Schwann cells originating from skin-derived precursors promote peripheral nerve regeneration in rats

Artificial guidance channels containing Schwann cells can promote the regeneration of injured peripheral nerve over long distances. However, primary Schwann cells are not suitable for autotransplantation. Under specific conditions, skin-derived progenitors can be induced to dif- ferentiate into Schwann cells. Therefore, adult rat dorsal skin （dermis）-derived progenitors were isolated and induced to differentiate with DMEM/F12 containing B27, neuregulin 1, and for- skolin. Immunofluorescence staining and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction （RT- PCR） confirmed that the resultant cells were indeed Schwann cells. Artificial guidance channels containing skin-derived progenitors, Schwann cells originating from skin-derived progenitors, or primary Schwann cells were used to bridge 5 mm sciatic nerve defects. Schwann cells originating from skin-derived progenitors significantly promoted sciatic nerve axonal regeneration. The sig- nificant recovery of injured rat sciatic nerve function after the transplantation of Schwann cells originating from skin-derived progenitors was confirmed by electromyogram. The therapeutic effect of Schwann cells originating from skin-derived progenitors was better than that of skin-de- rived progenitors. These findings indicate that Schwann cells originating from skin-derived precursors can promote peripheral nerve regeneration in rats.

Schwann cells differentiated from skin-derived precursors provide neuroprotection via autophagy inhibition in a cellular model of Parkinson’s disease

Autophagy has been shown to play an important role in Parkinson’s disease.We hypothesized that skin-derived precursor cells exhibit neuroprotective effects in Parkinson’s disease through affecting autophagy.In this study,6-hydroxydopamine-damaged SH-SY5Y cells were pretreated with a culture medium containing skin-derived precursors differentiated into Schwann cells(SKP-SCs).The results showed that the SKP-SC culture medium remarkably enhanced the activity of SH-SY5Y cells damaged by 6-hydroxydopamine,reduced excessive autophagy,increased tyrosine hydroxylase expression,reducedα-synuclein expression,reduced the autophagosome number,and activated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.Autophagy activator rapamycin inhibited the effects of SKP-SCs,and autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine had the opposite effect.These findings confirm that SKP-SCs modulate the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway to inhibit autophagy,thereby exhibiting a neuroprotective effect in a cellular model of Parkinson’s disease.This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Laboratory Animal Center of Nantong University(approval No.S20181009-205)on October 9,2018.

Stabilizing perovskite precursors with the reductive natural amino acid for printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells

Solution processability significantly advances the development of highly-efficient perovskite solar cells.However,the precursor solution tends to undergo irreversible degradation reactions,impairing the device performance and reproducibility.Here,we utilize a reductive natural amino acid,Nacetylcysteine(NALC),to stabilize the precursor solution for printable carbon-based hole-conductorfree mesoscopic perovskite solar cells.We find that I_(2) can be generated in the aged solution containing methylammonium iodide(MI) in an inert atmosphere and speed up the MA-FA^(+)(formamidinium) reaction which produces large-size cations and hinders the formation of perovskite phase.NALC effectively stabilizes the precursor via its sulfhydryl group which reduces I_(2) back to I^(-)and provides H^(+).The NALC-stabilized precursor which is aged for 1440 h leads to devices with a power conversion efficiency equivalent to 98% of that for devices prepared with the fresh precursor.Furthermore,NALC improves the device power conversion efficiency from 16.16% to 18.41% along with enhanced stability under atmospheric conditions by modifying grain boundaries in perovskite films and reducing associated defects.

Effects of post-mortem aging process on characteristic water-soluble taste-active precursors in yellow-feathered broilers

Chilled chicken has become the mainstream of chicken consumption.In order to explore the effect of post-mortem aging on water-soluble flavor precursors of chicken,pH,adenosine triphosphate(ATP)degradation,flavor nucleosides,free amino acids and water-soluble low molecular weight peptides were determined using Qingyuan partridge yellow-feathered broilers as material during 0-4℃ post-mortem aging in 48 h.The results showed that the pH value fell to the limit pH 5.64(4 h)in chicken breast and 6.21(3 h)in thigh.Regardless of chicken breast or thigh,ATP dropped rapidly within 3 h.It was found that the K-value in chicken thigh was the lowest at 2 h indicating the freshness was the best.Considering the equivalent umami concentration(EUC),the value at 3 h and 4 h was relatively high,but the corresponding electronic tongue umami value was not high,which further showed that the water-soluble low molecular taste peptide played an important role on the post-mortem aging process.Combined with cluster analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA),it was preliminarily inferred that the optimal time for chilled chicken during 0-4℃ post-mortem aging was 2 h,which could provide a theoretical basis for the further processing of fresh chicken.

Ionospheric precursors of strong earthquakes observed using six GNSS stations data during continuous five years(2011-2015)

This study reports the morphological characteristics of anomalous variations in Global Navigation Satellite System Total Electron Content(GNSS-TEC) prior to the strong local earthquakes(EQ) that occurred during the period of 2011-2015.We have analyzed 20 earthquakes of magnitude M> 5.6.A statistical technique is implemented on the data of six GNSS stations located in Tashkent,Kitab,and Maidanak in Uzbekistan,and Islamabad,Multan,Quetta in Pakistan.The results show continuous anomalous variations in TEC during 24 h befo re the occupancy of local earthquakes.It is shown that the precursors before the occurrence of strong earthquakes,in particular of magnitude 5.7,7.7,7.5,7.8 and 7.3 are detected near Eastern Uzbekistan(26 May 2013),Southwestern Pakistan(24 September 2013),Hindukush region of Afghanistan(26 October 2015),and Central Nepal(25 April 2015) and(12 May 2015),respectively.The ionospheric anomalies appearing before the strong earthquakes at six GNSS stations are registered in 14cases(70%) out of 20 selected EQs.It is depicted that anomalies referred to as ionospheric precursors appeared about 1-7 days prior to the occurrence of strong earthquakes.

In vitro transdifferentiation of corneal epithelial-like cells from human skin-derived precursor cells

The damage of human corneal cells encounter with the problem of availability of corneal cells for replacement. Limitation of the source of corneal cells has been realized. An attempt of development of corneal epithelial-like cells from the human skin-derived precursor (hSKPs) has been made in this study. Combination of three essential growth factors: epidermal growth factor (EGF), keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) could demonstrate successfully induction of hSKPs to differentiation into corneal cells.The induced cells expressed the appearance of markers of corneal epithelial cells as shown by the presence of keratin 3 (K3) by antibody label and Western blot assay. The K3 gene expression of induced hSKPs cells as shown by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technology was also demonstrated. The presence of these markers at both gene and protein levels could lead to our conclusion that the directional transdifferentiation of hSKPs cells into corneal epithelial cells was successfully done under this cell induction protocol. The finding shows a newly available stem cell source can be obtained from easily available skin. Cells from autologous human skin might be used for corneal disorder treatment in future clinical application.

Not Follicular but Dermal Melanocyte Precursors Are Histopathologically Retained in Vitiligo

Although perifollicular repigmentation in the vitiligo lesions is owing to activation of follicular melanocyte stem cells and/or precursor cells followed by supplying matured melanocytes, the underlying mechanism of diffuse repigmentation on the whole vitiligo surface remains still unknown. In addition to the presence of remaining melanocytes, it is conceivable that dermal melanocyte precursor cells contribute to induce diffuse repigmentation after treatment. Therefore, we investigated here whether dermal and follicular melanocyte precursor cells were reduced or not in vitiligo lesions. We performed an immunostaining for Nestin and p75NGFR as dermal melanocyte precursor cells and MITF/Fzd4 as follicular melanocyte precursor cells and compared the positive cells number between lesions and non-lesions (n = 11). Although MITF+/Fzd4+ cells in the hair follicle were significantly decreased in number in the lesions, Nestin+ and p75NGFR+ cells were not. This result indicates that dermal precursor cells could be retained in the vitiligo lesions but be disturbed to differentiate into matured melanocytes.

An Attempt to Analyze a Human Nervous System Algorithm for Sensing Earthquake Precursors

We statistically validate the 2011-2022 earthquake prediction records of Ada, the sixth finalist of the 2nd China AETA in 2021, who made 147 earthquake predictions (including 60% of magnitude 5.5 earthquakes) with a prediction accuracy higher than 70% and a confidence level of 95% over a 12-year period. Since the reliable earthquake precursor signals described by Ada and the characteristics of Alfvén waves match quite well, this paper proposes a hypothesis on how earthquakes are triggered based on the Alfvén (Q G) torsional wave model of Gillette et al. When the plume of the upper mantle column intrudes into the magma and lithosphere of the soft flow layer during the exchange of hot and cold molten material masses deep inside the Earth’s interior during ascent and descent, it is possible to form body and surface plasma sheets under certain conditions to form Alfven nonlinear isolated waves, and Alfven waves often perturb the geomagnetic field, releasing huge heat and kinetic energy thus triggering earthquakes. To explain the complex phenomenon of how Ada senses Alvfen waves and how to locate epicenters, we venture to speculate that special magnetosensory cells in a few human bodies can sense earthquake precursors and attempt to hypothesize an algorithm that analyzes how the human biological nervous system encodes and decodes earthquake precursors and explains how human magnetosensory cells can solve complex problems such as predicting earthquake magnitude and locating epicenters.

Dynamic response mechanism and precursor characteristics of gneiss rockburst under different initial burial depths

To investigate the influence mechanism of geostress on rockburst characteristics,three groups of gneiss rockburst experiments were conducted under different initial geostress conditions.A high-speed photography system and acoustic emission(AE)monitoring system were used to monitor the entire rockburst process in real time.The experimental results show that when the initial burial depth increases from 928 m to 1320 m,the proportion of large fracture scale in rockburst increases by 154.54%,and the AE energy increases by 565.63%,reflecting that the degree and severity of rockburst increase with the increase of burial depth.And then,two mechanisms are proposed to explain this effect,including(i)the increase of initial geostress improves the energy storage capacity of gneiss,and then,the excess energy which can be converted into kinetic energy of debris ejection increases,consequently,a more pronounced violent ejection phenomenon is observed at rockburst;(ii)the increase of initial geostress causes more sufficient plate cracks of gneiss after unloading ofσh,which provides a basis for more severe ejection of rockburst.What’s more,a precursor with clear physical meaning for rockburst is proposed under the framework of dynamic response process of crack evolution.Finally,potential value in long term rockburst warning of the precursor obtained in this study is shown via the comparison of conventional precursor.

Precursor engineering enables high-performance all-inorganic CsPbIBr_(2) perovskite solar cells with a record efficiency approaching 13%

All-inorganic CsPbIBr_(2) perovskite has attracted widespread attention in photovoltaic and other optoelectronic devices because of its superior thermal stability.However,the deposition of high-quality solutionprocessed CsPbIBr_(2) perovskite films with large thicknesses remains challenging.Here,we develop a triple-component precursor(TCP) by employing lead bromide,lead iodide,and cesium bromide,to replace the most commonly used double-component precursor(DCP) consisting of lead bromide and cesium iodide.Remarkably,the TCP system significantly increases the solution concentration to 1.3 M,leading to a larger film thickness(~390 nm) and enhanced light absorption.The resultant CsPbIBr_(2) films were evaluated in planar n-i-p structured solar cells,which exhibit a considerably higher optimal photocurrent density of 11.50 mA cm^(-2) in comparison to that of DCP-based devices(10.69 mA cm^(-2)).By adopting an organic surface passivator,the maximum device efficiency using TCP is further boosted to a record efficiency of 12.8% for CsPbIBr_(2) perovskite solar cells.

Highly Defective Dark TiO_(2) Modified with Pt: Effects of Precursor Nature and Preparation Method on Photocatalytic Properties

The study focused on the modification with platinum of dark defective titania obtained via pulsed laser ablation. Both the method of Pt introduction and the nature of the Pt precursor were varied. All samples exhibited similar phase compositions, specific surface areas, and Pt contents. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy coupled with pulsed CO adsorption revealed increased dispersity when photoreduction and the hydroxonitrate complex (Me _(4) N) _(2) [Pt _(2) (OH) _(2) (NO _(3) ) _(8) ] were used. The sample featured a high content of single-atom species and subnano-sized Pt clusters. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed that the photoreduction method facilitated the appearance of a larger number of Pt ^(2+) states, which appeared owing to the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) eff ect of the transfer of electron density from the electron-saturated defects on the TiO _(2) surface to Pt ^(4+) . In the hydrogen evolution reaction, samples with a significant fraction of the Pt ^(2+) ionic component, capable of generating short-lived Pt^(0) single-atom sites under irradiation due to the SMSI eff ect, exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity. The 0.5Pt(C)/TiO_(2) -Ph sample exhibited the highest hydrogen yield with a quantum efficiency of 0.53, retaining its activity even after 8 h of operation.

Optimization of the porcine adult skin-derived precursor cell isolation protocol

Neuronal and glial differentiation potential of skin-derived precursors is of great interest for clinical application in the treatment of neurodegenerative disease. In this sense, the pig model is a great candidate for the development of preclinical models. To the date, skin-derived precursor spheres have not been isolated from adult porcine skin. In order to optimize the protocol for isolating dermal precursor spheres from adult porcine skin, 15 porcine skin biopsies were subjected to three different processing protocols. Liberase-based digestion of ventral porcine skin gave rise to more cells with spherogenic capacity than other protocols and these spheres presented phenotypic and differentiation potential consistent with bona fide skin-derived precursor cells.

Effects of Atmospheres and Precursors on MnO_x/TiO_2 Catalysts for NH_3-SCR at Low Temperature

The effects of atmospheres and precursors on MnOx/TiO2 catalysts were studied, which were prepared by the impregnation method and tested for their NOx conversion activity in ammonia selective catalytic reduction （NH3-SCR） reactions. Results showed that the manganese carbonate （MC） precursor caused mainly Mn2O3, while the manganese nitrate （MN） precursor resulted primarily in MnO2 and the manganese sulfate （MS） precursor was unchanged. The manganese acetate （MA） precursor leaded obtaining a mixture of Mn2O3 and Mn304. NOn conversion decreased in the following order： MA/TiO2 〉 MC/TiO2 〉 MN/TiO2 〉 MS/TiO2 〉 P25, with a calcination temperature of 773 K in air. Catalysts that were prepared by MA and calcined in oxygen performed strong interaction between Ti and Mn, while MnTiO3 was observed. Compared to the catalysts calcined in nitrogen, those calcined in oxygen had larger diameter and smaller surface area and pore. Catalysts that were prepared by MA and calcined in nitrogen tended to gain higher denitration rates than those in air, since they could be prepared with significant specific surface areas. NO., conversion decreased with calcination atmospheres： Nitrogen〉 Air〉 Oxygen. Meanwhile, amorphous Mn2O3 turned into crystalline Mn2O3, when the temperatures increased from 673 to 873 K.

New Evaluation on the Preoxidation Extent of Different PAN Precursors

Structural changes in carbon fibers at each stage of, especially, preoxidation process are well known to play a great role in achieving the ultimate product quality. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscope (SEM), density method and optical microscope were used to characterize the preoxidation extent. A conventional approach, e.g., density aim, to evaluate the extent of preoxidation is not very exact. A DSC curve of a PAN precursor only can provide general information, major in the temperature regime of preoxidation reaction. However, the evaluation of a preoxidation extent, especially from conventional preoxidation temperature with a great span regime of 200~400癈, is put forward in this paper, in which the evolution of core/shell morphological structure is a kind of straightforward evidence.

Microstructure of nano precursors of La-Mg hydrogen storage alloy synthesized by sol-gel technology at different pH values

Sol-gel technology was employed to synthesize nanosized precursors of La-Mg hydrogen storage alloy at different pH values (0.5, 1.5, 8.0 and 9.0) of reaction solution. The effect of pH value on microstructure of the nano precursors of La-Mg hydrogen storage alloy was studied by infrared radiation (IR), thermo-gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), X-ray diffraction analyzer (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). IR results indicate that the chelating agent, citric acid, is not fully ionized, and carboxyl groups are not entirely used to complex metal ions in acidic solutions. The efficiency of complexing metal ions is enhanced in basic solutions. TG/DTA results show that the combustion may take place with low rate of the flame propagation that causes the longer combustion time when pH<1.5. On the contrary, the dry gel synthesized in basic solution combusts at low ignition temperature and combustion reaction is violent; it is easy to form fine particles. XRD and TEM results reveal that the precursor powders are mainly two-phase mixture of La 2 O 3 and MgO. The morphology of the particles is almost flake with the size of ~30 nm when pH is 8.0.

Influence of Aging Time on the Properties of Precursors of CuO/ZnO Catalysts for Methanol Synthesis

The aging process of pure copper precursors and copper-zinc binary precursorswere studied by XRD, TG-DTG and TPR techniques. The catalytic activity and stability of CuO/ZnOwere tested using fixed-bed flow reactor, and the physical properties of the catalysts and Cuspecies were characterized with N_2 adsorption and N_2O passivation method, respectively. For theCu-Zn binary system prepared at the precipitating condition of pH=8.0 and temperature=80℃, theinitial phase was a mixture of copper nitrate hydroxide Cu_2(NO_3)(OH)_3, georgeite and hydrozinciteZn_5(CO_3)_2(OH)_6. By increasing the duration of its aging time, the phase of Cu_2(NO_3)(OH)_2first transited to georgeite, and then interdiffused into Zn_5(CO_3)_2(OH)_6 and resulted in two newphases: rosasite (Cu,Zn)_2CO_3(OH)_2 and au-richalcite (Zn,Cu)_5(CO_3)_2(OH)_6. The former phasewas much easier to be formed than the latter one, while the latter phase was more responsible forthe activity of methanol synthesis than the former one. It is found that the composition andstructure of the precursors altered obviously after the colour transition point. The experimentalresults showed that methanol synthesis is a structure-sensitive catalytic reaction.

Optimal Precursors Triggering the Kuroshio Extension State Transition Obtained by the Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation Approach

In this study, the initial perturbations that are the easiest to trigger the Kuroshio Extension （KE） transition connecting a basic weak jet state and a strong, fairly stable meandering state, are investigated using a reduced-gravity shallow water ocean model and the CNOP （Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation） approach. This kind of initial perturbation is called an optimal precursor （OPR）. The spatial structures and evolutionary processes of the OPRs are analyzed in detail. The results show that most of the OPRs are in the form of negative sea surface height （SSH） anomalies mainly located in a narrow band region south of the KE jet, in basic agreement with altimetric observations. These negative SSH anomalies reduce the merid- ional SSH gradient within the KE, thus weakening the strength of the jet. The KE jet then becomes more convoluted, with a high-frequency and large-amplitude variability corresponding to a high eddy kinetic energy level; this gradually strengthens the KE jet through an inverse energy cascade. Eventually, the KE reaches a high-energy state characterized by two well defined and fairly stable anticyclonic meanders. Moreover, sensitivity experiments indicate that the spatial structures of the OPRs are not sensitive to the model parameters and to the optimization times used in the analysis.

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Characterization of Perovskite PbTiO_(3) Powders from Different Precursors

Perovskite type of PbTiO 3 fine powders which are homogeneous in physic chemical properties has been hydrothermally synthesized from the different precursors. The borderline reaction conditions, such as temperature and time, for the formation of PbTiO 3 were established and the effect of the precursor on the particle properties was investigated. As a precursor, Pb Ti alko carbonate xerogel dispersed in 2 methoxyethanol was found to be effective for the synthesis of the PbTiO 3 powders with a lower agglomeration and a simple mode of particle size.

Effect of Post-spinning Modification on the PAN Precursors and Resulting Carbon Fibers

The impregnation of a special grade PAN precursor,fibers wus carried out in a 8 wt% KMnO4 aqueous solution to obtain modified PAN precursor fibers. The effects of modification on the chemical stncture and the mechanical properties of precursor fibers thermally stabilized and their resulting carbon fibers u＇ere characterized by the combiination use of densities, wide-angle X-ray diffraction （WAXD）, X-ray photoelectron speetroscopy （XPS）, elemental analysis （ EA ）, Fourier traasform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR） and scanning electron microscope （SEM）, etc.KMnO4 as a strong oxidizer can swell, oxidize and corrode the skin of a precursor.fiber, and transform C≡N groups to C≡N ones, meamchile , it can decreuse the crystal .size increuse the orientation index and the costallinity index, furthermore it can increuse the densities of modified PAN precursors and resuhing thermally stabilized fibers. As a result, the carbon fibers developed from modified PAN fibers show an improvement in tensile strength of 31.25 % and an improvement in elongation of 77.78 % , but a decrease of 16. 52% in Young＇s modulus.

Effect of elicitors, precursors and metabolic inhibitors on paclitaxel production by Taxus cuspidata cell culture

In this study, using Taxus cuspidata as a raw material, we obtained stable high-yielding cell lines by subculturing and quantified paclitaxel content using ultra- sonic extraction combined with TLC-UV spectrophotom- etry. In single factor and multiple factors tests to optimize design and study the effects of elicitors, precursors, and metabolic inhibitors on paclitaxel production by Taxus cuspidata cells, paclitaxel production reached 4.32 mg/L when 100 μmol/L methyl jasmonate, 20 mg/L salicylic acid, 400 mg/L phenylalanine and 2 mg/L gibberellin （GA3） were added to the culture medium of suspension cells. When adding metabolic adjustment factors on the 7th day of culture, extra- and intracellular paclitaxel production was the highest at 4.855 mg/L, paclitaxel release rate was 10.48 %, fresh mass and paclitaxel production of cell increased, respectively, by 6.08 and 11.57 %. By controlling the anabolism of paclitaxel, paclitaxel yield was significantly improved.