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In reconstructive surgery, random skin flaps are commonly used tools to cover skin defects, however, their applicability and size are limited by post-operative complications such as marginal ischemia-reperfusion injury and flap necrosis. Protein kinase D1 (PKD1), a calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine kinase, is known to induce angiogenesis and has been shown to mitigate ischemia in cardiovascular diseases. However, the role of PKD1 has not been investigated in skin flaps.Seventy-five male Sprague-Dawley rats with skin flaps were randomly divided into three groups: control, PKD1, and CID755673. Seven days following surgery, we assessed the general view and survival rate of the flap using histological analysis. Laser Doppler and lead oxide/gelatin angiography were used to evaluate microcirculation blood flow. Histopathological changes, neovascularization and microvascular density (MVD). were examined and calculated using microscopy after HE staining. Protein expression levels were determined using immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry techniques.PKD1 significantly improved flap survival by upregulating angiogenic factors VEGF and cadherin5 and increasing antioxidant enzymes SOD, eNOS, and HO1, as well as reducing caspase 3, cytochrome c, and Bax expression, and attenuating IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. In the PKD1 group, PKD1 increased neovascularization, and blood flow and flap survival areas were larger as compared to the control and CID755673 groups.These findings show that PKD1 accelerates angiogenesis, reduces oxidative stress, and impedes apoptosis and inflammation, thus resulting in improved flap survival. Our observations indicated that PKD1 could be a therapeutic target for flap failure treatment.

The swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus, Portunus) can tolerate low salinity, but the mechanism of its varied salinity adaptation at the molecular level remains unclear. In this study, we prepared four mRNA and microRNA (miRNA) libraries using the gills collected from four salinity groups and performed RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) to identify the genes related to the low salinity. We set 25 ppt as the control group. A total of 659 genes were differentially expressed in at least one of the six comparison groups (25 ppt vs. 20 ppt, 25 ppt vs. 15 ppt, 25 ppt vs. 10 ppt, 20 ppt vs. 15 ppt, 20 ppt vs. 10 ppt and 15 ppt vs. 10 ppt). A total of 15 and 9 unigenes were downregulated and upregulated under low salinity compared with that in 25 ppt, respectively. Six genes, namely, aminopeptidase, centromere protein, cytochrome b5 reductase, bone morphogenetic protein, and two carbonic anhydrases, were selected for verification through quantitative real-time PCR. The results were consistent with the RNA-Seq results. Furthermore, 95 conserved miRNAs and 16 novel miRNAs were differentially expressed in at least one of the six comparison groups. Analysis of the miRNA–mRNA interaction showed that miR-2 and miR-317 regulated >50 mRNA targets. In addition, let-7c was downregulated in all groups under low salinity compared with that in the control group. This study helped elucidate the adaptation mechanism of the swimming crab in low-saline environments.

s To achieve uninterrupted detection of position contacting with robot environment, this paper proposes a new type of tactile sensor. The sensor was developed with the principle of distributed planar electric field based on the uniqueness of steady electric field. The coordinate of contact position can be obtained from the potential value distributed on the planar electric field. The tactile sensor has a non-array structure, and consists of two conductive layers, an insulating layer and two viscoelastic layers. The feasibility was verified by the finite element simulation with COMSOL software and the sensor sample fabrication. The robot application experiments on an industrial robot arm with six degrees of freedom shows that the sensor has good accuracy of position detection and high space resolution. The sensor is thin and soft, easy to make and use, and has only 4 wires. Signal processing is also simple. It is capable of covering large areas of robot arms, and provides safety solutions for most robots.

A novel ionic liquid, 4-hydroxy-1-methyl-[1-(3-pyrrolyl-propyl)]-piperidinium bromide, was synthesized and characterized. Carboxylic-functionalized graphene oxide nanosheets were modified with this ionic liquid to fabricate a nanocomposite which was denoted as GrO-COO-IL. Characterizations of FTIR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the successful conjunction of these two components. GrO-COO-IL nanocomposites were homogeneously dispersed with utralpure water, and were then coated onto glassy carbon electrode surface. Followed by cyclic voltammetric scanning, a graphene oxide-polymerized ionic liquid film modified electrode (GrO-COO-Poly-IL/GCE) was prepared, and was studied with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope. It was found that both honokiol and magnolol exhibit sensitive voltammetric response at the GrO-COO-Poly-IL/GCE. Simultaneous assay of honokiol and magnolol was realized with differential pulse voltametry. In the presence of magnolol, the oxidation peak current was linearly related to honokiol concentration in the range of 1.0 × 10−8 ∼ 1.0 × 10−5 mol L−1 with a detection limit of 1.53 × 10−9 mol L−1 (S/N = 3). Meanwhile, in the presence of honokiol, a linear relationship between the oxidation peak current and magnolol concentration was found from 7.0 × 10−8 to 1.0 × 10−5 mol L−1. The detection limit is calculated to be 8.27 × 10 −9 mol L−1 (S/N = 3). In addition, GrO-COO-Poly-IL/GCE was successfully used for determination of honokiol in the traditional Chinese medicine, and was demonstrated to be an effective and sensitive method.

Mesoporous NiCo2O4 nanoneedles were directly grown on three dimensional (3D) graphene-nickel foam which was prepared by chemical vapor deposition, labeled as NCO/GNF. The structure and morphology of NCO/GNF were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, element mapping and Raman spectroscopy. The NCO/GNF was employed as electrodes for supercapacitor and methanol electro-oxidation. When used for supercapacitor, the NiCo2O4 nanoneedles exhibit hi exhibit high specific capacitance (1588 F g−1 at 1 A g−1), high power density and energy density (33.88 Wh kg−1 at 5 kW kg−1) as well as long cycling stability. In methanol electro-oxidation, the NiCo2O4 nanoneedles deliver high electro-oxidation activity (93.3 A g−1 at 0.65 V) and electro-oxidation stability. The good electrochemical performance of NiCo2O4 nanoneedles is attributed to the 3D structure with large specific area, high conductivity and fast ions/electrons transport.

NiCo 2 O 4 nanowires/nitrogen-doped graphene (NCO/NG) composite materials were synthesized by hydrothermal treatment in a water–glycerol mixed solvent and subsequent thermal transformation. The obtained materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The electrochemical performance of the composites was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance spectrum techniques. NiCo 2 O 4 nanowires are densely coated by nitrogen-doped graphene and the composite displays good electrochemical performance. The maximum specific capacitance of NCO/NG is 1273.13 F g −1 at 0.5 A g −1 in 6 M KOH aqueous solution, and it exhibits good capacity retention without noticeable degradation after 3000 cycles at 4 A g −1 .

Graphene nanosheets (GS) were easily prepared via one-step liquid exfoliation of graphite powder in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, and then hybridized with porous Fe 2 O 3 microspheres, as confirmed by the measurements of transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Scanning electron microscopy tests indicated that the surface roughness of GS-Fe 2 O 3 hybrid was larger, and three-dimensional structure was more abundant. Compared with GS and Fe 2 O 3 microspheres, the resulting GS-Fe 2 O 3 hybrid remarkably increased the oxidation signals of bisphenol A (BPA). Moreover, the oxidation signals of BPA on GS-Fe 2 O 3 hybrid surface was further enhanced greatly after addition of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Based on the synergetic signal amplification of GS-Fe 2 O 3 hybrid and CTAB, a novel electroanalytical method with high sensitivity was developed for BPA, and the limit of detection was as low as 2.5 nM.