Inhibition of VEGF-A expression in hypoxia-exposed fetal retinal microvascular endothelial cells by exosomes derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells

Objective:This study aimed to investigate the potential of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell(hucMSC)-derived exosomes(hucMSC-Exos)in inhibiting hypoxia-induced cell hyper proliferation and overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor A(VEGF-A)in immature human fetal retinal microvascular endothelial cells(hfRMECs).Methods:Exosomes were isolated from hucMSCs using cryogenic ultracentrifugation and characterized through various techniques,including transmission electron microscopy,nanoparticle tracking analysis,bicinchoninic acid assays,and western blotting.The hfRMECs were identified using von Willebrand factor(vWF)co-staining and divided into four groups:a control group cultured under normoxic condition,a hypoxic model group,a hypoxic group treated with low-concentration hucMSC-Exos(75μg/mL)and a hypoxic group treated with high-concentration hucMSC-Exos(100μg/mL).Cell viability and proliferation were assessed using Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK-8)assay and EdU(5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine)assay respectively.Expression levels of VEGF-A were evaluated using RT-PCR,western blotting and immunofluorescence.Results:Hypoxia significantly increased hfRMECs’viability and proliferation by upregulating VEGF-A levels.The administration of hucMSC-Exos effectively reversed this response,with the high-concentration group exhibiting greater efficacy compared to the lowconcentration group.Conclusion:In conclusion,hucMSC-Exos can dose-dependently inhibit hypoxia-induced hyperproliferation and VEGF-A overexpression in immature fetal retinal microvascular endothelial cells.

Battery Separators Functionalized with Edge-Rich MoS2/C Hollow Microspheres for the Uniform Deposition of Li2S in High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

As promising energy storage systems,lithium-sulfur(Li-S)batteries have attracted significant attention because of their ultra-high energy densities.However,Li-S battery suffers problems related to the complex phase conversion that occurs during the charge-discharge process,particularly the deposition of solid Li2S from the liquid-phase polysulfides,which greatly limits its practical application.In this paper,edge-rich MoS2/C hollow microspheres(Edg-MoS2/C HMs)were designed and used to functionalize separator for Li-S battery,resulting in the uniform deposition of Li2S.The microspheres were fabricated through the facile hydrothermal treatment of MoO3-aniline nanowires and a subsequent carbonization process.The obtained Edg-MoS2/C HMs have a strong chemical absorption capability and high density of Li2S binding sites,and exhibit excellent electrocatalytic performance and can effectively hinder the polysulfide shuttle effect and guide the uniform nucleation and growth of Li2S.Furthermore,we demonstrate that the Edg-MoS2/C HMs can effectively regulate the deposition of Li2S and significantly improve the reversibility of the phase conversion of the active sulfur species,especially at high sulfur loadings and high C-rates.As a result,a cell containing a separator functionalized with Edg-MoS2/C HMs exhibited an initial discharge capacity of 935 mAh g-1 at 1.0 C and maintained a capacity of 494 mAh g-1 after 1000 cycles with a sulfur loading of 1.7 mg cm-2.Impressively,at a high sulfur loading of 6.1 mg cm-2 and high rate of 0.5 C,the cell still delivered a high reversible discharge capacity of 478 mAh g-1 after 300 cycles.This work provides fresh insights into energy storage systems related to complex phase conversions.

Identification of genes for drought resistance and prediction of gene candidates in soybean seedlings based on linkage and association mapping

Drought is one of the primary abiotic stress factors affecting the yield,growth,and development of soybeans.In extreme cases,drought can reduce yield by more than 50%.The seedling stage is an important determinant of soybean growth:the number and vigor of seedlings will affect growth and yield at harvest.Therefore,it is important to study the drought resistance of soybean seedlings.In this study,a recombinant inbred line(RIL)population comprising 234 F_(6:10)lines(derived from Zhonghuang35×Jindou 21)and a panel of 259 soybean accessions was subjected to drought conditions to identify the effects on phenotypic traits under these conditions.Using a genetic map constructed by single nucleotide polymorphism(SNPs)markers,18 quantitative trait loci(QTL)on 7 soybean chromosomes were identified in two environments.This included 9 QTL clusters identified in the RIL population.Fifty-three QTL were identified in 19 soybean chromosomes by genome-wide association analysis(GWAS)in the panel of accessions,including 69 significant SNPs(-log_(10)(P)≥3.97).A combination of the two populations revealed that two SNPs(-log_(10)(P)≥3.0)fell within two of the QTL(qPH7-4 and qPH7-6)confidence intervals.We not only re-located several previously reported drought-resistance genes in soybean and other crops but also identified several non-synonymous stress-related mutation site differences between the two parents,involving Glyma.07 g093000,Glyma.07 g093200,Glyma.07 g094100 and Glyma.07 g094200.One previously unreported new gene related to drought stress,Glyma.07 g094200,was found by regional association analysis.The significant SNP CHR7-17619(G/T)was within an exon of the Glyma.07 g094200 gene.In the RIL population,the DSP value of the"T"allele of CHR7-17619 was significantly(P<0.05)larger than the"G"allele in different environments.The results of our study lay the groundwork for cloning and molecular marker-assisted selection of droughtresistance genes in soybeans at the seedling stage.

Decorating ketjen black with ultra-small Mo_(2)C nanoparticles to enhance polysulfides chemisorption and redox kinetics for lithium-sulfur batteries

The low sulfur utilization and fast capacity fading resulting from the sluggish redox reaction and abominable polysulfides shuttle greatly hinder the practical applications of lithium-sulfur(Li-S) batteries.Herein, we develop a facile "in-situ growth" method to decorate ultra-small Mo2 C nanoparticles(USMo2 C) on the surface of Ketjen Black(KB) to functionalize the commercial polypropylene(PP) separators,which can accelerate the redox kinetics of lithium polysulfides conversion and effectively increase the utilization of sulfur for Li-S batteries. Importantly, the US-Mo2 C nanoparticles have abundant sites for chemical adsorption towards polysulfides and the conductive carbon networks of KB have cross-linked pore channels, which can promote electron transport and provide physical barrier and volume expansion space for polysulfides. Due to the combined effects of the US-Mo2 C and KB, Li-S cells employing the multifunctional PP separators modified with KB/US-Mo2 C composite(KB/US-Mo2 C@PP) exhibit a high specific capacity(1212.8 mAh g^(-1) at 0.2 C), and maintain a reversible capacity of 1053.3 m Ah g^(-1) after 100 cycles.More importantly, the KB/US-Mo2 C@PP cells with higher sulfur mass loading of 4.9 mg cm^(-2) have superb areal capacity of 2.3 mAh cm^(-2). This work offers a novel and promising perspective for high-performance Li-S batteries from both the shuttle effect and the complex polysulfides conversion.

Thermodynamic descriptions of quaternary Mg-Al-Zn-Bi system supported by experiments and their application in descriptions of solidification behavior in Bi-additional AZ casting alloys

16 Mg-Al-Zn-Bi quaternary alloys were utilized to measure the phase equilibria and transformation temperatures in the Mg-rich Mg-Al-Zn-Bi quaternary system by means of the X-ray diffraction,electron probe micro-analysis and differential scanning calorimetry techniques.The isothermal section at 400℃and three vertical sections along Mg-8 wt%Al-0.75 wt%Zn-vBi,Mg-3.4 wt%Al-0.5 wt%Zn-ABi and Mg-6.9 wt%Al-2.3 wt%Zn-xBi in the Mg-Al-Zn-Bi quaternary system were constructed.Based on the literature data,the ternary Mg-Al-Bi and Mg-Bi-Zn systems were re-assessed using the CALculaiton of PHAse Diagram(CALPHAD)approach.The calculated phase equilibria agree well with the measured data.By directly extrapolating the constituent sub-ternary systems,the thermodynamic database for the Mg-Al-Zn-Bi quaternary system was developed.The remarkable consistency between the predicted phase equilibria and the presently measured data in Mg-Al-Zn-Bi quaternary system further demonstrated the accuracy and reliability of the established thermodynamic database.After that,by using the newly developed thermodynamic database,the growth restrict factors and the solidification curves in Bi-containing AZ series magnesium alloys were calculated and analyzed.It was confirmed that the grain size of AZ alloys can be refined with the addition of Bi,and the comp on ent Al had larger grain refinement effect than Bi.Besides,the amount of Bi had also no ticeable effect on the solidification sequence of the AZ alloys.

Robust photo-assisted removal of NO at room temperature:Experimental and density functional theory calculation with optical carrier

Photo-assisted SCR(PSCR) offers a potential solution for removal of NO at room temperature. MnTiO_(x)as PSCR catalyst exhibits superior performance with NO removal of 100% at the room temperature. Electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR) analysis revealed the presence of numerous oxygen vacancies on MnTiO_(x). Optical carrier density functional theory(DFT) calculations showed that the threedimensional orbital hybridization of Mn and Ti is significantly enhanced under light irradiation. The MnTiO_(x)catalyst exhibited excellent electron–hole separation ability, which can adsorbe NH_(3)and dissociate to form NH_(2)fragments and H atoms. In-situ diffuse reflectance infrared fourier-transform spectroscopy(DRIFTS) indicated that the optical carrier enhanced NH_(3)adsorption on MnTiO_(x), which makes it possess excellent PSCR activity. This work provided an additional strategy to NO removal with PSCR catalysts and showed potential for use in photocatalysis.

Micro-Expression Recognition Based on Spatio-Temporal Feature Extraction of Key Regions

Aiming at the problems of short duration,low intensity,and difficult detection of micro-expressions(MEs),the global and local features of ME video frames are extracted by combining spatial feature extraction and temporal feature extraction.Based on traditional convolution neural network(CNN)and long short-term memory(LSTM),a recognition method combining global identification attention network(GIA),block identification attention network(BIA)and bi-directional long short-term memory(Bi-LSTM)is proposed.In the BIA,the ME video frame will be cropped,and the training will be carried out by cropping into 24 identification blocks(IBs),10 IBs and uncropped IBs.To alleviate the overfitting problem in training,we first extract the basic features of the preprocessed sequence through the transfer learning layer,and then extract the global and local spatial features of the output data through the GIA layer and the BIA layer,respectively.In the BIA layer,the input data will be cropped into local feature vectors with attention weights to extract the local features of the ME frames;in the GIA layer,the global features of the ME frames will be extracted.Finally,after fusing the global and local feature vectors,the ME time-series information is extracted by Bi-LSTM.The experimental results show that using IBs can significantly improve the model’s ability to extract subtle facial features,and the model works best when 10 IBs are used.

Opportunities and challenges of immunotherapy for dMMR/MSI-H colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer(CRC)with mismatch-repair deficiency(dMMR)is a distinct molecular subgroup of tumors that is characterized by a diminished capacity to correct base-pair mismatches in DNA,which leads to changes in microsatellite sequences and results in high microsatellite instability(MSI-H)accompanied by hypermutation1.

Design of advanced porous silver powder with high-sintering activity to improve silicon solar cells

Silver(Ag)paste is widely used in semiconductor metallization,especially in silicon solar cells.Ag powder is the material with the highest proportion in Ag paste.The morphology and structure of Ag powder are crucial which determine its characteristics,especially for the sintering activity.In this work,a simple method was developed to synthesize a type of microcrystalline spherical Ag particles(SP-A)with internal pores and the structural changes and sintering behavior were thoroughly studied by combining ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering(USAXS),small-angle X-ray scattering(SAXS),in-situ heating X-ray diffraction(XRD),focused ion beam(FIB),and thermal analysis measurement.Due to the unique internal pores,the grain size of SP-A is smaller,and the coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE)is higher than that of traditional solid Ag particles.As a result,the sintering activity of SP-A is excellent,which can form a denser sintered body and form silver nanoparticles at the Ag–Si interface to improve silver silicon contact.Polycrystalline silicon solar cell built with SP-A obtained a low series resistance(Rs)and a high photoelectric conversion efficiency(PCE)of 19.26%.These fill a gap in Ag particle structure research,which is significant for the development of high-performance electronic Ag particles and efficient semiconductor devices.

甘肃省花牛山幅1:50000矿产地质图数据库

甘肃省花牛山幅(K46E017023)1:50 000矿产地质图是根据《矿产地质调查技术要求(1:50 000)》和行业的统一标准及要求,在充分利用1:200 000、1:50 000等区域地质调查工作成果资料的基础上,采用数字填图系统进行野外地质专项填图,并应用室内与室外填编图相结合的方法完成的。本图对南华系-震旦系洗肠井群、寒武系西双鹰山组、奥陶系花牛山群的建造类型进行了重新划分,把图幅内侵入岩时代归纳为晚奥陶世—早志留世、泥盆纪、晚三叠世等3期,建立了岩浆岩的演化序列。本数据库包含12个地层单位和3期岩浆岩资料,数据量约为3.77 MB。这些数据充分反映了1:50 000矿产地质调查示范性成果,对该区矿产资源研究、能源勘探等具参考意义。

Mineral chemistry and isotope geochemistry of pyrite from the Heilangou gold deposit, Jiaodong Peninsula, Eastern China

The Heilangou gold deposit is located in the northern QixiaePenglai gold belt, which is one amongst the three large gold belts in the eastern Shandong Province （Jiaodong Peninsula）. The ore body has formed within the Guojialing granite. In this study, we report the mineral chemistry of pyrite, as well as the S, Pb, and HeO isotope data of the Heilangou gold deposit. The chemical composition of pyrite in the Heilangou gold deposit indicates that the associated gold deposit is a typical magmatic hydrothermal one. The geochemical signatures and crystal structure of pyrite show that the ore-forming materials have been derived from the crust. The S isotope data of the pyrites from Heilangou show an overall range from 5.5 to 7.8＆amp;and an average of 6.7＆amp;. The S isotope data in this deposit are similar to those from the deposits in the Jiaodong gold belt. The Pb and S isotope variations are small in the Heilangou gold deposit. The 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb ratios are 17.4653e17.5958, 15.5105e15.5746 and 38.0749e38.4361, respec-tively. These data plot between the lower crust and the orogenic belt. The Pb isotope data in the Heilangou gold deposit are similar to those in the Linglong gold deposit. From the Qixia gold area （the Liukou and Majiayao gold deposits） to the MupingeRushan gold belt （Rushan gold deposit） to the ZhaoeYe gold belt （the Linglong, Sanshandao and Jiaojia gold deposits）, the 206Pb/204Pb ratios progressively increase. The DeO isotope data obtained from quartz separates suggest that the ore-forming fluid was similar to a mixture of magmatic and meteoric waters. These results suggest that the ore-forming elements were primarily from source fluids derived from the lower crust.

Microscopic phase-field simulation of the coarsening behavior of coherent precipitates in Ni-Al alloys

On the basis of the microscopic phase-field dynamic model and the microelasticity theory, the characteristics of the coarsening behavior of γ＇ phase in Ni-Al alloys have been systematically studied in a certain volume fraction of the precipitates. It was found that the initial irregular shape, randomly distributed γ＇ phase, gradually transformed into cuboidal shape, regularly aligned along the [100] and [010] directions, and a highly preferential selected microstructure was formed during the later stage of precipitation. The volume fraction of the precipitates produced some effects on the precipitate morphology but did not produce an obvious effect on the regularities of precipitate distribution. The coarsening rate constant from the cubic growth law decreased as a function of volume fraction for small volume fractions, remained constant for intermediate volume fractions, and increased as a function of volume fraction for large volume fractions. During the coherent coarsening process, four ＂splitting＂ patterns between γ＇ phases, which belonged to different antiphase domains, were produced via particle aggregation, such as an L-shaped pattern, a doublet, a triplet, and a quartet.

P2 asymmetry of Au's M-band flux and its smoothing effect due to high-Z ablator dopants

X-ray drive asymmetry is one of the main seeds of low-mode implosion asymmetry that blocks further improvement of the nuclear per-formance of“high-foot”experiments on the National Ignition Facility[Miller et al.,Nucl.Fusion 44,S228(2004)].More particularly,the P2 asymmetry of Au's M-band flux can also severely influence the implosion performance of ignition capsules[Li et al.,Phys.Plasmas 23,072705(2016)].Here we study the smoothing effect of mid-and/or high-Z dopants in ablator on Au's M-band flux asymmetries,by modeling and comparing the implosion processes of a Ge-doped ignition capsule and a Si-doped one driven by X-ray sources with P2 M-band flux asymmetry.As the results,(1)mid-or high-Z dopants absorb hard X-rays(M-band flux)and re-emit isotropically,which helps to smooth the asymmetric M-band flux arriving at the ablation front,therefore reducing the P2 asymmetries of the imploding shell and hot spot;(2)the smoothing effect of Ge-dopant is more remarkable than Si-dopant because its opacity in Au's M-band is higher than the latter's;and(3)placing the doped layer at a larger radius in ablator is more efficient.Applying this effect may not be a main measure to reduce the low-mode implosion asymmetry,but might be of significance in some critical situations such as inertial confinement fusion(ICF)experiments very near the performance cliffs of asymmetric X-ray drives.

Double Polarization SAR Image Classification based on Object-Oriented Technology

This paper proposed to use double polarization synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image to classify surface feature, based on DEM. It takes fully use of the polarization information and external information. This pa-per utilizes ENVISAT ASAR APP double-polarization data of Poyang lake area in Jiangxi Province. Com-pared with traditional pixel-based classification, this paper fully uses object features (color, shape, hierarchy) and accessorial DEM information. The classification accuracy improves from the original 73.7% to 91.84%. The result shows that object-oriented classification technology is suitable for double polarization SAR’s high precision classification.

ON THE DIMENSION OF THE DIVERGENCE SET OF THE OSTROVSKY EQUATION

We investigate the refined Carleson’s problem of the free Ostrovsky equation{ut+■_(z)^(3)u+■_(x)^(-1)u=0,u(x,0)=f(x)where(x,t)∈R×R and f∈H^(s)(R).We illustrate the Hausdorff dimension of the divergence set for the Ostrovsky equationα1,U(s)=1-2 s,1/4≤s≤1/2.

Simulation of the precipitation process of Ni_(75)Al_xV_(25-x) alloys incorporated in the microelasticity field

The microelasticity field was incorporated into the microscopic phase-field equation for the ternary alloy systems, the morphology evolution and coarsening behavior of the Ni75AixV25-x alloy were simulated. The γ phase precipitates initially for Ni75Al7aV17.9 and Ni75Al5.5V19.5 alloys and the two phases transform from the equiaxed or strip-like to the quadrate as the growth and coarsening processes. For the anisotropic elasticity interaction of the system, the orientation of γ is along the 〈001〉 directions and the θ phase is along the short axis direction of [10]. Analysis of the structure and the pair-correlation functions indicate that the average precipitate length scale of the particles increases at the late-stage coarsening, and the dynamical scaling behavior is obeyed.

Inflammation and tumor progression:signaling pathways and targeted intervention

Cancer development and its response to therapy are regulated by inflammation,which either promotes or suppresses tumor progression,potentially displaying opposing effects on therapeutic outcomes.Chronic inflammation facilitates tumor progression and treatment resistance,whereas induction of acute inflammatory reactions often stimulates the maturation of dendritic cells(DCs)and antigen presentation,leading to anti-tumor immune responses.In addition,multiple signaling pathways,such as nuclear factor kappa B(NF-kB),Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription(JAK-STAT),toll-like receptor(TLR)pathways,cGAS/STING,and mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK);inflammatory factors,including cytokines(e.g.,interleukin(IL),interferon(IFN),and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-a),chemokines(e.g.,C-C motif chemokine ligands(CCLs)and C-X-C motif chemokine ligands(CXCLs)),growth factors(e.g.,vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),transforming growth factor(TGF)-P),and inflammasome;as well as inflammatory metabolites including prostaglandins,leukotrienes,thromboxane,and specialized proresolving mediators(SPM),have been identified as pivotal regulators of the initiation and resolution of inflammation.Nowadays,local irradiation,recombinant cytokines,neutralizing antibodies,small-molecule inhibitors,DC vaccines,oncolytic viruses,TLR agonists,and SPM have been developed to specifically modulate inflammation in cancer therapy,with some of these factors already undergoing clinical trials.Herein,we discuss the initiation and resolution of inflammation,the crosstalk between tumor development and inflammatory processes.We also highlight potential targets for harnessing inflammation in the treatment of cancer.

The interaction between ferroptosis and lipid metabolism in cancer

Ferroptosis is a new form of programmed cell death characterized by the accumulation of iron-dependent lethal lipid peroxides.Recent discoveries have focused on alterations that occur in lipid metabolism during ferroptosis and have provided intriguing insights into the interplay between ferroptosis and lipid metabolism in cancer.Their interaction regulates the initiation,development,metastasis,therapy resistance of cancer,as well as the tumor immunity,which offers several potential strategies for cancer treatment.This review is a brief overview of the features characterizing the interaction between ferroptosis and lipid metabolism,and highlights the significance of this interaction in cancer.

Transient deformation during the Milashan Tunnel construction in northern Sangri-Cuona Rift,southern Tibet,China observed by Sentinel-1 satellites

Using 3-year Sentinel-1 C-band synthetic aperture radar(SAR) data, we observed prominent ground subsidence around the construction site of the Milashan Tunnel, which is on top of the northern SangriCuona Rift(SCR) in southern Tibet. The most deformed area extends ～7 km in the north-south direction and ～6 km in the east-west direction, with a peak subsidence rate of over 10 mm/a in the line of sight direction of both the descending and ascending satellites. Aside from the long-term ground subsidence arising directly from underground water outflow and rock excavation, a regional aseismic fault slip episode is also evident. The aseismic slip event began in May 2016 and ended in July 2016. The surface aseismic displacements can be explained by normal faulting with mainly down-dip movement and a modest right-lateral strike-slip component on a nearly north-south trending fault. The aseismic deformation triggered by the Milashan Tunnel construction demonstrates the sensitive response of crustal-scale tectonics to human activity, which poses high seismic hazards for the heavily populated region.

高龄结直肠癌患者根治术后短期并发症及其影响因素

目的探讨高龄结直肠癌(CRC)患者根治术后短期并发症及其影响因素。方法将2017年1月至2022年10月长治医学院附属和平医院结直肠外科所有经手术根治的符合条件的76例CRC患者纳入研究,分析其临床病理变量,包括术前合并症、改良虚弱指数(mFI)、预后营养指数(PNI)等、手术及术后数据和结果。采用Clavien-Dindo并发症分级系统对术后短期并发症进行分级,并分析其发生短期重度并发症的危险因素。结果本组36例出现术后短期并发症,8例出现重度并发症;单因素结果表明,CRC患者术后出现重度并发症与ASA分级、mFI及PNI相关(P<0.05),而与性别、吸烟史、BMI、饮酒史、术前血红蛋白、CEA、cTNM分期与肿瘤位置无关(P>0.05);多因素结果表明,术后短期重度并发症与ASA分级、mFI及PNI与有关(P<0.05)。结论在进行严格术前评估的前提下,高龄结直肠癌患者根治手术是安全的。