DHA-phospholipids control membrane fusion and transcellular tunnel dynamics

Metabolic studies and animal knockout models point to the critical role of polyunsaturated docosahexaenoic acid (22:6, DHA)-containing phospholipids (PLs) in physiology. Here, we investigated the impact of DHA-PLs on the dynamics of transendothelial cell macroapertures (TEMs) triggered by RhoA inhibition-associated cell spreading. Lipidomic analyses show that human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) subjected to DHA-diet undergo a 6-fold enrichment in DHA-PLs at plasma membrane (PM) at the expense of monounsaturated OA-PLs. Consequently, DHA-PLs enrichment at the PM induces a reduction of cell thickness and shifts cellular membranes towards a permissive mode of membrane fusion for transcellular tunnel initiation. We provide evidence that a global homeostatic control of membrane tension and cell cortex rigidity minimizes overall changes of TEM area through a decrease of TEM size and lifetime. Conversely, low DHA-PL levels at the PM leads to the opening of unstable and wider TEMs. Together, this provides evidence that variations of DHA-PLs levels in membranes affect cell biomechanical properties.

Effect of Three Water Regimes on the Physiological and Anatomical Structure of Stem and Leaves of Different Citrus Rootstocks with Distinct Degrees of Tolerance to Drought Stress

Citrus is grown globally throughout the subtropics and semi-arid to humid tropics. Abiotic stresses such as soil water deficit negatively affect plant growth, physiology, biochemistry, and anatomy. Herein, we investigated the effect(s) of three water regimes (control, moderate drought, and severe drought) on the physiological and anatomical structure of 10 different citrus rootstocks with different degrees of tolerance to drought stress. Brazilian sour orange and Gadha dahi performed well by avoiding desiccation and maintaining plant growth, plant water status, and biochemical characters, while Rangpur Poona nucellar (C. limonia) and Sunki × bentake were the most sensitive rootstocks at all stress conditions. At severe water stress, the highest root length (24.33 ± 0.58), shoot length (17.00 ± 1.00), root moisture content (57.67 ± 1.53), shoot moisture content (64.59 ± 1.71), and plant water potential (−1.57 ± 0.03) was observed in tolerant genotype, Brazilian sour orange. Likewise, chlorophyll a (2.70 ± 0.06), chlorophyll b (0.87 ± 0.06) and carotenoids (0.69 ± 0.08) were higher in the same genotype. The lowest H2O2 content (77.00 ± 1.00) and highest proline content (0.51 ± 0.06) were also recorded by Brazilian sour orange. The tolerance mechanism of tolerant genotypes was elucidated by modification in anatomical structures. Stem anatomy at severe drought, 27.5% increase in epidermal cell thickness, 25.4% in vascular bundle length, 30.5% in xylem thickness, 27.7% in the phloem cell area, 8% in the pith cell area, and 43.4% in cortical thickness were also observed in tolerant genotypes. Likewise, leaf anatomy showed an increase of 27.9% in epidermal cell thickness, 11.4% in vascular bundle length, 21% in xylem thickness, and 15% in phloem cell area in tolerant genotypes compared with sensitive ones. These modifications in tolerant genotypes enabled them to maintain steady nutrient transport while reducing the risk of embolisms, increasing water-flow resistance, and constant transport of nutrients across.

High-Efficiency Ultrathin Si-Based Solar Cells by Cascading Dilute-Nitride GaNAsP

Thin-film solar cells are currently an important research subject. In this study, a lattice-matched GaNAsP/Si tandem cell was designed. We adopted the drift-diffusion model to analyze the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the solar cell. To find the maximum solar cell PCE, the recombination terms and the interlayer between subcells was omitted. For an optimal tandem cell PCE, this study analyzed the mole fraction combinations of GaNAsP and the thickness combinations between the GaNAsP and the Si subcells of the tandem cell. Our results showed the superiority of the tandem cell over the Si cell. The 4.5 μm tandem cell had a 12.7% PCE, the same as that of the 10.7 μm Si cell. The 11.5 μm tandem cell had 20.2% PCE, while the 11.5 μm Si cell processed 12.7% PCE. We also analyzed the Si subcell thickness ratio of sub-12 μm tandem cells for maximum PCE. The tandem cell with a thickness between 40% to 70% of a Si cell would have a max PCE. The ratio depended on the tandem cell thickness. We conclude that the lattice-matched GaNAsP/Si tandem cell has potential for ultrathin thin Si-based solar cell applications.

Gambaran Histologi Ren Tikus Putih (Rattus norvegicus L.) Hiperglikemia Setelah Pemberian Ekstrak Etanol Daun Mimba (Azadirachta Indica A. Juss)

Diabetes melitus merupakan penyakit kelainan metabolic yang ditandai dengan hiperglikemia kronis yang disebabkan tidak cukupnya produksi insulin dan resistensi insulin. Diabetes telah diketahui dapat menyebabkan komplikasi berupa kerusakan pada jaringan ginjal. Mimba (Azadirachta indica A.Juss) memiliki kandungan antioksidan flavonoid yang mampu menangkal radikal bebas dan memperbaiki jaringan ginjal yang rusak akibat diabetes. Penelitian ini menggunakan 18 tikus putih yang menjadi 6 kelompok perlakuan. P0 (kontrol normal) merupakan tukus normal diberi aquades. P1(Kontrol negatif) merupakan tikus hiperglikemia diberi aquades. P2 (kontrol positif) merupakan tikus hiperglikemia diberi glibenklamid dosis 2,25 mg/ kg BB. P3, P4, dan P5 merupakan tikus hiperglikemia yang diberi ekstrak etanol daun mimba dosis 100, 200, dan 400 mg/kg BB. Data penelitian kemudian dianalisis dengan uji Anova. Untuk data yang tidak terdistribusi normal diuji dengan uji Kruskal-Wallis. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa pemberian ekstrak etanol daun mimba tidak memberikan pengaruh nyata terhadap bobot ginjal, konsumsi air minum, diameter glomerulus, ruang kapsula bowman, tebal sel epitel tubulus proksimal, dan tebal sel epitel tubulus distal. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini adalah ekstrak etanol daun mimba mampu melindungi jaringan ginjal tikus putih dari paparan hiperglikemia Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that treats chronic hyperglycemia caused by insufficient insulin production and insulin resistance. Diabetes has been known to cause complications in the form of damage to kidney tissue. Neem (Azadirachta indica A.Juss) has flavonoid antioxidants that can ward off free radicals and repair kidney tissue damaged by diabetes. The purpose of the study was to examine the ethanol extract of neem leaves repairing kidney tissue. The study used 18 albino rats were divided into 6 treatment groups. P1 (negative control) was a hyperglycemic rats group were given distilled water. P2 (positive control) was a hyperglycemic rats were given 2.25 mg/kg BW of glibenclamide. P3, P4, and P5 were rats were given 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg BW of ethanolic neem leaf extract The research data were analyzed by ANOVA. The non-normally distributed data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis. The results showed that the ethanol extract of neem leaves had no significant effect on kidney weight, water consumption, glomerular diameter, bowman's capsule space, proximal tubular epithelial cell thickness, and distal tubular epithelial cell thickness. The conclusion of this study was the ethanol extract of neem leaves was able to protect the kidney tissue of white rats from hyperglycemia.

Reversible and Irreversible Expansion of Lithium-ion Batteries Under a Wide Range of Stress Factors

Lithium-ion batteries cell thickness changes as they degrade. These changes in thickness consist of a reversible intercalation-induced expansion and an irreversible expansion. In this work, we study the cell expansion evolution under variety of conditions such as temperature, charging rate, depth of discharge, and pressure.A specialized ?fixture was used to keep the cells at a constant pressure during cycling, while measuring the thickness change both within a cycle and the cumulative growth over many cycles. The changes in positive and negative electrode capacity and stoichiometric range can be diagnosed from the evolution of the reversible expansion. The changes in the reversible expansion if combined with the voltage, lead to a higher-confi?dence estimation of cell health parameters important for lifetime prediction and adoptive battery management such as asymmetric charge/discharge power limits. This study raises the importance of monitoring the expansion for enabling advanced and more-informed health diagnostics of lithium-ion batteries.

Histomorphological and clinicopathological correlates of reflux esophagitis

Background: Inflammatory lesions of the esophagus are major concerns to patients who visit our Medical Out Patient Department (OPD) on a regular basis. Endoscopic examination, with histopathological confirmation is the diagnostic modality employed in many centers. Endoscopic appearance is characteristic, and so are histomorphological findings. In our study we have analyzed the clinical, endoscopic and histomorphological findings of various types of esophagitis. This will help us to arrive at a correct diagnosis to initiate appropriate therapy.Methods: We included 141 cases of esophagitis reported in Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research from January 2016 to December 2020 in our study, mostly the ones which came as biopsy samples in histopathology section. Slides were reviewed, various histological features, clinical and endoscopic findings were correlated. Microsoft excel was used for the calculation of results.Results: Reflux esophagitis was most commonly seen in male patients (64%), between 40-60 years (35%) of age with presenting complaints of heart burn and clinical diagnosis of reflux esophagitis. Classic histological feature for the diagnosis of reflux esophagitis was epithelial hyperplasia noted in 89% male and 86% female patients, followed by increased basal cell thickness noted in 66% male and 55% female patients.Conclusions: Accurate diagnosis of reflux esophagitis is mainly based on histomorphological features. Capillaries in epithelium and basal cell hyperplasia along with history and endoscopic appearance to be considered for the diagnosis of reflux esophagitis.

The effect of structural parameters on quasi-static compression performance of bi-directional trapezoid honeycomb

A porous material –Bi-directional Trapezoid Honeycomb (BDTH) which is different from the traditional honeycomb structure, has same energy absorption properties in the Y and Z directions was studied. The structural parameters (cell size, cell thickness) have a great influence on the compression performance. 3 kinds of cell size ( a) and 4 kinds of cell thickness ( t0) totally 7 kinds of BDTH were manufactured. The quasi-static compression test was carried out with experiment and numerical simulation, and the results were obtained. The effects of material deformation modes and energy absorption are analyzed. Next, based on Gibson-Ashby theory, the relationship between density, initial peak stress, plateau stress, densification strain and the ratio of t0/a were deduced.

Engineering the Uniform Lying Helical Structure in Chiral Nematic Liquid Crystals: From Morphology Transition to Dimension Control

Chiral nematic liquid crystals (CLCs), with a unique helix structure, have attracted immense recognition over the last few decades owing to the abundant presence in natural phenomena and their diverse applications. However, the optical properties of CLC are usually hindered by the abundance of the so-called fingerprint domains. Up to now, studies have worked on controlling the in-plane orientation of the lying helix through surface rubbing and external stimuli. It remains challenging to achieve a steady and uniform lying helical structure. Here, by varying the surface anchoring strength, a uniform lying helical structure with long-range order is achieved as thermodynamically stable state without any external support. Poly (6-(4-methoxy-azobenzene-4’-oxy) hexyl methacrylate) (PMMAZO)—a liquid crystalline polymer—is deposited onto the silicon substrate to fine-tune the surface anchoring. By changing the grafting density of PMMAZO, both pitch size and morphology of the lying helical structure can be controlled. As the grafting density increases, the enhanced titled deformation of helical structure suppresses the pitch size of CLC at the same cell thickness; as the cell thickness increases, the morphology transition from long-range order stripes to small fingerprint domains is facilitated.