Induction of Human Pruriceptors from Pluripotent Stem Cells via Transcription Factors.

Pruriception is crucial for defense against external stimuli but can lead to chronic pruritus, a debilitating condition affecting millions worldwide. Our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind the sensation of itch has been hindered by the lack of functional human models. Here, we address this limitation by developing a protocol to generate induced pruriceptors (iPruriceptors) from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs).

The Association of Muscle-Related Factors With Glaucoma and Related Traits in a Large United Kingdom Population.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that muscle-related factors influence glaucoma risk, we examined the association of grip strength (GS), thigh muscle volume (TMV), and walking pace (WP) with glaucoma and its related traits.

Methods: We included UK Biobank participants with data on IOP (N = 114,284), optical coherence tomography (OCT) macular inner retinal layer thickness measures (N = 44,141) and glaucoma status (N = 105,556; 2006-2010). Linear regression was used to evaluate multivariable-adjusted associations of GS, TMV, and WP with IOP and macular inner retinal OCT parameters, and logistic regression was used to evaluate associations with glaucoma status.

Chronic Stress Stimulates Protumor Macrophage Polarization to Propel Lung Cancer Progression.

Unlabelled: Chronic psychologic stress is often associated with manifestations of malignant diseases. Identification of modulators regulating the interaction between stress and tumorigenesis could provide potential strategies to ameliorate cancer progression. In this study, we observed that chronic stress markedly promoted lung cancer progression.

Ferulic acid-regulated anthocyanin-based intelligent film: A promising strategy to improve stability, sensitivity, and biological activity.

The attractive color of anthocyanins makes them highly desirable in active intelligent food packaging. However, the poor stability has significantly restricted their applications. In this study, a novel collagen hydrolysate-chitosan-red cabbage anthocyanin-ferulic acid (CH-CS-RCA-FA) intelligent film with high stability and bioactivity was prepared.

The clinical characteristics of Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus causing acute death in pigs and its prevention with chimeric monoclonal antibodies.

Streptococcus equi subsp.zooepidemicus (SEZ) causes acute death in pigs and severely impacts the pig industry; however, comprehensive records of the clinical signs of SEZ from a bacteriological perspective are lacking. In this study, we found that piglets developed fever and a reduced appetite within 24 hours-post-infection (hpi) with SEZ and that sudden death usually started at 36 hpi.

Generation of induced pluripotent stem cell line ISMMSi060-A from a patient with combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 25.

We have described a novel mitochondrial disorder caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in the methionyl-tRNA synthetase 2 gene (MARS2), now termed Combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 25 (COXPD25). This study focuses on the generation and characterization of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from fibroblasts of a patient with COXPD25. The resulting iPSC line ISMMSi060-A, carries the compound heterozygous variants c.

Investigating the Effects of Distillation System, Geographical Origin, and Aging Time on Aroma Characteristics in Brandy Using an Untargeted Metabonomic Approach.

In this study, the influence of the distillation system, geographical origin, and aging time on the volatiles of brandy was investigated. An untargeted metabolomics approach was used to classify the volatile profiles of brandies based on the presence of different distillation systems and geographical origins. Through the predictive ability of PLS-DA models, it was found that higher alcohols, C13-norisopenoids, and furans could serve as key markers to discriminate between continuous stills and pot stills, and the contents of C6/C9 compounds, C13-norisoprenoids, and sesquiterpenoids were significantly affected by brandy origin.

An induced pluripotent stem cell line carrying a silencing-resistant calcium reporter allele.

Calcium indicators are sensitive tools to image neural activity. However, their use in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)-derived neurons is limited by silencing of the transgene. We generated the iPSC line MSE2336A carrying heterozygous insertion in the safe-harbor locus AAVS1 of the ultrasensitive protein calcium sensor (GCaMP6) under the control of CAG promoter and UCOE to maintain robust transgene expression in differentiated cells.

Fermi-Level Pinning in ErAs Nanoparticles Embedded in III-V Semiconductors.

Embedding rare-earth monopnictide nanoparticles into III-V semiconductors enables unique optical, electrical, and thermal properties for THz photoconductive switches, tunnel junctions, and thermoelectric devices. Despite the high structural quality and control over growth, particle size (<3 nm), and density, the underlying electronic structure of these nanocomposite materials has only been hypothesized. Structural and electronic properties of ErAs nanoparticles with different shapes and sizes (cubic to spherical, 1.

Identification of PANoptosis-related predictors for prognosis and tumor microenvironment by multiomics analysis in glioma.

PANoptosis is a newly described inflammatory programmed cell death, that highlights coordination between pyroptosis, apoptosis and necroptosis. However, the functions of PANoptosis-related genes in glioma progression still remain to be explored. This study aims to identify PANoptosis-related predictors that may be utilized for prognosis prediction and development of new therapeutic targets.

Identification and Structural Characterization of Twisted Atomically Thin Bilayer Materials by Deep Learning.

Two-dimensional materials are expected to play an important role in next-generation electronics and optoelectronic devices. Recently, twisted bilayer graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides have attracted significant attention due to their unique physical properties and potential applications. In this study, we describe the use of optical microscopy to collect the color space of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of molybdenum disulfide (MoS) and the application of a semantic segmentation convolutional neural network (CNN) to accurately and rapidly identify thicknesses of MoS flakes.

Emerging Nontrivial Topology in Ultrathin Films of Rare-Earth Pnictides.

Thin films of rare-earth monopnictide (RE-V) semimetals are expected to turn into semiconductors due to quantum confinement effects (QCE), lifting the overlap between electron pockets at Brillouin zone edges (X) and hole pockets at the zone center (Γ). Instead, using LaSb as an example, we find the emergence of the quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator phase in (001)-oriented films as the thickness is reduced to 7, 5, or 3 monolayers (MLs). This is attributed to a strong QCE on the in-plane electron pockets and the lack of quantum confinement on the out-of-plane pocket projected onto the zone center, resulting in a band inversion.

The pH adjustment of Vitis amurensis dry red wine revealed the evolution of organic acids, volatomics, and sensory quality during winemaking.

To produce quality dry red wines with high-acidity grapes of Vitis amurensis, an experiment was designed to adjust pH during winemaking by adding KHCO at two time points and two pH levels in conjunction with malolactic fermentation (MLF). The organic acids and volatiles were detected by HPLC and GC-MS separately, combing with the color characteristic and sensory evaluation, we investigated the quality of V.amurensis wines under pH adjustment.

Lidocaine ameliorates intestinal barrier dysfunction in irritable bowel syndrome by modulating corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2.

Background: Intestinal barrier dysfunction is a prevalent pathogenic factor underlying various disorders. Currently there is no effective resolution. Previous studies have reported the potential anti-inflammatory properties of lidocaine and its ability to alleviate visceral hypersensitivity in individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Digital transformation, technological innovation, and operational resilience of port firms in case of supply chain disruption.

To investigate how the digital transformation of port firms improves their operational resilience, we design methods to measure their digital transformation grade (DTG), technological innovation capacity (TIC), and port operational resilience (POR) respectively. Based on 3586 samples retrieved from 334 Chinese port firms from 2011 to 2021, their relationships are statistically described and preliminarily regressed by an ordinary least-squares model and a fixed-effect model. After testing the effects of supply chain disruption, endogeneity, and robustness, we reveal that digital transformation improves firms' competitiveness and operational resilience by coordinating human resources, information, and technology.

The interaction between dietary fiber and gut microbiota, and its effect on pig intestinal health.

Intestinal health is closely associated with overall animal health and performance and, consequently, influences the production efficiency and profit in feed and animal production systems. The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is the main site of the nutrient digestive process and the largest immune organ in the host, and the gut microbiota colonizing the GIT plays a key role in maintaining intestinal health. Dietary fiber (DF) is a key factor in maintaining normal intestinal function.

Soil variables and reflected light revealed the plasticity of grape and wine composition: Regulation of the flavoromics under inner row gravel covering.

Abundant gravel in vineyards bothers growers. To investigate the gravel covering inner-row effect on grapes and wines, a two-year experiment was carried out. Regional climate and vine microclimate were collected, the flavoromics of grapes and wines were determined by HPLC-MS and HS/SPME-GC-MS.

Failure progression and toughening mechanism of 3D-printed nacre-like structures under in-plane compression.

Nacre (also called mother-of-pearl) is known to have a delicate balance of stiffness, strength, and toughness, which originates from its 'brick-and-mortar' structure. In this study, nacre-like structures are fabricated using a high-resolution, multi-material 3D printer, where two different polyurethane acrylates (one that is hard and another that is soft) are used to represent the tablets and matrix. Six nacre-like structures are designed and fabricated to explore the influence of geometric parameters on the mechanical behaviors.

The formulation of irrigation and nitrogen application strategies under multi-dimensional soil fertility targets based on preference neural network.

With the aim of improving soil fertility, it is of great significance to put forward optimal irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer application strategies for improving land productivity and alleviating non-point source pollution effects. To overcome this task, a 6-hidden layer neural network with a preference mechanism, namely Preference Neural network (PNN), has been developed in this study based on the field data from 2018 to 2020. PNN takes soil total nitrogen, organic matter, total salt, pH, irrigation time and target soil depth as input, and irrigation amount and nitrogen application rate (N rate) as output, and the prior preference matrix was used to adjust the learning of weight matrix of each layer.

Physins in digestive system neoplasms.

The physin family of proteins, synaptophysin (SYP), synaptophysin like 1 (SYPL1), synaptophysin like 2 (SYPL2) and synaptoporin (SYNRP), are tetratransmembrane transport vesicle proteins distributed throughout the digestive system. Of these, SYP is a required marker for histopathologic identification of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs), especially in gastroenteropancreatic NENs (GEP-NENs). Recently, bloodstream SYP, i.

BiSe Growth on (001) GaAs Substrates for Terahertz Integrated Systems.

Terahertz (THz) technologies have been of interest for many years due to the variety of applications including gas sensing, nonionizing imaging of biological systems, security and defense, and so forth. To date, scientists have used different classes of materials to perform different THz functions. However, to assemble an on-chip THz integrated system, we must understand how to integrate these different materials.

Mapping cis-regulatory elements in human neurons links psychiatric disease heritability and activity-regulated transcriptional programs.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified hundreds of loci associated with psychiatric diseases, yet there is a lack of understanding of disease pathophysiology. Common risk variants can shed light on the underlying molecular mechanisms; however, identifying causal variants remains challenging. We map cis-regulatory elements in human neurons derived from pluripotent stem cells.

Direct Differentiation of Functional Neurons from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells (hPSCs).

Somatic cell nuclear transfer and in vitro induction of pluripotency in somatic cells by defined factors provided unambiguous evidence that the epigenetic state of terminally differentiated somatic cells is not static and can be reversed to a more primitive one. Inspired by these results, stem cell biologists have identified approaches to directly convert fibroblasts into induced neuronal (iN) cells, indicating that direct lineage conversions are possible between distantly related cell types. More recently, we took advantages of pro-neurogenic capacity of iN factors and developed methods to rapidly derive functionally mature neurons directly from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) through a brief induction of defined transcription factors.

In-situ investigation of dye pollutant adsorption performance on graphitic carbon nitride surface: ATR spectroscopy experiment and MD simulation insight.

The adsorption performances on graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) surface were investigated for organic dye pollutants by both experimental and calculation methods. For experimental investigation, adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics results were in-situ obtained and evaluated. With [Formula: see text] by Langmuir modeling g-CN showed superior adsorption spontaneity of MB >MO.