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• BFMI biomass derived defective hard carbon (HC) in mixed gas environment is reported. • Controlled CO 2 purging in N 2 environment at 1400 °C leads to HC with defective sites. • Prepared HC anode (BFHC-NC 5) display discharge/charge capacities of 413/358 mAh g−1. • Defective HC anode renders outstanding capacity retention of 86.6% at first cycle. • Prepared hard carbon records outstanding rate-performance in sodium-ion storage for 500 cycles. Defective hard carbons are deliberated as promising candidates for sodium-ion battery (SIB) anodes of this decade. Recently, several groups have discussed the structure-property correlation which correlates the slope capacity in charge/discharge profile curves to the binding of sodium-ions on the structural defective sites of the hard carbon. In order to validate these correlations, herein we report for first time the preparation of defective hard carbon materials from Borassus flabellifer male inflorescence via controlled thermal activation process using Nitrogen (N 2) and Carbon dioxide (CO 2) gas mixtures and its subsequent usage as anode material in sodium-ion battery. When used as sodium-ion battery anode, the prepared hard carbon displayed outstanding reversible discharge/charge capacities of 413/358 mAh g−1 and superior initial capacity retention of 86.6%, which is the highest ever reported value to date alongwith a overwhelming cycling stability. The notable improvements can be correlated to the broken edges present in the hard carbon surface as well as the randomly distributed micro-nano structured pores in the system as revealed by the morphological characterizations. Thus, the reported research work paves way in developing novel low cost and high performance micro-nano structured defective hard carbon anode materials for Sodium-ion batteries. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed, validated, and piloted a MultiTeachViews questionnaire to investigate secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' attitudes towards multilingual teaching practices such as L1 and translation use. Initially, a literature review and focus group interview with six in-service EFL teachers were conducted to capture prevailing attitudes and inform content areas for the questionnaire. Items were then crafted, followed by the adoption of a 5-point Likert scale. Validation involved assessing internal and content validity through a structured checklist and expert evaluation. The pilot phase included think-aloud protocols with two teachers and a reliability test across a broader cohort of 100 teachers. Reliability testing yielded satisfactory Cronbach's Alpha coefficients (α > .70) for all scales, affirming the instrument's internal consistency. Consequently, the instrument is found to be a reliable and valid measure of EFL teachers' attitudes towards L1 and translation use in the classroom, with significant implications for Applied Linguistic and Second Language Acquisition research.•Developed, validated, and piloted a MultiTeachViews questionnaire for investigating attitudes.•Employed mixed methods in the development, validation, and piloting phases.•Found MultiTeachViews to be a reliable and valid measure of EFL teachers' attitudes towards multilingual teaching practices, such as L1 and translation use., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Author.)

Objective: Basic Calcium Phosphate (BCP) crystals play an active role in the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). However, the cellular consequences remain largely unknown. Therefore, we characterized for the first time the changes in the protein secretome of human OA articular chondrocytes as a result of BCP stimulation using two unbiased proteomic analysis methods., Method: Isolated human OA articular chondrocytes were stimulated with BCP crystals and examined by Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) and enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) after twenty-four and forty-eight hours. Forty-eight hours conditioned media were analyzed by label-free liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and an antibody array. The activity of BCP dependent Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGF-β) signaling was analyzed by RT-qPCR and luciferase reporter assays. The molecular consequences regarding BCP-dependent TGF-β signaling on BCP-dependent Interleukin 6 (IL-6) were investigated using specific pathway inhibitors., Results: Synthesized BCP crystals induced IL-6 expression and secretion upon stimulation of human articular chondrocytes. Concomitant induction of catabolic gene expression was observed. Analysis of conditioned media revealed a complex and diverse response with a large number of proteins involved in TGF-β signaling, both in activation of latent TGF-β and TGF-β superfamily members, which were increased compared to non-stimulated OA chondrocytes. Activity of this BCP driven TGF-β signaling was confirmed by increased activity of expression of TGF-β target genes and luciferase reporters. Inhibition of BCP driven TGF-β signaling resulted in decreased IL-6 expression and secretion with a moderate effect on catabolic gene expression., Conclusion: BCP crystal stimulation resulted in a complex and diverse chondrocyte protein secretome response. An important role for BCP-dependent TGF-β signaling was identified in development of a pro-inflammatory environment., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Osteoarthritis is the most common degenerative joint disorder. MicroRNAs are gene expression regulators that act post-transcriptionally to control tissue homeostasis. Microarray analysis was undertaken in osteoarthritic intact, lesioned and young intact cartilage. Principal component analysis showed that young intact cartilage samples were clustered together; osteoarthritic samples had a wider distribution; and osteoarthritic intact samples were separated into two subgroups, osteoarthritic-Intact-1 and osteoarthritic-Intact-2. We identified 318 differentially expressed microRNAs between young intact and osteoarthritic lesioned cartilage, 477 between young intact and osteoarthritic-Intact-1 cartilage and 332 between young intact and osteoarthritic-Intact-2 cartilage samples. For a selected list of differentially expressed microRNAs, results were verified in additional cartilage samples using qPCR. Of the validated DE microRNAs, four-miR-107, miR-143-3p, miR-361-5p and miR-379-5p-were selected for further experiments in human primary chondrocytes treated with IL-1β. Expression of these microRNAs decreased in human primary chondrocytes treated with IL-1β. For miR-107 and miR-143-3p, gain- and loss-of-function approaches were undertaken and associated target genes and molecular pathways were investigated using qPCR and mass spectrometry proteomics. Analyses showed that WNT4 and IHH , predicted targets of miR-107, had increased expression in osteoarthritic cartilage compared to young intact cartilage and in primary chondrocytes treated with miR-107 inhibitor, and decreased expression in primary chondrocytes treated with miR-107 mimic, suggesting a role of miR-107 in chondrocyte survival and proliferation. In addition, we identified an association between miR-143-3p and EIF2 signalling and cell survival. Our work supports the role of miR-107 and miR-143-3p in important chondrocyte mechanisms regulating proliferation, hypertrophy and protein translation.