Hetero-interfacial nickel nitride/vanadium oxynitride porous nanosheets as trifunctional electrodes for HER,OER and sodium ion batteries

The development of single electrode with multifunctional purposes for electrochemical devices remains a symbolic challenge in recent technology.This work explores interfacially-rich transition metal nitride hybrid that consist of nickel nitride and vanadium oxynitride(VO_(0.26)N_(0.52))on robust carbon fiber(denoted CF/Ni_(3)N/VON)as trifunctional electrode for hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),oxygen evolution reaction(OER),and sodium ion batteries(SIBs).The as-prepared CF/Ni_(3)N/VON exhibits low HER overpotential of 48 m V@10 m A cm^(-2),OER overpotential of 287 m V@10 m A cm^(-2),and sodium-ion anode storage reversible capacity of 555 m A h g^(-1)@0.2 C.Theoretical analyses reveal that the Ni_(3)N effectively facilitates hydrogen desorption for HER,increases the electrical conductivity for OER,and promotes the Na-ion storage intercalation process,while the VON substantially elevates the water dissociation kinetics for HER,accelerates the adsorption of OH*intermediate for OER and enhances the Na-ion surface adsorption storage process.Owing to the excellent HER and OER performances of the CF/Ni_(3)N/VON electrode,an overall water splitting device denoted as CF/Ni_(3)N/VON//CF/Ni_(3)N/VON was not only assembled showing an operating voltage of 1.63 V at current density of 10 m A cm^(-2)but was also successfully self-powered by the assembled CF/Ni_(3)N/VON//CF/Na_(3)V_(2)(PO_(4))_(3) flexible sodium ion battery.This work will contribute to the development of efficient and cost-effective flexible integrated electrochemical energy devices.

A MITE insertion into the 3′-UTR regulates the transcription of TaHSP16.9 in common wheat

Miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements(MITEs) are a type of DNA transposon frequently inserted into promoters, untranslated regions(UTR), introns, or coding sequences of genes. We found a 276-bp tourist-like MITE insertion in the 3′-UTR of a 16.9 k Da small heat shock protein gene(TaH SP16.9-3A) on chromosome 3A of common wheat. Haplotype analysis revealed two haplotypes, s HSP-W(wild type without MITE insertion) and s HSP-M(mutant with MITE insertion), present in wheat germplasm. Both semiquantitative PCR and quantitative real-time PCR analyses showed increased transcription levels of TaH SP16.9-3A in s HSP-M compared with those of s HSP-W after heat treatment at 42 °C. It appeared that the MITE insertion into the 3′-UTR enhances the transcription of TaH SP16.9-3A.

Sox9^(+) cells are required for salivary gland regeneration after radiation damage via the Wnt/β-catenin pathway

Radiotherapy for head and neck cancer can cause serious side effects, including severe damage to the salivary glands, resulting in symptoms such as xerostomia, dental caries, and oral infection. Because of the lack of long-term treatment for the symptoms of xerostomia, current research has focused on finding endogenous stem cells that can differentiate into various cell lineages to replace lost tissues and restore functions. Here, we report that Sox9^(+)cells can differentiate into various salivary epithelial cell lineages under homeostatic conditions. After ablating Sox9^(+) cells, the salivary glands of irradiated mice showed more severe phenotypes and the reduced proliferative capacity. Analysis of online single-cell RNAsequencing data reveals the enrichment of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in the Sox9^(+) cell population.Furthermore, treatment with a Wnt/β-catenin inhibitor in irradiated mice inhibits the regenerative capability of Sox9^(+) cells. Finally, we show that Sox9^(+) cells are capable of forming organoids in vitro and that transplanting these organoids into salivary glands after radiation partially restored salivary gland functions.These results suggest that regenerative therapy targeting Sox9^(+) cells is a promising approach to treat radiation-induced salivary gland injury.

AICellCounter:A Machine Learning-Based Automated Cell Counting Tool Requiring Only One Image for Training

Dear Editor,To decipher brain functions,brain cells are generally prelabeled and then imaged using a high-resolution confocal system,and manual or automatic counting methods are widely used in the quantitative and semiquantitative analysis of these confocal images.Therefore,cell counting becomes a bottleneck in efficient analysis because manual counting is laborious and time-consuming.Therefore,an accurate and user-friendly automated cell counting tool is needed for biological researchers.

Chondrogenic priming of human fetal synovium-derived stem cells in an adult stem cell matrix microenvironment

Cartilage defects are a challenge to treat clinically due to the avascular nature of cartilage.Low immunogenicity and extensive proliferation and multidifferentiation potential make fetal stem cells a promising source for regenerative medicine.In this study,we aimed to determine whether fetal synovium-derived stem cells(FSDSCs)exhibited replicative senescence and whether expansion on decellularized extracellular matrix(dECM)deposited by adult SDSCs(AECM)promoted FSDSCs’chondrogenic potential.FSDSCs from passage 2 and 9 were compared for chondrogenic potential,using Alcian blue staining for sulfated glycosaminoglycans(GAGs),biochemical analysis for DNA and GAG amounts,and real-time PCR for chondrogenic genes including ACAN and COL2A1.Passage 3 FSDSCs were expanded for one passage on plastic flasks(PL),AECM,or dECM deposited by fetal SDSCs(FECM).During expansion,cell proliferation was evaluated using flow cytometry for proliferation index,stem cell surface markers,and resistance to hydrogen peroxide.During chondrogenic induction,expanded FSDSCs were evaluated for tri-lineage differentiation capacity.We found that cell expansion enhanced FSDSCs’chondrogenic potential at least up to passage 9.Expansion on dECMs promoted FSDSCs’proliferative and survival capacity and adipogenic differentiation but not osteogenic capacity.AECM-primed FSDSCs exhibited an enhanced chondrogenic potential.