Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has long been shown to be a powerful therapeutic modality for cancer. However, PDT is undiversified and has become stereotyped in recent years. Exploration of distinctive ...PDT methods is thus highly in demand but remains a severe challenge. Herein, an unprecedented 1+1+1>3 synergistic strategy is proposed and validated for the first time. Three homologous luminogens with aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) characteristics were rationally designed based on a simple backbone. Through slight structural tuning, these far‐red/near‐infrared AIE luminogens are capable of specifically anchoring to mitochondria, cell membrane, and lysosome, and effectively generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). Notably, biological studies demonstrated combined usage of three AIE photosensitizers gives multiple ROS sources simultaneously derived from several organelles, which gives superior therapeutic effect than that from a single organelle at the same photosensitizers concentration. This strategy is conceptually and operationally simple, providing an innovative approach and renewed awareness of improving therapeutic effect through three‐pronged PDT.
Power of three: A synergistic enhanced photodynamic therapy (PDT) strategy was developed that concurrently acts on multiple subcellular organelles. At the same photosensitizer concentration, combined PDT treatment with three aggregation‐induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) exhibits superior therapeutic effect than that of single AIEgens.
A long-standing debate on Unruh effect is about its obscure thermal nature. In this Letter, we use quantum Fisher information (QFI) as an effective probe to explore the thermal nature of Unruh effect ...from both local and global perspectives. By resolving the full dynamics of UDW detector, we find that the QFI is a time-evolving function of detector's energy gap, Unruh temperature TU and particularities of background field, e.g., mass and spacetime dimensionality. We show that the asymptotic QFI whence detector arrives its equilibrium is solely determined by TU, demonstrating the global side of Unruh thermality alluded by the KMS condition. We also show that the local side of Unruh effect, i.e., the different ways for the detector to approach the same thermal equilibrium, is encoded in the corresponding time-evolution of the QFI. In particular, we find that with massless scalar background the QFI has unique monotonicity in n=3 dimensional spacetime, and becomes non-monotonous for n≠3 models where a local peak value exists at early time and for finite acceleration, indicating an enhanced precision of estimation on Unruh temperature at a relative low acceleration can be achieved. Once the field acquiring mass, the related QFI becomes significantly robust against the Unruh decoherence in the sense that its local peak sustains for a very long time. While coupling to a more massive background, the persistence can even be strengthened and the QFI possesses a larger maximal value. Such robustness of QFI can surely facilitate any practical quantum estimation task.
Fabric defect detection plays an important role in the textile production process, but there are still some challenges in detecting defects rapidly and accurately. In this paper, we propose a ...powerful detection method for automatic fabric defect detection using a deep convolutional neural network (CNN). It consists of three main steps. First, the fabric image is decomposed into local patches and each local patch is labelled. Then the labelled patches are transmitted to the pretrained deep CNN for transfer learning. Finally, defects are detected during the inspection phase by sliding over the whole image using the trained model, and the category and position of each defect is obtained. The proposed method is validated on two public and one self‐made fabric database. The experimental results demonstrate that our method significantly outperforms selected state‐of‐the art methods in terms of both quality and robustness.
Nucleic acid (NA)‐based therapy is proposed to address serious diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Powerful NA delivery vehicles are essential for effective gene therapy. Herein, a novel ...type of delivery vehicle, an unlockable core–shell nanocomplex (Hep@PGEA) with self‐accelerating NA release, is structurally designed. Hep@PGEA is composed of disulfide‐bridged heparin nanoparticle (HepNP) core and low‐toxicity PGEA cationic shell. In comparison with NA, heparin, a negatively charged polysaccharide macromolecule, exhibits stronger interactions with cationic species. Upon the breakdown of redox‐responsive HepNP cores, unlocked heparin would interact with the outer cationic shells and replace the condensed NA to facilitate NA release. Such unique Hep@PGEA is successfully explored for effective miRNA–pDNA staged gene therapy of myocardial infarction (MI), one of the most serious CVDs. With the progression of MI, glutathione amounts in heart tissues increase. MiR‐499 (for the inhibition of cardiomyocyte apoptosis) and plasmid encoding vascular endothelial growth factor (for the promotion of angiogenesis) are sequentially delivered for systemic treatment of MI. Such treatment produces impressive results in restoring heart function and suppressing cardiac hypertrophy. Due to the wide existence of redox agents in cells, the proposed unlockable delivery nanovehicle and staged therapy strategy can provide new methods to effectively treat different serious diseases.
Unlockable core–shell nanocomplexes with self‐accelerating nucleic acid release are structurally designed as a novel type of delivery vehicle. The newly designed unlockable vector is successfully utilized for effective miRNA–pDNA staged gene therapy of serious cardiovascular diseases.
The osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is governed by multiple mechanisms. Growing evidence indicates that ubiquitin‐dependent protein degradation is critical for the ...differentiation of MSCs and bone formation; however, the function of ubiquitin‐specific proteases, the largest subfamily of deubiquitylases, remains unclear. Here, we identify USP34 as a previously unknown regulator of osteogenesis. The expression of USP34 in human MSCs increases after osteogenic induction while depletion of USP34 inhibits osteogenic differentiation. Conditional knockout of Usp34 from MSCs or pre‐osteoblasts leads to low bone mass in mice. Deletion of Usp34 also blunts BMP2‐induced responses and impairs bone regeneration. Mechanically, we demonstrate that USP34 stabilizes both Smad1 and RUNX2 and that depletion of Smurf1 restores the osteogenic potential of Usp34‐deficient MSCs in vitro. Taken together, our data indicate that USP34 is required for osteogenic differentiation and bone formation.
Synopsis
Combining in vitro and in vivo approaches, this study identifies ubiquitin‐specific protease USP34 as a new regulator of osteogenesis. USP34 activates BMP2 signaling by deubiquitinating and stabilizing Smad1 and RUNX2, thereby promoting osteogenic differentiation.
Depletion of USP34 impairs osteogenic differentiation in vivo and in vitro.
Usp34‐depleted mice have low bone mass.
USP34 is required to activate BMP2 signaling during bone formation.
USP34 stabilizes Smad1 and RUNX2 by deubiquitination.
USP34 counteracts ubiquitin ligase Smurf1, which targets Smad1 and RUNX2.
Combining in vitro and in vivo approaches, this study identifies USP34 as a new regulator of osteogenesis via targeted stabilization of Smad1 and RUNX2, illustrating a role for protein deubiquitination in bone formation.
Microenvironment‐responsive supramolecular assemblies have attracted great interest in the biomedical field due to their potential applications in controlled drug release. In this study, ...oxidation‐responsive supramolecular polycationic assemblies named CPAs are prepared for nucleic acid delivery via the host–guest interaction of β‐cyclodextrin based polycations and a ferrocene‐functionalized zinc tetraaminophthalocyanine core. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) can accelerate the disassembly of CPA/pDNA complexes, which would facilitate the release of pDNA in the complexes and further benefit the subsequent transfection. Such improvement in transfection efficiency is proved in A549 cells with high H2O2 concentration. Interestingly, the transfection efficiencies mediated by CPAs are also different in the presence or absence of light in various cell lines such as HEK 293 and 4T1. The single oxygen (1O2), produced by photosensitizers in the core of CPAs under light, increases the ROS amount and accelerates the disassembly of CPAs/pDNA complexes. In vitro and in vivo studies further illustrate that suppressor tumor gene p53 delivered by CPAs exhibits great antitumor effects under illumination. This work provides a promising strategy for the design and fabrication of oxidation‐responsive nanoassemblies with light‐enhanced gene transfection performance.
Oxidation‐triggered nanoassemblies named CPAs are prepared for high‐performance nucleic acid delivery. CPAs produce enhanced gene transfection efficiency due to their disassembly induced by illumination and H2O2 in the tumor environment, which is utilized for effective gene therapy in 4T1‐based cancer.
This paper addresses the position control of valve-controlled cylinder system employed in hydraulic excavator. Nonlinearities such as dead zone, saturation, discharge coefficient and friction existed ...in the system are highlighted during the mathematical modeling. On this basis, simulation model is established and then validated against experiments. Aim for achieving excellent position control performances, an improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is presented to search for the optimal proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller gains for the nonlinear hydraulic system. The proposed algorithm is a hybrid based on the standard PSO algorithm but with the addition of selection and crossover operators from genetic algorithm in order to enhance the searching efficiency. Furthermore, a nonlinear decreasing scheme for the inertia weight of the improved PSO algorithm is adopted to balance global exploration and local exploration abilities of particles. Then a co-simulation platform combining the simulation model with the improved PSO tuning based PID controller is developed. Comparisons of the improved PSO, standard PSO and Phase Margin (PM) tuning methods are carried out with three position references as step signal, ramp signal and sinusoidal wave using the co-simulation platform. The results demonstrated that the improved PSO algorithm can perform well in PID control for positioning of nonlinear hydraulic system.
•An improved PSO based PID is proposed for positioning of nonlinear hydraulic system.•Nonlinearities of hydraulic system are highlighted.•Selection and crossover operators are introduced into standard PSO algorithm.•Co-simulation platform is carried out to estimate the performance of controller.•Effectiveness of the improved PSO algorithm is validated by simulation.
4D Printing: History and Recent Progress Wu, Jing-Jun; Huang, Li-Mei; Zhao, Qian ...
Chinese journal of polymer science,
05/2018, Letnik:
36, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
4D printing has attracted great interest since the concept was introduced in 2012. The past 5 years have witnessed rapid advances in both 4D printing processes and materials. Unlike 3D printing, 4D ...printing allows the printed part to change its shape and function with time in response to change in external conditions such as temperature, light, electricity, and water. In this review, we first overview the history of 4D printing and discuss its definition. We then summarize recent technological advances in 4D printing with focuses on methods, materials, and their intrinsic links. Finally, we discuss potential applications and offer perspectives for this exciting new field.
Cu2O and CuO are attractive photocatalytic materials for water splitting due to their earth abundance and low cost. In this paper, we report the deposition of Cu2O and CuO thin films by a sol-gel ...spin-coating process. Sol-gel deposition has distinctive advantages such as low-cost solution processing and uniform film formation over large areas with a precise stoichiometry and thickness control. Pure-phase Cu2O and CuO films were obtained by thermal annealing at 500 °C in nitrogen and ambient air, respectively. The films were successfully incorporated as photocathodes in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell, achieving photocurrents of -0.28 mA cm(-2) and -0.35 mA cm(-2) (for Cu2O and CuO, respectively) at 0.05 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). The Cu2O photocurrent was enhanced to -0.47 mA cm(-2) upon incorporation of a thin layer of a NiOx co-catalyst. Preliminary stability studies indicate that CuO may be more stable than Cu2O as a photocathode for PEC water-splitting.
Paraffin wax (PW) is widely used as a phase change material (PCM) in the thermal energy storage field, whereas the leakage and strong rigidity of PW have hindered its practical applications. In this ...work, binary melamine foam (MF)/PW blends with simultaneous thermal energy storage and shape memory properties were prepared through vacuum impregnation. Herein, PW performs as a latent heat storage material and as a switching phase for shape fixation and MF serves as a supporting material to prevent the leakage and as a permanent phase for shape recovery. Due to the light weight and super-elasticity of MF, the MF/PW PCMs possess not only good encapsulation ability and a high latent heat, but also excellent shape-fixing and recovery properties (shape-fixing and recovery ratios are about 100%). Besides, the MF/PW PCMs can be fabricated into arbitrary shapes using MF as a template, and they exhibit excellent shape memory cyclic performance and thermal reliability. A temperature-sensitive and temperature-controlled deployable panel is further established, which can be installed in the electronic device and used for temperature protection. With high thermal energy storage capability, excellent shape memory properties, shape designability, and stable cycling reliability, this multifunctional MF/PW PCM shows a promising application in thermal energy management systems.
PDF
