The International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA) ontology

The International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA) provides a classification for vascular anomalies that enables specialists to unambiguously classify diagnoses. This classification is only available in PDF format and is not machine-readable, nor does it provide unique identifiers that allow for structured registration. In this paper, we describe the process of transforming the ISSVA classification into an ontology. We also describe the structure of this ontology, as well as two applications of the ontology using examples from the domain of rare disease research. We used the expertise of an ontology expert and clinician during the development process. We semi-automatically added mappings to relevant external ontologies using automated ontology matching systems and manual assessment by experts. The ISSVA ontology should contribute to making data for vascular anomaly research more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). The ontology is available at https://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/ISSVA.     

Synergistic effect of high-intensity ultrasound and β-cyclodextrin treatments on browning control in apple juice

This work evaluated the synergistic effects of combined high-intensity ultrasound (HIU) with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) treatments on inhibiting browning of apple juice and explored the mechanism through simulation system. The combined treatment of 300 W HIU with 0.006 g mL⁻¹ β-CD had a synergistic impact on maintaining juice colour, resulting in a 39.06% reduction in browning degree, only a 36.64% decrease in total phenolic content, and a 17.82% reduction in PPO activity. The inhibition of enzymatic browning in simulated system revealed that HIU suppressed the enzyme (Polyphenol oxidase, PPO) and β-CD inhibited enzyme (PPO) and embedded substrate (polyphenol). The results of spectroscopic analysis showed that the particle-size distribution of PPO narrowed, the content of α-helix in the secondary structure increased, the fluorescence intensity increased, and the maximum wavelength was red-shifted after HIU and β-CD treatment. Changes in structure could further result in PPO activity loss. Hence, the combined treatment could synthetically alleviate the browning of apple juice.     

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Stimulation in Osteogenesis and Chondrogenesis: Signaling Pathways and Therapeutic Implications

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the main cell players in tissue repair and thanks to their self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation capabilities, they gained significant attention as cell source for tissue engineering (TE) approaches aimed at restoring bone and cartilage defects. Despite significant progress, their therapeutic application remains debated: the TE construct often fails to completely restore the biomechanical properties of the native tissue, leading to poor clinical outcomes in the long term. Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) are currently used as a safe and non-invasive treatment to enhance bone healing and to provide joint protection. PEMFs enhance both osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. Here, we provide extensive review of the signaling pathways modulated by PEMFs during MSCs osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation. Particular attention has been given to the PEMF-mediated activation of the adenosine signaling and their regulation of the inflammatory response as key player in TE approaches. Overall, the application of PEMFs in tissue repair is foreseen: (1) in vitro: to improve the functional and mechanical properties of the engineered construct; (2) in vivo: (i) to favor graft integration, (ii) to control the local inflammatory response, and (iii) to foster tissue repair from both implanted and resident MSCs cells.     

Surface Reconstruction Engineering with Synergistic Effect of Mixed-Salt Passivation Treatment toward Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Surface passivation treatment is a widely used strategy to resolve trap-mediated nonradiative recombination toward high-efficiency metal-halide perovskite photovoltaics. However, a lack of passivation with mixture treatment has been investigated, as well as an in-depth understanding of its passivation mechanism. Here, a systematic study on a mixed-salt passivation strategy of formamidinium bromide (FABr) coupled with different F-substituted alkyl lengths of ammonium iodide is demonstrated. It is obtained better device performance with decreasing chain length of the F-substituted alkyl ammonium iodide in the presence of FABr. Moreover, they unraveled a synergistic passivation mechanism of the mixed-salt treatment through surface reconstruction engineering, where FABr dominates the reformation of the perovskite surface via reacting with the excess PbI₂. Meanwhile, ammonium iodide passivates the perovskite grain boundaries both on the surface and top perovskite bulk through penetration. This synergistic passivation engineer results in a high-quality perovskite surface with fewer defects and suppressed ion migration, leading to a champion efficiency of 23.5% with mixed-salt treatment. In addition, the introduction of the moisture resisted F-substituted groups presents a more hydrophobic perovskite surface, thus enabling the decorated devices with excellent long-term stability under a high humid atmosphere as well as operational conditions.     

“电工学”国家级一流课程建设与实践

根据新时代新工科人才需求特点和电工学课程特点,分析非电专业学生的电类实践需求,提出构建电工学课程为核心的电工电子实践创新能力培养新体系。通过优化教学内容、开展教学模式和考核模式改革、构建教学资源体系和进行教师队伍建设,使我校电工学课程教学质量提升、学生工程实践和创新能力提高、学生满意度增加、一流课程建设成效显著。     

Current trends in structural development and modification strategies for metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) towards photocatalytic H2 production: A review

Photocatalytic H₂ generation using semiconductor photocatalysts is considered as a cost-effective and eco-friendly technology for solar to energy conversion; however, the present photocatalysts have been recognized to depict low efficiency. Currently, porous coordination polymers known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) constituting flexible and modifiable porous structure and having excess active sites are considered to be appropriate for photocatalytic H₂ production. This review highlights current progress in structural development of MOF materials along with modification strategies for enhanced photoactivity. Initially, the review discusses the photocatalytic H₂ production mechanism with the concepts of thermodynamics and mass transfer with particular focus on MOFs. Elaboration of the structural categories of MOFs into Type I, Type II, Type III and classification of MOFs for H₂ generation into transition metal based, post-transition metal based, noble-metal based and hetero-metal based has been systematically discussed. The review also critically deliberate various modification approaches of band engineering, improvement of charge separation, efficient irradiation utilization and overall efficiency of MOFs including metal modification, heterojunction formation, Z-scheme formation, by introducing electron mediator, and dye based composites. Also, the MOF synthesized derivatives for photocatalytic H₂ generation are elaborated. Finally, future perspectives of MOFs for H₂ generation and approaches for efficiency improvement have been suggested.     

Transglycosylation Activity of Engineered Bifidobacterium Lacto-N-Biosidase Mutants at Donor Subsites for Lacto-N-Tetraose Synthesis

The health benefits of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) make them attractive targets as supplements for infant formula milks. However, HMO synthesis is still challenging and only two HMOs have been marketed. Engineering glycoside hydrolases into transglycosylases may provide biocatalytic routes to the synthesis of complex oligosaccharides. Lacto-N-biosidase from Bifidobacterium bifidum (LnbB) is a GH20 enzyme present in the gut microbiota of breast-fed infants that hydrolyzes lacto-N-tetraose (LNT), the core structure of the most abundant type I HMOs. Here we report a mutational study in the donor subsites of the substrate binding cleft with the aim of reducing hydrolytic activity and conferring transglycosylation activity for the synthesis of LNT from p-nitrophenyl β-lacto-N-bioside and lactose. As compared with the wt enzyme with negligible transglycosylation activity, mutants with residual hydrolase activity within 0.05% to 1.6% of the wild-type enzyme result in transglycosylating enzymes with LNT yields in the range of 10–30%. Mutations of Trp394, located in subsite -1 next to the catalytic residues, have a large impact on the transglycosylation/hydrolysis ratio, with W394F being the best mutant as a biocatalyst producing LNT at 32% yield. It is the first reported transglycosylating LnbB enzyme variant, amenable to further engineering for practical enzymatic synthesis of LNT.     

A practical development of engineering simulation-assisted educational AR environments

Engineering simulations have opened several gates for today’s chemical engineers. They are powerful tools to provide technical content as physics-based numerical solvers. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), on the other hand, are already underway to digitize environments in many fields. The combination of AR/VR environments and simulations in engineering education has been attracting widespread interest. Literature has demonstrated a massive amount of digital educational environments in several contexts as being complementary to conventional educational methods. Nevertheless, hosting technical content produced by engineering simulations with educational AR/VR is still challenging and requires expertise from multiple disciplines throughout the technical development. Present work provides a facile and agile methodology for low-cost hardware but content-wise rich AR software development. Inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic, a case study is developed to teach chemical-engineering concepts using a liquid-soap synthesis process. Accordingly, we assess and conclude the digital development process to guide inexperienced developers for the digitalization of teaching content. The present contribution serves as an example of the power of integrating AR/VR with traditional engineering simulations for educational purposes. The digital tool developed in this work is shared in the online version.