Search

Solar evaporation exhibits significant potential for the treatment of high-salt organic wastewater. However, it's also confronted with challenges due to the accumulation of organic pollutants and salts in the concentrated wastewater following evaporation, which compromises the long-term stability of evaporation unit and complicates subsequent treatment processes. To address these challenges, a volumetric solar interfacial evaporation (V-SIE) system by integrating Fe 3 O 4 - H 2 O nanofluids and peroxydisulfate (PDS) were proposed in this study. In V-SIE system, Fe 3 O 4 magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared as solar receivers to form a volume-absorbing solar energy interface and enhance evaporation efficiency. The results show that the evaporation rate was 1.412 kg/(m 2 ·h) and the solar efficiency reached 93.75 % as the temperature rose to 57.2 ℃. Additionally, the high thermal conductivity of Fe 3 O 4 facilitated the effective heat transfer to the fluid and provided sufficient thermal energy to activate PDS, thereby removing 99.3 % of Rhodamine B (RhB). Fe 3 O 4 NPs effectively promoted the generation of reactive species including SO 4 ·- , ·OH, O 2 ·- and 1 O 2 from PDS and the four main stages including N-de-ethylation, chromophore cleavage, ring-opening, and mineralization were proposed as the possible degradation pathway of RhB. This study provides a reference for developing V-SIE system and highlights the positive effect of nanofluids in advanced oxidation processes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Purpose: The optimal treatment strategy in patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) due to Gram-positive bacteria and renal insufficiency remains challenging. The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of linezolid versus teicoplanin in HAP patients with renal insufficiency and to explore optimal dosage strategy for linezolid., Methods: The retrospective study enrolled adult patients treated with intravenous linezolid or teicoplanin at Suzhou Municipal Hospital between July 2018 and August 2023. For the comparative pharmacodynamic study, effectiveness, safety and target attainment of trough concentration (C min ) for teicoplanin versus linezolid treatment in HAP patients with document Gram-positive bacteria and renal insufficiency were compared. For the population pharmacokinetics (PPK) analyses, linezolid concentrations collected exclusively from HAP patients with renal insufficiency were used and the optimal dosage strategy was investigated using Monte Carlo simulations., Results: Linezolid-treated patients had a higher bacterial eradication rate than teicoplanin-treated patients (88.5% vs 63.4%, P < 0.001). A higher proportion of patients in the linezolid group experienced at least one adverse reaction (42.0% vs 25.0%, P = 0.025). Significantly more supratherapeutic C min , less therapeutic C min were achieved in the linezolid group (adjusted P < 0.05). A total of 207 linezolid concentrations from 166 patients with renal insufficiency were available for the PPK analysis. Age and creatinine clearance (CrCL) were identified as significant covariates that influenced clearance. Simulations show that 300 mg q12h provide the optimal exposure in patients with a CrCL of 60 or 45 mL/min, and 200 mg q12h was recommended for patients with a CrCL of 30 or 15 mL/min., Conclusion: Linezolid-treated patients with HAP and renal insufficiency had higher bacterial eradication rates, supratherapeutic exposure and adverse reactions than teicoplanin-treated patients. Linezolid dose reduction in patients with renal insufficiency improved the probability of achieving optimal exposure., Competing Interests: We declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to the research., (© 2024 Xu et al.)

A nomogram to estimate the risk of linezolid-induced thrombocytopenia in patients with renal impairment is not available. The aim of the study is to develop a nomogram for predicting linezolid-induced thrombocytopenia in patients with renal impairment and to investigate the incremental value of PNU-142300 concentration beyond clinical factors and linezolid trough concentration (C min ) for risk prediction. Logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors for linezolid-induced thrombocytopenia in patients with renal impairment and nomograms were established. The performance of the nomograms was assessed in terms of area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), net reclassification improvement (NRI), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) , decision curve analysis (DCA) and calibration. Internal validation and external validation of the nomograms were also performed. Four nomograms were created: nomogram A including total bilirubin, creatinine clearance and concomitant mannitol use; nomogram B containing linezolid C min additionally; nomogram C containing total bilirubin, concomitant mannitol use, linezolid C min , and PNU142300 concentration; nomogram D including total bilirubin, concomitant mannitol use, and PNU142300 concentration. Nomogram C improved the prediction performance than nomogram A (AUROC 0.881 vs. 0.749; NRI 0.290; IDI 0.226) and nomogram B (AUROC 0.881 vs. 0.812; NRI 0.152; IDI 0.130) in the training cohort. DCA analysis showed that nomogram C yielded a greater net benefit. Compared with nomogram A and nomogram B, nomogram C also showed superior discriminatory efficacy, good calibration and clinical usefulness in the external validation cohort. The nomogram containing PNU-142300 concentration and linezolid C min had better predictive capability than that containing linezolid C min for predicting linezolid-induced thrombocytopenia in patients with renal impairment., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB), the application of chemical drugs for glioblastoma treatment is severely limited. Recently, exosomes have been widely applied for drug delivery to the brain. However, the differences in brain targeting efficiency among exosomes derived from different cell sources, as well as the premature drug leakage during circulation, still limit the therapeutic efficacy. Here, we designed a functional oligopeptide-modified exosome loaded with doxorubicin (Pep2-Exos-DOX) for glioblastoma treatment. BV2 mouse microglial cell line was selected as the exosome source due to the favorable BBB penetration. To avoid drug release in the circulation, a redox-response oligopeptide was designed for incorporation into the membranes of exosomes to lock the drug during circulation. The enrichment of the drug in glioblastoma was confirmed. Pharmacodynamic evaluation showed Pep2-Exos-DOX possessed significant anti-cancer activity against glioblastoma as well as relative biosafety. This exosome-based drug delivery system modified with redox-response oligopeptides provides us a novel strategy for brain diseases treatment., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In vancomycin treatment, the rates of correct blood sampling and initial trough concentrations within the target range are very low. Studies of interventions by clinical pharmacists based on population pharmacokinetics (PPK) models are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the intervention effect of clinical pharmacist-mediated optimization of the vancomycin administration regimen based on a PPK model. Retrospectively enrolled patients constituted the control group, and prospectively enrolled patients constituted the intervention group. The vancomycin administration regimen, trough concentration, pharmacokinetic parameters, and clinical outcomes of the two groups were compared. The control and intervention groups comprised 236 and 138 patients, respectively. Compared with those in the control group, the therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and correct TDM sampling time rates in the intervention group were significantly higher (76.92% vs. 43.59%; 63.9% vs. 39.0%, both p <  0.001). The rates of an initial trough concentration within 10-20 mg/L and an adjusted regimen were also significantly higher in the intervention group (55.80% vs. 30.51%, 71.95% vs. 39.18%, both p <  0.001). The rate of an area under the curve (AUC) within 400-650 mg·h/L was higher in the intervention group than in the control group (52.7% vs. 36.6%, p <  0.001). The eradication rates of Gram-positive bacteria were 91.4% in the intervention group and 81.3% in the control group ( p  = 0.049). Eight patients developed acute kidney injury (AKI) in the control group; however, no AKI occurred in the intervention group ( p  = 0.029). Intervention by clinical pharmacists can increase the rate of correct sampling time. Using the PPK model combined with Bayesian estimation, clinical pharmacists can greatly increase the trough concentration and AUCs within the target range, especially for adjusted regimens. Higher PK/PD target rates resulted in better Gram-positive bacterial eradication and reduced renal toxicity of vancomycin.

An extensive study has been conducted on a series of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) samples using metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy, to investigate the influence of growth modes for GaN buffer layers on device performance. The unintentional doping concentration and screw dislocation density are significantly lower in the samples grown with our special two-dimensional (2D) growth approach, compared to a widely-used two-step method combining the 2D and 3D growth. The GaN buffer layers grown by the 2D growth approach have achieved an unintentional doping density of 2 × 10 14 cm -3 , two orders lower than 10 16 cm -3 of the GaN samples grown using a conventional two-step method. High-frequency capacitance measurements show that the samples with lower unintentional doping densities have lower buffer leakage and higher breakdown limits. This series of samples have attained sub-nA/mm leakages, a high breakdown limit of 2.5 MV/cm, and a saturation current density of about 1.1 A/mm. It indicates that our special 2D growth approach can effectively lessen the unintentional doping in GaN buffer layers, leading to low buffer leakage and high breakdown limits of GaN/AlGaN HEMTs.

The microdisplays for augmented reality and virtual reality require ultrasmall micro light-emitting-diodes (μLEDs) with a dimension of ≤5 μm. Furthermore, the microdisplays also need three kinds of such μLEDs each emitting red, green, and blue emission. Currently, in addition to a great challenge for achieving ultrasmall μLEDs mainly based on III-nitride semiconductors, another fundamental barrier is due to an extreme difficulty in growing III-nitride-based red LEDs. So far, there has not been any effective approach to obtain high indium content InGaN as an active region required for a red LED while maintaining high optical performance. In this paper, we have demonstrated a selective epitaxy growth approach using a template featuring microhole arrays. This allows us to not only obtain the natural formation of ultrasmall μLEDs but also achieve InGaN with enhanced indium content at an elevated growth temperature, at which it is impossible to obtain InGaN-based red LEDs on a standard planar surface. By means of this approach, we have demonstrated red μLEDs (at an emission wavelength of 642 nm) with a dimension of 2 μm, exhibiting a high luminance of 3.5 × 10 7 cd/m 2 and a peak external quantum efficiency of 1.75% measured in a wafer form (i.e., without any packaging to enhance an extraction efficiency). In contrast, an LED grown under identical growth conditions but on a standard planar surface shows green emission at 538 nm. This highlights that our approach provides a simple solution that can address the two major challenges mentioned above., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

III-nitride semiconductors and their heterojunctions exhibit intrinsic polarization due to the asymmetry of their wurtzite structure, which determines all the fundamental properties of III-nitride optoelectronics. The intrinsic polarization-induced quantum-confined Stark effect leads to an emission wavelength shift with increasing injection current for III-nitride visible LEDs, forming an insurmountable barrier for the fabrication of a full color display. For instance, a yellow LED designed to produce yellow light emits green or blue light at an elevated current, while a green (blue) LED gives off blue (violet) light with increasing current. This color instability becomes a serious issue for a microdisplay such as the displays for augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) typically utilized at proximity to the eye, where human eyes are sensitive to a tiny change in light color. It is well-known that an optical mode wavelength for a microcavity is insensitive to injection current. In this work, we have demonstrated an approach to epitaxially integrating microLEDs (green microLEDs as an example, one of the key components for a full color microdisplay) and a microcavity. This allows the emission from the microLEDs to be coupled with the microcavity, leading to a negligible emission wavelength shift with increasing injection current. In contrast, identical microLEDs but without a microcavity show a large emission wavelength shift from 560 nm down to 510 nm, measured under identical conditions. This approach provides a simple solution to resolving the 30-year issue in the field of III-nitride optoelectronics., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Presynthesized CdSe/CdS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) are two-dimensionally (2D) and epitaxially fused in solution to form a CdS nanoplatelet with multiple epitaxially embedded CdSe QDs (CdSe@CdS coupled-dots@platelet). In addition to providing spatial confinement for the excitonic states of multiple CdSe QDs in a CdS nanoplatelet, the continuous and single-crystalline nanoplatelet with controlled thickness enables quantum coupling between the CdSe QDs, resulting in inhomogeneous-free optical properties for the colloidal CdSe@CdS coupled-dots@nanoplatelets with bright photoluminescence. The results here suggest that solution synthesis can offer a simple means to obtain semiconductor nanocrystals for realizing unique yet complex excitonic properties that are otherwise difficult to achieve.

Heavy silicon-doping in GaN generally causes a rough surface and saturated conductivity, while heavily silicon-doped n++ -AlGaN with ≤5% aluminum can maintain an atomically flat surface and exhibit enhanced conductivity. Given this major advantage, we propose using multiple pairs of heavily silicon-doped n++ -Al 0.01 Ga 0.99 N and undoped GaN instead of widely used multiple pairs of heavily silicon-doped n++ -GaN and undoped GaN for the fabrication of a lattice-matched distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) by using an electrochemical (EC) etching technique, where the lattice mismatch between Al 0.01 Ga 0.99 N and GaN can be safely ignored. By means of using the EC etching technique, the n++ -layers can be converted into nanoporous (NP) layers whilst the undoped GaN remains intact, leading to a significantly high contrast in refractive index between NP-layer and undoped GaN and thus forming a DBR. Our work demonstrates that the NP-Al 0.01 Ga 0.99 N/undoped GaN-based DBR exhibits a much smoother surface, enhanced reflectivity and a wider stopband than the NP-GaN/undoped GaN-based DBR. Furthermore, the NP-Al 0.01 Ga 0.99 N/undoped GaN-based DBR sample with a large size (up to 1 mm in width) can be obtained, while a standard NP-GaN/undoped GaN-based DBR sample obtained is typically on a scale of a few 100 μm in width. Finally, a series of DBR structures with high performance, ranging from blue to dark yellow, was demonstrated by using multiple pairs of n++ -Al 0.01 Ga 0.99 N and undoped GaN.

Background: Due to the lack of updated information on teicoplanin (TEI) for continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), no exact dosage regimen has been recommended. The aim of this study was to optimize the dosage regimen of TEI in renal dysfunction patients with or without CRRT, evaluate the influence factors of the eradication of Gram-positive bacteria, and evaluate the effect of CRRT on the clearance of TEI. Methods: Patients with renal dysfunction receiving TEI treatment in the ICU were prospectively recruited and divided into CRRT and non-CRRT groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to screen the factors affecting the eradication of Gram-positive bacteria. The filtrate concentration of the CRRT group was measured at the time of TEI C min , and the filtration coefficient of TEI was calculated to evaluate the effect of CRRT on the clearance of TEI. Results: A total of 106 patients were included, 40 cases in the CRRT group and 66 cases in the non-CRRT group. After giving high-loading doses of TEI, 75.8 and 70% of TEI C min in the non-CRRT and CRRT groups reached the range of 10-30 mg/L before the 3rd dose, respectively. The risk of G + bacteria being uneradicated was higher while the APACHEⅡscore was higher than 22.5. The albumin level before the start of TEI administration and before the 6th-8th dose was lower than 32.8 g/L and 29.3 g/L, respectively, and C min before the 3rd dose and 6th-8th dose was lower than 13.2 mg/L and 17.1 mg/L, respectively, with the duration of TEI therapy shorter than 10.5 days. The correlation coefficient (r) was 0.6490 between C min before the 3rd dose and the albumin level ( p < 0.001). The filtration coefficient of TEI was 10.7 ± 2.4% at C min and 11.1 ± 2.5% at C max . The GFR had no correlation with the filtration coefficient (r = -0.06204; r = -0.08059). The clearance of TEI in CRRT patients was negatively correlated with the albumin level (r = -0.6305, p = 0.0013). Conclusion: The early stage of the albumin level can significantly affect the initial C min and clinical efficacy of TEI, and also had effect on the clearance of TEI by CRRT. The filtration coefficient of TEI was stable, even with a higher ultrafiltration rate., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Shi, Zhuang, Duan, Zhu, Xue, Wang, Xu, Yuan, Shi, Li, Sun, Liu, Zhou, Lu and Tang.)

Background: Linezolid-induced thrombocytopenia (LIT) is the main factor limiting the clinical application of linezolid (LZD). The incidence and risk factors of LIT in neonatal patients were possibly different from other populations based on pathophysiological characteristics. The purpose of this study was to establish a regression model for predicting LIT in neonatal sepsis patients. Methods: We retrospectively included 518 patients and divided them into the LIT group and the non-LIT group. A logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors related to LIT, and a regression model was established. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the model's predictive value. We prospectively collected 39 patients' data to validate the model and evaluate the effect of LZD pharmacokinetics on LIT. Results: Among the 518 patients, 103 patients (19.9%) developed LIT. The Kaplan-Meier plot revealed that the overall median time from the initiation of LZD treatment to the onset of LIT in preterm infants was much shorter when compared with term infants [10 (6, 12) vs . 13 (9.75, 16.5), p = 0.004]. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the independent risk factors of LIT were lower weight at medication, younger gestational ages, late-onset sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, mechanical ventilation, longer durations of LZD treatment, and lower baseline of platelet level. We established the above seven-variable prediction regression model and calculated the predictive probability. The ROC curve showed that the predicted probability of combined body weight, gestational age, duration of LZD treatment, and baseline of platelet had better sensitivity (84.4%), specificity (74.2%), and maximum AUC (AUC = 0.873). LIT occurred in 9 out of 39 patients (23.1%), and the accuracies of positive and negative predictions of LIT were 88.9 and 76.7%, respectively. Compared with the non-LIT patients, the LIT patients had higher trough concentration [11.49 (6.86, 15.13) vs. 5.51 (2.80, 11.61) mg/L; p = 0.028] but lower apparent volume of distribution (Vd) [0.778 (0.687, 1.421) vs. 1.322 (1.099, 1.610) L; p = 0.010]. Conclusion: The incidence of LIT was high in neonatal sepsis patients, especially in preterm infants. LIT occurred earlier in preterm infants than in term infants. The regression model of seven variables had a high predictive value for predicting LIT. LIT was correlated with higher trough concentration and lower Vd., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Duan, Zhou, Feng, Zhu, Cai, Wang, Zhu, Li, Yuan, Liu, Sun, Yang and Tang.)

Background: Attenuating inflammatory response and relieving pain are two therapeutic therapeutical goals for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs are often associated with many adverse effects due to nonspecific distribution. New drug delivery systems with practical targeting ability and other complementary strategies urgently need to be explored. To achieve this goal, an acupoint drug delivery system that can target deliver anti-inflammatory drugs and simulate acupuncture in relieving pain was constructed, which can co-deliver triptolide (TP) and 2-chloro-N (6)-cyclopentyl adenosine (CCPA)., Results: We have successfully demonstrated that acupoint nanocomposite hydrogel composed of TP-Human serum album nanoparticles (TP@HSA NPs) and CCPA could effectively treat RA. The result shows that CCPA-Gel can enhance analgesic effects specifically at the acupoint, while the mechanical and thermal pain threshold was 4.9 and 1.6 times compared with non-acupoint, respectively, and the nanocomposite gel further enhanced. Otherwise, the combination of acupoint and nanocomposite hydrogel exerted synergetic improvement of inflammation, bone erosion, and reduction of systemic toxicity. Furthermore, it could regulate inflammatory factors and restore the balance of Th17/Treg cells, which provided a novel and effective treatment strategy for RA. Interestingly, acupoint administration could improve the accumulation of the designed nanomedicine in arthritic paws (13.5% higher than those in non-acupoint at 48 h), which may explain the better therapeutic efficiency and low toxicity., Conclusion: This novel therapeutic approach-acupoint nanocomposite hydrogel, builds a bridge between acupuncture and drugs which sheds light on the combination of traditional and modern medicine., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The finite volume method (FVM)-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology has been applied in the non-invasive diagnosis of coronary artery stenosis. Nonetheless, FVM is a time-consuming process. In addition to FVM, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is used in fluid flow simulation. Unlike FVM solving the Navier-Stokes equations, LBM directly solves the simplified Boltzmann equation, thus saving computational time. In this study, 12 patients with left anterior descending (LAD) stenosis, diagnosed by CTA, are analysed using FVM and LBM. The velocities, pressures, and wall shear stress (WSS) predicted using FVM and LBM for each patient is compared. In particular, the ratio of the average and maximum speed at the stenotic part characterising the degree of stenosis is compared. Finally, the golden standard of LAD stenosis, invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR), is applied to justify the simulation results. Our results show that LBM and FVM are consistent in blood flow simulation. In the region with a high degree of stenosis, the local flow patterns in those two solvers are slightly different, resulting in minor differences in local WSS estimation and blood speed ratio estimation. Notably, these differences do not result in an inconsistent estimation. Comparison with invasive FFR shows that, in most cases, the non-invasive diagnosis is consistent with FFR measurements. However, in some cases, the non-invasive diagnosis either underestimates or overestimates the degree of stenosis. This deviation is caused by the difference between physiological and simulation conditions that remains the biggest challenge faced by all CFD-based non-invasive diagnostic methods.

Targeting a single molecule or a single pathway and poor drug delivery to the brain hamper the therapy of Alzheimer's disease (AD) based on abnormal metabolism of amyloid-β (Aβ). To solve these problems, we designed and synthesized a multi - strategy peptide (MOP), an ingenious apolipoprotein E mimetic peptide, which could reduce Aβ deposition via inhibiting Aβ aggregation and at the same time accelerate Aβ clearance. Meanwhile, MOP could be self-assembled into different nanostructure, thus we constructed a multifunctional delivery system (APND-3) based on MOP self-assembled nanorods (aspect ratios of 3) that was a favorable morphology to enhance the permeation across the blood brain barrier (BBB) to address the poor delivery to brain issues. Besides, the drug delivery system introduces polydopamine (PDA) and COG1410 ligand as a shell to keep the favorable morphology of core and enhance the BBB targeting efficiency. As a result, the delivery system significantly enhances the delivery of MOP to the brain, thus reducing Aβ deposition, mitigating the memory deficits, and ameliorating neurologic damage in AD model mice. Our findings suggest that our drug and carrier integrated multifunctional delivery system has the potential for AD treatment., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Drug-loaded hydrogels can improve blood supply and inhibit extracellular matrix degradation after myocardial infarction. However, due to the continual dynamic motion of cardiac tissue, the hydrogel structure cannot be reconstructed in time, causing accelerated degradation and drug burst release. Here, a novel, superior, self-healing elastin-mimic peptide hydrogel (EMH) was fabricated for the local delivery of salvianolic acid B (SaB). The self-healing ability of EMH is enhanced by SaB-loaded polydopamine nanoparticles (SaB-PDA). In vitro, the pre-hydrogel (SaB-PDA/pre-EMH) is endowed with excellent biocompatibility and a low viscosity, making it suitable for intramyocardial injection. Once injected into the myocardial infarction (MI) region, SaB-PDA/pre-EMH can form SaB-PDA/EMH with great mechanical strength under the action of upregulated transglutaminase (TGase) in heart tissue post-MI. The superior self-healing ability of SaB-PDA/EMH allows for an increase in retention time in the beating ventricular wall. Therefore, with long-term release of SaB, SaB-PDA/EMH can inhibit ventricular remodeling and promote angiogenesis for MI treatment., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Visible light communications (VLC) require III-nitride visible micro-light-emitting diodes (μLEDs) with a high-modulation bandwidth. Such μLEDs need to be driven at a high injection current density on a kA/cm 2 scale, which is about 2 orders of magnitude higher than those for normal visible LED operation. μLEDs are traditionally fabricated by dry-etching techniques where dry-etching-induced damages are unavoidable, leading to both a substantial reduction in performance and a great challenge to viability at a high injection current density. Furthermore, conventional biasing (which is simply applied across a p-n junction) is good enough for normal LED operation but generates a great challenge for a single μLED, which needs to be modulated at a high injection current density and at a high frequency. In this work, we have proposed a concept for an epitaxial integration and then demonstrated a completely different method that allows us to achieve an epitaxial integration of a single μLED with a diameter of 20 μm and an AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT), where the emission from a single μLED is modulated by tuning the gate voltage of its HEMT. Furthermore, such a direct epitaxial approach has entirely eliminated any dry-etching-induced damages. As a result, we have demonstrated an epitaxial integration of monolithic on-chip μLED-HEMT with a record modulation bandwidth of 1.2 GHz on industry-compatible c -plane substrates., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Background: Early detecting hydatidiform mole in missed abortion is challenge. In this retrospective observational study, we analysed the sensitivity of detecting hydatidiform mole by pre-evacuation ultrasound examination or naked eye after surgical uterine evacuation in missed abortion., Methods: Data on 577 cases with histologically confirmed hydatidiform mole were collected over a 10-year period and analysed. Data included serum β-hCG level before surgical evacuation, the ultrasound examination findings, histology findings and naked eye findings. In addition, serum β-hCG level on 2398 cases without hydatidiform mole was also collected., Results: The median maternal age was 29 (range, 17-53) years and the range of gestational age was 6 to 12 weeks. The sensitivity of detecting hydatidiform mole by ultrasound examination or by naked eye was 25% or 60% respectively. This sensitivity was not increased by the combination of ultrasound and naked eye. There was no difference in the sensitivity of detecting subtypes of hydatidiform mole. The higher β-hCG level was seen in cases with hydatidiform mole, compared to cases without hydatidiform mole. However, there was a lot of overlap in the distributions of β-hCG between the two groups., Conclusions: In this study, we found lower sensitivity of detecting hydatidiform mole by ultrasound in missed abortion. β-hCG level was higher in hydatidiform mole than in non- hydatidiform mole in missed abortion. Although higher sensitivity of detecting hydatidiform mole is seen by naked eye (60%), in order to minimise missed opportunity of detecting hydatidiform mole, our study suggests that routine histopathological examination is necessary in missed abortion.

Objective: To prepare xanthatin (XA)-loaded polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticles (PDA-XA-NPs) and to investigate their adhesion and bioavailability., Materials and Methods: PDA-XA-NPs were synthesized and characterized using transmission electron microscopy, zeta potential analysis and encapsulation efficiency analysis. Their in vitro release kinetics and inhibitory effects on gastric cancer were studied. The adhesion of PDA-XA-NPs was evaluated by in vivo imaging atlas. The pharmacokinetics of PDA-XA-NPs and XA was compared., Results: PDA-XA-NPs had a spherical shape, a particle size of about 380 nm, an encapsulation efficiency of (82.1 ± 0.02) % and a drug loading capacity of (5.5 ± 0.1)%. The release of PDA-XA-NPs in PBS was stable and slow, without being affected by pH. The adhesion capacity of PDA-XA-NPs for mucin was significantly higher than that of bulk drug. The gastric mucosal retention of PDA-XA-NPs reached 89.1% which significantly exceeded that of XA. In vivo imaging showed that PDA-XA-NPs targeting the stomach were retained for a period of time. The pharmacokinetics study showed that PDA-XA-NPs had a longer retention time and a slower drug release than those of XA. In vitro experiments confirmed that PDA-XA-NPs exerted similar inhibitory effects on gastric cancer to those of XA, which lasted for a period of time., Conclusion: High-adhesion NPs were constructed. Gastric cancer was targeted by orally administered PDA-XA-NPs, as a potentially feasible therapy. Eventually, the bioavailability of XA was increased., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2020 Zhou et al.)

Rationale: Both spatial accuracy and temporal persistence are crucial in drug delivery, especially for anti-tumor intravenous nanomedicines, which have limited persistence due to their small particle sizes and easy removal from tumors. The present study takes advantage of morphological transformation strategy to regulate intravenous nanomedicines to display different sizes in different areas, achieving high efficient enrichment and long retention in lesions. Methods: We designed and synthesized functional doxorubicin-peptide conjugate nanoparticles (FDPC-NPs) consisting of self-assembled doxorubicin-peptide conjugates (DPCs) and an acidic-responsive shielding layer named the functional polylysine graft (FPG), which can regulate the assembly morphology of the DPCs from spherical DPC nanoparticles (DPC-NPs) to DPC-nanofibers (DPC-NFs) by preventing the assembly force from π-π stacking and hydrogen bond between the DPC-NPs. The morphology transformation and particle changes of FDPC-NPs in different environments were determined with DLS, TEM and SEM. We used FRET to explore the enhanced retention effect of FDPC-NPs in tumor site in vivo . HPLC-MS/MS analytical method was established to analyze the biodistribution of FDPC-NPs in H22 hepatoma xenograft mouse model. Finally, the antitumor effect and safety of FDPC-NPs was evaluated. Results: The FDPC-NPs were stable in blood circulation and responsively self-assembled into DPC-NFs when the FDPC-NPs underwent the acid-sensitive separation of the shielding layer in a mildly acidic microenvironment. The FDPC-NPs maintained a uniform spherical size of 80 nm and exhibited good morphological stability in neutral aqueous solution (pH 7.4) but aggregated into a long necklace-like chain structure or a crosslinked fiber structure over time in a weakly acidic solution (pH 6.5). These acidity-triggered transformable FDPC-NPs prolonged the accumulation in tumor tissue for more than 5 days after a single injection and improved the relative uptake rate of doxorubicin in tumors 31-fold. As a result, FDPC-NPs exhibited a preferable anti-tumor efficacy and a reduced side effect in vivo compared with free DOX solution and DOX liposomes. Conclusions: Morphology-transformable FDPC-NPs represent a promising therapeutic approach for prolonging the residence time of drugs at the target site to reduce side effect and enhance therapeutic efficacy. Our studies provide a new and simple idea for the design of long-term delivery systems for intravenous chemotherapeutic drugs., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Augmented reality and visual reality (AR and VR) microdisplays require micro light emitting diodes (μLEDs) with an ultrasmall dimension (≤5 μm), high external quantum efficiency (EQE), and narrow spectral line width. Unfortunately, dry etching which is the most crucial step for the fabrication of μLEDs in current approaches introduces severe damages, which seem to become an insurmountable challenge for achieving ultrasmall μLEDs with high EQE. Furthermore, it is well-known that μLEDs which require InGaN layers as an emitting region naturally exhibit significantly broad spectral line width, which becomes increasingly severe toward long wavelengths such as green. In this paper, we have reported a combination of our selective overgrowth approach developed very recently and epitaxial lattice-matched distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) embedded in order to address all these fundamental issues. As a result, our μLEDs with a diameter of 3.6 μm and an interpitch of 2 μm exhibit an ultrahigh EQE of 9% at ∼500 nm. More importantly, the spectral line width of our μLEDs has been significantly reduced down to 25 nm, the narrowest value reported so far for III-nitride green μLEDs.

Cancer metastasis is the main cause of chemotherapeutic failure. Inhibiting the activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is a common strategy for reducing metastasis. However, broad-spectrum MMP-inhibitors (MMPI) may cause undesired side effects. Here, we screened a selective MMP2 inhibitor (CCKIGLFRWR) and linked it with doxorubicin (DOX) to produce an amphiphilic peptide-drug conjugate (PDC). Then novel core-shell nanoparticles were self-assembled from PDC core and modified polylysine (MPL) shell. When the particles were passively targeted to the tumor site, the PDC core was exposed for charge switch of the MPL shell, aggregated for its transformation behavior, and specially adhered to the cell membrane. The disulfide bond between the MMPI peptide and DOX was broken via a low concentration of glutathione-mediated reduction in tumor microenvironment. DOX could effectively enter the tumor cells. Meanwhile, the MMPI peptide could selectively inhibit the activity of the MMP2 and effectively inhibit tumor metastasis.

This article reports a nonpolar GaN metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector (PD) with an ultrahigh responsivity and an ultrafast response speed in the ultraviolet spectral region, which was fabricated on nonpolar (112̅0) GaN stripe arrays with a major improvement in crystal quality grown on patterned (110) silicon substrates by means of using our two-step processes. Our nonpolar GaN MSM-PD exhibits a responsivity of 695.3 A/W at 1 V bias and 12628.3 A/W at 5 V bias, both under 360 nm ultraviolet illumination, which are more than 20 times higher and 4 orders of magnitude higher compared to the current state-of-the-art photodetector, respectively. The nonpolar GaN MSM-PD displays a rise time and a fall time of 66 and 43 μs, respectively, which are 3 orders of magnitude faster compared to the current state-of-the-art photodetector.

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy, but the mechanisms of ovarian cancer progression and cisplatin resistance remain unclear. Emerging evidence suggested that ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2C (UBE2C) was highly expressed in a variety of tumors and acted as an oncogene. In our study, we demonstrated that UBE2C was overexpressed in ovarian cancer by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database analysis. It was also found that high levels of UBE2C expression predicted worse clinical outcomes in ovarian cancer. After knocking down UBE2C, SKOV3 and A2780 cells showed inhibitory cell proliferation, increased apoptosis by blocking G2/M transition in vitro and in vivo. Besides, the downregulation of UBE2C reversed the cisplatin resistance states of SKOV3/DDP and A2780/DDP cells. Interestingly, CDK1 expression was also downregulated in UBE2C depleted ovarian cancer cells. Furthermore, we found that UBE2C expression was highly correlated with CDK1 expression in ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines, indicating that UBE2C might cooperate with CDK1 in ovarian tumorigenesis. Collectively, our findings strongly supported UBE2C as a candidate oncogene and a potential target for the treatment of ovarian cancer., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A direct epitaxial approach to achieving ultrasmall and ultrabright InGaN micro light-emitting diodes (μLEDs) has been developed, leading to the demonstration of ultrasmall, ultraefficient, and ultracompact green μLEDs with a dimension of 3.6 μm and an interpitch of 2 μm . The approach does not involve any dry-etching processes which are exclusively used by any current μLED fabrication approaches. As a result, our approach has entirely eliminated any damage induced during the dry-etching processes. Our green μLED array chips exhibit a record external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 6% at ∼515 nm in the green spectral region, although our measurements have been performed on bare chips which do not have any coating, passivation, epoxy, or reflector, which are generally used for standard LED packaging in order to enhance extraction efficiency. A high luminance of >10 7 cd/m 2 has been obtained on the μLED array bare chips. Temperature-dependent measurements show that our μLED array structure exhibits an internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of 28%. It is worth highlighting that our epitaxial approach is fully compatible with any existing microdisplay fabrication techniques., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.)

Facet-dependent on-surface reactions are systematically studied on zinc-blende CdSe nanoplatelets with atomically-flat {001} basal facets and small yet non-polar side facets. The on-surface half-reactions between the surface Se sites and Cd carboxylates in the solution are qualitatively equivalent to those on the spheroidal counterparts. Conversely, the on-surface half-reactions between the surface Cd sites and the activated Se precursors in solution show a strong facet-dependence, which includes three distinguishable stages. In the first stage, the Se precursors adsorb onto the small and non-polar side facets of the nanoplatelets. The second stage is initiated by the adsorbed Se precursors at the side-basal plane edges and proceeds from the edges to the center of the basal planes in quasi-zeroth-order kinetics. In the third stage, the nanoplatelets are dismantled, which includes the creation of a hole in the middle and a build-up of thick edges., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Aliphatic carboxylates are the most common class of surface ligands to stabilize colloidal nanocrystals. The widely used approach to identify the coordination modes between surface cationic sites and carboxylate ligands is based on the empirical infrared (IR) spectroscopic assignment, which is often ambiguous and thus hampers the practical control of surface structures. In this report, multiple techniques based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and IR spectra are applied to distinguish the different coordination structures in a series of zinc-blende CdSe nanocrystals with unique facet structures, including nanoplatelets dominated with {100} basal planes, hexahedrons with only three types of low-index facets (i.e., {100}, {110}, and {111}), and spheroidal dots without well-defined facets. Interpretation and assignment of NMR and IR signals were assisted by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In addition to the identification of facet-sensitive bonding modes, the present methods also allow a nondestructive quantification of mixed ligands.

We designed a multifunctional platform by coloading DOX, an antitumor drug, and imiquimod (R837), an immune adjuvant against Toll-like-receptor-7 (TLR-7), onto polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA NPs), a photothermal therapy (PTT) agent, to develop PDA/DOX&R837 NPs used as combined photothermal therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy in order to enhance the cancer therapeutic effects. For a high delivery to malignant tumors, a folate ligand-receptor recognition molecule was grafted to the nanoparticle surface for a higher cellular uptake efficiency. The particle size, ζ potential, morphology, drug loading content, and drug release profiles of FA-PDA/DOX&R837 NPs were investigated. The antitumor effects under near-infrared (NIR) laser radiation were evaluated, and our results showed that a three-mode strategy combined therapy was significantly superior to single-mode therapy for tumor suppression. The synergetic toxicity of hyperthermia and DOX almost completely eliminated tumors, and together with R837, they further promoted the maturation of dendritic cells to induce a strong antitumor immune response, making tumor recurrence substantially lower than that without R837. This platform can be used as a potential targeted drug delivery system for combined cancer therapy.

We have designed and then grown a simple structure for high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on silicon, where as usual two transitional layers of Al x Ga 1-x N (x = 0.35, x = 0.17) have been used in order to engineer the induced strain as a result of the large lattice mismatch and large thermal expansion coefficient difference between GaN and silicon. Detailed x-ray reciprocal space mapping (RSM) measurements have been taken in order to study the strain, along with cross-section scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and x-ray diffraction (XRD) curve measurements. It has been found that it is critical to achieve a crack-free GaN HEMT epi-wafer with high crystal quality by obtaining a high quality AlN buffer, and then tuning the proper thickness and aluminium composition of the two transitional Al x Ga 1-x N layers. Finally, HEMTs with high performance that are fabricated on the epi-wafer have been demonstrated to confirm the success of our strain engineering and above analysis.

The transcription factors CBF1/2/3 are reported to play a dominant role in the cold responsive network of Arabidopsis by directly regulating the expression levels of cold responsive (COR) genes. In this study, we obtained CRISPR/Cas9-mediated loss-of-function mutants of cbf1∼3. Over 3,000 COR genes identified by RNA-seq analysis showed a slight but significant change in their expression levels in the mutants compared to the wild-type plants after being treated at 4 °C for 12 h. The C-repeat (CRT) motif (5'-CCGAC-3') was enriched in promoters of genes that were up-regulated by CBF2 and CBF3 but not in promoters of genes up-regulated by CBF1. These data suggest that CBF2 and CBF3 play a more important role in directing the cold response by regulating different sets of downstream COR genes. More than 2/3 of COR genes were co-regulated by two or three CBFs and were involved mainly in cellular signal transduction and metabolic processes; less than 1/3 of the genes were regulated by one CBF, and those genes up-regulated were enriched in cold-related abiotic stress responses. Our results indicate that CBFs play an important role in the trade-off between cold tolerance and plant growth through the precise regulation of COR genes in the complicated transcriptional network., (© 2016 The Authors. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.)

Gravitational field-flow fractionation is the simplest field-flow fractionation technique in terms of principle and operation. The earth' s gravity is its external field. Different sized particles are injected into a thin channel and carried by carrier fluid. The different velocities of the carrier liquid in different places results in a size-based separation. A gravitational field-flow fractionation (GrFFF) instrument was designed and constructed. Two kinds of polystyrene (PS) particles with different sizes (20 µm and 6 µm) were chosen as model particles. In this work, the separation of the sample was achieved by changing the concentration of NaN3, the percentage of mixed surfactant in the carrier liquid and the flow rate of carrier liquid. Six levels were set for each factor. The effects of these three factors on the retention ratio (R) and plate height (H) of the PS particles were investigated. It was found that R increased and H decreased with increasing particle size. On the other hand, the R and H increased with increasing flow rate. The R and H also increased with increasing NaN3 concentration. The reason was that the electrostatic repulsive force between the particles and the glass channel wall increased. The force allowed the samples approach closer to the channel wall. The results showed that the resolution and retention time can be improved by adjusting the experimental conditions. These results can provide important values to the further applications of GrFFF technique.

We demonstrate a platform that integrates photonic crystal enhanced fluorescence (PCEF) detection of a surface-based microspot fluorescent assay with a microfluidic cartridge to achieve simultaneous goals of high analytic sensitivity (single digit pg/mL), high selectivity, low sample volume, and assay automation. The PC surface, designed to provide optical resonances for the excitation wavelength and emission wavelength of Cyanines 5 (Cy5), was used to amplify the fluorescence signal intensity measured from a multiplexed biomarker microarray. The assay system is comprised of a plastic microfluidic cartridge for holding the PC and an assay automation system that provides a leak-free fluid interface during introduction of a sequence of fluids under computer control. Through the use of the assay automation system and the PC embedded within the microfluidic cartridge, we demonstrate pg/mL-level limits of detection by performing representative biomarker assays for interleukin 3 (IL3) and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α). The results are consistent with limits of detection achieved without the use of the microfluidic device with the exception that coefficients of variability from spot-to-spot are substantially lower than those obtained by performing assays with manual manipulation of assay liquids. The system's capabilities are compatible with the goal of diagnostic instruments for point-of-care settings., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

An ultra high liquid chromatography-Q Exactive orbitrap mass spectrometry multi-residue method has been developed for the determination of six anticoccidials residues (dinitlmide, nicarbazin, diclazuril, toltrazuril, monensin and salinomycin) in chicken tissue. Sample preparation was based on QuEChERS method, using 1% (v/v) trichloroacetic acid/acetonitrile aqueous solution (3:7, v/v) as the extraction solvent and salting-out with sodium chloride followed by clean-up with 50 mg/mL primary secondary amine (PSA) +50 mg/mL neutral alumina (Alumina-N) dispersive solid phase extraction (DSPE). The separation of the compounds in liquid chromatography was carried out using a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C8 column (100 mm x 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) with mobile phases consisting of methanol-5 mmol/L ammonium acetate aqueous solution in gradient elution. The Q Exactive orbitrap mass spectrometric detection was carried out with positive and negative electrospray ionization simultaneously. The results showed the linear ranges of the six target compounds were as follows: dinitolmide, 1.0-30.0 μg/L; nicarbazin, 0.2-6.0 μg/L; diclazuril and toltrazuril, 2.0-60.0 [μg/L; monensin and salinomycin, 4.0-120.0 μg/L. The external standard method was used for quantification. The spiked recoveries at three levels for the six anticoccidials ranged from 67.7% to 126.8%. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were ≤ 10.4%. The limits of quantification (LOQs) were as follows: dinitolmide, 2.50 μg/kg; nicarbazin, 0.50 μg/kg; diclazuril and toltrazuril, 5.00 μg/kg; monensin and salinomycin, 20.00 μg/kg. The developed method is easy of operation and of high sensitivity. It can meet the requirements of daily inspection.

This paper presents a class of hydration monitor that uses ultrathin, stretchable sheets with arrays of embedded impedance sensors for precise measurement and spatially multiplexed mapping. The devices contain miniaturized capacitive electrodes arranged in a matrix format, capable of integration with skin in a conformal, intimate manner due to the overall skin-like physical properties. These "epidermal" systems noninvasively quantify regional variations in skin hydration, at uniform or variable skin depths. Experimental results demonstrate that the devices possess excellent uniformity, with favorable precision and accuracy. Theoretical models capture the underlying physics of the measurement and enable quantitative interpretation of the experimental results. These devices are appealing for applications ranging from skin care and dermatology, to cosmetology and health/wellness monitoring, with the additional potential for combined use with other classes of sensors for comprehensive, quantitative physiological assessment via the skin.