Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of epilepsy: electromagnetic stimulation-mediated neuromodulation therapy and new technologies

Epilepsy is a severe,relapsing,and multifactorial neurological disorder.Studies regarding the accurate diagnosis,prognosis,and in-depth pathogenesis are crucial for the precise and effective treatment of epilepsy.The pathogenesis of epilepsy is complex and involves alterations in variables such as gene expression,protein expression,ion channel activity,energy metabolites,and gut microbiota composition.Satisfactory results are lacking for conventional treatments for epilepsy.Surgical resection of lesions,drug therapy,and non-drug interventions are mainly used in clinical practice to treat pain associated with epilepsy.Non-pharmacological treatments,such as a ketogenic diet,gene therapy for nerve regeneration,and neural regulation,are currently areas of research focus.This review provides a comprehensive overview of the pathogenesis,diagnostic methods,and treatments of epilepsy.It also elaborates on the theoretical basis,treatment modes,and effects of invasive nerve stimulation in neurotherapy,including percutaneous vagus nerve stimulation,deep brain electrical stimulation,repetitive nerve electrical stimulation,in addition to non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation.Numerous studies have shown that electromagnetic stimulation-mediated neuromodulation therapy can markedly improve neurological function and reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures.Additionally,many new technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy are being explored.However,current research is mainly focused on analyzing patients’clinical manifestations and exploring relevant diagnostic and treatment methods to study the pathogenesis at a molecular level,which has led to a lack of consensus regarding the mechanisms related to the disease.

High electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity on a coupled Ru and CoO hybrid electrocatalyst

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an essential step in converting renewable energy to clean hydrogen fuel. Exploring highly efficient, stable and cost-effective electrocatalysts is of crucial significance for sustainable HER. Here, we report the design of a coupled ruthenium/cobalt oxide (Ru/CoO) hybrid electrocatalyst for alkaline HER. In this hybrid metal/oxide system, the complicated alkaline HER pathways are overall facilitated;oxygen (O)-vacancy-abundant oxide enhances water splitting and Ru promotes successive hydrogen intermediates to generate hydrogen. The resulting Ru/CoO hybrid electrocatalyst exhibits significantly promoted catalytic activity compared with benchmark Ru catalyst, displaying an overpotential of 55 mV to generate a HER current density of 10 mA cm^-2, comparable with the state-of-the-art Pt/C catalyst and the most efficient alkaline HER electrocatalysts. Furthermore, the strong interaction of Ru nanoparticles with oxide support and the in-situ growth of oxide support on conductive substrate guarantee the long-term stability of as-fabricated Ru/CoO hybrid electrocatalyst. This newly designed hybrid catalyst with abundant metal/oxide interfaces may pave a new pathway for exploring efficient and stable HER electrocatalysts.

Test factors affecting the performance of zinc–air battery

Zinc-air batteries provide a great potential for future large-scale energy storage.We assess the test factors that mainly affect the measured power density of the zinc-air battery.By fitting the polarization curves of the zinc-air batteries,we reveal the effect of testing parameters(electrode distance,electrolyte concentration,and oxygen flux)and preparation of catalysts ink on the activation,ohm,and concentration polarizations of the zinc-air battery.Finally,recommendations on evaluating the potentials of non-noblemetal electrocatalysts for applications in zinc-air batteries were given.

Genomic similarity and antibody-dependent enhancement of immune serum potentially affect the protective efficacy of commercial MLV vaccines against NADC30-like PRRSV

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome(PRRS)is one of the most significant diseases affecting the pig industry worldwide.The PRRSV mutation rate is the highest among the RNA viruses.To date,NADC30-like PRRSV and highly pathogenic PRRSV(HP-PRRSV)are the dominant epidemic strains in China;however,commercial vaccines do not always provide sufficient cross-protection,and the reasons for insufficient protection are unclear.This study isolated a wild-type NADC30-like PRRSV,SX-YL1806,from Shaanxi Province.Vaccination challenge experiments in piglets showed that commercial modified live virus(MLV)vaccines provided good protection against HP-PRRSV.However,it could not provide sufficient protection against the novel strain SXYL1806.To explore the reasons for this phenomenon,we compared the genomic homology between the MLV strain and HP-PRRSV or NADC30-like PRRSV and found that the MLV strain had a lower genome similarity with NADC30-like PRRSV.Serum neutralization assay showed that MLV-immune serum slightly promoted the homologous HP-PRRSV replication and significantly promoted the heterologous NADC30-like PRRSV strain replication in vitro,suggesting that antibody-dependent enhancement(ADE)might also play a role in decreasing MLV protective efficacy.These findings expand our understanding of the potential factors affecting the protective effect of PRRSV MLV vaccines against the NADC30-like strains.