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In this study, we analyzed the metaverse reuse intention of college students. We introduced the “Zepeto” metaverse platform in liberal arts computer classes at a four-year university. In this study, the technology acceptance model was used as a theoretical background, and self-efficacy, perceived pleasure, and information quality were used as research variables. This study's independent variables are self-efficacy, perceived pleasure, information quality, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use. The study identified the intention of college students to use the metaverse as a survey method. As a result of the study, we found that self-efficacy had a significant effect on university liberal arts computer ease of instruction. Also, metaverse reuse intention along with perceived ease of use, and the relationship between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, had a positive effect. We found that perceived play had a positive effect on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and metaverse intention. Information quality had a significant effect on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and intention to reuse the metaverse. When self-efficacy, perceived pleasure, and information quality were viewed as independent variables, and metaverse reuse intention was viewed as a dependent variable, there was a mediating effect between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.

Flexible devices fabricated with a polyimide (PI) substrate are essential for foldable, rollable, and stretchable products and various applications. However, inherent technical challenges remain in mobile charge-induced device instabilities and image retention, significantly hindering future technologies. Here, we introduce a new barrier material, SiCOH, into the backplane of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) and applied it to production-level flexible panels. We found that the SiCOH layer effectively compensates for the surface charging induced by fluorine ions at the interface between the PI substrate and the barrier layer under bias stress, thereby preventing abnormal positive shifts in threshold voltage (

Supplementary Figures S1-S13 and Table S1. Confirmation of KIAA1324 mRNA expression in primary tissues from gastric cancer (GC) patients and GC cell lines (S1). Analysis of correlation between copy number variation (CNV) and KIAA1324 mRNA expression in gastric cancer cell lines (S2). KIAA1324 enhanced cisplatin- and etoposide-induced apoptosis of gastric cancer cells (S3). KIAA1324 knockdown reduced staurosporine-induced apoptosis (S4). KIAA1324 did not have a considerable effect on cell cycle (S5). KIAA1324 did not affect autophagy of gastric cancer cells (S6). KIAA1324 â–³C caused growth inhibition and apoptosis in gastric cancer cells (S7). KIAA1324 â–³N did not induce apoptosis of gastric cancer cells (S8). 1-303 a.a. of KIAA1324 was required for KIAA1324-mediated apoptosis (S9). Subcellular localization of KIAA1324 (S10). 1-303 a.a. of KIAA1324 bound to GRP78. (A) A schematic model of KIAA1324 fragments (S11). GRP78 knockdown induced apoptosis of MKN28 cells (S12). A schematic model of the anti-tumorigenic ability of KIAA1324 through regulation of GRP78 activity (S13). Semi-quantitative and quantitative RT-PCR primers (Table S1).

Recent advances in genome and transcriptome analysis have contributed to the identification of many potential cancer-related genes. Furthermore, biological and clinical investigations of the candidate genes provide us with a better understanding of carcinogenesis and development of cancer treatment. Here, we report a novel role of KIAA1324 as a tumor suppressor in gastric cancer. We observed that KIAA1324 was downregulated in most gastric cancers from transcriptome sequencing data and found that histone deacetylase was involved in the suppression of KIAA1324. Low KIAA1324 levels were associated with poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients. In the xenograft model, KIAA1324 significantly reduced tumor formation of gastric cancer cells and decreased development of preformed tumors. KIAA1324 also suppressed proliferation, invasion, and drug resistance and induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cells. Through protein interaction analysis, we identified GRP78 (glucose-regulated protein 78 kDa) as a KIAA1324-binding partner. KIAA1324 blocked oncogenic activities of GRP78 by inhibiting GRP78–caspase-7 interaction and suppressing GRP78-mediated AKT activation, thereby inducing apoptosis. In conclusion, our study reveals a tumor suppressive role of KIAA1324 via inhibition of GRP78 oncoprotein activities and provides new insight into the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer. Cancer Res; 75(15); 3087–97. ©2015 AACR.

Supplementary Materials and Methods

Post-synthetic surface redesign significantly enhances the stability of perovskite nanocrystals.

There is an increasing interest in developing next-generation wearable ultrasound patch systems because of their wide range of applications, such as home healthcare systems and continuous monitoring systems for physiological conditions. A wearable ultrasound patch system requires a stable interface to the skin, an ultrasound coupling medium, a flexible transducer array, and miniaturized operating circuitries. In this study, we proposed a patch composed of calcium (Ca)-modified silk, which serves as both a stable interface and a coupling medium for ultrasound transducer arrays. The Ca-modified silk patch provided not only a stable and conformal interface between the epidermal ultrasound transducer and human skin with high adhesion but also offered acoustic impedance close to that of human skin. The Ca-modified silk patch was flexible and stretchable (∼400% strain) and could be attached to various materials. In addition, because the acoustic impedance of the Ca-modified silk patch was 2.15 MRayl, which was similar to that of human skin (1.99 MRayl), the ultrasound transmission loss of the proposed patch was relatively low (∼0.002 dB). We also verified the use of the Ca-modified silk patch in various ultrasound applications, including ultrasound imaging, ultrasound heating, and transcranial ultrasound stimulation for neuromodulation. The comparable performance of the Ca-modified patch to that of a commercial ultrasound gel and its durability against various environmental conditions confirmed that the Ca-modified silk patch could be a promising candidate as a coupling medium for next-generation ultrasound patch systems.

Brain aging is a complex biological process that is affected by both genetic background and environment. The transcriptomic analysis of aged human and rodent brains has been applied to identify age-associated molecular and cellular processes for which intervention could possibly restore declining brain functions induced by aging. However, whether these age-associated genetic alterations are indeed involved in the healthy aging of the brain remains unclear. We herein characterized a naturally occurring, extremely long-lived (34 months of age) but healthy mouse group retaining well-preserved motor functions. Strikingly, these long-lived mice maintained tyrosine hydroxylase expression and dopaminergic fiber densities, even in the presence of persistent neuroinflammation and expression of aging markers. Combined with Endeavor gene prioritization, we identified the following midbrain-specific longevity-associated genes in the midbrain of these mice: aimp2, hexb, cacybp, akt2, nrf1, axin1, wwp2, sp2, dnajb9, notch, traf7, and lrp1. A detailed biochemical analysis of the midbrain of these long-lived mice confirmed the increased expression of Nrf1 and the activation of Akt1 and 2. Interestingly, dopaminergic neuroprotective and age-associated E3 ubiquitin ligase parkin expression was retained at high levels in the aforementioned midbrains, possibly supporting the suppression of its toxic substrates AIMP2 and PARIS. In contrast, the 24-month-old mice with dopaminergic neurite deficits failed to maintain parkin expression in the midbrain. AIMP2-induced cytotoxicity, mitochondrial stress, and neurite toxicity can be prevented by overexpression of parkin, Akt1, and Nrf1 in SH-SY5Y and PC12 cells, and basal expression of parkin, Akt1, and Nrf1 is required for maintenance of mitochondrial function and neurite integrity in PC12 cells. Taken together, this longevity-associated pathway could be a potential target of intervention to maintain nigrostriatal dopaminergic fibers and motor ability to ensure healthy longevity.

Heme b (iron protoporphyrin IX) plays important roles in biology as a metallocofactor and signaling molecule. However, the targets of heme signaling and the network of proteins that mediate the exchange of heme from sites of synthesis or uptake to heme dependent or regulated proteins are poorly understood. Herein, we describe a quantitative mass spectrometry (MS)-based chemoproteomics strategy to identify exchange labile hemoproteins in human embryonic kidney HEK293 cells that may be relevant to heme signaling and trafficking. The strategy involves depleting endogenous heme with the heme biosynthetic inhibitor succinylacetone (SA), leaving putative heme-binding proteins in their apo-state, followed by the capture of those proteins using hemin–agarose resin, and finally elution and identification by MS. By identifying only those proteins that interact with high specificity to hemin–agarose relative to control beaded agarose in an SA-dependent manner, we have expanded the number of proteins and ontologies that may be involved in binding and buffering labile heme or are targets of heme signaling. Notably, these include proteins involved in chromatin remodeling, DNA damage response, RNA splicing, cytoskeletal organization, and vesicular trafficking, many of which have been associated with heme through complementary studies published recently. Taken together, these results provide support for the emerging role of heme in an expanded set of cellular processes from genome integrity to protein trafficking and beyond.

Band-edge modulation of halide perovskites as photoabsorbers plays significant roles in the application of photovoltaic and photochemical systems. Here, Lewis acidity of dopants (M) as the new descriptor of engineering the band-edge position of the perovskite is investigated in the gradiently doped perovskite along the core-to-surface (CsPbBr

Hemeb(iron protoporphyrin IX) plays important roles in biology as a metallocofactor and signaling molecule. However, the targets of heme signaling and the network of proteins that mediate the exchange of heme from sites of synthesis or uptake to heme dependent or regulated proteins are poorly understood. Herein, we describe a quantitative mass spectrometry-based chemoproteomics strategy to identify exchange labile hemoproteins in human embryonic kidney HEK293 cells that may be relevant to heme signaling and trafficking. The strategy involves depleting endogenous heme with the heme biosynthetic inhibitor succinylacetone (SA), leaving putative heme binding proteins in theirapo-state, followed by the capture of those proteins using hemin-agarose resin and finally elution and identification by mass spectrometry. By identifying only those proteins that interact with high specificity to hemin-agarose relative to control beaded agarose in a SA-dependent manner, we have expanded the number of proteins and ontologies that may be involved in binding and buffering labile heme or are targets of heme signaling. Notably, these include proteins involved in chromatin remodeling, DNA damage response, RNA splicing, cytoskeletal organization and vesicular trafficking, many of which have been associated with heme through complimentary studies published recently. Taken together, these results provide support for the emerging role for heme in an expanded set of cellular processes from genome integrity to protein trafficking and beyond.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been receiving considerable attention as next-generation solar cells. However, their short lifetime is a major obstacle to their commercialization. In addition to the properties of the materials used in PSCs, their interfaces play an important role in device stability by maintaining their initial design. In this study, we developed a transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) as a stable and efficient interlayer. MoS

Previous evidence suggests a potential dual impact of aging and vitamin B6 (B6) deficiency on polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) metabolism; gender may influence PUFA biosynthesis. Perturbation of PUFA compositions during B6 deficiency could be linked to age-related health outcomes. However, little is known about the interrelationships between vitamin B6, PUFA, and gender in the older population. Therefore, we investigated whether gender-specific associations of B6 intake and plasma pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP) concentration, respectively, with plasma PUFA concentrations and ratios (eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (AA), EPA + DHA, EPA/AA, and (EPA + DHA)/AA) existed in older adults. We further examined the relationships of adequate B6 status (PLP ≥ 20 nmol/L) with high (above median) plasma PUFA relative to deficient B6 status. This cross-sectional study analyzed 461 participants aged ≥60 years from NHANES 2003–2004. Nutrient intakes were assessed using two 24-h recalls and supplement questionnaires. PLP and PUFA concentrations were measured. Multivariate linear regression assessed the association of B6 intake and PLP with PUFA; multivariate logistic regression evaluated the relationship of adequate B6 status with high plasma PUFA, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and dietary factors; physical activity; smoking; alcohol; medication; and BMI. There were interactions between gender and B6 intake on EPA (P-interaction = 0.008) and AA (P-interaction = 0.004) only, whereas no interaction existed between gender and PLP on PUFA. PLP was directly associated with EPA (β = 0.181, P = 0.002), DHA (β = 0.109, P = 0.005), EPA + DHA (β = 0.14, P = 0.002), EPA/AA (β = 0.186, P = 0.004), and (EPA + DHA)/AA (β = 0.13, P = 0.026). The odds of having high plasma EPA (adjusted (a) OR: 2.03, P = 0.049) and EPA/AA (aOR: 3.83, P < 0.0001) were greater in those with adequate B6 status compared to those with deficient B6 status. In conclusion, in US older adults, a higher PLP level was associated with a greater level of EPA, DHA, EPA + DHA, EPA/AA, and (EPA + DHA)/AA. Adequate B6 status was associated with high EPA and EPA/AA status. These findings suggest that sufficient vitamin B6 status may positively influence PUFA metabolism in older adults.

Live-streaming commerce business is growing as the consumption of video content and Smartphone shopping increases. This study examines the following three aspects: whether para-social interaction influences perceived interactivity; whether seller trust affects satisfaction with the experience; whether relationships are controlled by a moderated mediator of self-image congruity. An online survey was conducted with 203 women aged 20-30 years. They were asked to respond to the survey after watching a beauty category live-streaming commerce broadcast. The results revealed that the para-social interaction had a significant effect on perceived interactivity, seller trust and satisfaction with the experience. The findings also indicated that the perceived interactivity and seller trust mediated the relationship between para-social interaction and satisfaction with the experience. Regarding the mediated moderation effect of self-image congruity, it was statistically significant between para-social interaction and perceived interactivity through seller trust. A higher level of consumer’s self-image congruity influenced the greater effect of para-social interaction on live commerce experience. This study makes important theoretical contributions to the para-social interaction in mobile commerce industry by emphasizing the mediating role of perceived interactivity and seller trust. This is achieved by examining the moderating effects of self-congruity on satisfaction with the experience. The results also verify the seller’s crucial role in live-streaming commerce market which leads to the consumers greater fulfillment.

The released NOx during fuel combustion is one of the major air pollutants, directly related to acid rain and photochemical smog. At present, there is not an economical and effective method of inhibiting NOx emission from sintering flue gas. Therefore, controlling the conditions of fuel combustion is extremely required for the reduction in NOx. The current research investigated the effects of different combustion parameters on the formation of NOx for three type of coals. The formation of NOx decreased with increasing temperature and heating rate while it increased when oxygen content in an atmosphere increased. Anthracite coal replacement with coke up to 100 pct promoted a decrease in the formed NOx amount and XNO by 21 and 53 pct, respectively. The addition of CaO and FeO enhanced the conversion of nitrogen to NOx, especially at temperatures below 1273 K (1000 °C). Taking both the oxidation reaction to form NOx and reduction reaction of NOx to form N2 into account, the activation energy (EA) values of anthracite and coke were evaluated to be 2.2 and 3.6 kJ/mol, respectively. The combustion of semi-anthracite coal emitted the largest amount of NOx, but the anthracite coal containing less fuel-N than other coals showed the highest value of XNO, which indicates that nitrogen content in coal is not the major factor affecting the formation of NOx. The change in nitrogen functionality after combustion process might be the reason for the unpredicted results in the XNO. The pyrrolic-N in anthracite coal might be considered to be the major functional form that directly affects the conversion of nitrogen to NO.

Flexible devices fabricated with polyimide (PI) substrate are crucial for foldable, rollable, or stretchable products in various applications. However, inherent technical challenges remain in mobile charge induced device instabilities and image retention, significantly hindering future technologies. We introduced a new barrier material, SiCOH, into the backplane of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a–IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) that were then implemented into production-level flexible panels. We found that the SiCOH layer effectively compensates the surface charging induced by fluorine ions at the interface between the PI substrate and the barrier layer under bias stress, thereby preventing abnormal positive Vth shifts and image disturbance. The a–IGZO TFTs, metal-insulator-metal (MIM), and metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) capacitors with the SiCOH layer demonstrate reliable device performance, Vth shifts, and capacitance changes with an increase in the gate bias stress. A flexible device with SiCOH enables the suppression of abnormal Vth shifts associated with PI and plays a vital role in the degree of image sticking phenomenon. This work provides new inspirations to creating much improved process integrity and paves the way for expediting versatile form-factors.