Controllable large-scale processing of temperature regulating sheath-core fibers with high-enthalpy for thermal management

Temperature regulating fibers(TRF_(s)) with high enthalpy and high form stability are the key factors for thermal management. However, the enthalpies of most TRFsare not high, and the preparation methods are still at the laboratory scale. It remains a great challenge to use industrial spinning equipment to achieve continuous processing of TRF_(s) with excellent thermal and mechanical properties. Here, polyamide 6(PA6) based TRF_(s) with a sheath-core structure were prepared by bicomponent melt-spinning. The sheath-core TRF(TRF_(sc)) are composed of PA6 as sheath and functional PA6 as core, which are filled with the shape stable phase change materials(ssPCM),dendritic silica@polyethylene glycol(SiO_(2)@PEG). With the aid of the sheath structure, the filling content of SiO_(2)@PEG can reach 30 %, so that the enthalpy of the TRF_(s) can be as high as 21.3 J/g. The ultra-high enthalpy guarantees the temperature regulation ability during the alternating process of cooling and heating. In hot environment, the temperature regulation time is 6.59 min, and the temperature difference is 12.93℃. In addition, the mechanical strength of the prepared TRF_(sc) reaches 2.26 cN/dtex, which can fully meet its application in the field of thermal management textiles and devices to manage the temperature regulation of the human body or precision equipment, etc.

The role of bone marrow-derived cells in the origin of liver cancer revealed by single-cell sequencing

Objective:Epithelial cancers often originate from progenitor cells,while the origin of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is still controversial.HCC,one of the deadliest cancers,is closely linked with liver injuries and chronic inflammation,which trigger massive infiltration of bone marrow-derived cells(BMDCs)during liver repair.Methods:To address the possible roles of BMDCs in HCC origination,we established a diethylnitrosamine(DEN)-induced HCC model in bone marrow transplanted mice.Immunohistochemistry and frozen tissue immunofluorescence were used to verify DENinduced HCC in the pathology of the disease.The cellular origin of DEN-induced HCC was further studied by single cell sequencing,single-cell nested PCR,and immunofluorescence-fluorescence in situ hybridization.Results:Studies by using single cell sequencing and biochemical analysis revealed that HCC cells in these mice were coming from donor mice BMDCs,and not from recipient mice.Furthermore,the copy numbers of mouse orthologs of several HCC-related genes previously reported in human HCC were also altered in our mouse model.DEN-induced HCCs exhibited a similar histological phenotype and genomic profile as human HCCs.Conclusions:These results suggested that BMDCs are an important origin of HCC,which provide important clues to HCC prevention,detection,and treatments.

Periostin mediates epithelial-mesenchymal transition through the MAPK/ERK pathway in hepatoblastoma

Objective: The aim of the present study was to analyze the prognostic factors in patients with hepatoblastoma(HB) in our single center and to evaluate periostin(POSTN) expression in HB and its association with clinicopathological variables. In addition, the underlying mechanism of how POSTN promotes HB progression was discussed.Methods: POSTN expression was investigated in HB tumors by immunohistochemistry(IHC), immunofluorescence(IF) and Western blot(WB). The association among POSTN expression, clinicopathological features and overall survival(OS) was also evaluated. The migration and adhesion ability of HB cells were measured using chemotaxis and cell-matrix adhesion assays,respectively. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)-associated markers and activation of the ERK pathway were detected by WB.Results: HB patients had poor prognosis which displayed lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion, POSTN and vimentin expression. POSTN expression was also associated with lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, overexpressed POSTN promoted migration and the adhesive ability of HB cells in vitro. In addition, we demonstrated that POSTN activated the MAPK/ERK pathway, upregulated the expression of Snail and decreased the expression of OVOL2. Finally, POSTN promoted the expression of EMT-associated markers.Conclusions: POSTN might modulate EMT via the ERK signaling pathway, thereby promoting cellular migration and invasion.Our study also suggests that POSTN may serve as a therapeutic biomarker in HB patients.

Cytosolic phospholipase A2α modulates cell-matrix adhesion via the FAK/paxillin pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective: To explore the effect of cytosolic phospholipase A2α(cPLA2α) on hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) cell adhesion and the underlying mechanisms.Methods: Cell adhesion, detachment, and hanging-drop assays were utilized to examine the effect of cPLA2α on the cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesion. Downstream substrates and effectors of cPLA2α were screened via a phospho-antibody microarray.Associated signaling pathways were identified by the functional annotation tool DAVID. Candidate proteins were verified using Western blot and colocalization was investigated via immunofluorescence. Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to detect protein expression in HCC tissues. Prognosis evaluation was conducted using Kaplan-Meier and Cox-proportional hazards regression analyses.Results: Our findings showed that cPLA2α knockdown decreases cell-matrix adhesion but increases cell-cell adhesion in HepG2 cells. Microarray analysis revealed that phosphorylation of multiple proteins at specific sites were regulated by cPLA2α. These phosphorylated proteins were involved in various biological processes. In addition, our results indicated that the focal adhesion pathway was highly enriched in the cPLA2α-relevant signaling pathway. Furthermore, cPLA2α was found to elevate phosphorylation levels of FAK and paxillin, two crucial components of focal adhesion. Moreover, localization of p-FAK to focal adhesions in the plasma membrane was significantly reduced with the downregulation of cPLA2α. Clinically, cPLA2α expression was positively correlated with p-FAK levels. Additionally, high expression of both cPLA2α and p-FAK predicted the worst prognoses for HCC patients.Conclusions: Our study indicated that cPLA2α may promote cell-matrix adhesion via the FAK/paxillin pathway, which partly explains the malignant cPLA2α phenotype seen in HCC.

Band-gap Properties of Elastic Sandwich Metamaterial Plates with Composite Periodic Rod Core

A novel elastic sandwich metamaterial plate with composite periodic rod core is designed,and the frequency band-gap characteristics are numerically and experimentally investigated.The finite element and spectral element hybrid method(FE-SEHM)is developed to obtain the dynamic stiffness matrix of the sandwich metamaterial plate.The frequency response curves of the plate structure under the harmonic excitation are calculated using the presented numerical method and validated by the vibration experiment.By comparing with the frequency response curves of sandwich metamaterial plate with pure elastic rod core,improved band-gap properties are achieved from the designed metamaterial plate with composite periodic rod core.The elastic metamaterial plate with composite periodic rod core can generate more band-gaps,so it can suppress the vibration and elastic wave propagation in the structure more effectively.

Advances in Nonwoven‑Based Separators for Lithium‑Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)are energy-storage devices with a high-energy density in which the separator provides a physical barrier between the cathode and anode,to prevent electrical short circuits.To meet the demands of high-performance batteries,the separator must have excellent electrolyte wettability,thermotolerance,mechanical strength,highly porous structures,and ionic conductivity.Numerous nonwoven-based separators have been used in LIBs due to their high porosity and large surface-to-volume ratios.However,the fabrication of multi-functional fibers,the construction of nonwoven separators,and their integration into energy-storage devices present grand challenges in fundamental theory and practical implementation.Herein,we systematically review the up-to-date concerning the design and preparation of nonwoven-based separators for LIBs.Recent progress in monolayer,composite,and solid electrolyte nonwoven-based separators and their fabrication strategies is discussed.Future challenges and directions toward advancements in separator technologies are also discussed to obtain separators with remarkable performance for high-energy density batteries.