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Abstract Background The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy to delay lung function decline in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remain unclear. This study aimed to determine whether acupuncture, as an adjunctive therapy to COPD-guided medication, could prevent lung function decline. Methods This randomised, two-centre study was conducted between February 2022 and July 2023. Men and women aged 40–80 years with COPD were recruited. Participants received active or sham acupuncture three times a week (36 sessions total). The primary outcome was the change in the percentage of forced expiratory volume for 1 s to the predicted value (FEV1%) between the baseline and after the intervention. Results Overall, 238 participants were screened, and 74 (58 men [78.4%]; mean [standard deviation] age, 69.6 [7.2] years) were randomised into the acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups (37 per group). After the intervention, the change in FEV1% was 1.35 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.47 to 3.17) and -2.44 (95% CI: -4.56 to -0.33) in the acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups, respectively. The difference was -3.97 (95% CI: -6.2 to -1.74), and the adjusted difference was -3.46 (95% CI: -5.69 to -1.24, P = 0.003) between the groups. A significantly less decline was found in forced expiratory volume for 1 s in the acupuncture group. All treatment-related adverse events (acupuncture = 11, sham = 2) were mild. Conclusions Compared with sham acupuncture, acupuncture plus medication may delay lung function decline. However, further studies with a larger sample size and longer-term follow-up are needed to clarify the effects.

In the general smelting process, nonmetallic compounds manifest as inclusions. These inclusions, typically larger than 5 μm, can significantly reduce the strength, toughness, and processability of steel. More critically, they pose a threat to the service life of steel. To mitigate these adverse effects, the practice of inclusion modification has been developed. Typically, calcium and magnesium elements are employed for this purpose. However, despite these efforts, the size of modified inclusions often remains at the micron level. Although there is some improvement in mechanical properties, the presence of these inclusions still compromises the steel matrix. Therefore, controlling the size, quantity, and distribution of nonmetallic inclusions during steel manufacturing becomes imperative. When inclusions are reduced to nanometer size, the formation of a high density of nanosized second-phase particles can substantially improve the strength and toughness of the steel. In this study, we prepared Fe–0.04C–1.5Mn–0.5Ti–0.5Al2O3 (Fe–TAMO) steel by applying a dynamic magnetic field during the smelting process. This was followed by grain size optimization and equiaxed optimization through rolling and annealing processes. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the second-phase particles were uniformly dispersed within the as-cast Fe–TAMO steel matrix. The density of these particles reached 3.3 × 1015 m−2, with an average diameter of 2.75 ± 0.803 nm. Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis identified these particles as oxides of Ti–Al–Mn. The compressive mechanical properties of Fe–TAMO steel, in its as-cast, as-rolled, and as-annealed states, were evaluated using a universal testing machine. The grain size of the as-cast Fe–TAMO steel is 143 μm, with a compressive yield strength of 150 MPa, approximately double that of as-cast pure ferritic steel. After rolling, the grain size decreased to 119 μm, and the compressive yield strength increased to 484 MPa. Following annealing, the grain size was further reduced to 64 μm, with a compressive yield strength of 334 MPa. These results demonstrate that the applied method effectively minimizes the size of the second-phase particles, with most controlled within 5 nm. The densely distributed second-phase nanoparticles significantly improve the steel strength, while subsequent heat treatments allow for adjustments in grain size to further enhance mechanical properties. This method streamlines the process flow to a single step, achieving uniform dispersion of ultrafine nanosized second-phase particles in the steel matrix in about a mere 3 minutes. Moreover, it holds great potential for industrial production, offering a new avenue for the mass production of high-performance steel.

ABSTRACT Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the primary causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. The gut microbiome, particularly the bacteriome, has been demonstrated to contribute to the progression of COPD. However, the influence of gut virome on the pathogenesis of COPD is rarely studied. Recent advances in viral metagenomics have enabled the rapid discovery of its remarkable role in COPD. In this study, deep metagenomics sequencing of fecal virus-like particles and bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing was performed on 92 subjects from China to characterize alterations of the gut virome in COPD. Lower richness and diversity of the gut virome were observed in the COPD subjects compared with the healthy individuals. Sixty-four viral species, including Clostridium phage, Myoviridae sp., and Synechococcus phage, showed positive relationships with pulmonary ventilation functions and had markedly declined population in COPD subjects. Multiple viral functions, mainly involved in bacterial susceptibility and the interaction between bacteriophages and bacterial hosts, were significantly declined in COPD. In addition, COPD was characterized by weakened viral-bacterial interactions compared with those in the healthy cohort. The gut virome showed diagnostic performance with an area under the curve (AUC) of 88.7%, which indicates the potential diagnostic value of the gut virome for COPD. These results suggest that gut virome may play an important role in the development of COPD. The information can provide a reference for the future investigation of diagnosis, treatment, and in-depth mechanism research of COPD.IMPORTANCEPrevious studies showed that the bacteriome plays an important role in the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, little is known about the involvement of the gut virome in COPD. Our study explored the disease-specific virome signatures of patients with COPD. We found the diversity and compositions altered of the gut virome in COPD subjects compared with healthy individuals, especially those viral species positively correlated with pulmonary ventilation functions. Additionally, the declined bacterial susceptibility, the interaction between bacteriophages and bacterial hosts, and the weakened viral-bacterial interactions in COPD were observed. The findings also suggested the potential diagnostic value of the gut virome for COPD. The results highlight the significance of gut virome in COPD. The novel strategies for gut virome rectifications may help to restore the balance of gut microecology and represent promising therapeutics for COPD.

Inspecting sewage outfall into rivers is significant to the precise management of the ecological environment because they are the last gate for pollutants to enter the river. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have the characteristics of maneuverability and high-resolution images and have been used as an important means to inspect sewage outfalls. UAVs are widely used in daily sewage outfall inspections, but relying on manual interpretation lacks the corresponding low-altitude sewage outfall images dataset. Meanwhile, because of the sparse spatial distribution of sewage outfalls, problems like less labeled sample data, complex background types, and weak objects are also prominent. In order to promote the inspection of sewage outfalls, this paper proposes a low-attitude sewage outfall object detection dataset, namely UAV-SOD, and an attention-guided feature enhancement network, namely AFENet. The UAV-SOD dataset features high resolution, complex backgrounds, and diverse objects. Some of the outfall objects are limited by multi-scale, single-colored, and weak feature responses, leading to low detection accuracy. To localize these objects effectively, AFENet first uses the global context block (GCB) to jointly explore valuable global and local information, and then the region of interest (RoI) attention module (RAM) is used to explore the relationships between RoI features. Experimental results show that the proposed method improves detection performance on the proposed UAV-SOD dataset than representative state-of-the-art two-stage object detection methods.

Abstract Triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer, has a poor prognosis and lacks effective treatment strategies. Here, the study discovered that TNBC shows a decreased expression of epithelial transcription factor ovo‐like 2 (OVOL2). The loss of OVOL2 promotes fatty acid oxidation (FAO), providing additional energy and NADPH to sustain stemness characteristics, including sphere‐forming capacity and tumor initiation. Mechanistically, OVOL2 not only suppressed STAT3 phosphorylation by directly inhibiting JAK transcription but also recruited histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) to STAT3, thereby reducing the transcriptional activation of downstream genes carnitine palmitoyltransferase1 (CPT1A and CPT1B). PyVT‐Ovol2 knockout mice develop a higher number of primary breast tumors with accelerated growth and increased lung‐metastases. Furthermore, treatment with FAO inhibitors effectively reduces stemness characteristics of tumor cells, breast tumor initiation, and metastasis, especially in OVOL2‐deficient breast tumors. The findings suggest that targeting JAK/STAT3 pathway and FAO is a promising therapeutic strategy for OVOL2‐deficient TNBC.

Background: With the rapid global spread of COVID-19, it has become evident that the virus can lead to multisystem complications, leading to a significant increase in related publications. Bibliometrics serves as a valuable tool for identifying highly cited literature and research hotspots within specific areas. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify current research hotspots and future trends in COVID-19 complications. Methods: The dataset was obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection, covering COVID-19 complications from December 8, 2019, to October 31, 2022. Various aspects, including publication general information, authors, journals, co-cited authors, co-cited references, research hotspots, and future trends, were subjected to analysis. Visual analysis was conducted using VOSviewer, The Online Analysis Platform of Literature Metrology, and Charticulator. Results: There were 4597 articles in the study. The top three countries with the most published articles are the USA (n = 1350, 29.4 %), China (n = 765, 16.6 %), and Italy (n = 623, 13.6 %). USA and China have the closest collaborative relationship. The institute with the largest number of publications is Huazhong University of Science and Technology, followed by Harvard Medical School. Nevertheless, half of the top 10 institutes belong to the USA. “Rezaei, Nima” published 13 articles and ranked first, followed by “Yaghi, Shadi” with 12 articles and “Frontera, Jennifer” with 12 articles. The journal with the largest number of publications is “Journal of Clinical Medicine”. The top 3 co-cited authors are “Zhou, Fei”, “Guan, Wei-Jie”, “Huang, Chaolin”. The top 3 co-cited references addressed COVID-19's clinical features in China and noticed that COVID-19 patients had a wide range of complications. We also list four research hotspots. Conclusions: This study conducted a bibliometric visual analysis of the literature on COVID-19 complications and summarized the current research hotspots. This study may provide valuable insights into the complications of COVID-19.

Background: Reports regarding the antiviral activity of curcumin have surfaced. However, to date there has been no scientometric analysis of the relationship between curcumin and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). To comprehensively understand the studies involving curcumin in the context of COVID-19, we conducted a scientometric analysis to provide an exhaustive review of these studies. Methods: We systematically searched the Web of Science core collection database for bibliographic data indexed from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022, using keywords such as 'curcumin', 'COVID-19', and their synonyms. To clarify the research content and trends related to curcumin in COVID-19, we utilized VOSviewer, Origin 2023, and Charticulator for analysis, supplemented by external data. Results: The final count of publications included in this study was 252. These publications originated from 63 countries or territories, with India contributing the highest number of publications. They were published across 170 journals. Notably, the Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB) emerged as the most important institution that carried out this study. The most cited publication had been referenced 166 times. The main elements involved in the keyword analysis were reflected in the antiviral activity of curcumin and the immuno-inflammatory modulation of the inflammatory cytokine storm. Furthermore, the pharmacological mechanisms of curcumin for treating COVID-19 emerged as a prominent area of research. Simultaneously, there exists direct evidence of clinical usage of curcumin to enhance COVID-19 outcomes. Conclusions: The scientometric analysis underscores the burgeoning professional domain of curcumin-based treatment for COVID-19. Ongoing studies have focused on the antiviral activity of curcumin and its immunomodulatory effects on inflammatory cytokine storms. On the other hand, the pharmacological mechanism of curcumin in the treatment of COVID-19 is a hot spot in the research field at present, which may become the main research trend in this field in the future. While maintaining a focus on foundational research, the clinical application of curcumin in COVID-19 infection is developing in parallel, highlighting its obvious guiding value in clinical practice. These insights offer researchers a snapshot of the present state of curcumin treatment for COVID-19 and guide further mechanistic validation efforts in the future.

Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease, and its treatment is a core problem and challenge in clinical practice. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are the first-line therapy for the treatment of asthma. Local and systemic adverse reactions caused by GCs create obstacles to the treatment of asthma. Therefore, the research target is to find a new, safe, and effective therapeutic medicine at present. Natural products are an important source for treating asthma with low cost and low toxicity. Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is an active ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine Astragalus mongholicus Bunge. Previous studies have indicated that AS-IV plays a therapeutic role in the treatment of asthma by inhibiting airway inflammation and remodeling the airway, and by regulating immunity and neuroendocrine function (Fig. 1) . It has a variety of biological characteristics such as multi-target intervention, high safety, and good curative effect. This article reviews the specific mechanism of AS-IV for the treatment of asthma to provide references for subsequent research.

Accurate Remaining Useful Life (RUL) prediction of lithium batteries is crucial for enhancing their performance and extending their lifespan. Existing studies focus on continuous or relatively sparse datasets; however, continuous and complete datasets are rarely available in practical applications due to missing or inaccessible data. This study attempts to achieve the prediction of lithium battery RUL using random sparse data from only 10 data points, aligning more closely with practical industrial scenarios. Furthermore, we introduce the application of a Flexible Parallel Neural Network (FPNN) for the first time in predicting the RUL of lithium batteries. By combining these two approaches, our tests on the MIT dataset show that by randomly downsampling 10 points per cycle from 10 cycles, we can reconstruct new meaningful features and achieve a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 2.36% in predicting the RUL. When the input data are limited to the first 10 cycles using the dataset constructed from random downsampling and the FPNN, the predicted RUL MAPE is 0.75%. The method proposed in this study offers an accurate, adaptable, and comprehensible new solution for predicting the RUL of lithium batteries, paving a new research path in the field of battery health monitoring.

Background and Aims: Although type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) were originally found to be liver-resident lymphocytes, the role and importance of ILC2 in liver injury remains poorly understood. In the current study, we sought to determine whether ILC2 is an important regulator of hepatic ischaemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). Methods: ILC2-deficient mice (ICOS-T or NSG) and genetically modified ILC2s were used to investigate the role of ILC2s in murine hepatic IRI. Interactions between ILC2s and eosinophils or macrophages were studied in coculture. The role of human ILC2s was assessed in an immunocompromised mouse model of hepatic IRI. Results: Administration of IL-33 prevented hepatic IRI in association with reduction of neutrophil infiltration and inflammatory mediators in the liver. IL-33-treated mice had elevated numbers of ILC2s, eosinophils, and regulatory T cells. Eosinophils, but not regulatory T cells, were required for IL-33-mediated hepatoprotection in IRI mice. Depletion of ILC2s substantially abolished the protective effect of IL-33 in hepatic IRI, indicating that ILC2s play critical roles in IL-33-mediated liver protection. Adoptive transfer of ex vivo-expanded ILC2s improved liver function and attenuated histologic damage in mice subjected to IRI. Mechanistic studies combining genetic and adoptive transfer approaches identified a protective role of ILC2s through promoting IL-13-dependent induction of anti-inflammatory macrophages and IL-5-dependent elevation of eosinophils in IRI. Furthermore, in vivo expansion of human ILC2s by IL-33 or transfer of ex vivo-expanded human ILC2s ameliorated hepatic IRI in an immunocompromised mouse model of hepatic IRI. Conclusions: This study provides insight into the mechanisms of ILC2-mediated liver protection that could serve as therapeutic targets to treat acute liver injury. Impact and Implications: We report that type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are important regulators in a mouse model of liver ischaemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). Through manipulation of macrophage and eosinophil phenotypes, ILC2s mitigate liver inflammation and injury during liver IRI. We propose that ILC2s have the potential to serve as a therapeutic tool for protecting against acute liver injury and lay the foundation for translation of ILC2 therapy to human liver disease.

Methyl gallate (MG) is a polyphenolic compound widely found in natural plants. MG has been shown to have a variety of biological functions, including anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective and anti-microbial activities, and has broad research and development prospects. A total of 88 articles related to MG were searched using the PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases, systematically investigating the pharmacological activity and molecular mechanisms of MG. There were no restrictions on the publication years, and the last search was conducted on June 5, 2023. MG can exert pharmacological effects through multiple pathways and targets, such as PI3K/Akt, ERK1/2, Caspase, AMPK/NF-κB, Wnt/β-catenin, TLR4/NF-κB, MAPK, p53, NLRP3, ROS, EMT. According to the literature, MG has the potential to be a prospective adjuvant for anticancer therapy and deserves further study.

Abstract Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women on a global scale. It can generally be divided into four main categories, of which estrogen receptor ER-positive breast cancer accounts for most breast cancer cases. RBCK1 protein is an E3 ubiquitin ligase containing the UBL, NZF, and RBR domains. It is well known to exhibit abnormal expression in breast tumors, making it a valuable diagnostic marker and drug target. Additionally, studies have confirmed that in breast cancer, about 25 to 40% of tumors appear as visible hypoxic regions, while in hypoxia, tumor cells can activate the hypoxia-inducing factor HIF1 pathway and widely activate the expression of downstream genes. Previous studies have confirmed that in the hypoxic environment of tumors, HIF1α promotes the remodeling of extracellular matrix, induces the recruitment of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) and immunosuppression of allogeneic tumors, thereby influencing tumor recurrence and metastasis. This research aims to identify RBCK1 as an important regulator of HIF1α signaling pathway. Targeted therapy with RBCK1 could be a promising treatment strategy for ER-positive breast cancer.

Background: Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD), which presents many non-specific symptoms, such as rash leukocytosis, spiking fever, and sore throat, is a rare auto inflammatory disease. Other clinical features that are frequently observed include lymphadenopathy, arthralgia, serositis, splenomegaly, and hepatomegaly. Laboratory tests show high levels of C-reactive protein, ferritin, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate reflecting the systemic inflammatory process in AOSD patients. Case presentation: The patient was a middle-aged woman with a high fever (39.8 C), sore throat, rashes on limbs with pruritus, mainly at the joints (elbow, knee, and ankle), muscle aches, dizziness, infirmity, weakness, and poor appetite without arthralgia. The ferritin level was above 1500 (normal value: 14-233) ng/L. Antineutrophil, antinuclear antibodies, and rheumatoid factor were negative. Combining the symptoms such as fever, rash, stress-induced acute inflammation, arthritis, and ferritin levels, the patient was eventually diagnosed with adult Still's disease. She received methylprednisolone 40mg intravenously every 12 hours for one week. On the second week, the dose was reduced to 40mg in the morning and 20mg in the evening, and finally, the dose was reduced to 40mg oral intake in the morning and 8mg in the evening. After half a month of treatment, the patient's high fever and skin rashes subsided, and the other symptoms also gradually relieved. Conclusions: A case of a middle-aged woman diagnosed with adult Still's disease is reported, and the possible pathogenesis and treatment of the disease are discussed. This case highlights the importance of early diagnosis and timely treatment of adult Still's disease to prevent potentially fatal complications.

Summary: Preadipocyte determination expanding the pool of preadipocytes is a vital process in adipocyte hyperplasia, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are yet to be elucidated. Herein, SRY-related HMG box transcription factor 4 (SOX4) was identified as a critical target in response to BMP4- and TGFβ-regulated preadipocyte determination. SOX4 deficiency is sufficient to promote preadipocyte determination in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and acquisition of preadipocyte properties in nonadipogenic lineages, while its overexpression impairs the adipogenic capacity of preadipocytes and converts them into nonadipogenic lineages. Mechanism studies indicated that SOX4 activates and cooperates with LEF1 to retain the nuclear localization of β-catenin, thus mediating the crosstalk between TGFβ/BMP4 signaling pathway and Wnt signaling pathway to regulate the preadipocyte determination. In vivo studies demonstrated that SOX4 promotes the adipogenic-nonadipogenic conversion and suppresses the adipocyte hyperplasia. Together, our findings highlight the importance of SOX4 in regulating the adipocyte hyperplasia in obesity.

Abstract Background Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. More than 70% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor (ER) alpha positive. Compared with ER alpha-negative breast cancer, which is more aggressive and has a shorter survival time, ER alpha-positive breast cancer could benefit from endocrine therapy. Selective estrogen receptor modulators, such as tamoxifen, are widely used in endocrine therapy. Approximately half of ER alpha-positive breast cancer patients will eventually develop endocrine resistance, making it a major clinical challenge in therapy. Thus, decoding the throughput of estrogen signaling, including the control of ER alpha expression and stability, is critical for the improvement of breast cancer therapeutics. Methods TRIM3 and ER alpha protein expression levels were measured by western blotting, while the mRNA levels of ER alpha target genes were measured by RT–PCR. A CCK-8 assay was used to measure cell viability. RNA sequencing data were analyzed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Identification of ER alpha signaling activity was accomplished with luciferase assays, RT–PCR and western blotting. Protein stability assays and ubiquitin assays were used to detect ER alpha protein degradation. Ubiquitin-based immunoprecipitation assays were used to detect the specific ubiquitination modification on the ER alpha protein. Results In our current study, we found that TRIM3, an E3 ligase, can promote ER alpha signaling activity and breast cancer progression. TRIM3 depletion inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation and migration, while unbiased RNA sequencing data indicated that TRIM3 is required for the activity of estrogen signaling on the -genome-wide scale. The immunoprecipitation assays indicated that TRIM3 associates with ER alpha and promotes its stability, possibly by inducing K63-linked polyubiquitination of ER alpha. In conclusion, our data implicate a nongenomic mechanism by which TRIM3 stabilizes the ER alpha protein to control ER alpha target gene expression linked to breast cancer progression. Conclusion Our study provides a novel posttranslational mechanism in estrogen signaling. Modulation of TRIM3 expression or function could be an interesting approach for breast cancer treatment. Graphical abstract Video abstract

Background: No specific drug for COVID-19 has been found, and many studies have found that different degrees of liver injury often occurred after infection with COVID-19. Glycyrrhizic acid preparation (GAP) has been frequently used clinically, often combined with conventional treatments such as antiviral therapy, to improve the prognosis of COVID-19 and patients’ liver function.Aims: To critically review and analyze clinical evidence on the efficacy and safety of GAP in the treatment of COVID-19 alone and COVID-19 with comorbid liver injury.Methods: A systematic literature review was performed following a sensitive searching strategy that examines all articles published in “WHO COVID-19 Research Database,” “Cochrane Library,” “VIP,” “CNKI,” “Wanfang,” and “CBM” from 2020 to July 2022. Articles were evaluated by peer reviewers and used Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools to complete the assessment of the risk of bias.Results: Ten clinical studies were finally included, involving 598 patients with COVID-19, of whom 189 were confirmed to be with comorbid liver injury. The main GAPs used are diammonium glycyrrhizinate and magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate, which have shown efficacy in improving liver function, inhibiting inflammation, and enhancing immunity. We are still seeking more related research.Conclusion: Glycyrrhizic acid preparations (mainly diammonium glycyrrhizinate and magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate) have a considerable clinical effect on improving liver function in patients with COVID-19 alone or with comorbid liver injury. Further studies on the use of GAP in the treatment of COVID-19 with comorbid liver injury and its mechanism are still needed.Systematic Review Registration: [www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero], identifier [CRD42021234647].

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a group of interstitial lung diseases that seriously endanger human life and health. Despite the current advances in research on the pathogenesis and treatment of PF, the overall quality of survival and survival rates of PF patients remain low, prompting the search for more effective therapeutic approaches. Exosomes are nanoscale vesicles with diameters ranging from approximately 30–150 nm, capable of transporting a variety of molecules in the body and mediating intercellular communication. There is an increasing number of studies focusing on the role of exosomes in PF. This review demonstrates the significance of exosomes in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of PF. Exosomes are able to influence inflammatory, immune, and extracellular matrix deposition processes in PF and regulate the corresponding cytokines. Some exosomes detected in sputum, blood, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid may be used as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for PF. Exosomes derived from several cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells, have demonstrated potential as PF therapeutic agents. Drug delivery systems using exosomes may also provide new insights into PF therapy.

Methyl gallate (MG), a polyphenolic compound found in plants, is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. MG is known to alleviate several cancer symptoms. However, most studies that have reported the antitumor effects of MG have done so at the cellular level, and the inhibitory effect and therapeutic mechanism of MG in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been extensively explored in vivo. We aimed to understand the therapeutic mechanism of MG in HCC in vitro and in vivo. MTT and colony formation assays were used to determine the impact of MG on the proliferation of a human HCC cell line, BEL-7402; wound healing and transwell assays were used to quantify the migration and invasion of HCC cells. Western blotting was used to quantify the expression of the AMPK/NF-κB signaling pathway proteins. In vivo tumor growth was measured in a xenograft tumor nude mouse model treated with MG, and hematoxylin–eosin staining and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to visualize the histological changes in the tumor tissue. We found that MG showed anti-proliferative effects both in vitro and in vivo. MG downregulated the protein expression of AMPK, NF-κB, p-NF-κB, and vimentin and upregulated the expression of E-cadherin in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, MG inhibited the migration and invasion of HCC cells by decreasing MMP9 and MMP2 expression and increasing TIMP-2 expression. These were consistent with the results of IHC in vivo. MG inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells. This effect potentially involves the regulation of the AMPK/NF-κB pathway, which in turn impacts epithelial-mesenchymal transition and MMP expression.

Abstract Background Acupuncture is effective in symptom and quality of life improvement of chronic asthma, but the efficacy differences between different acupoints are uncertain. In terms of the theory of Meridian-viscera Association, the study aims to investigate the different effectiveness between acupoints in Lung meridian and the acupoints in Heart meridian, so as to provide the evidence to develop a better prescription of the acupuncture treatment of chronic persistent asthma. Methods This study is a multicentral randomized controlled trial. A total of 68 chronic persistent asthma patients will be randomly allocated into two groups: the Lung meridian group and the Heart meridian group. This trial will include a 2-week baseline period, a 4-week treatment period with 12 sessions’ acupuncture, and an 8-week follow-up period. The primary outcome is the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ). Secondary outcomes are the Asthma Control Test (ACT), Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF), and Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 s (FEV1). The AQLQ and ACT will be collected at baseline, week 4, week 8, and week 12 after randomization. PEF, FEV1, the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) will be assessed at baseline and week 4. Discussion The results will provide evidence for acupuncture prescription selection and the clinical efficacy improvement. The results of this trial will also be used to determine whether or not a full definitive trial will go ahead, which will further confirm the theory of Meridian-viscera Association. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=43803 ) ChiCTR1900027284. Registered on 7 November 2019

Abstract The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2D/3D perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is still significantly low compared with 3D PSCs due to the poor charge transport ability of 2D perovskite thin films and a large number of defects in 3D thin films. Herein, to address these two issues, multifunctional TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs)‐modified carbon nanotubes (CNT:TiO2) additives are incorporated into 3D perovskite layer for the first time, and demonstrate three positive effects for CNT:TiO2 material application: firstly, it passivates the defect state of the 3D perovskite layer and enhances the charge mobility of the 3D layer; secondly, its interaction with the 2D film increases the conductivity of the 2D layer and produces the interface polarization electric field to promote the hole extraction. As a consequence, not only the PCE of the optimized 2D/3D PSCs with the CNT:TiO2 is greatly improved to 22.7% from 19.8% of the control PSCs, but also the stability is significantly improved.

Abstract Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are a subset of ILCs with critical roles in immunoregulation. However, the possible role of ILC2s as immunotherapy against allograft rejection remains unclear. Here, we show that IL‐33 significantly prolonged islet allograft survival. IL‐33‐treated mice had elevated numbers of ILC2s and regulatory T cells (Tregs). Depletion of Tregs partially abolished the protective effect of IL‐33 on allograft survival, and additional ILC2 depletion in Treg‐depleted DEREG mice completely abolished the protective effects of IL‐33, indicating that ILC2s play critical roles in IL‐33‐mediated islet graft protection. Two subsets of ILC2s were identified in islet allografts of IL‐33‐treated mice: IL‐10 producing ILC2s (ILC210) and non‐IL‐10 producing ILC2s (non‐ILC10). Intravenous transfer of ILC210 cells, but not non‐ILC10, prolonged islet allograft survival in an IL‐10‐dependent manner. Locally transferred ILC210 cells led to long‐term islet graft survival, suggesting that ILC210 cells are required within the allograft for maximal suppressive effect and graft protection. This study has uncovered a major protective role of ILC210 in islet transplantation which could be potentiated as a therapeutic strategy.

Abstract Hole transport layer (HTL) is very important for the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). As current state‐of‐the‐art HTL, Li‐TFSI doped spiro‐OMeTAD often suffers low conductivity and the hydrolysis of the additive Li‐TFSI, which significantly hinders the further improvement of PCE of PSCs. Besides, conventional spiro‐OMeTAD has no functional of directly passivating the perovskite crystal defects. Herein, multifunctional TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs)‐modified CNT (CNT:TiO2) doped spiro‐OMeTAD (spiro‐OMeTAD+CNT:TiO2) HTL is reported for the first time. The incorporated CNT:TiO2 not only significantly increases the conductivity of spiro‐OMeTAD+CNT:TiO2, but also effectively passivates the crystal defects of perovskite layer. The optimized PSCs with spiro‐OMeTAD+CNT:TiO2 HTL achieved a peak PCE of 21.53%, much higher than that (17.90%) of the conventional spiro‐OMeTAD based PSCs and also show significantly improved stability.

BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common women malignancy worldwide, while estrogen receptor alpha positive type accounts for two third of all breast cancers. Although ER alpha positive breast cancer could be effectively controlled by endocrine therapy, more than half of the cases could develop endocrine resistance, making it an important clinical issue in breast cancer treatment. Thus, decoding the detailed mechanism, which controls ER alpha signaling activation and ER alpha protein stability, is of great importance for the improvement of breast cancer therapy. Several zinc finger proteins were shown to mediate the ubiquitination process and modulate protein stability. Thus, we further explore the function of Zinc finger protein 213 on ER alpha protein stability and tamoxifen resistance.MethodsCCK8 and Edu assay was used to measure cell proliferation. RNA sequence was performed by Ingenuity pathway analysis. The ER alpha signaling activities were measured with luciferase assay, real-time quantitative PCR, and western blotting. Protein stability assay and ubiquitin assay were used to determine ER alpha protein degradation and ubiquitination. The immuno-precipitation was utilized to determine ER alpha and ZNF213 interaction. The ubiquitin-based immuno-precipitation assay was sued to detect specific ubiquitination manner on ER alpha.ResultsWe identified ZNF213 as a novel zinc finger protein, which modulated ER alpha protein. ZNF213 expression correlated with poor outcome in endocrine treated patients. ZNF213 depletion inhibited ER alpha signaling and proliferation in breast cancer cells. Further mechanistic studies showed ZNF213 located in cytosol and nuclear, which modulated ER alpha stability via inhibiting ER alpha K48-linked ubiquitination.ConclusionsOur study reveals an interesting post-translational mechanism between ER alpha and ZNF213 in breast cancer. Targeting ZNF213 could be an appealing strategy for ER alpha positive breast cancer.

We investigated the impact of the photoconductive properties of crystalline silicon solar cells, having a SiNx passivation film, on potential induced degradation (PID) using voltage-corona (V-Q) and self-adjusting stead state (SASS) tests. The experimental results show that the conductivity of SiNx on the cell surface was gradually enhanced by the increase in refractive index, which effectively decreased the accumulated charge on the cell surface. Thus, changes in the conductivity of SiNx were found to be the cause of the different PID performance of the modules. The present work provides a theoretical basis for solving the PID problem of solar modules and power stations, and the exploration of the V-Q and SASS techniques provides a new, convenient method and corresponding basis for testing the PID performance of solar cells during industrial production. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.24.2.17171

Nano texturing has been confirmed as an effective structure to improve the efficiency of multi-crystalline silicon solar cells by reducing optical loss. In this study, nano textured solar cells are fabricated by the Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) method based on a conventional production line. Several characterization methods are employed to evaluate the morphology, minority carrier lifetime, quantum efficiency and electricity performance of both nano textured and micro textured solar cells. The results show that nano textured solar cells have a maxiumum efficiency of 19.21 % and an average efficiency that is 0.57 % higher than that of micro textured solar cells. Thus, the RIE method is an effective way to manufacture nano textured solar cells. It can demonstrably improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of mass-produced solar cells and reduce the production cost, which is significant to the development of solar cell industy. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.24.2.17398

A definitive endodermal cell lineage is a prerequisite for the efficient generation of mature endoderm derivatives that give rise to organs, such as the pancreas and liver. We previously reported that the induction of mesenchymal definitive endoderm cells depends on autocrine TGF-β signaling and that pharmacological blockage of TGF-β signaling by Repsox disrupts endoderm specification. The definitive endoderm arises from a primitive streak, which depends largely on TGF-β signaling. If the TGF-β pathway is blocked by Repsox, cell fate after the primitive streak induction is so-far unknown. We report here, that an induced primitive streak cell-population contained many T/SOX2 co-expressing cells, and subsequent inhibition of TGF-β signaling by Repsox promoted neuroectodermal cell fate, which was characterized using single-cell qPCR analysis and immunostaining. The process of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, which is inherent to the process of definitive endoderm differentiation, was also disrupted upon Repsox treatment. Our findings may provide a new approach to produce neural progenitors.

We report industrial fabrication of different kinds of nanostructured multicrystalline silicon solar cells via normal acid texturing, reactive ion etching (RIE), and metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) processes on diamond wire sawing wafer. The effect of different surface structure on reflectivity, lifetime, and electrical performance was systematically studied in this paper. The difference between industrial acid, RIE, and MACE textured multicrystalline silicon solar cells to our knowledge has not been investigated previously. The resulting efficiency indicates that low reflectivity surface structure with the size of 0.2–0.8 μm via RIE and MACE process do not always lead to low lifetime compared with acid texturing process. Both RIE and MACE process is promising candidate for high efficiency processes for future industrial diamond wire sawing multicrystalline silicon solar cells.

Voltage bias of several hundred volts which are applied between solar cells and module frames may lead to significant power losses, so-called potential-induced degradation (PID), in normal photovoltaic (PV) installations system. Modules and minimodules are used to conduct PID test of solar cells. The test procedure is time consuming and of high cost, which cannot be used as process monitoring method during solar cells fabrication. In this paper, three kinds of test including minimodule, Rsh, and V-Q test are conducted on solar cells or wafers with SiNx of different refractive index. All comparisons between test results of Rsh, V-Q, and minimodule tests have shown equal results. It is shown that Rsh test can be used as quality inspection of solar cells and V-Q test of coated wafer can be used as process control of solar cells.

The article introduces a novel roasting technique under a dynamic magnetic field (RDMF) that enables the rapid synthesis of MnB crystals, producing bulk and powder forms within seconds.