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The process of memory and learning in biological systems is multimodal, as several kinds of input signals cooperatively determine the weight of information transfer and storage. This study describes a peptide-based platform of materials and devices that can control the coupled conduction of protons and electrons and thus create distinct regions of synapse-like performance depending on the proton activity. We utilized tyrosine-rich peptide-based films and generalized our principles by demonstrating both memristor and synaptic devices. Interestingly, even memristive behavior can be controlled by both voltage and humidity inputs, learning and forgetting process in the device can be initiated and terminated by protons alone in peptide films. We believe that this work can help to understand the mechanism of biological memory and lay a foundation to realize a brain-like device based on ions and electrons. The structural programmability and functionality of peptide materials can be leverage for various next-generation devices such as non-volatile memories. The authors report a proton-coupled mechanism in tyrosine-rich peptides for realizing multimodal memory devices.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the effect of the vibration of osteoblasts on the cell cycle, cell differentiation, and aging. Materials and Methods: Primary maxilla osteoblasts harvested from eight-week-old mice were subjected to vibration at 3, 30, and 300 Hz once daily for 30 min; control group, 0 Hz. A cell proliferation assay and Cell-Clock Cell Cycle Assay were performed 24 h after vibration. Osteoblast differentiation assay, aging marker genes, SA-β-Gal activity, and telomere length (qPCR) were assayed two weeks post- vibration once every two days. Results: Cell proliferation increased significantly at 30 and 300 Hz rather than 0 Hz. Several cells were in the late G2/M stage of the cell cycle at 30 Hz. The osteoblast differentiation assay was significantly higher at 30 Hz than at 0 Hz. Runx2 mRNA was downregulated at 30 Hz compared to that at 0 Hz, while osteopontin, osteocalcin, and sclerostin mRNA were upregulated. p53/p21, p16, and c-fos were activated at 30 Hz. SA-β-Gal activity increased significantly at 30 or 300 Hz. Telomere length was significantly lower at 30 or 300 Hz. Conclusions: The results suggest that providing optimal vibration to osteoblasts promotes cell cycle progression and differentiation and induces cell aging.

In the present study, the effects of nitrogen incorporation on the transition of a p-type copper oxide semiconductor are investigated. The properties of sputtered copper oxide and nitrogen-incorporated copper oxide are evaluated and compared at various nitrogen gas flow rates. The results indicate that the addition of nitrogen results in an increased optical bandgap, accompanied by significantly reduced tail states compared to pristine copper oxide. In addition, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveal that the incorporation of nitrogen stimulates the transition from copper (II) oxide to copper (I) oxide.

Background β-aminoisobutyric acid (BAIBA) is produced in skeletal muscle during exercise and has beneficial effects on obesity-related metabolic disorders such as diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Thus, it is supposed to prevent high fat diet (HFD)-induced inflammation and insulin resistance in adipose tissue though anti-inflammatory effects in obesity. Previous reports have also demonstrated strong anti-inflammatory effects of BAIBA. Methods We used BAIBA treated fully differentiated 3T3T-L1 mouse adipocytes to investigate the effects of exogenous BAIBA on inflammation and insulin signaling in adipocytes. Insulin signaling-mediated proteins and inflammation markers were measured by Western blot analysis. Secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines were measured by ELISA. Lipid accumulation in differentiated 3 T3-L1 cells was stained by Oil red-O. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA and student’s t test. Results BAIBA treatment suppressed adipogenesis assessed by adipogenic markers as well as lipid accumulation after full differentiation. We showed that BAIBA treatment stimulated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα and MCP-1 was abrogated in BAIBA-treated 3 T3-L1 cells. Treatment of 3 T3-L1 cells with BAIBA reduced LPS-induced NFκB and IκB phosphorylation. Furthermore, BAIBA treatment ameliorated LPS-induced impairment of insulin signaling measured by IRS-1 and Akt phosphorylation and fatty acid oxidation. Suppression of AMPK by small interfering (si) RNA significantly restored these changes. Conclusions We demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anti-insulin resistance effects of BAIBA in differentiated 3 T3-L1 cells treated with LPS through AMPK-dependent signaling. These results provide evidence for the beneficial effects of BAIBA not only in liver and skeletal muscle cells but also in adipose tissue.

Accelerated urban and industrial expansion has intensified anthropogenic activities, increasing the emission and accumulation of hazardous substances in air, water, and soil. This study assessed health risks from heavy metals in indoor settled dust collected from Myodo-dong, Yeosu, Republic of Korea, by estimating exposure via inhalation, dermal contact, and ingestion, deriving protective exposure limits, and identifying emission sources using multivariate analysis. Indoor settled dust samples from 20 of 50 households showed elevated heavy metal concentrations, with zinc (Zn) having the highest mean level (4,912.01 µg/g). Ingestion was the dominant exposure route. Non-carcinogenic risks were within acceptable limits, while carcinogenic risks surpassed 1.0 × 10 − 6 for cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni). Cd risk was mainly ingestion-driven, whereas Ni posed the greatest concern through ingestion and dermal exposure. Lead (Pb) showed consistently low risk. Source identifications were analyzed using Pearson correlation, principal component analysis (PCA), and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), which grouped metals into three clusters, suggesting shared industrial origins. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) resolved five sources, four of which matched industrial sectors in pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR) data, including battery manufacturing, plastics, non-ferrous metal processing, and ceramics. Source 1, dominated by Cd, was not identified due to inventory gaps, but fenceline regression showed a strong correlation (R 2  = 0.983, p  < 0.01) between Cd in ambient air and indoor settled dust, implicating emissions from a nearby steel facility.

Chronic stress disrupts brain homeostasis and adversely affects the cerebro-vascular system. Even though the effects of chronic stress on brain system have been extensively studied, there are few in vivo dynamic studies on the effects of chronic stress on the cerebro-vascular system. In this study, the effects of chronic stress on cerebral vasculature and BBB permeability were studied using in vivo two-photon (2p) microscopic imaging with an injection of fluorescence-conjugated dextran. Our real-time 2p imaging results showed that chronic stress reduced the vessel diameter and reconstructed vascular volume, regardless of vessel type and branching order. BBB permeability was investigated with two different size of tracers. Stressed animals exhibited a greater BBB permeability to 40-kDa dextran, but not to 70-kDa dextran, which is suggestive of weakened vascular integrity following stress. Molecular analysis revealed significantly higher VEGFa mRNA expression and a reduction in claudin-5. In summary, chronic stress decreases the size of cerebral vessels and increases BBB permeability. These results may suggest that the sustained decrease in cerebro-vascular volume due to chronic stress leads to a hypoxic condition that causes molecular changes such as VEGF and claudin-5, which eventually impairs the function of BBB.

Limited data are available on clinical phenotype for delirium that occurs frequently among patients admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical pictures of delirium, and their association with clinical outcomes in CICU patients. A total of 4,261 patients who were admitted to the CICU between September 1 2012 to December 31 2018 were retrospectively registered. Patients were excluded if they were admitted to the CICU for less than 24 hours or had missed data. Ultimately, 2,783 patients were included in the analysis. A day of delirium was defined as any day during which at least one CAM-ICU assessment was positive. The clinical risk factors of delirium were classified by the delirium phenotype, as follows; hypoxic, septic, sedative-associated, and metabolic delirium. The incidence of delirium was 24.4% at the index hospitalization in all CICU patients, and 22.6% within 7 days after CICU admission. The most common delirium phenotype was septic delirium (17.2%), followed by hypoxic delirium (16.8%). Multiple phenotypes were observed during most delirium days. Delirium most frequently occurred in patients with heart failure. Of all patients affected by delirium within 7 days, both ICU and hospital mortality significantly increased according to the combined number of delirium phenotypes. Delirium occurred in a quarter of patients admitted to the modern CICU and was associated with increased in-hospital mortality. Therefore, more efforts are needed to reduce the clinical risk factors of delirium, and to prevent it in order to improve clinical outcomes in the CICU.

2D materials such as graphene hold significant potential for optoelectronic applications due to their unique surface properties and strong light‐matter interaction. Despite the promise, achieving high‐performance photonic devices using 2D materials alone remains challenging, and therefore, integrating 2D materials with different dimensional semiconductors has emerged as an alternative approach to enhance device functionality. Here, p‐type graphene/InAs quantum dot (QD)/n‐type GaAs mixed‐dimensional heterojunctions are demonstrated for 1.3 µm light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) by using the p‐graphene as an ultrathin hole injection layer. These ultrathin hybrid devices show 800 × stronger electroluminescence output powers than the reference LEDs without p‐graphene. Energy band alignments at the heterojunction interface are also investigated by measuring UV photoemission spectroscopy to elucidate electrical characteristics. The novel hybrid 2D p‐graphene/0D QD/n‐GaAs light‐emitting diodes open up new ways for efficient ultrathin nanoscale light‐emitting optoelectronic devices. Novel p‐type graphene/InAs quantum dot (QD)/n‐type GaAs mixed‐dimensional heterojunction structures are demonstrated for 1.3 µm light‐emitting diodes The p‐graphene serves as an ultrathin hole injection layer and the hybrid device shows 800 × stronger electroluminescence output powers than the reference LEDs without p‐graphene. The novel hybrid 2D p‐graphene/0D QD/n‐GaAs light‐emitting diodes open up new ways for efficient ultrathin nanoscale light‐emitting optoelectronic devices.

Epitaxial growth of III–V materials on Si is a promising approach for large-scale, relatively low-cost, and high-efficiency Si-based multi-junction solar cells. Several micron-thick III–V compositionally graded buffers are typically grown to reduce the high threading dislocation density that arises due to the lattice mismatch between III–V and Si. Here, we show that optically transparent n-In0.1Al0.9As/n-GaAs strained layer superlattice dislocation filter layers can be used to reduce the threading dislocation density in the GaAs buffer on Si while maintaining the GaAs buffer thickness below 2 μm. Electron channeling contrast imaging measurements on the 2 μm n-GaAs/Si template revealed a threading dislocation density of 6 × 107 cm−2 owing to the effective n-In0.1Al0.9As/n-GaAs superlattice filter layers. Our GaAs/Si tandem cell showed an open-circuit voltage of 1.28 V, Si bottom cell limited short-circuit current of 7.2 mA/cm2, and an efficiency of 7.5%. This result paves the way toward monolithically integrated triple-junction solar cells on Si substrates.

Virtual characters are now widely used in games, computer-generated (CG) movies, virtual reality (VR), and communication media. The continued technological innovations in motion capture mean that a more natural representation of a three-dimensional character’s motion should be achievable. Many researchers have investigated how virtual characters interact with their surrounding environment through spatial relationships, which were introduced for adapting and preserving character motion. However, technical problems should be resolved to enable the control of characters in augmented reality (AR) environments that combine with the real world, and this can be achieved by adapting motion to environmental differences using original motion datasets. In this paper, we investigate a novel method for preserving automatic motion adaptation for a virtual character in AR environments. We used specific object (e.g., puddle) recognition and the spatial properties of the user’s surrounding space, e.g., object types and positions, and ran validation experiments to provide accurate motion to improve the AR experience. Our experimental study showed positive results in terms of smooth motion in AR configurations. We also found that the participants using AR felt a greater sense of co-presence with the character through adapted motion.