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Real-time sensing of nitric oxide (NO) in physiological environments is critically important in monitoring neurotransmission, inflammatory responses, cardiovascular systems, etc. Conventional approaches for NO detection relying on indirect colorimetric measurement or built with rigid and permanent materials cannot provide continuous monitoring and/or require additional surgical retrieval of the implants, which comes with increased risks and hospital cost. Herein, we report a flexible, biologically degradable and wirelessly operated electrochemical sensor for real-time NO detection with a low detection limit (3.97 nmol), a wide sensing range (0.01–100 μM), and desirable anti-interference characteristics. The device successfully captures NO evolution in cultured cells and organs, with results comparable to those obtained from the standard Griess assay. Incorporated with a wireless circuit, the sensor platform achieves continuous sensing of NO levels in living mammals for several days. The work may provide essential diagnostic and therapeutic information for health assessment, treatment optimization and postsurgical monitoring. Real-time continuous sensing of biological analytes is of importance in a range of biomedical applications. Here, the authors report on a flexible and physically transient sensor for the detection of nitric oxide and demonstrate applications in nitric oxide sensing in organs ex vivo and in vivo.

Optogenetic methods provide efficient cell-specific modulations, and the ability of simultaneous neural activation and inhibition in the same brain region of freely moving animals is highly desirable. Here we report bidirectional neuronal activity manipulation accomplished by a wireless, dual-color optogenetic probe in synergy with the co-expression of two spectrally distinct opsins (ChrimsonR and stGtACR2) in a rodent model. The flexible probe comprises vertically assembled, thin-film microscale light-emitting diodes with a lateral dimension of 125 × 180 µm 2 , showing colocalized red and blue emissions and enabling chronic in vivo operations with desirable biocompatibilities. Red or blue irradiations deterministically evoke or silence neurons co-expressing the two opsins. The probe interferes with dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area of mice, increasing or decreasing dopamine levels. Such bidirectional regulations further generate rewarding and aversive behaviors and interrogate social interactions among multiple mice. These technologies create numerous opportunities and implications for brain research. Simultaneous neural activation and inhibition in the same brain region of animals is highly desirable. Here the authors report a wireless, dual-colour optogenetic probe with the co-expression of two spectrally distinct opsins to allow for bidirectional neuronal activity manipulation in a rodent model.

In the national innovation system, the synergistic development of technological and management innovation in megaprojects plays a critical role in achieving high-quality project delivery. This study aims to develop a quantifiable three-dimensional coordination measurement framework to explore the collaborative mechanisms between technological and management innovation and validate practical applicability. First, key influencing factors of both technological and management innovation are identified through a systematic literature review and expert interviews. Based on these factors, an innovation status measurement model is constructed using a combined subjective and objective weighting approach. Next, the coupling degree function is applied to assess the coordination levels of three subsystems: structural coordination, behavioral coordination, and performance matching. Moreover, the overall coordination degree is calculated by integrating these results using a power function. A case study of the Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway reveals that the structural coordination degree is low level, the behavioral coordination degree is medium level, the performance matching degree is medium level, and the overall coordination degree is medium level. These findings suggest that while collaboration at the behavioral level is relatively effective, there remains significant potential for improvement in structural and performance coordination. The proposed three-dimensional coordination framework and associated quantitative tools demonstrate strong diagnostic capability in evaluating the synergy, offering theoretical support for dynamic strategy formulation and resource optimization.

Molten oxide electrolysis is considered a promising route for extractive metallurgy with much reduced carbon dioxide emissions relative to traditional routes; now a new chromium-based alloy has been developed for use as an oxygen evolving anode that remains stable in the high-temperature corrosive conditions found during iron production via electrolysis. A greener route to steel Metals production is the largest industrial source of greenhouse gases, with steel the main culprit. Traditional methods of extracting iron from its ore require a carbon-based reductant and produce large quantities of CO 2 . Molten oxide electrolysis is a promising alternative, but until now it has required anode materials that are either consumable or prohibitively expensive. This paper reports the development of a new chromium-based aluminium alloy electrode that is relatively cheap and, thanks to its three-layered structure (metal oxide/mixed oxide/electrolyte), is protected from dissolution. This technology must now be scaled up and its long-term performance assessed. Molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) is an electrometallurgical technique that enables the direct production of metal in the liquid state from oxide feedstock 1 , 2 , and compared with traditional methods of extractive metallurgy offers both a substantial simplification of the process and a significant reduction in energy consumption 3 . MOE is also considered a promising route for mitigation of CO 2 emissions in steelmaking 3 , 4 , 5 , production of metals free of carbon 6 , and generation of oxygen for extra-terrestrial exploration 7 , 8 . Until now, MOE has been demonstrated using anode materials that are consumable (graphite for use with ferro-alloys and titanium 6 , 9 ) or unaffordable for terrestrial applications (iridium for use with iron 10 , 11 ). To enable metal production without process carbon, MOE requires an anode material that resists depletion while sustaining oxygen evolution. The challenges for iron production are threefold. First, the process temperature is in excess of 1,538 degrees Celsius (ref. 10 ). Second, under anodic polarization most metals inevitably corrode in such conditions 11 , 12 , 13 . Third, iron oxide undergoes spontaneous reduction on contact with most refractory metals 14 and even carbon. Here we show that anodes comprising chromium-based alloys exhibit limited consumption during iron extraction and oxygen evolution by MOE. The anode stability is due to the formation of an electronically conductive solid solution of chromium( iii ) and aluminium oxides in the corundum structure. These findings make practicable larger-scale evaluation of MOE for the production of steel, and potentially provide a key material component enabling mitigation of greenhouse-gas emissions while producing metal of superior metallurgical quality.

Precise control of the life cycle of materials has become critical. Long-lasting materials are not always the best—for example, nondegradable plastic waste is now a serious environmental problem. Transient electronic devices have a prescribed life cycle in which all or part of the device can physically dissolve, disappear, or degrade after their utility ends. This concept creates compelling opportunities for biodegradable temporary, implantable electronics that do not require removal; environmentally benign biodegradable electronics with zero waste; and security hardware with on-time system destruction. Nanoscale materials provide new uses for transient materials dissolution by scaling up the rate of degradation; for example, a microscale Si single crystal is not dissoluble, but at around 100 nm, the Si single crystal dissolves in approximately one month. Significant advances have been made in exploring transient, water-soluble, and biodegradable nano-/micromaterials, and their degradation chemistry and kinetics. Advancing the state of the art in transient electronics requires contributions from many disciplines of materials science ranging from materials analysis to applications. This article outlines the history of transient electronics and briefly overviews concepts and issues from inorganic- and organic-based electronic materials, process technology, and energy devices to trigger transient electronics.

Based on the severity of liver fibrosis, low or high-risk profile of developing end-stage liver disease was present in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the mechanisms inducing transition from mild to advanced NAFLD are still elusive. We performed a system-level study on fibrosing-NAFLD by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify significant modules in the network, and followed by functional and pathway enrichment analyses. Moreover, hub genes in the module were analyzed by network feature selection. As a result, fourteen distinct gene modules were identified, and seven modules showed significant associations with the status of NAFLD. Module preservation analysis confirmed that these modules can also be found in diverse independent datasets. After network feature analysis, the magenta module demonstrated a remarkably correlation with NAFLD fibrosis. The top hub genes with high connectivity or gene significance in the module were ultimately determined, including LUM, THBS2, FBN1 and EFEMP1. These genes were further verified in clinical samples. Finally, the potential regulators of magenta module were characterized. These findings highlighted a module and affiliated genes as playing important roles in the regulation of fibrosis in NAFLD, which may point to potential targets for therapeutic interventions.

In order to test the key factors affecting users' continuance intention of mobile banking Apps, this study combined the Technology acceptance model (TAM) with the perceptual sinteraction model, and further added human-system interaction and perceived privacy security that was not explored in these models before. Data were collected from 349 users who had experience with mobile banking to test the model and were analyzed with a structural equation model. The present study showed that various interactive characteristics of mobile banking (human-human interaction, human-information interaction, human-system interaction) had significant positive impacts on users' perceptions of using mobile banking (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived privacy security). Users' perceptions of using mobile banking had significantly positive impacts on users' satisfaction with mobile banking, and user satisfaction had a significant impact on users' continuance intention. Users' income level had a significantly negative impact on their continuance intention. In order to further enhance users' continuance intention for mobile banking, designers and managers of mobile banking are suggested to pay special attention to the interactive characteristics of mobile banking and the impact on users' perceptions of mobile banking, so as to improve customer satisfaction and continuous intention.

In the national innovation system, the synergistic development of technological and management innovation in megaprojects plays a critical role in achieving high-quality project delivery. This study aims to develop a quantifiable three-dimensional coordination measurement framework to explore the collaborative mechanisms between technological and management innovation and validate practical applicability. First, key influencing factors of both technological and management innovation are identified through a systematic literature review and expert interviews. Based on these factors, an innovation status measurement model is constructed using a combined subjective and objective weighting approach. Next, the coupling degree function is applied to assess the coordination levels of three subsystems: structural coordination, behavioral coordination, and performance matching. Moreover, the overall coordination degree is calculated by integrating these results using a power function. A case study of the Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway reveals that the structural coordination degree is low level, the behavioral coordination degree is medium level, the performance matching degree is medium level, and the overall coordination degree is medium level. These findings suggest that while collaboration at the behavioral level is relatively effective, there remains significant potential for improvement in structural and performance coordination. The proposed three-dimensional coordination framework and associated quantitative tools demonstrate strong diagnostic capability in evaluating the synergy, offering theoretical support for dynamic strategy formulation and resource optimization.

Background Ovarian carcinoma (OC) is a fatal malignancy, with most patients experiencing recurrence and resistance to chemotherapy. In contrast to hematogenous metastasizing tumors, ovarian cancer cells disseminate within the peritoneal cavity, especially the omentum. Previously, we reported omental crown-like structure (CLS) number is associated with poor prognosis of advanced-stage OC. CLS that have pathologic features of a dead or dying adipocyte was surrounded by several macrophages is well known a histologic hallmark for inflammatory adipose tissue. In this study, we attempted to clarify the interaction between metastatic ovarian cancer cells and omental CLS, and to formulate a therapeutic strategy for advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Methods A three-cell (including OC cells, adipocytes and macrophages) coculture model was established to mimic the omental tumor microenvironment (TME) of ovarian cancer. Caspase-1 activity, ATP and free fatty acids (FFA) levels were detected by commercial kits. An adipocyte organoid model was established to assess macrophages migration and infiltration. In vitro and in vivo experiments were performed for functional assays and therapeutic effect evaluations. Clinical OC tissue samples were collected for immunochemistry stain and statistics analysis. Results In three-cell coculture model, OC cells-derived IL-6 and IL-8 could induce the occurrence of pyroptosis in omental adipocytes. The pyroptotic adipocytes release ATP to increase macrophage infiltration, release FFA into TME, uptake by OC cells to increase chemoresistance. From OC tumor samples study, we demonstrated patients with high gasdermin D (GSDMD) expression in omental adipocytes is highly correlated with chemoresistance and poor outcome in advanced-stage OC. In animal model, by pyroptosis inhibitor, DSF, effectively retarded tumor growth and prolonged mice survival. Conclusions Omental adipocyte pyroptosis may contribute the chemoresistance in advanced stage OC. Omental adipocytes could release FFA and ATP through the GSDMD-mediate pyroptosis to induce chemoresistance and macrophages infiltration resulting the poor prognosis in advanced-stage OC. Inhibition of adipocyte pyroptosis may be a potential therapeutic modality in advanced-stage OC with omentum metastasis.

Tongue strengthening exercise (TSE) has been proposed as an intervention to increase tongue strength and improve swallowing. However, clinical evidence of its effectiveness is lacking. In this review, seven databases were searched from inception to September 30, 2021 for randomized controlled trials that compared tongue strengths between the TSE intervention and control groups, obtained from maximal tongue elevation peak force in kilopascals (kPa). The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used for quality assessment. In total, 12 studies with 388 participants were included. The pooled meta-analysis demonstrated that the anterior tongue strength (ATS) (MD = 5.34 kPa; 95% CI 3.28–7.40; I 2  = 71%) and posterior tongue strength (MD = 8.12; 95% CI 3.45–12.79; I 2  = 90%) were significantly higher in the TSE intervention than that in the control group. Among healthy participants, subgroup analysis showed that TSE had improvements on ATS in all age groups, with the greatest improvement in old people (≥ 65 years) (MD = 8.01; 95% CI 4.39–11.64; I 2  = 30%). Meta-regression analysis revealed a nonsignificant trend toward greater improvement on tongue strength with increasing TSE duration. This study provides positive evidence that TSE may be beneficial in improving tongue strength and could be applied for adults, especially healthy older adults.