Experimental study on the repair of peripheral nerve injuries via simultaneously coapting the proximal and distal ends of peripheral nerves to the side of nearby intact nerves

IntroductionPeripheral nerve defect is a difficult disease to treat in clinical practice. End-to-side anastomosis is a useful method to treat it. At present, the end-to-side anastomosis method does not involve the proximal nerve, which results in a waste of proximal donor nerves, and even the formation of traumatic neuromas at the proximal end. The patients suffer from traumatic neuralgia and the curative effect is unsatisfactory.MethodsIn this study, an improved end-to-side anastomosis technique was proposed in this study: both the proximal and distal ends of the damaged common peroneal nerve were sutured to an adjacent normal tibial nerve. Moreover, the possible role and mechanism of the proposed technique were explained at the physiological and anatomical levels. In this study, a 10 mm common peroneal nerve defect was made in SD rats, and the rats were randomly divided into three groups. In Group I, the distal end of the common peroneal nerve was attached end-to-side to the fenestrated tibial nerve adventitia, and the proximal end was ligated and fixed in the nearby muscle. In Group II, the tibial nerve adventitia was fenestrated and the epineurial end-to-end anastomosis surgery was performed to suture the proximal and distal ends of the common peroneal nerve. Rats in Group III were taken as control and received sham operation. Twelve weeks after the operation, the recovery of the repaired nerve and distal effector functions were examined by the sciatic functional index, electrophysiology, osmic acid staining, the muscle wet weight ratio, and the muscle fiber cross-sectional area.ResultsIt was found that these results in Group II were similar to those in Group III, but better than those in Group I. Through retrograde tracing of neurons and Electrophysiological examination in Group II, the study also found that the proximal common peroneal nerve also could establish a connection with tibialis anterior, even gastrocnemius.DiscussionTherefore, it is inferred that fostering both the proximal and distal ends of defective peripheral nerves on normal peripheral nerves using the end-to-side anastomosis technique is a more effective approach to repairing injured nerves

Tailored design of graphitic biochar for high-efficiency and chemical-free microwave-assisted removal of refractory organic contaminants

Energy-saving, chemical-free, and high-efficiency microwave (MW)-assisted water treatment can be greatly facilitated via tailored design of an economical, sustainable, and ‘green’ carbonaceous catalyst. In this study, various biochars (BC) were pyrolyzed from two lignocellulosic waste biomasses, oak (O) and apple tree (A), at a high temperature (900 °C) and under different gases (N2 and CO2). The holistic characterization by advanced spectroscopic techniques demonstrated that CO2 pyrolysis of feedstock with more lignin (i.e., oak), produced biochar with increased aromaticity and degree of carbonization. CO2 modification created a hierarchical porous structure, improved surface hydrophilicity, polarity, and acidity, and provided higher densities of near-surface functionalities of the biochar. Without MW irradiation, ABC-900C (1 g L−1) provided the highest adsorption (52.6%, 1 min) of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) ascribed to large specific surface area, high micropore content, appropriate pore size, and abundant active groups. OBC-900C (1 g L−1) enabled significantly increased 2,4-D removal (81.6%, 1 min) under MW irradiation (90 °C) in contrast with an oil bath (55.7%, 90 °C, 1 min) and room temperature (33.9%, 1 min) conditions, due to its highest graphitization degree and medium-developed microporous structure. The MW-induced thermal effect formed “hot spots” on the biochar surface as evidenced by elevated temperature of the bulk solution and lowered energy consumption of the MW reactor in the presence of OBC-900C, compared to those of the other biochars. The scavenging tests suggested that the generation of highly oxidative hydroxyl (•OH), anionic superoxide (O2 •−), and singlet oxygen (1O2) radicals contributed to the removal of 2,4-D. This study has demonstrated that biochar with customized structure and high organic adsorption capacity can act as an effective MW absorber suitable for rapid and improved removal of toxic organics

Betatrophin and Insulin Resistance

Betatrophin (angiopoietin-like protein 8 (ANGPTL8)) is a hormone that was recently discovered in the human liver. Multiple homologous sequences have been detected in mammalian liver, white adipose, and brown adipose tissues. Betatrophin is crucial for the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D), insulin resistance, and lipid metabolism. Similar to the intake of insulin, thyroid hormones, irisin, and calories, betatrophin expression in the organism is usually attributed to energy consumption or heat generation. It can mediate the activity of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which is the key enzyme of lipoprotein lipolysis. Due to its association with metabolic markers and the roles of glucose and lipid, the physiological function of betatrophin in glucose homeostasis and lipid metabolism can be more comprehensively understood. Betatrophin was also shown to facilitate pancreatic β-cell proliferation in a mouse model of insulin resistance. There are also reports that demonstrate that betatrophin regulates triglycerides (TGs) in the liver. Therefore, the process of regulating the physiological function by betatrophin is complicated, and its exact biological significance remains elusive. This study provides a comprehensive review of the current research, and it discusses the possible physiological functions of betatrophin, and specifically the mechanism of betatrophin in regulating blood glucose and blood lipids

Adiponectin Intervention to Regulate Betatrophin Expression, Attenuate Insulin Resistance and Enhance Glucose Metabolism in Mice and Its Response to Exercise

Aims: Adiponectin stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-coactivator1α (PGC-1α), a major regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis, and its effect on the genesis of insulin resistance is organ-specific. Expressed predominantly in fat and liver tissues, betatrophin is primarily involved in lipid metabolism, and could be a putative therapeutic target in metabolic syndrome and T2D. We hypothesized that the adiponectin pathway may regulate the production and/or secretion of betatrophin in liver. We aimed to determine whether exercise and adiponectin affect betatrophin to improve insulin resistance in mice. Methods: To investigate this hypothesis, we used wild-type C57BL/6 mice subjected to a high-fat diet, an exercise regimen, and i.p. injection of recombinant mouse adiponectin (Acrp30), and adiponectin knockout (Adipoq−/−) mice (C57BL/6 background) subjected to i.p. injection of Acrp30. Results: In Adipoq–/– mice, betatrophin levels in the plasma and liver were upregulated. In mice, plasma and liver betatrophin levels were significantly upregulated following a high-fat diet. Exercise and i.p. Acrp30 downregulated betatrophin levels and increased adiponectin mRNA and protein expression in the plasma and liver. The trend of change in PGC-1α and betatrophin levels in the liver was consistent. Conclusions/interpretation: Exercise reverses pathogenic changes in adiponectin and betatrophin levels in insulin-resistant mice. Exercise increased adiponectin levels and reduced betatrophin levels. Furthermore, exercise reduced betatrophin levels via adiponectin, which modulated the LKB1/AMPK/PGC-1α signaling axis but was not solely dependent on it for exerting its effects

A multifunctional osteogenic system of ultrasonically spray deposited bone-active coatings on plasma-activated magnesium

Biomimetic bone-active coatings composed of inorganic nano-hydroxyapatite (i.e., nHA) and organic silk fibroin (i.e., SF) are layer-by-layer deposited on Mg-Zn-Ca alloy by a controllable ultrasonic spray method. Meanwhile, plasma activation is developed as a promising strategy to pretreat magnesium surfaces, which facilitates the direct adhesion of coatings with enhanced bonding interfaces. In this work, we engineer the nHA/SF composite coatings with excellent mechanical properties and adhesion force. The optimized parameters of ultrasonic spray bring significant influence on the surface morphologies of coatings. Assisted by hybrid plasma of oxygen and nitrogen (i.e., O2/N2 plasma), the activated Mg-Zn-Ca surfaces are uniformly covered by a robust and compact nHA/SF composite coating, establishing a multifunctional system with superior corrosion resistance and biological performance. Interestingly, secondary oxygen plasma treatment of nHA/SF coatings (A-nHA/SF) promotes the hydrophilicity, leading to a rapid self-repair effect from surface damage. The improvement of anti-corrosion and self-repair provides a dependable platform for better cell adhesion, proliferation, spreading and differentiation. These favorable factors contribute to the preferable in vivo biocompatibility and the promotion of newly formed bones for the A-nHA/SF-coated Mg implants. This study lays important foundations for coating strategy on biomedical magnesium alloy as multifunctional osteogenic system in bioactive implantable applications

A flexible all–solid–state Li–ion battery manufacturable in ambient atmosphere

The rational design and exploration of safe, robust, and inexpensive energy storage systems with high flexibility are greatly desired for integrated wearable electronic devices. Herein, a flexible all-solid-state battery possessing competitive electrochemical performance and mechanical stability has been realized by easy manufacture processes using carbon nanotube enhanced phosphate electrodes of LiTi2(PO4)3 and Li3V2(PO4)3 and a highly conductive solid polymer electrolyte made of polyphosphazene/PVDF-HFP/LiBOB [PVDF-HFP, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)]. The components were chosen based on their low toxicity, systematic manufacturability, and (electro-)chemical matching in order to ensure ambient atmosphere battery assembly and to reach high flexibility, good safety, effective interfacial contacts, and high chemical and mechanical stability for the battery while in operation. The high energy density of the electrodes was enabled by a novel design of the self-standing anode and cathode in a way that a large amount of active particles are embedded in the carbon nanotube (CNT) bunches and on the surface of CNT fabric, without binder additive, additional carbon, or a large metallic current collector. The electrodes showed outstanding performance individually in half-cells with liquid and polymer electrolyte, respectively. The prepared flexible all-solid-state battery exhibited good rate capability, and more than half of its theoretical capacity can be delivered even at 1C at 30 °C. Moreover, the capacity retentions are higher than 75% after 200 cycles at different current rates, and the battery showed smaller capacity fading after cycling at 50 °C. Furthermore, the promising practical possibilities of the battery concept and fabrication method were demonstrated by a prototype laminated flexible cell

Investigation of Crack Propagation and Failure of Liquid-Filled Cylindrical Shells Damaged in High-Pressure Environments

Cylindrical shell structures have excellent structural properties and load-bearing capacities in fields such as aerospace, marine engineering, and nuclear power. However, under high-pressure conditions, cylindrical shells are prone to cracking due to impact, corrosion, and fatigue, leading to a reduction in structural strength or failure. This paper proposes a static modeling method for damaged liquid-filled cylindrical shells based on the extended finite element method (XFEM). It investigated the impact of different initial crack angles on the crack propagation path and failure process of liquid-filled cylindrical shells, overcoming the difficulties of accurately simulating stress concentration at crack tips and discontinuities in the propagation path encountered in traditional finite element methods. Additionally, based on fluid-structure interaction theory, a dynamic model for damaged liquid-filled cylindrical shells was established, analyzing the changes in pressure and flow state of the fluid during crack propagation. Experimental results showed that although the initial crack angle had a slight effect on the crack propagation path, the crack ultimately extended along both sides of the main axis of the cylindrical shell. When the initial crack angle was 0°, the crack propagation path was more likely to form a through-crack, with the highest penetration rate, whereas when the initial crack angle was 75°, the crack propagation speed was slower. After fluid entered the cylindrical shell, it spurted along the crack propagation path, forming a wave crest at the initial ejection position