Air-Mediated Biomimetic Synthesis of Polyhydroxyalkanoate with C4 Diol.

Poly(4-hydroxybutyrate) (P4HB) is a high-performance, well-recyclable, and biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). However, conventional bioproduction of homopolymeric P4HB involves complex and costly processes with C4 feedstocks, particularly 1,4-butanediol (BDO), and enzyme-coenzyme systems in genetically engineered bacteria. An alternative extracellular chemical route utilizing aerial oxidation of BDO offers cost and energy benefits but struggle with conversion efficiency.

Enhancing simulation feasibility for multi-layer 2D MoS RRAM devices: reliability performance learnings from a passive network model.

While two-dimensional (2D) MoS has recently shown promise as a material for resistive random-access memory (RRAM) devices due to its demonstrated resistive switching (RS) characteristics, its practical application faces a significant challenge in industry regarding its limited yield and endurance. Our earlier work introduced an effective switching layer model to understand RS behavior in both mono- and multi-layered MoS. However, functioning as a phenomenological percolation modeling tool, it lacks the capability to accurately simulate the intricate current-voltage (-) characteristics of the device, thereby hindering its practical applicability in 2D RRAM research.

A new two-dimensional, spiropyran-based polymer fluorescent nanoprobe with quantitative-fluorescent and photochromic properties for multi-substance detection.

One challenge of the structural design of a fluorescent probe is how to improve the detection performance on trace target analytes in complex samples. Herein a new polymer fluorescent nanoprobe (2DSP-C) has been synthesized, by adopting a two-dimensional (2D), spiropyran (SP)-based nanosheet structure with hydrophobic long-chain alkanes (C). Unlike a traditional SP-based small molecule probe, the 2DSP-Cprobe can exhibit quantitative-fluorescent and photochromic properties.

Programmable Retention Characteristics in MoS-Based Atomristors for Neuromorphic and Reservoir Computing Systems.

In this study, we investigate the coexistence of short- and long-term memory effects owing to the programmable retention characteristics of a two-dimensional Au/MoS/Au atomristor device and determine the impact of these effects on synaptic properties. This device is constructed using bilayer MoS in a crossbar structure. The presence of both short- and long-term memory characteristics is proposed by using a filament model within the bilayer transition-metal dichalcogenide.

CdS QDs grown on ellipsoidal BiVO for efficient photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline.

Designing efficient, inexpensive, and stable photocatalysts to degrade organic pollutants and antibiotics has become an effective way for environmental remediation. In this work, we successfully performed growth of CdS QDs on the surface of elliptical BiVO to try to show the advantage of the binary heterojuncted photocatalyst (BVO@CdS) for the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC). The growth of CdS QDs can provide a large number of reactive sites and also generate a larger contact area with BiVO.

Betulin Accelerated the Functional Recovery of Injured Muscle in a Mouse Model of Muscle Contusion.

Muscle contusion is an injury to muscle fibers and connective tissues. It commonly happens in impact events, and could result in pain, swelling, and limited range of motion. Diclofenac is one of commonly used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to alleviate pain and inflammation after injury.

Thiol-ene chemistry incorporates a new spiropyran-containing polyurethane ionogel with photochromic, photomechanical and photoconductive properties.

The photocuring technology based on thiol-ene click reaction can be easily applied for copolymerizing or crosslinking the acrylate monomers for ionogels. However, there is still a problem: when the acrylate monomers contain the popular spiropyran as the stimuli-responsive group, it should be concerned about the participation of the active CC bond from the ring-opened spiropyran during a thiol-ene reaction, which may in turn affect the stimuli-responsiveness of the spiropyran. Up to now, the structure and properties of spiropyran-containing ionogels in this case have still not been well investigated.

Berberine inhibits Candida albicans growth by disrupting mitochondrial function through the reduction of iron absorption.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate whether berberine (BBR) can inhibit the iron reduction mechanism of Candida albicans, lowering the iron uptake of the yeast and perhaps having antimicrobial effects.

Methods And Results: We determined that BBR may cause extensive transcriptional remodeling in C. albicans and that iron permease Ftr1 played a crucial role in this process through eukaryotic transcriptome sequencing.

Emergency department crowding negatively influences outcomes for adults presenting for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objectives: Emergency department (ED) crowding leads to poor outcomes. Patients with respiratory conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are especially vulnerable to crowding-related delays in care. We aimed to assess the associations of ED crowding metrics with outcomes for patients presenting with COPD.

Resonance-Enhanced Emission Effects toward Dual-State Emissive Bright Red and Near-Infrared Emitters.

Resonance-enhanced emission (REE) effect was discovered and lead to a novel dye family of hydrostyryl pyridinium derivatives in our recent work. Herein, the REE effect was employed to design a red and near-infrared dual-state emissive fluorophore family of SW-OH-NO derivatives which were easily synthesized by coupling an electron-withdrawing group (W) onto nitro(hydroxyl)styryl (S-OH-NO ) through a C=C double bond as π-bridge. The deprotonation of a phenolic hydroxyl group promoted by a nitro group and the electron-withdrawing group (W) on the other side of the π-bridge triggered resonance, resulting in significantly red-shifted emission.

Attenuation of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Enhances Carvacrol-Induced Apoptosis in Osteosarcoma Cell Lines.

Carvacrol is a monoterpenoid phenol that has excellent antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory activities. It can also improve wound healing. However, few studies have explored its antitumor effect on osteosarcoma.

Acute generation of reactive oxygen species that induced by doxycycline pretreatment results in rapid cell death in polyphyllin G-treated osteosarcoma cell lines.

Polyphyllin G, a pennogenyl saponin extracted from Paris polyphylla, has been shown to possess antitumor effects. In this study, we demonstrated that doxycycline, an antibiotic medicine, could significantly enhance the sensitivities of osteosarcoma cell lines to polyphyllin G. As the cells were pretreated with doxycycline at non-toxic concentrations and then co-exposed to polyphyllin G, this combination could induce a rapid cell death distinct from apoptosis.

The three-dimensionally ordered microporous CaTiO coupling ZnCdS quantum dots for simultaneously enhanced photocatalytic H production and glucose conversion.

Glucose conversion assisted photocatalytic water splitting technology to simultaneously produce H and high value-added chemicals is a promising method for alleviating the energy shortage and environmental crisis. In this work, we constructing type II heterojunction by in-situ coupling ZnCdS quantum dots (ZCS QDs) on three-dimensionally ordered microporous CaTiO (3DOM CTO) for photocatalytic H production and glucose conversion. The DFT calculations demonstrate that substitution of Zn on the Cd site improves the separation and transmission of photogenerated carriers.

Emergency department crowding negatively influences outcomes for adults presenting with asthma: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

Background: Access to emergency department (ED) services is important for patients with acute asthma; however, ED crowding may impact the quality of care and compromise outcomes. We examine the association between ED crowding metrics and individual patient outcomes for adults presenting with asthma.

Methods: This population-based retrospective cohort study extracted all ED presentations made by patients aged 18 to 55 years to 18 high-volume EDs in Alberta from April 2014 to March 2019.

Different Cell Responses to Hinokitiol Treatment Result in Senescence or Apoptosis in Human Osteosarcoma Cell Lines.

Hinokitiol is a tropolone-related compound isolated from the heartwood of cupressaceous plants. It is known to exhibit various biological functions including antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant activities. In the study, we investigated the antitumor activities of hinokitiol against human osteosarcoma cells.

Template-Free Construction of Tin Oxide Porous Hollow Microspheres for Room-Temperature Gas Sensors.

Porous hollow microsphere (PHM) materials represent ideal building blocks for realizing diverse functional applications such as catalysis, energy storage, drug delivery, and chemical sensing. This has stimulated intense efforts to construct metal oxide PHMs for achieving highly sensitive and low-power-consumption semiconductor gas sensors. Conventional methods for constructing PHMs rely on delicate reprogramming of templates and may suffer from the structural collapse issue during the removal of templates.

Butein induces cellular senescence through reactive oxygen species-mediated p53 activation in osteosarcoma U-2 OS cells.

Butein is a flavonoid isolated from various medicinal plants. It is known to have different biological activities including anti-inflammation, anti-adipogenesis, and anti-angiogenesis. In the study, we demonstrated the anti-proliferative effect of butein in human osteosarcoma U-2 OS cells.

Resistance state evolution under constant electric stress on a MoS non-volatile resistive switching device.

MoS has been reported to exhibit a resistive switching phenomenon in a vertical metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure and has attracted much attention due to its ultra-thin active layer thickness. Here, the resistance evolutions in the high resistance state (HRS) and low resistance state (LRS) are investigated under constant voltage stress (CVS) or constant current stress (CCS) on MoS resistive switching devices. Interestingly, compared with bulk transition metal oxides (TMO), MoS exhibits an opposite characteristic in the fresh or pre-RESET device in the "HRS" wherein the resistance will increase to an even higher resistance after applying CVS, a unique phenomenon only accessible in 2D-based resistive switching devices.

Licochalcone A Suppresses the Proliferation of Osteosarcoma Cells through Autophagy and ATM-Chk2 Activation.

Licochalcone A, a flavonoid extracted from licorice root, has been shown to exhibit broad anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anticancer, and antioxidative bioactivity. In this study, we investigated the antitumor activity of Licochalcone A against human osteosarcoma cell lines. The data showed that Licochalcone A significantly suppressed cell viability in MTT assay and colony formation assay in osteosarcoma cell lines.

DAAM1-mediated migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells are suppressed by miR-208a-5p.

Ovarian cancer (OvCa) has the highest morbidity among all gynecologic cancers worldwide, and its distant metastasis is one of main causes for the poor prognosis of OvCa patients. Our previous studies have reported that DAAM1-involved signaling pathways play vital roles in metastasis of breast cancer. However, whether DAAM1 participates in OvCa migration and/or invasion is still unknown.

A 3'-UTR SNP mutation regulates breast cancer metastasis through affecting miR-208a-5p-DAAM1-RhoA axis.

Background: Dishevelled-associated activator of morphogenesis 1 (DAAM1) is a member of microfilament-related formins and mediates cell motility in breast cancer (BrCa). However, the genetic mutation status of mRNA and its correlation with pathological characteristics are still unclearly. Methods: A patient cohort and BrCa cells were recruited to demonstrate the role of functional SNP in microRNA-208a-5p binding site of 3'-UTR and underlying mechanism in BrCa metastasis.

"Cut-and-paste" method for the rapid prototyping of soft electronics.

Unlike wafer-based rigid electronics, soft electronics have many unique advantages including thinness, flexibility, stretchability, conformability, lightweight, large area, as well as low cost. As a result, they have demonstrated many emerging capabilities in healthcare devices, soft robotics, and human-machine interface. Instead of conventional microfabrication, there is an evergrowing interest in the freeform or digital manufacture of soft electronics.

Transparent arrays of bilayer-nanomesh microelectrodes for simultaneous electrophysiology and two-photon imaging in the brain.

Transparent microelectrode arrays have emerged as increasingly important tools for neuroscience by allowing simultaneous coupling of big and time-resolved electrophysiology data with optically measured, spatially and type resolved single neuron activity. Scaling down transparent electrodes to the length scale of a single neuron is challenging since conventional transparent conductors are limited by their capacitive electrode/electrolyte interface. In this study, we establish transparent microelectrode arrays with high performance, great biocompatibility, and comprehensive in vivo validations from a recently developed, bilayer-nanomesh material composite, where a metal layer and a low-impedance faradaic interfacial layer are stacked reliably together in a same transparent nanomesh pattern.