Aqueous dispersion of 1D van der Waals Mo6S3I6 crystal using biocompatible tri-block copolymer

To achieve the stable dispersion of 1D van der Waals crystal Mo₆S₃I₆ in aqueous media, the tri-block copolymer (Poloxamer) is used as dispersant. The head group of Poloxamer, hydrophobic polypropylene oxide parts can be adsorbed to Mo₆S₃I₆ surface by hydrophobic interaction and the tail group with hydrophilic polyethylene oxide exposed to the outside of the Mo₆S₃I₆ is soluble in water and can form sufficient steric hindrance, resulting in stable aqueous dispersion in nm scale. The excellent biocompatibility of aqueous dispersed nm scale 1D Mo₆S₃I₆ was demonstrated by effective proliferation of C2C12 cells.     

Physiologically Active Molecules and Functional Properties of Soybeans in Human Health—A Current Perspective

In addition to providing nutrients, food can help prevent and treat certain diseases. In particular, research on soy products has increased dramatically following their emergence as functional foods capable of improving blood circulation and intestinal regulation. In addition to their nutritional value, soybeans contain specific phytochemical substances that promote health and are a source of dietary fiber, phospholipids, isoflavones (e.g., genistein and daidzein), phenolic acids, saponins, and phytic acid, while serving as a trypsin inhibitor. These individual substances have demonstrated effectiveness in preventing chronic diseases, such as arteriosclerosis, cardiac diseases, diabetes, and senile dementia, as well as in treating cancer and suppressing osteoporosis. Furthermore, soybean can affect fibrinolytic activity, control blood pressure, and improve lipid metabolism, while eliciting antimutagenic, anticarcinogenic, and antibacterial effects. In this review, rather than to improve on the established studies on the reported nutritional qualities of soybeans, we intend to examine the physiological activities of soybeans that have recently been studied and confirm their potential as a high-functional, well-being food.     

Neuroprotective and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Evernic Acid in an MPTP-Induced Parkinson’s Disease Model

Oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuroinflammation are strongly associated with the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which suggests that anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory compounds might provide an alternative treatment for PD. Here, we evaluated the neuroprotective effects of evernic aid (EA), which was screened from a lichen library provided by the Korean Lichen Research Institute at Sunchon National University. EA is a secondary metabolite generated by lichens, including Ramalina, Evernia, and Hypogymnia, and several studies have described its anticancer, antifungal, and antimicrobial effects. However, the neuroprotective effects of EA have not been studied. We found that EA protected primary cultured neurons against 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridium (MPP⁺)-induced cell death, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress, and effectively reduced MPP⁺-induced astroglial activation by inhibiting the NF-κB pathway. In vivo, EA ameliorated MPTP-induced motor dysfunction, dopaminergic neuronal loss, and neuroinflammation in the nigrostriatal pathway in C57BL/6 mice. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that EA has neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects in PD models and suggest that EA is a potential therapeutic candidate for PD.     

Constructing a Sequence Detecting Robustly Testable Path Delay Faults in Sequential Circuits

Automation and Remote Control - We propose a method for constructing a sequence of Boolean vectors of input variables that delivers test pairs $$(v_1,v_2) $$ of neighboring vectors in the space of...     

Correlative Light and Electron Microscopy Using Frozen Section Obtained Using Cryo-Ultramicrotomy

Immuno-electron microscopy (Immuno-EM) is a powerful tool for identifying molecular targets with ultrastructural details in biological specimens. However, technical barriers, such as the loss of ultrastructural integrity, the decrease in antigenicity, or artifacts in the handling process, hinder the widespread use of the technique by biomedical researchers. We developed a method to overcome such challenges by combining light and electron microscopy with immunolabeling based on Tokuyasu’s method. Using cryo-sectioned biological specimens, target proteins with excellent antigenicity were first immunolabeled for confocal analysis, and then the same tissue sections were further processed for electron microscopy, which provided a well-preserved ultrastructure comparable to that obtained using conventional electron microscopy. Moreover, this method does not require specifically designed correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) devices but rather employs conventional confocal and electron microscopes; therefore, it can be easily applied in many biomedical studies.     

AP2M1 Supports TGF-β Signals to Promote Collagen Expression by Inhibiting Caveolin Expression

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is important for normal development and disease states, including inflammation and fibrosis. To understand the complex regulation of ECM, we performed a suppressor screening using Caenorhabditis elegans expressing the mutant ROL-6 collagen protein. One cuticle mutant has a mutation in dpy-23 that encodes the μ2 adaptin (AP2M1) of clathrin-associated protein complex II (AP-2). The subsequent suppressor screening for dpy-23 revealed the lon-2 mutation. LON-2 functions to regulate body size through negative regulation of the tumor growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway responsible for ECM production. RNA-seq analysis showed a dominant change in the expression of collagen genes and cuticle components. We noted an increase in the cav-1 gene encoding caveolin-1, which functions in clathrin-independent endocytosis. By knockdown of cav-1, the reduced TGF-β signal was significantly restored in the dpy-23 mutant. In conclusion, the dpy-23 mutation upregulated cav-1 expression in the hypodermis, and increased CAV-1 resulted in a decrease of TβRI. Finally, the reduction of collagen expression including rol-6 by the reduced TGF-β signal influenced the cuticle formation of the dpy-23 mutant. These findings could help us to understand the complex process of ECM regulation in organism development and disease conditions.     

Study on the removal of olefins from naphtha by clay loaded with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid

Journal of Porous Materials - In this work, a trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFOH) modified clay (TFOH-Clay) was developed for the removal of trace olefins in heavy naphtha. 5%TFOH-Clay can...     

Approaching Ultrastable High‐Rate Li–S Batteries through Hierarchically Porous Titanium Nitride Synthesized by Multiscale Phase Separation

Porous architectures are important in determining the performance of lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs). Among them, multiscale porous architecutures are highly desired to tackle the limitations of single‐sized porous architectures, and to combine the advantages of different pore scales. Although a few carbonaceous materials with multiscale porosity are employed in LSBs, their nonpolar surface properties cause the severe dissolution of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). In this context, multiscale porous structure design of noncarbonaceous materials is highly required, but has not been exploited in LSBs yet because of the absence of a facile method to control the multiscale porous inorganic materials. Here, a hierarchically porous titanium nitride (h‐TiN) is reported as a multifunctional sulfur host, integrating the advantages of multiscale porous architectures with intrinsic surface properties of TiN to achieve high‐rate and long‐life LSBs. The macropores accommodate the high amount of sulfur, facilitate the electrolyte penetration and transportation of Li⁺ ions, while the mesopores effectively prevent the LiPS dissolution. TiN strongly adsorbs LiPS, mitigates the shuttle effect, and promotes the redox kinetics. Therefore, h‐TiN/S shows a reversible capacity of 557 mA h g^?1 even after 1000 cycles at 5 C rate with only 0.016% of capacity decay per cycle.     

A spatio-temporal fusion method for remote sensing data Using a linear injection model and local neighbourhood information

This paper presents a spatio-temporal fusion method for remote sensing images by using a linear injection model and local neighbourhood information. In this method, the linear injection model is first introduced to generate an initial fused image, the spatial details are extracted from the fine-resolution image at the base date, and are weighted by a proper injection gains. Then, the spatial details and the relative spectral information from the coarse-resolution images are blended to generate the fusion result. To further enhance its robustness to the noise, the local neighbourhood information, derived from the fine-resolution image and the fused result simultaneously, is introduced to refine the initial fused image to obtain a more accurate prediction result. The algorithm can effectively capture phenology change or land-cover-type change with minimum input data. Simulated data and two types of real satellite images with seasonal changes and land-cover-type changes are employed to test the performance of the proposed method. Compared with a spatial and temporal adaptive reflectance fusion model (STARFM) and a flexible spatio-temporal fusion algorithm (FSDAF), results show that the proposed approach improves the accuracy of fused images in phenology change area and effectively captures land-cover-type reflectance changes.