Glass transition temperature (Tg) plays an important role in controlling the mechanical and thermal properties of a polymer. Polyimides are an important category of polymers with wide applications because of their superior heat resistance and mechanical strength. The capability of predicting Tg for a polyimide a priori is therefore highly desirable in order to expedite the design and discovery of new polyimide polymers with targeted properties and applications. Here we explore three different approaches to either compute Tg for a polyimide via all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations or predict Tg via a mathematical model generated by using machine-learning algorithms to analyze existing data collected from literature. Our simulations reveal that Tg can be determined from examining the diffusion coefficient of simple gas molecules in a polyimide as a function of temperature and the results are comparable to those derived from data on polymer density versus temperature and actually closer to the available experimental data. Furthermore, the predictive model of Tg derived with machine-learning algorithms can be used to estimate Tg successfully within an uncertainty of about 20 degrees, even for polyimides yet to be synthesized experimentally.

Tactile sensors with both temperature- and pressure-responsive capabilities are critical to enabling future smart artificial intelligence. These sensors can mimic haptic functions of human skin and inevitably suffer from tensile deformation during operation. However, almost all actual multifunctional tactile sensors are either nonstretchable or the sensing signals interfere with each other when stretched. Herein, we propose a stretchable and self-powered temperature–pressure dual functional sensor based on thermogalvanic hydrogels. The sensor operates properly under stretching, which relies on the thermogalvanic effect and constant elastic modulus of hydrogels. The thermogalvanic hydrogel elastomer exhibits an equivalent Seebeck coefficient of −1.21 mV K–1 and a pressure sensitivity of 0.056 kPa–1. Combined with unit array integration, the multifunctional sensor can be used for accurately recording tactile information on human skin and spatial perception. This work provides a conceptual framework and systematic design for stretchable artificial skin, interactive wearables, and smart robots.

No abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) integration and high expression of HPV oncogenes (E6 and E7) are important mechanisms for HPV carcinogenesis in cervical cancer. However, the relationship between HPV integration and HPV E6 spliced transcripts, as well as the underlying mechanisms of HPV integration in carcinogenesis after HPV E6 splicing remains unclear. We analyzed HPV‐coiled‐coil domain containing 106 (CCDC106) integration samples to characterize the roles of HPV integration, E6 spliceosome I (E6*I), and high CCDC106 expression in cervical carcinogenesis. We found that E6 was alternatively spliced into the E6*I transcript in HPV‐CCDC016 integration samples with low p53 expression, in contrast to the role of E6*I in preventing p53 degradation in cervical cancer cells. In addition, CCDC106 was highly expressed after HPV‐CCDC106 integration, and interacted with p53, resulting in p53 degradation and cervical cancer cell progression in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, when E6*I was highly expressed in cervical cancer cells, overexpression of CCDC106 independently degraded p53 and promoted cervical cancer cell progression. In this study, we explored the underlying mechanisms of HPV‐CCDC106 integration in HPV carcinogenesis after HPV E6 splicing, which should provide insight into host genome dysregulation in cervical carcinogenesis.

, C. (2017). The performance of nickel-loaded lignite residue for steam reforming of toluene as the model compound of biomass gasification tar.

Patterned surfaces combining hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties show great promise in moisture condensation; however, a comprehensive understanding of the multiscale interfacial behavior and the further controlling method is still lacking. In this paper, we studied the moisture condensation on a hybrid superhydrophobic−hydrophilic surface with hierarchical structures from micro-to nanoscale. For the first time, we demonstrated the effects of wettability difference and microstructure size on the final condensation efficiency. By optimizing the wettability difference, sub-millimeter pattern width, and microstructure size, maximum 90% enhancement of the condensation rate was achieved as compared with the superhydrophobic surface at a subcooling of 13 K. We also demonstrated the enhanced condensation mechanism by a detailed analysis of the condensation process. Our work proposed effective and systematical methods for controlling and optimizing moisture condensation on the patterned surfaces and shed light on application integration of such promising functional surfaces.

No abstract

Cervical carcinoma is a serious type of gynecological cancer that can affect women of all ages. Cervical carcinoma presents challenges for precision medicine, as not all tumors have specific gene mutations or alterations that can be targeted with existing drugs. Nonetheless, there are some promising targets in cervical carcinoma. Herein, genomic mutation data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer were used to identify genomic targets for cervical carcinoma. PIK3CA was the most mutant gene among the promising targets, especially in cervical squamous cell carcinoma, and the mutated genes of cervical carcinoma were enriched in the RTK/PI3K/MAPK and Hippo pathways. In vitro, PIK3CA‐mutant cervical cancer cell lines showed higher sensitivity to Alpelisib than cancer cells without the PIK3CA mutation and the normal cells (HCerEpic). Protein–protein networks and co‐immunoprecipitation of PIK3CA revealed reduced interaction between p110α and ATR in PIK3CA‐mutant cervical cancer cells, which were sensitive to the combination of Alpelisib and cisplatin in vivo. Furthermore, Alpelisib significantly suppressed the proliferation and migration of PIK3CA‐mutant cervical cancer cells via inhibition of the AKT/mTOR pathway. Overall, Alpelisib showed antitumor effects and enhance cisplatin efficacy in PIK3CA‐mutant cervical cancer cells via PI3K/AKT pathways. Our study demonstrated the therapeutic potential of Alpelisib in PIK3CA‐mutant cervical carcinoma, which provides insights into precision medicine in cervical carcinoma.