LKB1 suppression promotes cardiomyocyte regeneration via LKB1-AMPK-YAP axis

The regenerative potential of cardiomyocytes in adult mammals is limited. Previous studies reported that cardiomyocyte proliferation is suppressed by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). The role of liver kinase B1 (LKB1), as the major upstream kinase for AMPK, on cardiomyocyte proliferation is unclear. In this study, we found that the LKB1 levels rapidly increased after birth. With loss- and gain-of-function study, our data demonstrated that LKB1 levels negatively correlate with cardiomyocyte proliferation. We next identified Yes-associated protein (YAP) as the downstream effector of LKB1 using high-throughput RNA sequencing. Our results also demonstrated that AMPK plays an essential role in Lkb1 knockdown-induced cardiomyocyte proliferation. Importantly, deactivated AMPK abolished the LKB1-mediated regulation of YAP nuclear translocation and cardiomyocyte proliferation. Thus, our findings suggested the role of LKB1-AMPK-YAP axis during cardiomyocyte proliferation, which could be used as a potential target for inducing cardiac regeneration after injury

Effect of Sintering Factors on Properties of Al-Rich PTFE/Al/TiH2 Active Materials

Sintering process is an important part of the specimen preparation process, which directly affects the properties of materials. In order to obtain the best sintering control factors of Al-rich PTFE/Al/TiH2 active materials, Al-rich PTFE/Al/TiH2 active specimens with different sintering control factors were prepared using a mold pressing sintering method. A quasi-static compression experiment was carried out on a universal material testing machine, and a real stress-strain curve was obtained. The effects of sintering control factors on the properties of Al-rich PTFE/Al/TiH2 active materials were analyzed by means of mechanical parameters such as compressive strength, failure strain and toughness. SEM and XRD were used to analyze the microstructure and phase of the sintered samples. The results show that: (1) With the increase of cooling rate, the density, yield strength, strain hardening modulus, compressive strength and toughness of Al-rich Al/PTFE/TiH2 specimens decrease gradually, while the failure strain and pores of the specimens increase gradually. (2) With the increase of sintering temperature, the density, maximum true strain and toughness of the specimens first increase and then decrease, and the failure strain of the specimens gradually increases. When the sintering temperature is 360 °C, the PTFE matrix and particles inside the specimen are closely combined, a small number of particles are exposed on the PTFE matrix and there are a small number of voids. (3) With the increase of holding time at 360 °C, the strength and toughness of the material first decrease and then increase. When the holding time is 6 h, the interface between particles and matrix inside the specimen is the strongest, and the crack propagation inside the specimen is less. (4) When the sintering time increased from 1 h to 4 h at 315 °C, the compressive strength of the specimen increased by 1.62%, the toughness of the specimen decreased by 0.55% and the failure strain of the specimen decreased by 0.54%. The interface between PTFE matrix and particles is the strongest and the crack propagation is less in the specimen with a holding time of 4 h. (5) Above all, the optimum sintering parameters of Al-rich Al/PTFE/TiH2 materials are cooling rate of 25 °C/h, sintering temperature of 360 °C, holding time of 6 h and holding time of 4 h at 315 °C. (6) The reactivity of Al-rich Al/PTFE/TiH2 specimens with 10% content of TiH2 under static compression is not significantly affected by sintering parameters

Mechanism of Pyrolysis Reaction of Al-Rich Al/PTFE/TiH2 Active Material

In order to obtain the chemical reaction mechanism of Al-rich Al/PTFE/TiH2 composites in argon and oxygen atmosphere, Al/PTFE, PTFE/TiH2, Al/TiH2 and Al-rich Al/PTFE/TiH2 with different contents of TiH2 composites were prepared by using the wet mixing method. The pyrolysis behavior of the above composites was investigated by thermogravimetric differential scanning calorimeter (TG-DSC). In addition, the calorific value of the above composite was measured by an oxygen bomb calorimeter. The compositions of TG-DSC residues at different peak temperatures and 1000 °C and the residues of oxygen bomb experiment were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), The results show that the pyrolytic products of Al-rich Al/PTFE/TiH2 materials under argon atmosphere can be divided into four stages. In the first stage (328.6–378.6 °C), the products are TiH1.924, (C2F4)n, (CF2)n, H2(g), Al and TiH2; in the second stage (510.8–534.3 °C), the products are Al, TiH1.924, (C2F4)n, (CF2)n, Ti, AlF3, TiF3, TiF4(g), C and H2(g). In the third stage (540.8–618.1 °C), the products are Al, C, Ti, (C2F4)n, (CF2)n, AlF3, TiF3, TiF4, CF4(g), C3F6(g), C4F8(g), C2F6(g), Al5Ti2 and H2(g); in the fourth stage (918.5–1000 °C), the products are AlCTi2, Al2Ti, AlTi, TiC, AlF3, Al, TiF3, TiC0.957, TiC0.981 and TiC0.95. The calorific value of the combustion of Al-rich Al/PTFE/TiH2 composite with 10% the content of TiH2 is the highest and is 19,899 J/g, which is 3.776% higher than that of Al-rich Al/PTFE composite. When TiH2 content is greater than zero and not more than 10%, the chemical reaction mechanism of Al-rich Al/PTFE/TiH2 is almost the same under oxygen atmosphere. When the content of TiH2 is higher than 10%, the mechanism of this material is different

Experimental Study on Impact-Induced Reaction Characteristics of PTFE/Ti Composites Enhanced by W Particles

Metal/fluoropolymer composites are a category of energetic structural materials that release energy through exothermic chemical reactions initiated under highly dynamic loadings. In this paper, the chemical reaction mechanism of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene)/Ti/W composites is investigated through thermal analysis and composition analysis. These composites undergo exothermic reactions at 510 °C to 600 °C, mainly producing TiFx. The tungsten significantly reduces the reaction heat due to its inertness. In addition, the dynamic compression properties and impact-induced reaction behaviors of PTFE/Ti/W composites with different W content prepared by pressing and sintering are studied using Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar and high speed photography. The results show that both the mechanical strength and the reaction degree are significantly improved with the increasing strain rate. Moreover, as W content increases, the mechanical strength is enhanced, but the elasticity/plasticity is decreased. The PTFE/Ti/W composites tend to become more inert with the increasing W content, which is reflected by the reduced reaction degree and the increased reaction threshold for the impact ignition

Ignition Growth Characteristics of JEOL Explosive during Cook-Off Tests

In order to study the reaction growth process of insensitive JEOL explosive after ignition under cook-off, a series of cook-off tests were carried out on JEOL explosive using a self-designed small cook-off bomb system. A thermocouple was used to measure the internal temperature of the explosive, and a camera recorded macro images of the cook-off process. The temperature change law of JEOL explosive before and after ignition under different heating rates and the smoke ejection caused by the reaction in the slit were studied. The research results showed that the ignition time decreased as the heating rate increased, while the ignition temperature was not sensitive to the heating rate. When the heating rate was faster, the internal temperature gradient of the explosive was larger, and the ignition point appeared at the highest temperature position. As the heating rate decreased, the internal temperature gradient of the explosive decreased, the ignition point appeared random, and multiple ignition points appeared at the same time. The growth process of the ignition point could be divided into severe thermal decomposition, slow combustion, and violent combustion stages. When the heating rate reduced from 7 to 1 °C/min, the burning rate obviously increased

Experimental Study on Reaction Characteristics of PTFE/Ti/W Energetic Materials under Explosive Loading

Metal/fluoropolymer composites represent a new category of energetic structural materials that release energy through exothermic chemical reactions initiated under shock loading conditions. This paper describes an experiment designed to study the reaction characteristics of energetic materials with low porosity under explosive loading. Three PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene)/Ti/W mixtures with different W contents are processed through pressing and sintering. An inert PTFE/W mixture without reactive Ti particles is also prepared to serve as a reference. Shock-induced chemical reactions are recorded by high-speed video through a narrow observation window. Related shock parameters are calculated based on experimental data, and differences in energy release are discussed. The results show that the reaction propagation of PTFE/Ti/W energetic materials with low porosity under explosive loading is not self-sustained. As propagation distance increases, the energy release gradually decreases. In addition, reaction failure distance in PTFE/Ti/W composites is inversely proportional to the W content. Porosity increased the failure distance due to higher shock temperature

Segmentation of the Clustered Cells with Optimized Boundary Detection in Negative Phase Contrast Images - Fig 4

<p><b>(A) Variation of the mean light intensity and (B) its time derivative along detected contours during contour expansion.</b> The mean light intensity gradient decreases with time and mostly reaches its steady state value after about 40 times iteration. The time derivative of the mean light intensity was used as the termination condition for the iteration.</p