Ultrasound deep brain stimulation decelerates telomere shortening in Alzheimer’s disease and aging mice

Telomere length is a reliable biomarker for health and longevity prediction in both humans and animals.The common neuromodulation techniques,including deep brain stimulation(DBS)and optogenetics,have excellent spatial resolution and depth penetration but require implementation of electrodes or optical fibers.Therefore,it is important to develop methods for noninvasive modulation of telomere length.Herein,we reported on a new method for decelerating telomere shortening using noninvasive ultrasound deep brain stimulation(UDBS).Firstly,we found that UDBS could activate the telomerase-associated proteins in normal mice.Then,in the Alzheimer’s disease mice,UDBS was observed to decelerate telomere shortening of the cortex and myocardial tissue and to effectively improve spatial learning and memory abilities.Similarly,UDBS was found to significantly slow down telomere shortening of the cortex and peripheral blood,and improve motor and cognitive functions in aging mice.Finally,transcriptome analysis revealed that UDBS upregulated the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway.Overall,the present findings established the critical role of UDBS in delaying telomere shortening and indicated that ultrasound modulation of telomere length may constitute an effective therapeutic strategy for aging and aging-related diseases.

Effect of microlimestone on properties of self-consolidating concrete with manufactured sand and mineral admixture

Self-consolidating concrete(SCC)with manufactured sand(MSCC)is crucial to guarantee the quality of concrete construction technology and the associated property.The properties of MSCC with different microlimestone powder(MLS)replacements of retreated manufactured sand(TMsand)are investigated in this study.The result indicates that high-performance SCC,made using TMsand(TMSCC),achieved high workability,good mechanical properties,and durability by optimizing MLS content and adding fy ash and silica fume.In particular,the TMSCC with 12%MLS content exhibits the best workability,and the TMSCC with 4%MLS content has the highest strength in the late age,which is even better than that of SCC made with the river sand(R sand).Though MLS content slightly affects the hydration reaction of cement and mainly plays a role in the nucleation process in concrete structures compared to silica fume and fly ash,increasing MLS content can evidently have a significant impact on the early age hydration progress.TMsand with MLS content ranging from 8%to 12%may be a suitable alternative for the Rsand used in the SCC as fine aggregate.The obtained results can be used to promote the application of SCC made with manufactured sand and mineral admixtures for concrete-based infrastructure.