The global landscape and research trend of phase separation in cancer: a bibliometric analysis and visualization

BackgroundCancer as a deathly disease with high prevalence has impelled researchers to investigate its causative mechanisms in the search for effective therapeutics. Recently, the concept of phase separation has been introduced to biological science and extended to cancer research, which helps reveal various pathogenic processes that have not been identified before. As a process of soluble biomolecules condensed into solid-like and membraneless structures, phase separation is associated with multiple oncogenic processes. However, there are no bibliometric characteristics for these results. To provide future trends and identify new frontiers in this field, a bibliometric analysis was conducted in this study.MethodsThe Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was used to search for literature on phase separation in cancer from 1/1/2009 to 31/12/2022. After screening the literature, statistical analysis and visualization were carried out by the VOSviewer software (version 1.6.18) and Citespace software (Version 6.1.R6).ResultsA total of 264 publications, covering 413 organizations and 32 countries, were published in 137 journals, with an increasing trend in publication and citation numbers per year. The USA and China were the two countries with the largest number of publications, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences was the most active institution based on the number of articles and cooperations. Molecular Cell was the most frequent publisher with high citations and H-index. The most productive authors were Fox AH, De Oliveira GAP, and Tompa P. Overlay, whilst few authors had a strong collaboration with each other. The combined analysis of concurrent and burst keywords revealed that the future research hotspots of phase separation in cancer were related to tumor microenvironments, immunotherapy, prognosis, p53, and cell death.ConclusionPhase separation-related cancer research remained in the hot streak period and exhibited a promising outlook. Although inter-agency collaboration existed, cooperation among research groups was rare, and no author dominated this field at the current stage. Investigating the interfaced effects between phase separation and tumor microenvironments on carcinoma behaviors, and constructing relevant prognoses and therapeutics such as immune infiltration-based prognosis and immunotherapy might be the next research trend in the study of phase separation and cancer

Field-free spin-orbit torque switching enabled by interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

Perpendicularly magnetized structures that are switchable using a spin current under field-free conditions can potentially be applied in spin-orbit torque magnetic random-access memory(SOT-MRAM).Several structures have been developed;however,new structures with a simple stack structure and MRAM compatibility are urgently needed.Herein,a typical structure in a perpendicular spin-transfer torque MRAM,the Pt/Co multilayer and its synthetic antiferromagnetic counterpart with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, was observed to possess an intrinsic interlayer chiral interaction between neighboring magnetic layers,namely the interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) effect. Furthermore, using a current parallel to the eigenvector of the interlayer DMI, we switched the perpendicular magnetization of both structures without a magnetic field, owing to the additional symmetry-breaking introduced by the interlayer DMI. This SOT switching scheme realized in the Pt/Co multilayer and its synthetic antiferromagnet structure may open a new avenue toward practical perpendicular SOT-MRAM and other SOT devices

Host-guest chemistry with water-soluble gold nanoparticle supraspheres

The uptake of molecular guests, a hallmark of the supramolecular chemistry of cages and containers, has yet to be documented for soluble assemblies of metal nanoparticles. Here we demonstrate that gold nanoparticle-based supraspheres serve as a host for the hydrophobic uptake, transport and subsequent release of over two million organic guests, exceeding by five orders of magnitude the capacities of individual supramolecular cages or containers and rivalling those of zeolites and metal-organic frameworks on a mass-per-volume basis. The supraspheres are prepared in water by adding hexanethiol to polyoxometalate-protected 4 nm gold nanoparticles. Each 200 nm assembly contains hydrophobic cavities between the estimated 27,400 gold building blocks that are connected to one another by nanometre-sized pores. This gives a percolated network that effectively absorbs large numbers of molecules from water, including 600,000, 2,100,000 and 2,600,000 molecules (35, 190 and 234 g l(-1)) of para-dichorobenzene, bisphenol A and trinitrotoluene, respectively

Nonlocal Detection of Interlayer Three-Magnon Coupling

A leading nonlinear effect in magnonics is the interaction that splits a high-frequency magnon into two low-frequency magnons with conserved linear momentum. Here, we report experimental observation of nonlocal three-magnon scattering between spatially separated magnetic systems, viz. a CoFeB nanowire and a yttrium iron garnet (YIG) thin film. Above a certain threshold power of an applied microwave field, a CoFeB Kittel magnon splits into a pair of counterpropagating YIG magnons that induce voltage signals in Pt electrodes on each side, in excellent agreement with model calculations based on the interlayer dipolar interaction. The excited YIG magnon pairs reside mainly in the first excited (n=1) perpendicular standing spin-wave mode. With increasing power, the n=1 magnons successively scatter into nodeless (n=0) magnons through a four-magnon process. Our results demonstrate nonlocal detection of two separately propagating magnons emerging from one common source that may enable quantum entanglement between distant magnons for quantum information applications.</p

Molecular Doping Inhibits Charge Trapping in Low-Temperature-Processed ZnO toward Flexible Organic Solar Cells

There has been a growing interest in the development of efficient flexible organic solar cells (OSCs) due to their unique capacity to provide energy sources for flexible electronics. To this end, it is required to design a compatible interlayer with low processing temperature and high electronic quality. In this work, we present that the electronic quality of the ZnO interlayer fabricated from a low-temperature (130 °C) sol–gel method can be significantly improved by doping an organic small molecule, TPT-S. The doped TPT-S, on the one hand, passivates uncoordinated Zn-related defects by forming N–Zn bonds. On the other hand, photoinduced charge transfer from TPT-S to ZnO is confirmed, which further fills up electron-deficient trap states. This renders ZnO improved electron transport capability and reduced charge recombination. By illuminating devices with square light pulses of varying intensities, we also reveal that an unfavorable charge trapping/detrapping process observed in low-temperature-processed devices is significantly inhibited after TPT-S doping. OSCs based on PBDB-T-2F:IT-4F with ZnO:TPT-S being the cathode interlayer yield efficiencies of 12.62 and 11.33% on rigid and flexible substrates, respectively. These observations convey the practicality of such hybrid ZnO in high-performance flexible devices

Neutrophil extracellular trap fragments stimulate innate immune responses that prevent lung transplant tolerance

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) have been shown to worsen acute pulmonary injury including after lung transplantation. The breakdown of NETs by DNAse-1 can help restore lung function, but whether there is an impact on allograft tolerance remains less clear. Using intravital 2-photon microscopy, we analyzed the effects of DNAse-1 on NETs in mouse orthotopic lung allografts damaged by ischemia-reperfusion injury. Although DNAse-1 treatment rapidly degrades intragraft NETs, the consequential release of NET fragments induces prolonged interactions between infiltrating CD4 + T cells and donor-derived antigen presenting cells. DNAse-1 generated NET fragments also promote human alveolar macrophage inflammatory cytokine production and prime dendritic cells for alloantigen-specific CD4 + T cell proliferation through activating toll-like receptor (TLR) — Myeloid Differentiation Primary Response 88 (MyD88) signaling pathways. Furthermore, and in contrast to allograft recipients with a deficiency in NET generation due to a neutrophil-specific ablation of Protein Arginine Deiminase 4 (PAD4), DNAse-1 administration to wild-type recipients promotes the recognition of allo- and self-antigens and prevents immunosuppression-mediated lung allograft acceptance through a MyD88-dependent pathway. Taken together, these data show that the rapid catalytic release of NET fragments promotes innate immune responses that prevent lung transplant tolerance. © 2018 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeon

Eosinophils downregulate lung alloimmunity by decreasing TCR signal transduction

Despite the accepted notion that granulocytes play a universally destructive role in organ and tissue grafts, it has been recently described that eosinophils can facilitate immunosuppression-mediated acceptance of murine lung allografts. The mechanism of eosinophil-mediated tolerance, or their role in regulating alloimmune responses in the absence of immunosuppression, remains unknown. Using lung transplants in a fully MHC-mismatched BALB/c (H2d) to C57BL/6 (H2b) strain combination, we demonstrate that eosinophils downregulate T cell-mediated immune responses and play a tolerogenic role even in the absence of immunosuppression. We further show that such downregulation depends on PD-L1/PD-1-mediated synapse formation between eosinophils and T cells. We also demonstrate that eosinophils suppress T lymphocyte responses through the inhibition of T cell receptor/CD3 (TCR/CD3) subunit association and signal transduction in an inducible NOS-dependent manner. Increasing local eosinophil concentration, through administration of intratracheal eotaxin and IL-5, can ameliorate alloimmune responses in the lung allograft. Thus, our data indicate that eosinophil mobilization may be utilized as a novel means of lung allograft-specific immunosuppression

The Limit Tuning Effects Exerted by the Mechanically Induced Artificial Potential Barriers on the I&ndash;V Characteristics of Piezoelectric PN Junctions

A mechanically induced artificial potential barrier (MIAPB) in piezoelectric semiconductor devices is set up under the action of a pair of tensile/compressive mechanical loadings. Three factors, namely, the barrier height, width and position, affect the nature and extent of interaction between the MIAPB and the contact barrier, and the tuning characteristics (generated under conditions of the artificial barrier) of the piezoelectric PN junctions were studied. The influence of these factors resulted in variations in the interaction intensities, superposition effects, carrier inversion degrees and carrier redistribution ranges. Subsequently, the limit tuning effects exerted by the tensile/compressive-mode MIAPB on the PN junctions were studied. The inconsistency between the left and right end of the tensile-mode MIAPB under conditions of the offset loading state proves that the maximum tuning effect is generated when both sides of the interface are symmetrically loaded. The range of carrier redistribution and the over-inversion of local carriers, affected by the width and height of MIAPB, result in a second competitive mechanism. The carrier redistribution range and the carrier inversion degree require that the compressive-mode MIAPB be sufficiently wide. The interaction intensities and the superposition effects, affected by the position and height of the MIAPB, contribute to the second competing mechanism. We logically clarify the relationship between multiple competition and find that the emergence of multiple competitive mechanisms proves the existence of the limit tuning effect of MIAPB on the I&ndash;V properties of PN junctions. The results reported herein provide a platform for understanding the mechanical tuning laws governing the functions of piezoelectric PN junctions and piezoelectric devices

Thickness-Dependent Piezoelectric Property from Quasi-Two-Dimensional Zinc Oxide Nanosheets with Unit Cell Resolution

A quantitative understanding of the nanoscale piezoelectric property will unlock many application potentials of the electromechanical coupling phenomenon under quantum confinement. In this work, we present an atomic force microscopy- (AFM-) based approach to the quantification of the nanometer-scale piezoelectric property from single-crystalline zinc oxide nanosheets (NSs) with thicknesses ranging from 1 to 4 nm. By identifying the appropriate driving potential, we minimized the influences from electrostatic interactions and tip-sample coupling, and extrapolated the thickness-dependent piezoelectric coefficient (d33). By averaging the measured d33 from NSs with the same number of unit cells in thickness, an intriguing tri-unit-cell relationship was observed. From NSs with 3n unit cell thickness (n=1, 2, 3), a bulk-like d33 at a value of ~9 pm/V was obtained, whereas NSs with other thickness showed a ~30% higher d33 of ~12 pm/V. Quantification of d33 as a function of ZnO unit cell numbers offers a new experimental discovery toward nanoscale piezoelectricity from nonlayered materials that are piezoelectric in bulk

Strength Matching Method of Face Gear Pair Considering Service Space Limitation to Improve Strength Performance

To further improve maneuverability and passability, new heavy-duty vehicles place higher demands on the service space and strength performance of transmission systems. The new surface gear transmission stands out for its unique technical advantages, but how to reduce the volume as much as possible under the premise of meeting the strength performance remains difficult to research. In the past, the method of improving the strength performance of the face gear pair has usually been by increasing the parameters and optimizing the tooth profile. These methods are not suitable for use considering space constraints and guaranteeing center-to-center distances. To overcome the contradiction between small volume and large load, this work proposes a strength matching method to improve the face gear pair’s strength performance in limited service space. First, according to the meshing principle of the face gear pair, the displacement coefficient is considered in the configuration process of the face gear pair, and the mathematical model of the face gear pair is established. Second, to ensure the effective contact area of the face gear pair, a mathematical model of the reverse contact trace avoiding the undercutting and pointing area is established. The proposed method is validated by electrolytic machining and transmission performance tests. This research solves application problems, such as the strength mismatch of the face gear transmission system, and lays the foundation for the engineering application of face gear