Browse Articles

Exercise-associated microbial metabolites prevent skeletal muscle atrophy in adult female mice

Abstract We previously reported that skeletal muscle adaptation to regular exercise requires a healthy gut microbiome, contributing to growing evidence that some exercise benefits are mediated by microbiome-derived metabolites. Here, to identify such exercise-associated microbial metabolites, we transfer cecal contents from exercise-trained female donor mice into exercise-naïve female recipient mice undergoing unilateral hindlimb immobilization. Recipients of cecal material from exercise-trained donors exhibit less muscle atrophy compared with those receiving transfers from sedentary donors. Untargeted metabolomics reveal metabolites enriched in cecal content, serum, and muscle of recipients from exercise-trained donors, consistent with microbial origin. Oral administration of two such metabolites (pipecolic acid and succinate) attenuates muscle atrophy and preserves muscle function in exercise-naïve mice, potentially by enhancing cellular energy status and translational capacity. These findings further define the gut microbiome-skeletal muscle axis and provide evidence that exercise-associated microbial metabolites serve as a novel class of exercise mimetics for treating conditions responsive to physical activity.

RANSAC guided modeling and evolutionary optimization of UV/sulfite for ofloxacin removal

A circuit linking dentate gyrus and retrosplenial granular cortex regulates fracture healing in male mice

GMCF-lite for lightweight and interpretable traffic sign classification via gated mamba-CNN fusion

Hematological consequences of environmental change during dewilding of rhesus macaques

Abstract The environment shapes immune system development and the regulation of inflammatory responses, however the hematological consequences of a major environmental change, such as those experienced during migration, remain poorly understood. Here, we assess the immunological consequences in male rhesus macaques as they transitioned from an outdoor provisioned environment to an indoor laboratory facility in a process we term ‘dewilding.’ Dewilding decreased neutrophils and increased lymphocytes, skewing toward a T H 1 response and increased T cell activation. In the gut microbiome, fungal abundance decreased while bacterial abundance increased. In the bone marrow, we observed a shift towards the less committed multipotent progenitor cells and increased erythrocyte progenitors, with upregulation of genes involved in hemoglobin control and erythropoiesis. Together, our findings illustrate how dewilding alters immune homeostasis, with implications for understanding immune adaptation in migrants from rural to urban environments and for optimizing immunization strategies during environmental change.

A dual-FBG Terfenol-D micro-displacement sensor for robust vehicular condition monitoring and intelligent transportation applications

Cerebellum-inspired memtransistors enable emergent differentiation for hardware-efficient novelty detection

Comparing vibrotactile stimulation to combined visual and auditory stimulation for 40 Hz gamma entrainment

High-fidelity electrical detection of spin transport in graphene

The effect of Punicalagin on tongue carcinoma cells viability and angiogenesis by regulating TGF-β signalling pathway: an in vitro study

Abstract Punicalagin (PUN) is a major bioactive ellagitannin derived from pomegranate and showed a potential anticancer property on several cell lines, no studies investigate its effect on tongue carcinoma cells. The present study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic and antiangiogenic effects of PUN on human tongue carcinoma cell line. The viability of the tongue carcinoma cell line was assessed following treatment with PUN (250, 200, 150, 100, and 50 µmol) for 24 h using MTT assay. In addition, the calculated (IC 50) was used for apoptosis validation using Annexin-V/Propidium Iodide (PI) flow cytometry, angiogenesis investigation using endothelial tube formation assay, and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) expression on human tongue carcinoma cells after treatment with Punicalagin using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The vitality of tongue carcinoma cells treated with PUN was 61.1 ± 4.36% and the untreated cells were 98 ± 2%. Flow cytometry confirmed that treatment with 185 µmol/mL of PUN induced significant apoptosis, yielding 51.3% apoptotic cells, 2.3% necrotic cells, and 46.7% viable cells. Regarding tubules no. HPF Untreated cells had a statistically significant higher value (5.83 ± 1.94) than cells treated with PUN (3.17 ± 1.17) ( p  = 0.023). The junction no/HPF had a higher value in untreated cells (5.50 ± 2.43) than in cells treated with PUN (3.33 ± 1.37) yet the difference was not statistically significant ( p  = 0.119). The Tube length showed a statistical significance between untreated cells (5.28 ± 0.77) and cells treated with PUN (1.83 ± 0.26) ( p  = 0.004). The values for lobules no/HPF were higher in untreated cells (2.67 ± 0.52) than in cells treated with PUN (1.67 ± 0.82) yet the difference was not statistically significant ( p  = 0.053). The expression of TGF-β gene showed a significantly higher value in untreated cells (0.97 ± 0.03) than in cells treated with PUN (0.02 ± 0.01) ( p  = 0.004). These initial in vitro observations indicate an anticancer effect of PUN on tongue carcinoma cells through the induction of apoptosis and inhibition of cell viability and angio-mimetic tube formation, closely correlating with the downregulation of TGF-β gene expression. This provides a possible preliminary therapeutic direction to the study of tongue carcinoma.

A symbiotic skin hydrogel interface enabled by flexible hydrogel network with embedded enhancement structure

Associations of plasma MMP-9 and MPO with functional outcome in moderate to severe acute ischemic stroke

Abstract Inflammation plays a pivotal role in acute ischemic stroke (AIS), with neutrophil granulocytes acting as major contributors to the post-stroke immune response. Upon degranulation, neutrophils release matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and myeloperoxidase (MPO), both of which may influence functional outcomes following AIS. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between systemic levels of MMP-9 and MPO, functional outcome, and neutrophil counts in patients with moderate to severe AIS, with a focus on their pathophysiological relevance rather than standalone prognostic performance. This prospective single-center cohort study included patients with moderate to severe AIS in the anterior circulation (NIHSS score ≥ 6 points and /or indication for mechanical recanalization). Venous blood was sampled in order to assess plasma concentrations of MMP-9 via zymography as well as MPO plasma levels via ELISA. Furthermore, differential blood count was determined simultaneously to venous biomarker sampling. Poor outcome was defined as mRS score ≥ 3. Uni- and multivariable regression analyses were performed. Between 07/2020 and 09/2022 a total of 279 patients with blood samples taken up to 48 h after symptom onset with a median NIHSS score of 13 and a median age of 79 were included. Of these patients, 81.0% underwent mechanical recanalization and 42.7% received systemic thrombolytic therapy. Systemic MMP-9 and MPO plasma levels were significantly higher in patients with poor functional outcome compared to patients with good functional outcome at 3-months (MMP-9: 359.1 vs. 303.5 ng/ml, p  = 0.0006; MPO: 27.0 vs. 19.2 ng/ml, p  = 0.0010). Both biomarkers were associated with a poor outcome in unadjusted analyses [MMP-9: unadjusted OR = 15.63 (95% CI: 3.54-80.69), p  = 0.0005; MPO: unadjusted OR = 4.02 (95% CI: 1.84-9.21), p  = 0.0007]. In addition, MMP-9 and MPO concentrations correlated with neutrophil counts (MMP-9: r  = 0.39, p  < 0.0001; MPO: r  = 0.31, p  < 0.0001). In conclusion, systemic MMP-9 and MPO plasma concentrations are associated with functional outcome in patients with moderate to severe AIS and reflect neutrophil-driven inflammatory processes. Their value appears to lie in complementing established clinical predictors rather than serving as independent prognostic markers.

Molecularly defined auditory neuron subtypes show different vulnerabilities to noise- and age-related synaptopathy in mice

Passive stretchable infrared modulator and reversible strain sensor based on a nano/microstructured metal–elastomer composite

Observation of giant acoustoelectric currents in graphene on lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate

Abstract Acoustoelectric (AE) devices enable coupling between acoustic waves and mobile charge carriers, offering a route toward RF-to-DC conversion, RF power sensing, energy harvesting, and responsive sensing applications. The efficiency of this coupling depends on both the electromechanical properties of the piezoelectric substrate and the transport properties of the conductive film interacting with the surface acoustic wave (SAW). Here an AE SAW delay line platform is presented for generating large AE currents using graphene on lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate (PMN–PT). Leveraging graphene’s high carrier mobility and the strong electromechanical coupling of (111)-cut PMN–PT, this platform achieves giant AE current generation. Additionally, AE responsivity ( $${{\boldsymbol{{\mathscr{R}}}}}_{{{\bf{AE}}}}$$ R AE ) is introduced here as a figure of merit for comparing AE platforms. The platform comprises interdigitated transducers (IDTs) deposited and patterned on the bulk PMN–PT surface for launching SAW and a monolayer graphene film positioned within the SAW propagation region. Experimental measurements confirm generation of AE current and voltage within the SAW passband, with the AE current reaching up to 90.39 µA at an RF input power of 20 dBm, corresponding to an $${{\boldsymbol{{\mathscr{R}}}}}_{{{\bf{AE}}}}$$ R AE of 7.66 µA/(W·MHz). The reported AE current and AE responsivity outperform most of the previously reported platforms, validating the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Abiotic Peptide-Like Bond Formation in Gas-Phase Nitrile–Water Clusters Driven by Vacuum Ultraviolet Photoionization

Enhancing formation breakdown pressure using optimized drilling fluid additives with preventive wellbore strengthening approach

Redefining topological robustness in optical polarization fields through a generalized skyrmion number

Abstract Skyrmions are important topologically non-trivial fields characteristic of models spanning scales from the microscopic to the cosmological. However, the skyrmion number can only be defined for fields with specific boundary conditions, limiting its use in broader contexts. Here, we address this issue through a generalized notion of the skyrmion derived from the de Rham cohomology of compactly supported forms. This allows for the definition of an entirely new $${\coprod }_{i=1}^{\infty }{{\mathbb{Z}}}^{i}$$ ∐ i = 1 ∞ Z i -valued topological number that assigns a tuple of integers $$({a}_{1},\ldots,{a}_{k})\in {{\mathbb{Z}}}^{k}$$ ( a 1 , … , a k ) ∈ Z k to a field instead of a single number, with no restrictions to its boundary. To demonstrate the power of our new formalism, we focus on the propagation of optical polarization fields and show, both theoretically and experimentally, that our newly defined generalized skyrmion number significantly increases the dimension of data that can be stored within the field while also demonstrating strong robustness. This novel topological number supports the idea that optical skyrmions are topologically protected states when interpreted in this more general context, and addresses some of the core issues in the application of optical skyrmions to communications and computing.

Atomic-Scale Visualization of Vacancy-Ordered Intermediates and Pathway Selection in the Perovskite-Infinite-Layer Transformation

Comparative essential oil profiling and pathway mapping of Juniperus communis and Juniperus sabina

Abstract This study provides a comparative characterization of the essential oil profiles and database-supported pathway mapping of Juniperus communis and Juniperus sabina collected from the Salouk region of North Khorasan, Iran. Essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation, analyzed using GC–MS, statistically compared between species, and interpreted through multivariate analysis and pathway mapping based on KEGG, UniProt, MetaCyc, and supporting literature. Essential oil yield was markedly higher in J. sabina than in J. communis (1.70 and 0.54 g per 100 g dried material, respectively). A total of 63 volatile compounds were identified, with significant interspecific differences for most evaluated metabolites. J. communis was mainly characterized by higher relative abundances of trans -pinene (15.00%), α -phellandrene (14.97%), α -pinene (11.28%), terpinolene (6.66%), and trans -sabinene acetate (5.02%). In contrast, J. sabina showed higher levels of sabinene (12.78%), camphene (10.12%), terpinolene (8.04%), α -terpinene (6.78%), 3-octanol (4.75%), δ -terpinyl acetate (3.83%), and linalool (3.38%). PCA revealed a clear separation between the two species, with the first two dimensions explaining 99.94% of the total variance, indicating that species differentiation was driven by coordinated changes across multiple volatile constituents. Pathway mapping assigned 49 of the 63 detected compounds, approximately 77.78%, to GPP-related routes, highlighting the predominance of monoterpene-derived compounds in both essential oils. Additional metabolites were associated with PEP-, shikimate/phenylalanine-, acetyl-CoA-, valine-, and FPP-related routes, providing a broader biochemical organization of the detected compounds. Overall, the results demonstrate strong chemical differentiation between J. communis and J. sabina and identify dominant and species-associated volatile metabolites that may serve as candidate markers for phytochemical characterization, essential oil quality assessment, chemotaxonomic comparison, and future bioactivity-focused studies.