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Neuromodulation technologies have gained considerable attention for their clinical potential in treating neurological disorders and advancing cognition research. However, traditional methods like electrical stimulation and optogenetics face technical and biological challenges that limit their therapeutic and research applications. A promising alternative, photoelectric neurostimulation, uses near‐infrared light to generate electrical pulses and thus enables stimulation of neuronal activity without genetic alterations. This study explores various design strategies to enhance photoelectric stimulation with minimally invasive, ultrasmall, untethered carbon electrodes. Employing a multiphoton laser as the near‐infrared (NIR) light source, benchtop experiments are conducted using a three‐electrode setup and chronopotentiometry to record photo‐stimulated voltage. In vivo evaluations utilize Thy1‐GCaMP6s mice with acutely implanted ultrasmall carbon electrodes. Results highlighted the beneficial effects of high duty‐cycle laser scanning and photovoltaic polymer interfaces on the photo‐stimulated voltages by the implanted electrode. Additionally, the promising potential of carbon‐based diamond electrodes are demonstrated for photoelectric stimulation and the application of photoelectric stimulation in precise chemical delivery by loading mesoporous silica nanoparticles (SNPs) co‐deposited with polyethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT). Together, these findings on photoelectric stimulation utilizing ultrasmall carbon electrodes underscore its immense potential for advancing the next generation of neurostimulation technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geomorphological characteristics is the most directive reflection of soil erosion results. The mechanism of erosion processes and the influence of the micro-topographic characteristic value of erosion can be revealed by analyzing the fluctuation characteristics of micro-topography on slope. In this paper, the typical karst area of Huaying City is taken as the research area. The three slope gradients of <25°, 25-30° and >30°, five terrain factor eigenvalues, including average slope, slope variability, surface roughness, terrain relief and variation coefficient of elevation, are selected to compare the statistical distribution, entropy weight index and terrain interpretation rate, and to analyze the differences in the description of micro-topographic characteristics of soil erosion with different gradients and scales. The results show that (1) the difference of micro-topography feature values of steep slope (>30°) is significantly greater than that of gentle slope (<25°), and the steeper the slope is, the greater the coefficient values of terrain variation is, so the characteristic values of terrain factors with strong variability should be used to describe, such as the variation coefficient of elevation, terrain relief and surface roughness. (2) With the increase of micro-topographic scale, terrain relief and variation coefficient of elevation are positively correlated with scale change, while average slope, slope variation rate and surface roughness are negatively correlated with scale change. The characteristics of terrain relief and variation coefficient of elevation coefficient are relatively sensitive to scales factors, which recommended in the study of erosion mechanism at the microscale. (3) The four factors of surface roughness, variation coefficient of elevation, terrain relief and average slope are better used to present the slope micro-topographic characteristics comprehensively. The comprehensive terrain interpretation rate is the highest (more than 90%) at the scale of 0.5-1 m, which can well reflect the characteristics information of the micro-topography feature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real‐time measurement of neurochemical and electrophysiological activities in the living brain is vital for advancing neuroscience and understanding brain disorders. Carbon fiber microelectrodes (CFEs) have been widely utilized for in vivo electrochemical detection due to their subcellular size, biocompatibility, and desirable electrochemical properties, and CFE arrays have demonstrated excellent multi‐site chronic sensing of dopamine (DA) and neural activity recording capabilities. However, manual fabrication of CFE arrays lacks reproducibility and batch production capacity. Alternatively, photolithography enables batch fabrication of glassy carbon (GC) multielectrode arrays (GC‐MEAs) with high resolution and reproducibility, but the insertion of planar flexible MEAs poses challenges. In this study, GC fiber‐like (GCF) MEAs are presented and fabricated using photolithography. The GCF MEAs feature fiber‐like GC electrodes with small cross‐sections, facilitating self‐insertion into brain tissue without additional aids. Batch fabrication of GCF MEAs allows for customizable designs with minimal manual intervention. Comparative analysis with CFEs demonstrates improved electrochemical properties of GCF. In vivo experiments in mouse brains confirm the GCF MEAs' ability to measure neurotransmitter concentrations and record neural activities. This novel fabrication approach is promising for multimodal electrical and chemical measurements with minimal footprint, offering significant advancements in neural interface technology for neuroscience research and clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer, one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers, causes a huge number of mortalities globally. Among lung cancers, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most recorded. Despite accumulating research, the molecular basis of NSCLC progression remains poorly known. Therefore, we aim to assess the function of NCK1-AS1 in NSCLC and elucidate the molecular mechanism. Firstly, we quantified the NCK1-AS1 level in tumors and adjacent healthy tissues. NCK1-AS1 was significantly upregulated in NSCLC tumors, which was associated with poor prognosis in patients. Silencing NCK1-AS1 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion, as well as the EMT of NSCLC cell lines. Starbase bioinformatic prediction revealed that NCK1-AS1 targets miR-361-5p which acts to regulate ADAM10 gene expression. Our result showed that NCK1-AS1 upregulation markedly reduced miR-361-5p mRNA expression, while increasing ADAM10 expression. For the first time, we demonstrated that NCK1-AS1 regulates the miR-361-5p/ADAM10 axis, thereby promoting NSCLC progression. NCK1-AS1 might be developed as a therapeutic target for treating NSCLC., (©The Author(s) 2023. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY International License.)

Salt stress impacts growth and physiological processes in plants, and some plants exposed to salt stress will produce physiological mechanisms to adapt to the new environment. However, the effects of combined NaCl and NaHCO3 stress on the seedlings of Acer species are understudied. In this study, we designed an experiment to measure physiological characteristics by establishing a range of NaCl and NaHCO 3 concentrations (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mmol L -1 ) to estimate the compound salt tolerance of Acer ginnala and Acer palmatum . When the concentrations of NaCl and NaHCO 3 were 25 mmol L -1 , the leaf water content, relative conductivity, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, proline content, soluble sugar content, and chlorophyll did not change ( p > 0.05) in two maple seedlings. At concentrations greater than 50 mmol L -1 , the relative conductivity and MDA content increased, proline and soluble sugars accumulated, and the potential activity of PS II ( F v /F o ), potential photochemical efficiency of PS II ( F v / F m ), PS II actual photochemical efficiency (Yield), and photosynthetic electron transfer efficiency (ETR) decreased ( p < 0.05). The superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities showed the same trend of first increasing and then decreasing ( p < 0.05). The peroxidase (POD) activity increased only when concentrations of NaCl and NaHCO 3 were 100 mmol L -1 , while there was no statistical difference between the other treatments and the control. Therefore, the two maple seedlings adjusted their osmotic balance and alleviated oxidative stress by accumulating proline, soluble sugars and increasing CAT and SOD activities. Further analysis showed that both species are salt tolerant and the salt tolerance of Acer ginnala is better than that of Acer palmatum ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Xu, Cao, Zhang, Li, Zhao, Wang, Wang, Wu, Zhou, Lin, Gao and Rong.)