Elastic Fiber Supercapacitors for Wearable Energy Storage

The development of wearable devices such as smart watches, intelligent garments, and wearable health-monitoring devices calls for suitable energy storage devices which have matching mechanical properties and can provide sufficient power for a reasonable duration. Stretchable fiber-based supercapacitors are emerging as a promising candidates for this purpose because they are lightweight, flexible, have high energy and power density, and the potential for easy integration into traditional textile processes. An important characteristic that is oftentimes ignored is stretchability-fiber supercapacitors should be able to accommodate large elongation during use, endure a range of bending motions, and then revert to its original form without compromising electrical and electrochemical performance. This article summarizes the current research progress on stretchable fiber-based supercapacitors and discusses the existing challenges on material preparation and fiber-based device fabrication. This article aims to help researchers in the field to better understand the challenges related to material design and fabrication approaches of fiber-based supercapacitors, and to provide insights and guidelines toward their wearability

Chronic pain accelerates cognitive impairment by reducing hippocampal neurogenesis may via CCL2/CCR2 signaling in APP/PS1 mice

Patients with chronic pain often have cognitive impairment; this is especially true in elderly patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the mechanism underlying this association remains unclear. This was addressed in the present study by investigating the effect of chronic neuropathic pain on hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive impairment using amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1 (APP/PS1) double transgenic mice subjected to spared-nerve injury (SNI). The Von Frey test was performed to determine the mechanical threshold of mouse hind limbs after SNI. The Morris water maze test was used to evaluate spatial learning and memory. Doublecortin-positive (DCX+), 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU)+, BrdU+/neuronal nuclei (NeuN)+, and C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2)+ neurons in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus were detected by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence analysis. CCL2 and C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2) protein levels in the mouse hippocampus were analyzed by western blotting. The results showed that APP/PS1 mice with chronic neuropathic pain induced by SNI had significant learning and memory impairment. This was accompanied by increased CCL2 and CCR2 expression and decreases in the number of DCX+, BrdU+, and BrdU+/NeuN+ neurons. These results suggest that chronic neuropathic pain is associated with cognitive impairment, which may be caused by CCL2/CCR2 signaling-mediated inhibition of hippocampal neurogenesis. Thus, therapeutic strategies that alleviate neuropathic pain can potentially slow cognitive decline in patients with AD and other neurodegenerative diseases

ZNF536, a Novel Zinc Finger Protein Specifically Expressed in the Brain, Negatively Regulates Neuron Differentiation by Repressing Retinoic Acid-Induced Gene Transcription▿

Neuronal differentiation is tightly regulated by a variety of factors. In a search for neuron-specific genes, we identified a highly conserved novel zinc finger protein, ZNF536. We observed that ZNF536 is most abundant in the brain and, in particular, is expressed in the developing central nervous system and dorsal root ganglia and localized in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and hypothalamic area. During neuronal differentiation of P19 cells induced by retinoic acid (RA), ZNF536 expression is increased at an early stage, and it is maintained at a constant level in later stages. Overexpression of ZNF536 results in an inhibition of RA-induced neuronal differentiation, while depletion or mutation of the ZNF536 gene results in an enhancement of differentiation. We further demonstrated that ZNF536 inhibits expression of neuron-specific marker genes, possibly through the inhibition of RA response element-mediated transcriptional activity, as overexpression of RA receptor α can rescue the inhibitory role of ZNF536 in neuronal differentiation and neuron-specific gene expression. Our studies have identified a novel zinc finger protein that negatively regulates neuron differentiation

KLRG1-expressing CD8+ T cells are exhausted and polyfunctional in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1) has traditionally been regarded as an inhibitory receptor of T cell exhaustion in chronic infection and inflammation. However, its exact role in hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains elusive. CD8+ T cells from 190 patients with chronic hepatitis B were analyzed ex vivo for checkpoint and apoptosis markers, transcription factors, cytokines and subtypes in 190 patients with chronic hepatitis B. KLRG1+ and KLRG1- CD8+ T cells were sorted for transcriptome analysis. The impact of the KLRG1-E-cadherin pathway on the suppression of HBV replication mediated by virus-specific T cells was validated in vitro. As expected, HBV-specific CD8+ T cells expressed higher levels of KLRG1 and showed an exhausted molecular phenotype and function. However, despite being enriched for the inhibitory molecules, thymocyte selection-associated high mobility group box protein (TOX), eomesodermin (EOMES), and Helios, CD8+ T cells expressing KLRG1 produced significant levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon (IFN)-γ, perforin, and granzyme B, demonstrating not exhausted but active function. Consistent with the in vitro phenotypic assay results, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data showed that signature effector T cell and exhausted T cell genes were enriched in KLRG1+ CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, in vitro testing confirmed that KLRG1-E-cadherin binding inhibits the antiviral efficacy of HBV-specific CD8+ T cells. Based on these findings, we concluded that KLRG1+ CD8+ T cells are not only a terminally exhausted subgroup but also exhibit functional diversity, despite inhibitory signs in HBV infection

A nitrogenous pre-intercalation strategy for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped Ti<inf>3</inf>C<inf>2</inf>T<inf>x</inf>MXene with enhanced electrochemical capacitance

A two-step pre-intercalation strategy is developed, using ammonium citrate as an all-in-one intercalant, antioxidant and nitrogen source, for producing nitrogen-doped Ti3C2Tx MXene with improved electrochemical capacitance and high-rate performance.</p

Identification of immune-associated genes in vascular dementia by integrated bioinformatics and inflammatory infiltrates

Objective: Dysregulation of the immune system plays a vital role in the pathological process of vascular dementia, and this study aims to spot critical biomarkers and immune infiltrations in vascular dementia employing a bioinformatics approach. Methods: We acquired gene expression profiles from the Gene Expression Database. The gene expression data were analyzed using the bioinformatics method to identify candidate immune-related central genes for the diagnosis of vascular dementia. and the diagnostic value of nomograms and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were evaluated. We also examined the role of the VaD hub genes. Using the database and potential therapeutic drugs, we predicted the miRNA and lncRNA controlling the Hub genes. Immune cell infiltration was initiated to examine immune cell dysregulation in vascular dementia. Results: 1321 immune genes were included in the combined immune dataset, and 2816 DEGs were examined in GSE122063. Twenty potential genes were found using differential gene analysis and co-expression network analysis. PPI network design and functional enrichment analysis were also done using the immune system as the main subject. To create the nomogram for evaluating the diagnostic value, four potential core genes were chosen by machine learning. All four putative center genes and nomograms have a solid diagnostic value (AUC ranged from 0.81 to 0.92). Their high confidence level became unquestionable by validating each of the four biomarkers using a different dataset. According to GeneMANIA and GSEA enrichment investigations, the pathophysiology of VaD is strongly related to inflammatory responses, drug reactions, and central nervous system degeneration. The data and Hub genes were used to construct a ceRNA network that includes three miRNAs, 90 lncRNA, and potential VaD therapeutics. Immune cells with varying dysregulation were also found. Conclusion: Using bioinformatic techniques, our research identified four immune-related candidate core genes (HMOX1, EBI3, CYBB, and CCR5). Our study confirms the role of these Hub genes in the onset and progression of VaD at the level of immune infiltration. It predicts potential RNA regulatory pathways control VaD progression, which may provide ideas for treating clinical disease

Synthesis of nitrogen-sulfur co-doped Ti3C2Tx MXene with enhanced electrochemical properties

Through material innovation, nanoscale structural design and hybrid manufacturing methods, great efforts have been made in developing high-performance energy storage systems. These devices can be comprised of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, such as MXene, and show promise for use in energy storage devices. In order to achieve better electrochemical properties of MXene, one crucial technique is to modify its structure by introducing defects or heteroatom dopants, which may expand the interlayer spacing and increase the ion transfer kinetics during the charge/discharge process. Here, a modified two-step multi-element strategy is explored utilizing ammonium citrate as intercalant and nitrogen source to enhance the level of heteroatom doping during annealing of MXene with sulfur. The resulting nitrogen/sulfur co-doped MXene displayed enhanced gravimetric capacitance (495 F g−1 at 1 A g−1), outstanding rate capability (180 F g−1 at 10 A g−1) and excellent cycle stability (98% retention after 6000 charge/discharge cycles). The synthesis of NS-MXene reveals a novel and facile multi-heteroatom pathway for functionalizing Ti3C2Tx MXene and demonstrates the potential variety of this family of modified MXenes that has yet to be explored, as well as unveils great promise for use in applications such as high performance supercapacitors