Bone morphogenetic protein 7 mediates stem cells migration and angiogenesis:therapeutic potential for endogenous pulp regeneration

Pulp loss is accompanied by the functional impairment of defense,sensory,and nutrition supply.The approach based on endogenous stem cells is a potential strategy for pulp regeneration.However,endogenous stem cell sources,exogenous regenerative signals,and neovascularization are major difficulties for pulp regeneration based on endogenous stem cells.Therefore,the purpose of our research is to seek an effective cytokines delivery strategy and bioactive materials to reestablish an ideal regenerative microenvironment for pulp regeneration.In in vitro study,we investigated the effects of Wnt3a,transforming growth factor-beta 1,and bone morphogenetic protein 7(BMP7)on human dental pulp stem cells(h-DPSCs)and human umbilical vein endothelial cells.2D and 3D culture systems based on collagen gel,matrigel,and gelatin methacryloyl were fabricated to evaluate the morphology and viability of h-DPSCs.In in vivo study,an ectopic nude mouse model and an in situ beagle dog model were established to investigate the possibility of pulp regeneration by implanting collagen gel loading BMP7.We concluded that BMP7promoted the migration and odontogenic differentiation of h-DPSCs and vessel formation.Collagen gel maintained the cell adhesion,cell spreading,and cell viability of h-DPSCs in 2D or 3D culture.The transplantation of collagen gel loading BMP7 induced vascularized pulp-like tissue regeneration in vivo.The injectable approach based on collagen gel loading BMP7 might exert promising therapeutic application in endogenous pulp regeneration.

Paleontology Knowledge Graph for Data-Driven Discovery

A knowledge graph(KG)is a knowledge base that integrates and represents data based on a graph-structured data model or topology.Geoscientists have made efforts to construct geosciencerelated KGs to overcome semantic heterogeneity and facilitate knowledge representation,data integration,and text analysis.However,there is currently no comprehensive paleontology KG or data-driven discovery based on it.In this study,we constructed a two-layer model to represent the ordinal hierarchical structure of the paleontology KG following a top-down construction process.An ontology containing 19365 concepts has been defined up to 2023.On this basis,we derived the synonymy list based on the paleontology KG and designed corresponding online functions in the OneStratigraphy database to showcase the use of the KG in paleontological research.

Free-space beam shaping and steering based on a silicon optical phased array

In this study,we present a method for free-space beam shaping and steering based on a silicon optical phased array,which addresses the theoretical limitation of traditional bulk optics.We theoretically analyze the beam propagation properties with changes in the applied phase.Different beam profiles can be shaped by varying the phase combination,while a high-order quasi-Bessel beam can be generated with a cubic change to the phase modulation.The simulated results are validated further experimentally,and they match one another well.Beam steering can be achieved with a field of view as large as 140°,which has potential benefits for practical applications.The presented method is expected to have broad application prospects for optical communications,free-space optical interconnects,and light detection and ranging.

Time-resolved study of the lasing emission from high vibrational levels of N2^+ pumped with circularly polarized femtosecond pulses

We experimentally investigated the forward 353.8 nm radiation from plasma filaments in pure nitrogen gas pumped by intense circularly polarized 800 nm femtosecond laser pulses.This emission line corresponds to the B^2Σu^+(u'=4)-X^2Σg^+(u=3)transition of nitrogen ions.In the presence of an external seeding pulse,the 353.8 nm signal was amplified by 3 orders of magnitude.Thanks to the much enhanced intensity,we performed time-resolved measurement of the amplified 353.8 nm emission based on the sum-frequency generation technique.It was revealed that the built-up time and duration of these emissions are both inversely proportional to the gas pressure,while the radiation peak power grows up nearly quadratically with pressure,indicating that the 353.8 nm radiation is of the nature of superradiance.

Electrospinning in membrane contactor:manufacturing Elec-PVDF/SiO2 superhydrophobic surface for efficient flue gas desulphurization applications

In membrane contactors,maintaining a high SO_(2)absorption flux and an excellent wetting resistance are crucial for hazardous gas removal.In this study,we adopted an electrospinning strategy to fabricate highly robust superhydrophobic dual-layer Elec-PVDF/SiO_(2)composite membrane contactors used for flue gas desulfurization.The composite membrane contactor consisted of a durable and ultrathin three-dimensional(3D)superhydrophobic surface and a porous supporting layer,where the formulation was optimized by regulating the PVDF concentration,solvent ratio and SiO_(2)particles content in electrospinning solution.The scanning electronic microscopy(SEM),EDS-mapping,water contact angle(WCA)and surface roughness of as-prepared Elec-PVDF/SiO_(2)composite membrane contactors were conducted to explore the physical and chemical structure.The SiO_(2)nanoparticles were uniformly loaded in ElecPVDF/SiO_(2)composite membrane contactor,and constructed micro-nano dual-coarse lotus-leaf-like morphology,which noticeably elevated surface roughness(Ra).The SiO_(2)nanoparticles also functioned as hydrophobic modifiers,which boosted the WAC up to 155.The SO_(2)absorption fluxes and SO_(2)removal efficiencies were investigated.In particular,the membrane contactor doped with 20 wt%SiO_(2)nanoparticles significantly elevated the stability of desulfurization performance.Besides,the membrane mass transfer coefficient(Km)and corresponding membrane mass transfer resistance(H/Km)were explored.