Collaborative Action of Microglia and Astrocytes Mediates Neutrophil Recruitment to the CNS to Defend against Escherichia coli K1 Infection

Escherichia coli K1 is a leading cause of neonatal bacterial meningitis. Recruitment of neutrophils to the central nervous system (CNS) via local immune response plays a critical role in defense against E. coli K1 infection; however, the mechanism underlying this recruitment remains unclear. In this study, we report that microglia and astrocytes are activated in response to stimulation by E. coli K1 and/or E. coli K1-derived outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) and work collaboratively to drive neutrophil recruitment to the CNS. Microglial activation results in the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α, which activates astrocytes, resulting in the production of CXCL1, a chemokine critical for recruiting neutrophils. Mice lacking either microglia or TNF-α exhibit impaired production of CXCL1, impaired neutrophil recruitment, and an increased CNS bacterial burden. C-X-C chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2)-expressing neutrophils primarily respond to CXCL1 released by astrocytes. This study provides further insights into how immune responses drive neutrophil recruitment to the brain to combat E. coli K1 infection. In addition, we show that direct recognition of E. coli K1 by microglia is prevented by the K1 capsule. This study also reveals that OMVs are sufficient to induce microglial activation.     

Biomimetic Nanosponges Enable the Detoxification of Vibrio vulnificus Hemolysin

Vibrio vulnificus (V. vulnificus) infection-associated multiple antibiotic resistance has raised serious public health concerns. Recently, nanosponges (NSs) have been expected to provide innovative platforms for addressing antibacterial and drug-resistant challenges by targeting various pore-forming toxins (PFTs). In the present study, we constructed NSs to explore the effects and possible mechanism of recombinant V. vulnificus hemolysin (rVvhA)-induced injuries. In vitro, NSs significantly reversed rVvhA-induced apoptosis and necrosis, and improved toxin-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) depletion, and apoptosis signaling pathway disruption. To explore the clinical translation potential of NSs, we established VvhA-induced septicemia and wound infection mouse models, respectively, and further found NSs could notably attenuate rVvhA-induced acute toxicity and septicemia-associated inflammation, as well as local tissue damage. In a conclusion, NSs showed excellent protective effects against rVvhA-induced toxicity, thus providing useful insights into addressing the rising threats of severe V. vulnificus infections.     

Comprehensive Analysis of hsa-miR-654-5p’s Tumor-Suppressing Functions

The pivotal roles of miRNAs in carcinogenesis, metastasis, and prognosis have been demonstrated recently in various cancers. This study intended to investigate the specific roles of hsa-miR-654-5p in lung cancer, which is, in general, rarely discussed. A series of closed-loop bioinformatic functional analyses were integrated with in vitro experimental validation to explore the overall biological functions and pan-cancer regulation pattern of miR-654-5p. We found that miR-654-5p abundance was significantly elevated in LUAD tissues and correlated with patients’ survival. A total of 275 potential targets of miR-654-5p were then identified and the miR-654-5p-RNF8 regulation axis was validated in vitro as a proof of concept. Furthermore, we revealed the tumor-suppressing roles of miR-654-5p and demonstrated that miR-654-5p inhibited the lung cancer cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, cell proliferation, and migration using target-based, abundance-based, and ssGSEA-based bioinformatic methods and in vitro validation. Following the construction of a protein–protein interaction network, 11 highly interconnected hub genes were identified and a five-genes risk scoring model was developed to assess their potential prognostic ability. Our study does not only provide a basic miRNA-mRNA-phenotypes reference map for understanding the function of miR-654-5p in different cancers but also reveals the tumor-suppressing roles and prognostic values of miR-654-5p.     

Engineering the Thermoelectrical Properties of PEDOT:PSS by Alkali Metal Ion Effect

Engineering the electrical properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)(PEDOT:PSS)holds great potential for various applications such a...     

基于CPFD多密度电子垃圾颗粒分离影响研究

基于电子垃圾绿色、高效的分离回收需求,利用barracuda仿真软件建立电子垃圾颗粒气固分离模型,模拟电子垃圾颗粒在气流作用下的分选特性,探讨在不同气流参数及不同物料流量、不同粒径下电子垃圾各组分颗粒的分离效率和回收率。研究表明,电子垃圾颗粒下落流量与粒径对贵金属回收分离有显著影响,当一次进风的气流速度为3.8m/s、二次进风的气流速度为4.6m/s、入料开口宽度为4mm,颗粒粒径为75~100um时,Au的品位率和回收可达87.1%和99.1%,Cu的品位为70.8%,回收率为85.8%。说明在二次进风的作用下,改变电子垃圾流量和控制粒径大小可以有效提升电子垃圾中贵金属的品位和回收率,同时对多密度颗粒的分选提供参考和借鉴。     

浮选图像中泡沫边缘分割

矿物浮选过程中泡沫的表面特征是浮选性能的重要指标,它可以实时、直观地反映浮选效果的变化,准确分割泡沫的边缘信息是浮选过程中一项重要的任务。近年来,研究人员提出了各种浮选泡沫图像分割算法,但浮选泡沫图像中存在泡沫数量多、泡沫间粘连严重以及边缘不清晰等问题,现存的方法由于其特征提取能力有限,无法精确的分割泡沫边缘。据此,本文利用深度学习提出了一种基于多尺度融合的浮选泡沫图像边缘分割算法,该算法通过引入一种深度高分辨率的编码结构以及一种基于注意力的分层融合方法来增强模型的特征提取能力,从而提高对于浮选泡沫边缘的分割效果。具体而言,深度高分辨率的编码结构可以在不同分辨率层级上同时维护特征信息,使我们的网络模型可以有效地捕捉不同尺度的信息,在提高图像语义理解能力的同时能够保持更多的细节信息,提高处理高分辨率以及密集任务图像的能力。除此之外,本文设计了一种基于注意力的分层融合方法来充分融合深层和浅层的特征图,使融合得到的特征图趋向于更重要的特征信息,从而提高识别浮选泡沫的边界和精确定位浮选泡沫的能力。该算法在泡沫边界分割数据集上凭借58.25的泡沫IoU以及73.62的泡沫Fscore取得了最佳的性能,证明了我们提出的算法可以更加准确地分割浮选泡沫边缘。     

Chemical Coupled PEDOT:PSS/Si Electrode: Suppressed Electrolyte Consumption Enables Long‑Term Stability

Huge volume changes of Si during lithiation/delithiation lead to regeneration of solid-electrolyte interphase(SEI)and consume electrolyte.In this article,γ-glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane(GOPS)was incorporated in Si/PEDOT:PSS electrodes to construct a flexible and conductive artificial SEI,effectively suppressing the consumption of electrolyte.The optimized electrode can maintain 1000 mAh g^−1 for nearly 800 cycles under limited electrolyte compared with 40 cycles of the electrodes without GOPS.Also,the optimized electrode exhibits excellent rate capability.The use of GOPS greatly improves the interface compatibility between Si and PEDOT:PSS.XPS Ar+etching depth analysis proved that the addition of GOPS is conducive to forming a more stable SEI.A full battery assembled with NCM 523 cathode delivers a high energy density of 520 Wh kg^−1,offering good stability.