Relationship Between Serum MMP-2, Siglec-1, Th1/Th2 Cell Ratio, and Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To investigate the association of serum MMP-2, Siglec-1, and Th1/Th2 cell ratio with disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Between August and November 2020, Peking University People's Hospital recruited 40 patients with RA and 40 healthy individuals. Various methods such as ELISA, flow cytometry, and RT-PCR were used to assess the levels of sCR1, MMP-2, MMP-9, and Siglec-1 in the participants. Correlation analysis was conducted between Siglec-1 expression and DAS28 and hs-CRP. T lymphocyte subsets; cytokines IFN-γ and IL-4, were assessed using flow cytometry and ELISA in both patient groups. Results: Rheumatoid arthritis was linked to lower levels of serum sCR1 and higher levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 compared to healthy individuals (P < .05). The percentage of Siglec-1-positive cells in PBMCs was significantly higher in patients with RA than in the healthy group (P < .05), with monocytes being the predominant cells expressing Siglec-1. Patients with RA exhibited a significantly higher expression of Siglec-1 mRNA compared to those in a healthy condition (P < .05), and the expression of Siglec-1 in these patients was positively correlated with DAS28 and hs-CRP (P < .05). Study patients demonstrated a notably lower level of peripheral blood CD8+ cells and a higher CD4+/CD8+ ratio when compared to healthy individuals (P < .05). There was no statistically significant difference in CD3+CD4+ levels between the 2 groups (P > .05). Rheumatoid arthritis was associated with a higher level of peripheral blood IFN-γ and a lower IL-4 level than healthy individuals (P < .05). Conclusion: There was a strong link between sCRl, MMP-2, and MMP-9 and the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. These markers can effectively monitor disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Siglec-1 is highly expressed in peripheral blood and can be used to track disease activity and inflammation in these patients. Regulating Th1/Th2-mediated homeostasis may help alleviate symptoms in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis.

Effect of Exercise Rehabilitation Combined with Alfacalcidol Administration on Patellofemoral Traumatic Dysfunction.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and clinical value of alfacalcidol combined with exercise rehabilitation in therapy of the postoperative dysfunction of patients with patella fractures. Methods: In this study, 100 patients who underwent patella fracture surgery at Peking University People's Hospital between April 2018 and December 2019 were randomly selected and divided into a control group (n=50) and an experimental group (n=50) by lottery. The control group received exercise therapy, while the experimental group received alfacalcidol based on exercise rehabilitation. The functional assessment measure (FAM) score, visual analog scale (VAS) score, therapy efficiency, adverse effects, callus volume, and callus density were compared between the two groups. Results: The FAM score and therapy efficiency in the experimental group were significantly higher than in the control group [P < .001, RR: 95%CI (10.28, 5.12 to 15.52)], but the VAS score was lower [P < .001 RR: 95% CI (22.83, 1.99 to 3.31)]. Patients in the experimental group had fewer adverse effects [P < .001, RR: 95% CI (14.62, 6.49 to 32.92)] than those in the control group but significantly larger callus volume and density [both P < .001, RR: 95% CI (26.03, 3.21 to 4.07): (17.92, 2.83 to 3.34)]. Conclusion: Alfacalcidol combined with exercise rehabilitation therapy could significantly improve motor function, callus volume, and callus density in patients with patella fracture, resulting in a high applicable value in managing postoperative functional impairment of patellar fractures.

A BSL-2 compliant mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection for efficient and convenient antiviral evaluation.

Animal models of authentic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection require operation in biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) containment. In the present study, we established a mouse model employing a single-cycle infectious virus replicon particle (VRP) system of SARS-CoV-2 that can be safely handled in BSL-2 laboratories. The VRP [ΔS-VRP(G)-Luc] contains a SARS-CoV-2 genome in which the spike gene was replaced by a firefly luciferase (Fluc) reporter gene (Rep-Luci), and incorporates the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein on the surface. Intranasal inoculation of ΔS-VRP(G)-Luc can successfully transduce the Rep-Luci genome into mouse lungs, initiating self-replication of Rep-Luci and, accordingly, inducing acute lung injury mimicking the authentic SARS-CoV-2 pathology. In addition, the reporter Fluc expression can be monitored using a bioluminescence imaging approach, allowing a rapid and convenient determination of viral replication in ΔS-VRP(G)-Luc-infected mouse lungs. Upon treatment with an approved anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug, VV116, the viral replication in infected mouse lungs was significantly reduced, suggesting that the animal model is feasible for antiviral evaluation. In summary, we have developed a BSL-2-compliant mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, providing an advanced approach to study aspects of the viral pathogenesis, viral-host interactions, as well as the efficacy of antiviral therapeutics in the future.IMPORTANCESevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is highly contagious and pathogenic in humans; thus, research on authentic SARS-CoV-2 has been restricted to biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratories. However, due to the scarcity of BSL-3 facilities and trained personnel, the participation of a broad scientific community in SARS-CoV-2 research had been greatly limited, hindering the advancement of our understanding on the basic virology as well as the urgently necessitated drug development. Previously, our colleagues Jin et al. had generated a SARS-CoV-2 replicon by replacing the essential spike gene in the viral genome with a Fluc reporter (Rep-Luci), which can be safely operated under BSL-2 conditions. By incorporating the Rep-Luci into viral replicon particles carrying vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein on their surface, and via intranasal inoculation, we successfully transduced the Rep-Luci into mouse lungs, developing a mouse model mimicking SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our model can serve as a useful platform for SARS-CoV-2 pathological studies and antiviral evaluation under BSL2 containment.

Helicobacter Pylori-Enhanced hnRNPA2B1 Coordinates with PABPC1 to Promote Non-m6A Translation and Gastric Cancer Progression.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is the primary risk factor for the pathogenesis of gastric cancer (GC). N6-methyladenosine (m6A) plays pivotal roles in mRNA metabolism and hnRNPA2B1 as an m6A reader is shown to exert m6A-dependent mRNA stabilization in cancer. This study aims to explore the role of hnRNPA2B1 in H. pylori-associated GC and its novel molecular mechanism. Multiple datasets and tissue microarray are utilized for assessing hnRNPA2B1 expression in response to H. pylori infection and its clinical prognosis in patients with GC. The roles of hnRNPA2B1 are investigated through a variety of techniques including glucose metabolism analysis, m6A-epitranscriptomic microarray, Ribo-seq, polysome profiling, RIP-seq. In addition, hnRNPA2B1 interaction with poly(A) binding protein cytoplasmic 1 (PABPC1) is validated using mass spectrometry and co-IP. These results show that hnRNPA2B1 is upregulated in GC and correlated with poor prognosis. H. pylori infection induces hnRNPA2B1 upregulation through recruiting NF-κB to its promoter. Intriguingly, cytoplasm-anchored hnRNPA2B1 coordinated PABPC1 to stabilize its relationship with cap-binding eIF4F complex, which facilitated the translation of CIP2A, DLAT and GPX1 independent of m6A modification. In summary, hnRNPA2B1 facilitates the non-m6A translation of epigenetic mRNAs in GC progression by interacting with PABPC1-eIF4F complex and predicts poor prognosis for patients with GC.

CircUGGT2 downregulation by METTL14-dependent m6A modification suppresses gastric cancer progression and cisplatin resistance through interaction with miR-186-3p/MAP3K9 axis.

Chemoresistance is a major therapeutic challenge in advanced gastric cancer (GC). N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification has been shown to play fundamental roles in cancer progression. However, the underlying mechanisms by which m6A modification of circRNAs contributes to GC and chemoresistance remain unknown. We found that hsa_circ_0030632 (circUGGT2) was a predominant m6A target of METTL14, and METTL14 knockdown (KD) reduced circUGGT2 m6A levels but increased its mRNA levels. The expression of circUGGT2 was markedly increased in cisplatin (DDP)-resistant GC cells. CircUGGT2 KD impaired cell growth, metastasis and DDP-resistance in vitro and in vivo, but circUGGT2 overexpression prompted these effects. Furthermore, circUGGT2 was validated to sponge miR-186-3p and upregulate MAP3K9 and could abolish METTL14-caused miR-186-3p upregulation and MAP3K9 downregulation in GC cells. circUGGT2 negatively correlated with miR-186-3p expression and harbored a poor prognosis in patients with GC. Our findings unveil that METTL14-dependent m6A modification of circUGGT2 inhibits GC progression and DDP resistance by regulating miR-186-3p/MAP3K9 axis.

Prevalence of T-2 Toxin in the Food and Beverages of Residents Living in a Kashin-Beck-Disease Area of Qamdo, Tibet.

It has been strongly suggested that selenium deficiency and T-2 toxin contamination have a strong relationship with the occurrence and development of Kashin-Beck disease (KBD). In order to provide information for understanding the high prevalence of KBD in Tibet, this study collected the responses to a cubital venous blood and dietary questionnaire of 125 subjects including 75 KBD patients and 50 healthy controls in a KBD-prevalent county (Luolong County) in Tibet, China. A total of 10 household local families were randomly selected in this area, and local diet samples of brick tea, Zanba powder, milk residue, and hulless Barley were collected from these residents. Selenium content in blood was detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The T-2 toxin contamination level in food sample was assayed using an ELISA kit. The selenium levels of patients and controls were 42.0 ± 19.8 and 56.06 ± 22.4 µg/L, respectively. The serum selenium level in controls was higher than that in patients, but there was no significant difference, and the serum selenium level both in patients and controls in Tibet was lower than the normal range. The results of the dietary survey showed that the number of respondents who consumed butter tea was large; 46.67% of patients indicated that they drank buttered tea every day, which was significantly higher than in controls. The contents of T-2 toxin in Zanba powder, milk residue, hulless barley and drinking water samples were below the detection limit (0.05 µg/kg); this result was labeled Tr. Unexpectedly, the contents of T-2 toxin in brick tea were higher, with average levels of 424 ± 56 µg/kg in Detong village and 396 ± 24 µg/kg in Langcuo village. For the first time, we report the presence of an extremely high concentration of T-2 toxin in brick tea of Tibet.

Detachable string magnetically controlled capsule endoscopy for the noninvasive diagnosis of esophageal diseases: A prospective, blind clinical study.

BACKGROUND: Traditional esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), an invasive examination method, can cause discomfort and pain in patients. In contrast, magnetically controlled capsule endoscopy (MCE), a noninvasive method, is being applied for the detection of stomach and small intestinal diseases, but its application in treating esophageal diseases is not widespread. AIM: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of detachable string MCE (ds-MCE) for the diagnosis of esophageal diseases. METHODS: Fifty patients who had been diagnosed with esophageal diseases were prospectively recruited for this clinical study and underwent ds-MCE and conventional EGD. The primary endpoints included the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of ds-MCE for patients with esophageal diseases. The secondary endpoints consisted of visualizing the esophageal and dentate lines, as well as the subjects' tolerance of the procedure. RESULTS: Using EGD as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of ds-MCE for esophageal disease detection were 85.71%, 86.21%, 81.82%, 89.29%, and 86%, respectively. ds-MCE was more comfortable and convenient than EGD was, with 80% of patients feeling that ds-MCE examination was very comfortable or comfortable and 50% of patients believing that detachable string v examination was very convenient. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that ds-MCE has the same diagnostic effects as traditional EGD for esophageal diseases and is more comfortable and convenient than EGD, providing a novel noninvasive method for treating esophageal diseases.

Influence of inner ear impedance on middle ear sound transfer functions.

Introduction: For experimental studies on sound transfer in the middle ear, it may be advantageous to perform the measurements without the inner ear. In this case, it is important to know the influence of inner ear impedance on the middle ear transfer function (METF). Previous studies provide contradictory results in this regard. With the current study, we investigate the influence of inner ear impedance in more detail and find possible reasons for deviations in the previous studies. Methods: 11 fresh frozen temporal bones were prepared in our study. The factors related to inner ear impedance, including round window membrane stiffness, cochleostomy, cochlea fluid and cochlea destruction were involved in the experimental design. After measuring in the intact specimen as a reference (step 1), the round window membrane was punctured (step 2), then completely removed (step 3). The cochleostomy was performed (step 4) before the cochlear fluid was carefully suctioned through scala tympani (step 5) and scala vestibuli (step 6). Finally, cochlea was destroyed by drilling (step 7). Translational and rotational movement of the stapes footplate were measured and calculated at each step. The results of the steps were compared to quantify the effect of inner ear impedance changing related to the process of cochlear drainage. Results: As the inner ear impedance decreases from step 1 to 7, the amplitudes of the METF curves at each frequency gradually increase in general. From step 6 on, the measured METF are significantly different with respect to the intact group at high frequencies above 3 kHz. The differences are frequency dependent. However, the significant decrement of rotational motion appears at the frequencies above 4.5 kHz from the step 5. Conclusion: This study confirms the influence of inner ear impedance on METF only at higher frequencies (≥3 kHz). The rotational motions are more sensitive to the drainage of fluid at the higher frequency. Study results that found no influence of cochlea impedance may be due to incomplete drainage of the cochlea.

Intracavity frequency doubling acousto-optic Q-switched high repetition rate high-energy Nd:YLF laser.

The ongoing advancement of Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser technology has drawn increasing attention to high repetition rate, high-energy green lasers as ideal pump sources for Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifiers. This study employed a neodymium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride (Nd:YLF) as the gain medium, supplemented with side-pumped laser diodes, acousto-optic Q-switching, and intracavity frequency doubling technologies. The results demonstrated a repetition rate ranging from 1-10 kHz, a pulse width of less than 100 ns, and a single pulse energy exceeding 50 mJ at 527 nm green light output. Furthermore, an operating stability (RMS) of ≤0.15% was maintained for 14 h at a repetition rate of 1 kHz and an output power of 40 W.

Non-rigid point cloud registration for middle ear diagnostics with endoscopic optical coherence tomography.

PURPOSE: Middle ear infection is the most prevalent inflammatory disease, especially among the pediatric population. Current diagnostic methods are subjective and depend on visual cues from an otoscope, which is limited for otologists to identify pathology. To address this shortcoming, endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides both morphological and functional in vivo measurements of the middle ear. However, due to the shadow of prior structures, interpretation of OCT images is challenging and time-consuming. To facilitate fast diagnosis and measurement, improvement in the readability of OCT data is achieved by merging morphological knowledge from ex vivo middle ear models with OCT volumetric data, so that OCT applications can be further promoted in daily clinical settings. METHODS: We propose C2P-Net: a two-staged non-rigid registration pipeline for complete to partial point clouds, which are sampled from ex vivo and in vivo OCT models, respectively. To overcome the lack of labeled training data, a fast and effective generation pipeline in Blender3D is designed to simulate middle ear shapes and extract in vivo noisy and partial point clouds. RESULTS: We evaluate the performance of C2P-Net through experiments on both synthetic and real OCT datasets. The results demonstrate that C2P-Net is generalized to unseen middle ear point clouds and capable of handling realistic noise and incompleteness in synthetic and real OCT data. CONCLUSIONS: In this work, we aim to enable diagnosis of middle ear structures with the assistance of OCT images. We propose C2P-Net: a two-staged non-rigid registration pipeline for point clouds to support the interpretation of in vivo noisy and partial OCT images for the first time. Code is available at: https://gitlab.com/nct_tso_public/c2p-net.

Synergistic Modulation of Mass Transfer and Parasitic Reactions of Zn Metal Anode via Bioinspired Artificial Protection Layer.

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries are regarded as promising energy storage devices due to their attractive economic benefits and extraordinary electrochemical performance. However, the sluggish Zn2+ mass transfer behavior and water-induced parasitic reactions that occurred on the anode-electrode interface inevitably restrain their applications. Herein, inspired by the selective permeability and superior stability of plasma membrane, a thin UiO-66 metal-organic framework layer with smart aperture size is ex-situ decorated onto the Zn anode. Experimental characterizations in conjunction with theoretical calculations demonstrate that this bio-inspired layer promotes the de-solvation process of hydrated Zn2+ and reduces the effective contact between the anode and H2 O molecules, thereby boosting Zn2+ deposition kinetics and restraining interfacial parasitic reactions. Hence, the Zn||Zn cells could sustain a long lifespan of 1680 h and the Zn||Cu cells yielded a stable coulombic efficiency of over 99.3% throughout 600 cycles under the assistance of the bio-inspired layer. Moreover, pairing with δ-MnO2 cathode, the full cells also demonstrate prominent cycling stability and rate performance. From the bio-inspired design philosophy, this work provides a novel insight into the development of aqueous batteries.

Sinularin stabilizes FOXO3 protein to trigger prostate cancer cell intrinsic apoptosis.

Sinularin, a natural product that purified from soft coral, exhibits anti-tumor effects against various human cancers. However, the mechanisms are not well understood. In this study, we demonstrated that Sinularin inhibited the viability of human prostate cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner and displayed significant cytotoxicity only at high concentration against normal prostate epithelial cell RWPE-1. Flow cytometry assay demonstrated that Sinularin induced tumor cell apoptosis. Further investigations revealed that Sinularin exerted anti-tumor activity through intrinsic apoptotic pathway along with up-regulation of pro-apoptotic protein Bax and PUMA, inhibition of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, mitochondrial membrane potential collapses, and release of mitochondrial proteins. Furthermore, we illustrated that Sinularin induced cell apoptosis via up-regulating PUMA through inhibition of FOXO3 degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. To explore how Sinularin suppress FOXO3 ubiquitin-proteasome degradation, we tested two important protein kinases AKT and ERK that regulate FOXO3 stabilization. The results revealed that Sinularin stabilized and up-regulated FOXO3 via inhibition of AKT- and ERK1/2-mediated FOXO3 phosphorylation and subsequent ubiquitin-proteasome degradation. Our findings illustrated the potential mechanisms by which Sinularin induced cell apoptosis and Sinularin may be applied as a therapeutic agent for human prostate cancer.

Interaction of Phytohormones and External Environmental Factors in the Regulation of the Bud Dormancy in Woody Plants.

Bud dormancy and release are essential phenomena that greatly assist in adapting to adverse growing conditions and promoting the holistic growth and development of perennial plants. The dormancy and release process of buds in temperate perennial trees involves complex interactions between physiological and biochemical processes influenced by various environmental factors, representing a meticulously orchestrated life cycle. In this review, we summarize the role of phytohormones and their crosstalk in the establishment and release of bud dormancy. External environmental factors, such as light and temperature, play a crucial role in regulating bud germination. We also highlight the mechanisms of how light and temperature are involved in the regulation of bud dormancy by modulating phytohormones. Moreover, the role of nutrient factors, including sugar, in regulating bud dormancy is also discussed. This review provides a foundation for enhancing our understanding of plant growth and development patterns, fostering agricultural production, and exploring plant adaptive responses to adversity.

[Analysis of diet structure of Kashin-beck disease area in Chamdo-Lhorong of Tibet in 2021].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and compare the dietary structure between healthy people and patients in KBD area of Chamdo-Lhorong of Tibet. METHODS: A case-control study design was used, retrospectively select patients who had completed screening and registered in the national Kashin-Beck Disease surveillance system in 2021 in Luolong County, Qamdo, Tibet as the source population of the case group, and randomly selected people who had not been screened for Kashin-Beck disease in the same county as the control group. The self-made diet questionnaire was used to record the types of food consumption, frequency of food intake, basic information of the respondents, family size and other basic information in the past year by one-on-one interview. RESULTS: The staple food with the highest response among the patients(97.33%) was rice(rice/rice noodle), and the highest response among the healthy people(90%) was non-wheat products, non-fried pasta(bread/steamed bun/noodles/dumplings), except instant noodles.78.7% of patients chose not to eat local wheat(Tibetan noodles), and the number of non-patients who chose to eat non-local wheat(Tibetan noodles) 3-4 times a week was significantly higher than that of patients. The meat and meat products with the highest response in both patients(93.33%) and healthy people(90%) was yak meat(local). The control group also chose to consume beef(non-local/lamb/mutton/other non-processed meat), poultry and livestock offal, fish(all seawater and freshwater fish), shrimp and crabs or other seafood, and their consumption rate and intake frequency were significantly higher than those of the case group. The consumption rate and frequency of tomato, onion and garlic(garlic shoots/leek/onion/onion) and fresh eggs(egg/duck egg/quail egg/goose egg) in control group were significantly higher than those in case group. There was no significant difference in consumption rate and frequency of fruits, milk and dairy products between the two groups. CONCLUSION: In addition to the local highland barley(zanba), most people also chose to purchase rice and flour, which changed the situation of single staple food in the past. However, compared with the healthy population in the disease area, the consumption rate and intake frequency of fish, shrimp and crabs, poultry and livestock viscera, eggs(fresh eggs) and vegetables(tomatoes, scallions, ginger and garlic) in KBD patients were significantly lower, the selection of meat varieties is single, mainly local yak meat, and the overall dietary structure still presents the risk of single type and unbalanced diet.

FECFusion: Infrared and visible image fusion network based on fast edge convolution.

The purpose of infrared and visible image fusion is to integrate the complementary information from heterogeneous images in order to enhance their detailed scene information. However, existing deep learning fusion methods suffer from an imbalance between fusion performance and computational resource consumption. Additionally, fusion layers or fusion rules fail to effectively combine heteromodal feature information. To address these challenges, this paper presents a novel algorithm called infrared and visible image fusion network base on fast edge convolution (FECFusion). During the training phase, the proposed algorithm enhances the extraction of texture features in the source image through the utilization of structural re-parameterization edge convolution (RECB) with embedded edge operators. Subsequently, the attention fusion module (AFM) is employed to sufficiently fuze both unique and public information from the heteromodal features. In the inference stage, we further optimize the training network using the structural reparameterization technique, resulting in a VGG-like network architecture. This optimization improves the fusion speed while maintaining the fusion performance. To evaluate the performance of the proposed FECFusion algorithm, qualitative and quantitative experiments are conducted. Seven advanced fusion algorithms are compared using MSRS, TNO, and M3FD datasets. The results demonstrate that the fusion algorithm presented in this paper achieves superior performance in multiple evaluation metrics, while consuming fewer computational resources. Consequently, the proposed algorithm yields better visual results and provides richer scene detail information.

Activation extending based on long-range dependencies for weakly supervised semantic segmentation.

Weakly supervised semantic segmentation (WSSS) principally obtains pseudo-labels based on the class activation maps (CAM) to handle expensive annotation resources. However, CAM easily involves false and local activation due to the the lack of annotation information. This paper suggests weakly supervised learning as semantic information mining to extend object mask. We proposes a novel architecture to mining semantic information by modeling through long-range dependencies from in-sample and inter-sample. Considering the confusion caused by the long-range dependencies, the images are divided into blocks and carried out self-attention operation on the premise of fewer classes to obtain long-range dependencies, to reduce false predictions. Moreover, we perform global to local weighted self-supervised contrastive learning among image blocks, and the local activation of CAM is transferred to different foreground area. Experiments verified that superior semantic details and more reliable pseudo-labels are captured through these suggested modules. Experiments on PASCAL VOC 2012 demonstrated the proposed model achieves 76.6% and 77.4% mIoU in val and test sets, which is superior to the comparison baselines.

Subnanocyclic Molecule of 15-Crown-5 Inhibiting Interfacial Water Decomposition and Stabilizing Zinc Anodes via Regulation of Zn2+ Solvation Shell.

Aqueous zinc ion batteries exhibit a promising application prospect for next-generation energy storage devices. However, the decomposition of active H2O molecules on the Zn anode induces drastic dendrite formation, thereby impairing the performance for entire devices. To solve this challenge, we introduce subnanocyclic molecules of 15-Crown-5 as an additive into ZnSO4 electrolyte to stabilize the Zn anode. Owing to the binding property of crown ethers with alkali metal ions and the size-fit rule, the 15-Crown-5 additives enable effective regulation of the solvation structure of hydrated Zn2+ and reduce the efficient contact between Zn anode and active H2O, which are validated by the experimental analysis and theoretical calculations. Under the assistance of the 15-Crown-5 additive, the as-assembled Zn-based batteries deliver superior performance compared with ZnSO4 and 18-Crown-6contaning ZnSO4 electrolytes. This work shows a bright direction toward progress in aqueous batteries.

Multimodal additive manufacturing of biomimetic tympanic membrane replacements with near tissue-like acousto-mechanical and biological properties.

The three additive manufacturing techniques fused deposition modeling, gel plotting and melt electrowriting were combined to develop a mimicry of the tympanic membrane (TM) to tackle large TM perforations caused by chronic otitis media. The mimicry of the collagen fiber orientation of the TM was accompanied by a study of multiple funnel-shaped mimics of the TM morphology, resulting in mechanical and acoustic properties similar to those of the eardrum. For the different 3D printing techniques used, the process parameters were optimized to allow reasonable microfiber arrangements within the melt electrowriting setup. Interestingly, the fiber pattern was less important for the acousto-mechanical properties than the overall morphology. Furthermore, the behavior of keratinocytes and fibroblasts is crucial for the repair of the TM, and an in vitro study showed a high biocompatibility of both primary cell types while mimicking the respective cell layers of the TM. A simulation of the in vivo ingrowth of both cell types resulted in a cell growth orientation similar to the original collagen fiber orientation of the TM. Overall, the combined approach showed all the necessary parameters to support the growth of a neo-epithelial layer with a similar structure and morphology to the original membrane. It therefore offers a suitable alternative to autologous materials for the treatment of chronic otitis media. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Millions of people worldwide suffer from chronic middle ear infections. Although the tympanic membrane (TM) can be reconstructed with autologous materials, the grafts used for this purpose require extensive manual preparation during surgery. This affects not only the hearing ability but also the stability of the reconstructed TM, especially in the case of full TM reconstruction. The synthetic alternative presented here mimicked not only the fibrous structure of the TM but also its morphology, resulting in similar acousto-mechanical properties. Furthermore, its high biocompatibility supported the migration of keratinocytes and fibroblasts to form a neo-epithelial layer. Overall, this completely new TM replacement was achieved by combining three different additive manufacturing processes.

Titanium-Oxygen Clusters Brazing Li with Li6.5La3Zr1.5Ta0.5O12 for High-Performance All-Solid-State Li Batteries.

Garnet-based solid-state electrolytes are considered crucial candidates for solid-state Li batteries due to their high Li+ conductivity and nonflammability; however, poor interfacial contact with the Li anode and growth of Li dendrites limit their application. Herein, a high-activity titanium-oxygen cluster is used as a brazing filler to braze the Li6.5La3Zr1.5Ta0.5O12 (LLZTO) with an Li anode into the whole unit. The brazing layer leads to a significantly lower interfacial impedance of 8.32 Ω cm2. Furthermore, the brazing layer is an isotropic amorphous ion-electron hybrid conductive layer, which significantly promotes Li+ transport and regulates the distribution of the electric field, therefore inhibiting the growth of Li dendrites. The cell exhibits an ultrahigh critical current density of 2.3 mA cm-2 and stable cycling of over 4000 h at 0.5 mA cm-2 (25 °C).

SCFusion: Infrared and Visible Fusion Based on Salient Compensation.

The aim of infrared and visible image fusion is to integrate the complementary information of the two modalities for high-quality fused images. However, many deep learning fusion algorithms have not considered the characteristics of infrared images in low-light scenes, leading to the problems of weak texture details, low contrast of infrared targets and poor visual perception in the existing methods. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a salient compensation-based fusion method that makes sufficient use of the characteristics of infrared and visible images to generate high-quality fused images under low-light conditions. First, we design a multi-scale edge gradient module (MEGB) in the texture mainstream to adequately extract the texture information of the dual input of infrared and visible images; on the other hand, the salient tributary is pre-trained by salient loss to obtain the saliency map based on the salient dense residual module (SRDB) to extract salient features, which is supplemented in the process of overall network training. We propose the spatial bias module (SBM) to fuse global information with local information. Finally, extensive comparison experiments with existing methods show that our method has significant advantages in describing target features and global scenes, the effectiveness of the proposed module is demonstrated by ablation experiments. In addition, we also verify the facilitation of this paper's method for high-level vision on a semantic segmentation task.