Constructing a stable artificial solid-electrolyte interphase has become one of the most effective strategies to overcome the poor reversibility of lithium metal anode, yet the protection role is ...still insufficient at elevated current densities over 10 mA cm
and large areal capacities over 10 mAh cm
. Herein, we propose a dynamic gel with reversible imine groups, which is prepared via a cross linking reaction between flexible dibenzaldehyde-terminated telechelic poly(ethylene glycol) and rigid chitosan, to fabricate a protective layer for Li metal anode. The as-prepared artificial film shows combined merits of high Young's modulus, strong ductility and high ionic conductivity. When the artificial film is fabricated on a lithium metal anode, the thin protective layer shows a dense and uniform surface owing to the interactions between the abundant polar groups and lithium metal. Besides, the polar groups in the artificial film can homogenize the distribution of Li
at the electrode/electrolyte interface. As a result, cycle stability over 3200 h under an areal capacity of 10 mAh cm
and a current density of 10 mA cm
has been obtained for the protected lithium metal anodes. Moreover, cycling stability and rate capability has been also improved in the full cells.
Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is an extracellular matrix (ECM) glycoprotein that is critical for collagen assembly and ECM stability. Mutations of COMP cause endoplasmic reticulum stress ...and chondrocyte apoptosis, resulting in rare skeleton diseases. The bouquet-like structure of COMP allows it to act as a bridging molecule that regulates cellular phenotype and function. COMP is able to interact with many other ECM components and binds directly to a variety of cellular receptors and growth factors. The roles of COMP in other skeleton diseases, such as osteoarthritis, have been implied. As a well-established biochemical marker, COMP indicates cartilage turnover associated with destruction. Recent exciting achievements indicate its involvement in other diseases, such as malignancy, cardiovascular diseases, and tissue fibrosis. Here, we review the basic concepts of COMP and summarize its novel functions in the regulation of signaling events. These findings renew our understanding that COMP has a notable function in cell behavior and disease progression as a signaling regulator. Interestingly, COMP shows distinct functions in different diseases. Targeting COMP in malignancy may withdraw its beneficial effects on the vascular system and induce or aggravate cardiovascular diseases. COMP supplementation is a promising treatment for OA and aortic aneurysms while it may induce tissue fibrosis or cancer metastasis.
Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. Although the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is not entirely clear, the aberrant aggregation of α-synuclein has long been ...considered as an important risk factor. Elucidating the mechanisms that influence the aggregation of α-synuclein is essential for developing an effective diagnostic, preventative and therapeutic strategy to treat this devastating disease. The aggregation of α-synuclein is influenced by several post-translational modifications. Here, we summarized the major post-translational modifications (phosphorylation, ubiquitination, truncation, nitration,
-GlcNAcylation) of α-synuclein and the effect of these modifications on α-synuclein aggregation, which may provide potential targets for future therapeutics.
The combination of persulfates (peroxydisulfate (PDS) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS)) and electrolysis using boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode is a promising green advanced oxidation process. In ...comparison with electrolysis alone, electrochemical activation of persulfates at BDD anode considerably enhanced the degradation of carbamazepine (CBZ). The experimental results indicate that the surface-adsorbed hydroxyl radical (HO) played the dominant role. The generally proposed nonradical oxidation mechanism ignored hydroxyl radical (HO) oxidation because low concentration of radical scavenger (<10 M methanol or 5 M tertbutanol) could not effectively scavenge the surface-adsorbed HO. The quasi steady-state concentration of HO was estimated to be about 5.0–9.1 × 10−12 M for electrolysis with BDD anode, and it was increased to 1.1–1.6 × 10−11 M and 3.2–5.0 × 10−11 M for addition of 5 mM PDS and PMS, respectively. The results of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry as well as evolution of dissolved oxygen (DO) reveal that the electrochemically activated persulfates molecule (PDS∗/PMS∗) promoted the production of HO via water dissociation at BDD anode and enhanced the direct electron transfer (DET) reaction, which otherwise inhibited the oxygen evolution side reaction. Therefore, higher current efficiency was achieved in electrochemical activation of persulfates process compared with electrolysis process. Additionally, the transformation products of CBZ were also investigated and their formation pathways were proposed.
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•Addition of persulfates significantly improved the degradation of CBZ.•The electrochemically activated persulfates molecule enhanced the production of HO.•HO oxidation rather than nonradical oxidation played the dominant role.
•Preferential flow induced by dynamic changes of desiccation cracks (PF-DC) was simulated using four different models.•A full dynamic dual-permeability model (DDPM) was necessary to accurately ...simulate PF-DC.•Models neglecting cracks or dynamic of desiccation cracks are not recommended to simulate PF-DC.•A lighter DDPM only considering crack evolution can tentatively substitute the DDPM in specific cases.•Uncertainties of shrinking-swelling parameters showed the smallest errors with respect to simplified models.
Quantitative investigation on the preferential flow induced by desiccation cracks (PF-DC) remains a great challenge due to the soil shrinking-swelling behavior. This work presents a series of comparative numerical studies to investigate the accuracy and substitutability of different models in simulating the water flux, hydrological response and crack evolution induced by PF-DC. As a comparative study, an effective dynamic dual-permeability model (DDPM) we recently developed and validated was regarded as a benchmark model. Three numerical experiments were conducted to (i) compare the difference among the single-domain model (SDM), rigid dual-permeability model (RDPM) and DDPM; (ii) test the sensitivity of the DDPM to the shrinking-swelling parameters; (iii) test the rationality of a “lighter” dynamic DPM (LDPM) only considering the proportion changes of each domain while neglecting the variation of hydraulic properties. The results showed that compared to the DDPM, the SDM overestimated the water content under low-rainfall intensity while underestimating the water content under high-intensity rainfall and failed to capture the early increase of water content in deep soils induced by PF-DC. The RDPM greatly overestimated the total water content and water storage capacity of the crack domain, which was not suggested to be used in the surface runoff or flood forecast. The DDPM is overall not sensitive to the shrinking-swelling parameters, indicative of relatively loose accuracy requirements in measuring the soil shrinking-swelling parameters. The LDPM can be a tentative alternative option for the DDPM, but it is better not to use it to evaluate the surface runoff or use it under long-term extreme drought. In conclusion, the prediction errors without considering crack evolution and variation of hydraulic properties of each domain (RDPM) are the highest, then followed by the only considering crack evolution (LDPM) and uncertainties of shrinking-swelling parameters.
Posttraumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is a subset of osteoarthritis (OA) resulting from the integrated outcome of joint injury, accounting for more than 12% of the overall OA cases. Although current ...therapies restore joint kinematics and alleviate inflammation, more than 20% patients undergo the unexpected progression of PTOA. Exercise is widely recommended to patients with OA and treadmill training is effective in preventing osteoarthritic changes in PTOA animals. However, the understanding gap of modified treadmill exercise models with different exercise dose and loading weight still exists. To evaluate the effects of body weight‐supported treadmill training on PTOA, 30 rats were divided into the sham group (n = 6) and the PTOA group (n = 24) which were further assigned into three subgroups including the sedentary, the treadmill walking (TW), and the body weight‐supported treadmill training (BWSTT) groups. The training groups were subjected to 4‐week treadmill training at the speed of 15 m/min for 30 min/d, 5 d/wk. Then the tibias were elevated by histological staining, immunohistochemical staining, and micro‐computed tomography. In our results, the significant OA‐relevant changes in cartilage‐subchondral bone unit were observed in the PTOA groups after surgery, characterized by cartilage degradation and subchondral bone remodeling. After 4‐week treadmill training, the OA‐relevant changes in cartilage‐subchondral bone unit were alleviated and BWSTT is more efficient to maintain cartilage integrity and attenuate the subchondral bone loss and remodeling than TW. In conclusion, BWSTT is a promising and favorable treatment of PTOA slowing down the development of PTOA by reprogramming the cartilage‐subchondral unit.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most frequent musculoskeletal diseases characterized by degeneration of articular cartilage, subchondral bone remodeling, and synovial membrane inflammation, which ...is a leading cause of global disability, morbidity, and decreased quality of life. Interpreting the potential mechanisms of OA pathogenesis is essential for developing novel prevention and disease-modifying therapeutic interventions. Gut microbiota is responsible for a series of metabolic, immunological, and structural and neurological functions, potentially elucidating the heterogeneity of OA phenotypes and individual features. In this narrative review, we summarized research evidence supporting the hypothesis of a "gut-joint axis" and the interaction between gut microbiota and the OA-relevant factors, including age, gender, genetics, metabolism, central nervous system, and joint injury, elucidating the underlying mechanisms of this intricate interaction. In the context, we also speculated the promising manipulation of gut microbiota in OA management, such as exercise and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), highlighting the clinical values of gut microbiota. Additionally, future research directions, such as more convincing studies by the interventions of gut microbiota, the gene regulation of host contributing to or attributed to the specific phenotypes of gut microbiota related to OA, and the relevance of distinct cell subgroups to gut microbiota, are expected. Moreover, gut microbiota is also the potential biomarker related to inflammation and gut dysbiosis that is able to predict OA progression and monitor the efficacy of therapeutic intervention.
Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a class of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), may modulate gene expression by binding to miRNAs. Additionally, recent studies show that circRNAs participate in some pathological ...processes. However, there is a large gap in the knowledge about circDOCK1 expression and its biological functions in osteogenic sarcoma (OS).
Differentially expressed circRNAs in OS cell lines and tissues were identified by circRNA microarray analysis and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). To explore the actions of circDOCK1 in vivo and in vitro, circDOCK1 was knocked down or overexpressed. To assess the binding and regulatory associations among miR-339-3p, circDOCK1 and IGF1R, we performed rescue experiments, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), RNA pulldown assays and dual-luciferase assays. Moreover, we performed apoptosis assays to reveal the regulatory effects of the circDOCK1/miR-339-3p/IGF1R axis on cisplatin sensitivity.
CircDOCK1 expression remained stable in the cytoplasm and was higher in OS tissues and cells than in the corresponding controls. Overexpression of circDOCK1 increased oncogenicity in vivo and malignant transformation in vitro. In the U2OS and MG63 cell lines, circDOCK1 modulated tumor progression by regulating IGF1R through sponging of miR-339-3p. Additionally, in the U2OS/DDP and MG63/DDP cell lines, cisplatin sensitivity was regulated by circDOCK1 via the miR-339-3p/IGF1R axis.
CircDOCK1 can promote progression and regulate cisplatin sensitivity in OS via the miR-339-3p/IGF1R axis. Thus, the circDOCK1/miR-339-3p/IGF1R axis may be a key mechanism and therapeutic target in OS.
In order to investigate the type IV hydrogen storage bottle with better hydrogen storage capacity, the polymer lining of the hydrogen storage bottle was further developed. In this paper, the ...molecular dynamics method was used to simulate the helium adsorption and diffusion processes within a modified montmorillonite (OMMT)-filled polyamide 6 (PA6) system. The effects of the barrier properties of the composites were investigated at different filler contents (3%, 4%, 5%, 6% and 7%), different temperatures (288 K and 328 K) and different pressures (0.1 MPa, 41.6 MPa, 52 MPa and 60 MPa) for certain contents. It was found that when the filler content was 5%, the permeability coefficient of the material was lower than 2 × 10
cm
∙cm/(cm
∙s∙Pa) and the barrier performance was the best. The modified filler with 5% OMMT/PA6 at 328 K still had the strongest barrier performance. When the pressure increased, the permeability coefficient of the modified material first decreased and then increased. In addition to this, the effect of the fractional free volume on the barrier properties of the materials was also investigated. This study provides a basis and reference for the selection and preparation of polymer linings for high-barrier hydrogen storage cylinders.
Emerging evidence has indicated the associations between subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) of shoulder and lifestyle factors. However, whether unhealthy lifestyle factors causally increase SIS ...risk is not determined. This study aims to evaluate whether lifestyle factors are the risk factors of SIS.
A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was designed to evaluate the effect of 11 lifestyle factors on SIS risk. Causality was determined using the inverse-variance weighted method to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and establish a 95% confidence interval (CI). Weighted median method, MR-Egger method and MR-PRESSO method were conducted as sensitivity analysis.
Four lifestyle factors were identified causally associated with an increased risk of SIS using the IVW method: insomnia (OR: 1.66 95% CI 1.38, 2.00; P = 8.86 × 10
), short sleep duration (OR: 1.53 95% CI 1.14, 2.05: P = 0.0043), mobile phone usage (OR: 4.65, 95% CI 1.59, 13.64; P = 0.0051), and heavy manual or physical work (OR: 4.24, 95% CI 2.17, 8.26; P = 2.20 × 10
). Another causal but weak association was found between smoking initiation on SIS (OR: 1.17, 95% CI 1.01, 1.35; P = 3.50 × 10
). Alcohol, coffee consumption, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep duration and computer usage were not found to be causally associated with an increased risk of SIS. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the MR estimates were robust and no heterogeneity and pleiotropy were identified in these MR analyses.
Sleep habits and shoulder usage were identified as causal factors for SIS. This evidence supports the development of strategies aimed at improving sleep behaviors and optimizing shoulder usage patterns as effective measures to prevent SIS.
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