensitive to transcriptional inhibitors. We suggest that large clusters of Mediator, recruited by transcription factors at large or clustered enhancer elements, interact with large Pol II clusters in transcriptional condensates in vivo.
As the main precursor of cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis is a complex inflammatory disorder that preferentially occurs in stenotic, curved, and branched arterial regions. Although various in ...vitro models are established to understand its pathology, reconstructing the native atherosclerotic environment that involves both co‐cultured cells and local turbulent flow singling remains challenging. This study develops an arterial construct via in‐bath coaxial cell printing that not only facilitates the direct fabrication of three‐layered conduits with tunable geometry and dimensions but also maintains structural stability. Functional vascular tissues, which respond to various stimulations that induce endothelial dysfunction, are rapidly generated in the constructed models. The presence of multiple vascular tissues under stenotic and tortuous turbulent flows allows the recapitulation of hallmark events in early atherosclerosis under physiological conditions. Furthermore, the fabricated models are utilized to investigate the individual and synergistic functions of cell co‐culture and local turbulent flows in regulating atherosclerotic initiation, as well as the dose‐dependent therapeutic effect of atorvastatin. These outcomes suggest that the constructed atherosclerotic model via a novel fabrication strategy is a promising platform to elucidate the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and seek effective drugs and therapies.
An advanced in vitro atherosclerosis model that enables the co‐culture of multiple vascular cells under local turbulent flows is developed from geometry‐tunable arterial constructs engineered by a novel in‐bath coaxial cell printing strategy. This platform recapitulates the hallmark events in early atherosclerosis and shows great potential for understanding the atherosclerotic pathophysiology and evaluating drug efficacy.
Although approved programmed cell death protein (PD)-1 inhibitors show durable responses, clinical benefits to these agents are only seen in one-third of patients in most cancer types. Therefore, ...strategies for improving the response to PD-1 inhibitor for treating various cancers including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are urgently needed. Compared with genome and transcriptome, tumor DNA methylome in anti-PD-1 response was relatively unexplored. We compared the pre-treatment methylation status of cis-regulatory elements between responders and non-responders to treatment with nivolumab or pembrolizumab using the Infinium Methylation EPIC Array, which can profile ~850,000 CpG sites, including ~350,000 CpG sites located in enhancer regions. Then, we analyzed differentially methylated regions overlapping promoters (pDMRs) or enhancers (eDMRs) between responders and non-responders to PD-1 inhibitors. We identified 1007 pDMRs and 607 eDMRs associated with the anti-PD-1 response. We also identified 1109 and 1173 target genes putatively regulated by these pDMRs and eDMRs, respectively. We found that eDMRs contribute to the epigenetic regulation of the anti-PD-1 response more than pDMRs. Hypomethylated pDMRs of Cytohesin 1 Interacting Protein (CYTIP) and TNF superfamily member 8 (TNFSF8) were more predictive than programmed cell death protein ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression for anti-PD-1 response and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in a validation cohort, suggesting their potential as predictive biomarkers for anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. The catalog of promoters and enhancers differentially methylated between responders and non-responders to PD-1 inhibitors presented herein will guide the development of biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for improving anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in NSCLC.
The development of highly active and durable Ir‐based electrocatalysts for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is challenging because of the corrosive anodic conditions. Herein, IrOx/Zr2ON2 ...electrocatalyst is demonstrated, employing Zr2ON2 as a support material, to overcome the trade‐off between the activity and stability in the OER. Zr2ON2 is selected due to its excellent electrical conductivity and chemical stability, and the fact that it induces strong interactions with IrOx catalysts. As a result, IrOx/Zr2ON2 electrocatalysts exhibit outstanding OER performances, reaching an overpotential of 255 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a mass activity of 849 mA mgIr−1 at 1.55 V (vs the reversible hydrogen electrode). The activity of IrOx/Zr2ON2 is maintained at 10 mA cm−2 for 5 h, while in contrast, IrOx/ZrN and an unsupported IrOx catalyst undergo drastic degradation. Combined experimental X‐ray analyses and theoretical interpretations reveal that the reduced oxidation state of Ir and the extended IrO bond distance in IrOx/Zr2ON2 effectively increase the activity and stability of IrOx by altering reaction pathway from a conventional adsorbate evolution mechanism to a lattice oxygen‐participating mechanism. These results demonstrate that it is possible to effectively reduce the Ir content in OER catalysts through interface engineering without sacrificing the catalytic performance.
Newly designed IrOx/Zr2ON2 electrocatalyst, which employs Zr2ON2 as a support material, to break the trade‐off between activity and stability in oxygen evolution reaction. The reduced oxidation state of Ir and the extended IrO bond distance IrOx/Zr2ON2 effectively increase activity and stability of IrOx by altering reaction pathway from a conventional adsorbate evolution mechanism to a lattice oxygen‐participating mechanism.
With the development of maritime technology and equipment, most ships are equipped with an automatic identification system (AIS) to store navigation information. Over time, the size of the data ...increases, rendering its storage and processing difficult. Hence, it is necessary to transform the AIS data into trajectories, and then simplify the AIS trajectories to remove unnecessary information that is not related to route shape. Moreover, topographic information must be considered because otherwise, the simplified trajectory can intersect obstacles. In this study, we propose an AIS trajectory simplification algorithm considering topographic information. The proposed algorithm simplifies the trajectories without the intersection of the trajectory and obstacle using the improved Douglas–Peucker algorithm. Polygon map random (PMR) quadtree was used to consider topographic information on the coast, and the intersection between topographic information and simplified trajectories was efficiently computed using the PMR quadtree. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, experiments were conducted on real-world trajectories in the Korean sea. The proposed algorithm yielded simplified trajectories with no intersections of the trajectory and obstacle. In addition, the computational efficiency of the proposed algorithm with the PMR quadtree was superior to that without the PMR quadtree.
•A silicon nanowire-based dual-gate transistor is proposed.•Silicon nanowires are fabricated via electrospinning, a low-cost and simple technique.•Superior electrical characteristics and higher ...capacitive-coupling ratios are observed than in film-type devices.•Ultra-high-pH sensitivity is observed than film-type devices.•Dual-gate mode of the silicon nanowire-type device exhibited excellent reliability and stability.
In this study, we fabricated a silicon nanowire (SiNW)-based ultra-high-sensitivity dual-gate (DG) pH ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (pH-ISFET) using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) nanofibers (NFs) as a template for SiNW fabrication. By comparing the electrical properties, capacitive coupling, pH sensitivity, and non-ideal effects, such as drift or hysteresis voltages with a silicon film channel-type DG pH-ISFET, the effectiveness of the SiNW channel was verified. The SiNW-type DG FET exhibited better electrical properties, such as higher mobility, smaller sub-threshold slopes, and larger on-off current ratios, than the conventional silicon film-type DG FET. It also showed an increased capacitive-coupling ratio between the top and bottom gates. Through pH-ISFETs, which have an extended gate connected to the fabricated DG FETs, the sensing performance of the SiNW channel and silicon film channel can be compared. In the single-gate sensing mode, the film-type and SiNW-type devices showed a sensitivity of 56.6 mV/pH and 56.3 mV/pH, respectively. Meanwhile, in the DG sensing mode, the film-type device showed a sensitivity of 938.4 mV/pH, and the SiNW-type device has a sensitivity of 1438.8 mV/pH, indicating that the pH sensitivity in the SiNW channel was significantly amplified. Non-ideal effects were also evaluated, and the SiNW-type device showed more stable performance with a smaller hysteresis voltage and drift rate than the film-type device. Therefore, pH-ISFETs based on the SiNW-type DG FET using PVP nanofiber pattern template transfer, which involve a simple and low-cost process, show their potential in future bio-sensing applications owing to their high sensitivity and excellent stability.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and has dramatically increased in recent years. Continuous cardiac monitoring is particularly important for early diagnosis and prevention, and ...flexible and stretchable electronic devices have emerged as effective tools for this purpose. Their thin, soft, and deformable features allow intimate and long‐term integration with biotissues, which enables continuous, high‐fidelity, and sometimes large‐area cardiac monitoring on the skin and/or heart surface. In addition to monitoring, intimate contact is also crucial for high‐precision therapies. Combined with tissue engineering, soft bioelectronics have also demonstrated the capability to repair damaged cardiac tissues. This review highlights the recent advances in wearable and implantable devices based on flexible and stretchable electronics for cardiovascular monitoring and therapy. First, wearable/implantable soft bioelectronics for cardiovascular monitoring (e.g., the electrocardiogram, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation level) are reviewed. Then, advances in cardiovascular therapy based on soft bioelectronics (e.g., mesh pacing, ablation, robotic sleeves, and electronic stents) are discussed. Finally, device‐assisted tissue engineering therapy (e.g., functional electronic scaffolds and in vitro cardiac platforms) is discussed.
Over the past few decades, soft bioelectronics have been widely adopted in biomedical research fields to address limitations in each field. Here, wearable and implantable devices based on flexible and stretchable electronics for cardiovascular monitoring and therapy that overcome the problems with conventional treatments are reviewed. In addition, the emerging field of device‐assisted tissue engineering is highlighted.
Novel nanostructured sulfur (S)–carbide derived carbon (CDC) composites with ordered mesopores and high S content are successfully prepared for lithium sulfur batteries. The tunable pore‐size ...distribution and high pore volume of CDC allow for an excellent electrochemical performance of the composites at high current densities. A higher electrolyte molarity is found to enhance the capacity utilization dramatically and reduce S dissolution in S‐CDC composite cathodes during cycling.
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