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As the main component of silicon (Si)-based Optic Electronics Integrated Circuit (OEIC) chip, Si-based infrared photodetector operating at communication wavebands is very important. In this paper, we report a kind of chromium (Cr)-hyperdoped black Si material fabricated using femtosecond laser pulses irradiation. The concentration of the Cr atoms in the black Si layer exceeds 1020 cm−3 and the Cr-hyperdoped Si has a large sub-bandgap absorptance (~60% for $1.31 \boldsymbol {\mu }\text{m}$ ). The deep-energy level introduced by Cr impurity is 0.39 eV below the bottom of conduction band and thus the ionized electron concentration is very low (~1015 cm−3). Owing to the excellent sub-bandgap absorption of Cr-hyperdoped Si, face-to-face black Si photodiodes are fabricated. Under illumination of $1.31 \boldsymbol {\mu }\text{m}$ light, the responsivity of the photodiodes based on N+-N junction reaches 0.57 A/W at 4.3 V bias. In addition, the rise and delay time of the device to the infrared light are on the order of milliseconds.

Introduction n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) have anti-inflammatory effects and may reduce colorectal cancer risk. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of n-3 LCPUFA supplementation on markers of rectal cell proliferation and apoptosis and examine how genetic variation in desaturase enzymes might modify this effect. Methods We conducted a randomized, double-blind, control six-month trial of 2.5 grams of n-3 LCPUFA per day compared to olive oil. Study participants had a history of colorectal adenomas. Randomization was stratified based on the gene variant rs174535 in the fatty acid desaturase 1 enzyme (FADS1). Our primary outcome was change in markers of rectal epithelial proliferation and apoptosis. Results A total of 141 subjects were randomized. We found no difference in apoptosis markers between participants randomized to n-3 LCPUFA compared to olive oil (P = 0.41). N-3 LCPUFA supplementation increased cell proliferation in the lower colonic crypt compared to olive oil (P = 0.03) however baseline indexes of proliferation were different between the groups at randomization. We found no evidence that genotype modified the effect. Conclusions Our study did not show evidence of a proliferative or pro-apoptotic effect on n-3 LCPUFA supplementation on rectal mucosa regardless of the FADS genotype.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01661764Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01635581.2021.1955286.

Background Normoalbuminuric diabetic kidney disease (NADKD) is a newly defined DKD, the clinical features and pathogenesis for which are still being understood. This study aimed to investigate the features and risk factors for NADKD in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. The related clinical and laboratory data of patients with T2DM hospitalized between August 2012 and January 2020 were collected for statistical analysis. We classified the patients with T2DM into four groups on the basis of the presence or absence of albuminuria and reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Analysis of variance, the Kruskal–Wallis test, and the chi-square test were used to compare the groups. Binary logistic regression analyses with a forward stepwise method were performed to explore the risk factors for renal dysfunction in hospitalized patients with normoalbuminuric T2DM. Results Among the 1620 patients evaluated, 500 (30.9%) had DKD, of which 9% had NADKD. The prevalence of stroke, cardiovascular events, carotid plaque, and peripheral arterial disease in NADKD was significantly higher than in a non-DKD control group (normoalbuminuric T2DM patients with eGFR of ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m2). Regression analyses revealed that three significant independent factors were associated with NADKD: age (OR = 1.089, confidence interval [CI] 95% [1.055–1.123], p p = 0.011), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c; OR = 0.839, CI 95% [0.716–0.983], p = 0.03). Conclusions NADKD is mainly associated with macrovascular rather than microvascular complications. NADKD is more common in patients with normoalbuminuric T2DM with older age, previous use of RASIs, and good glycemic control.

Femtosecond laser additive manufacturing based on two-photon polymerization performs a useful technique for fabricating high-precision 3D structures. However, poor mechanical strength and low processing efficiency brought by near polymerization threshold processing to achieve high accuracy are still urgent problems. In this work, a definition-reinforcement-solidification (DRS) processing strategy is proposed to solve the current problems, in which DRS processing includes three steps: utilize a near-threshold femtosecond laser to accurately define the surface profile of 3D structures, perform enhanced scanning on the above structure's inner surface with a high-power femtosecond laser to increase the mechanical strength, and rapidly solidify the inner unpolymerized resin through one exposure of ultraviolet light to improve the processing efficiency. Compared with conventional near-threshold point-by-point direct writing, microstructures fabricated by the DRS strategy for a given geometry and polymer have hardness and Young's modulus values increase to 154% and 199%, respectively, and exhibit a 10000% improvement in machining efficiency without the loss of processing accuracy. Arbitrary complex 3D microstructures can be implemented rapidly via this strategy. This work will inject new vitality into two-photon polymerization additive manufacturing.

Low magnesium intakes coupled with high calcium intakes and high calcium-to-magnesium (Ca:Mg) intake ratios have been associated with increased risk for multiple chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, as well as some cancers (colorectal, prostate, esophageal), and total mortality. A high dietary Ca:Mg ratio (>2.60) may affect body magnesium status while, on the other hand, high intakes of magnesium could adversely impact individuals with an exceedingly low dietary Ca:Mg ratio (3.00 since 2000. One-third of Americans consume a magnesium supplement with a mean dose of 146 mg/d, and 35% of Americans consume a calcium supplement with a mean dose of 479 mg/d. Our review of Ca:Mg ratios in dietary supplements sold in the United States and listed in NIH's Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD) found a mean ratio of 2.90 across all calcium- and magnesium-containing products, with differences by product form. The ratios ranged from a low of 0.10 in liquid products to a high of 48.5 in powder products. Thirty-one percent of products fell below, 40.5% fell within, and 28.3% fell above the ratio range of 1.70–2.60. Our findings of calculated Ca:Mg ratios from dietary supplements coupled with food-intake data suggest that, in individuals with high calcium intakes from diet and/or supplements, magnesium supplementation may be warranted to establish a more favorable dietary Ca:Mg ratio in their total diet. Additional research may provide greater insight into whether the Ca:Mg ratio is a biomarker of interest for moderating chronic disease and which population groups may derive benefit from moderating that ratio.

Metabolic pathway is an important type of biological pathways. It produces essential molecules and energies to maintain the life of living organisms. Each metabolic pathway consists of a chain of chemical reactions, which always need enzymes to participate in. Thus, chemicals and enzymes are two major components for each metabolic pathway. Although several metabolic pathways have been uncovered, the metabolic pathway system is still far from complete. Some hidden chemicals or enzymes are not discovered in a certain metabolic pathway. Besides the traditional experiments to detect hidden chemicals or enzymes, an alternative pipeline is to design efficient computational methods. In this study, we proposed a powerful multilabel classifier, called iMPTCE-Hnetwork, to uniformly assign chemicals and enzymes to metabolic pathway types reported in KEGG. Such classifier adopted the embedding features derived from a heterogeneous network, which defined chemicals and enzymes as nodes and the interactions between chemicals and enzymes as edges, through a powerful network embedding algorithm, Mashup. The popular RAndom k-labELsets (RAKEL) algorithm was employed to construct the classifier, which incorporated the support vector machine (polynomial kernel) as the basic classifier. The ten-fold cross-validation results indicated that such a classifier had good performance with accuracy higher than 0.800 and exact match higher than 0.750. Several comparisons were done to indicate the superiority of the iMPTCE-Hnetwork.

Unlike stable atherosclerotic plaques, vulnerable plaques are very likely to cause serious cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. Meanwhile, how to non-invasively identify vulnerable plaques at early stages has been an urgent but challenging problem in clinical practices. Here, we propose a macrophage-targeted and in situ stimuli-triggered T1–T2 switchable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) nanoprobe for the non-invasive diagnosis of vulnerable plaques. Precisely, single-dispersed iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) modified with hyaluronic acid (HA), denoted as IONP-HP, show macrophage targetability and T1 MRI enhancement (r2/r1 = 3.415). Triggered by the low pH environment of macrophage lysosomes, the single-dispersed IONP-HP transforms into a cluster analogue, which exhibits T2 MRI enhancement (r2/r1 = 13.326). Furthermore, an in vivo switch of T1–T2 enhancement modes shows that the vulnerable plaques exhibit strong T1 enhancement after intravenous administration of the nanoprobe, followed by a switch to T2 enhancement after 9 h. In contrast, stable plaques show only slight T1 enhancement but without T2 enhancement. It is therefore imperative that the intelligent and novel nanoplatform proposed in this study achieves a substantial non-invasive diagnosis of vulnerable plaques by means of a facile but effective T1–T2 switchable process, which will significantly contribute to the application of materials science in solving clinical problems.

Background: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) has increased along with rapid socio-economic development in China in recent decades, aggravating the burden of the health care system. Both plasma levels of fatty acids (FAs) and aberrant DNA methylation profiles are associated with MetS risk. However, studies exploring the role of DNA methylation and FAs simultaneously in MetS etiology are sparse. Objective: We aimed to explore the association between the gene methylation levels of insulin-like growth factor II (IGF2), H19, DNA methyltransferases 1 (DNMT1), DNA methyltransferases 3a (DNMT3a), and DNA methyltransferases 3b (DNMT3b) and MetS risk, and the etiological role of elongation of very-long-chain fatty acid elongase 6 (ELOVL6) related fatty acids. Method: Plasma levels of FAs were measured using a Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) after organic extraction, and gene methylation was quantified using a real-time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (Q-PCR) detecting system after bisulfite treatment. The C18/C16 ratio was used as the indicator of ELOVL6 activity. Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were estimated with logistic regression. Results: Methylation levels in IGF2 and DNMT3a were not significantly associated with MetS risk. However, when stratified by C18/C16 ratio (high vs. low), positive associations were observed between the risk of MetS and methylation levels (>median) of IGF2a3 (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 1.3–7.5) and DNMT3a (OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.1–5.8) genes, in individuals with lower C18/C16 ratios, while no significant associations were observed in subjects with high C18/C16 ratios. Conclusion: Methylation levels in IGF2 and DNMT3a genes may affect the risk of MetS in an ELOVL6 activity-dependent way among Chinese adults. Further studies in other populations are needed to validate this finding.

Backgroud: The impact of cancer in society created the necessity of new and faster theoretical models for the early diagnosis of cancer. Methods: In this work, a mass spectrometry (MS) data analysis method based on the star-like graph of protein and support vector machine (SVM) was proposed and applied to the ovarian cancer early classification in the MS data set. Firstly, the MS data is reduced and transformed into the corresponding protein sequence. Then, the topological indexes of the star-like graph are calculated to describe each MS data of the cancer sample. Finally, the SVM model is suggested to classify the MS data. Results: Using independent training and testing experiments 10 times to evaluate the ovarian cancer detection models, the average prediction accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the model were 96.45%, 96.88%, and 95.67%, respectively, for [0,1] normalization data, and 94.43%, 96.25%, and 91.11% for [-1,1] normalization data. Conclusion: The model combined with the SELDI-TOF-MS technology has a prospect in early clinical detection and diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Sorafenib is the first-line medication for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but it can only extend limited survival. It is imperative to find a combination strategy to increase sorafenib efficacy. Artesunate is such a preferred candidate, because artesunate is clinically well-tolerated and more importantly both drugs can induce ferroptosis through different mechanisms. In this study we investigated the combined effect of sorafenib and artesunate in inducing ferroptosis of HCC and elucidated the involved molecular mechanisms. We showed that artesunate greatly enhanced the anticancer effects of low dose of sorafenib against Huh7, SNU-449, and SNU-182 HCC cell lines in vitro and against Huh7 cell xenograft model in Balb/c nude mice. The combination index method confirmed that the combined effect of sorafenib and artesunate was synergistic. Compared with the treatment with artesunate or sorafenib alone, combined treatment induced significantly exacerbated lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis, which was blocked by N-acetyl cysteine and ferroptosis inhibitors liproxstatin-1 and deferoxamine mesylate, but not by inhibitors of other types of cell death (z-VAD, necrostatin-1 and belnacasan). In Huh7 cells, we demonstrated that the combined treatment induced oxidative stress and lysosome-mediated ferritinophagy, two essential aspects of ferroptosis. Sorafenib at low dose mainly caused oxidative stress through mitochondrial impairments and SLC7A11-invovled glutathione depletion. Artesunate-induced lysosome activation synergized with sorafenib-mediated pro-oxidative effects by promoting sequential reactions including lysosomal cathepsin B/L activation, ferritin degradation, lipid peroxidation, and consequent ferroptosis. Taken together, artesunate could be repurposed to sensitize sorafenib in HCC treatment. The combined treatment can be easily translated into clinical applications.

Calcium and magnesium affect muscle mass and function. Magnesium and calcium are also important for optimal vitamin D status. Vitamin D status modifies the associations between physical activity and risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD mortality. However, no study examined whether levels of magnesium and calcium and the ratio of dietary calcium to magnesium (Ca:Mg) intake modify the relationship between physical activity and mortality. We included 20,295 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey participants (1999–2006) aged >20 years with complete dietary, physical activity and mortality data (2,663 deaths). We assessed physical activity based on public health guidelines and sex-specific tertiles of MET-minutes/week. We used Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for potential confounding factors and stratified by the intakes of magnesium, calcium, Ca:Mg ratio. We found higher physical activity was significantly associated with reduced risk of total mortality and cause-specific mortality, regardless of Ca:Mg ratio, magnesium or calcium intake. In contrast, both moderate and high physical activity were significantly associated with substantially reduced risks of mortality due to cancer when magnesium intake was above the RDA level. We also found higher physical activity was significantly associated with a reduced risk of mortality due to cancer only when Ca:Mg ratios were between 1.7 and 2.6, although the interaction was not significant. Overall, dietary magnesium and, potentially, the Ca:Mg ratio modify the relationship between physical activity and cause-specific mortality. Further study is important to understand the modifying effects of the balance between calcium and magnesium intake on physical activity for chronic disease prevention.

Background Risk reduction through dietary modifications is an adjunct strategy for prevention of oesophageal cancer, a leading cause of cancer-related mortality and morbidity worldwide. We aimed to estimate the association between calcium and magnesium intakes and incident oesophageal cancer (OC). Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study prospective cohort. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazard modeling to estimate the association between total intakes and incident OC overall and by histology (oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and adenocarcinoma (OAC)). Sensitivity and stratified analyses were performed. Results Among 536,359 included respondents, 1414 incident OCs occurred over 6.5 million person-years follow-up time. Increasing dietary calcium intake was associated with an adjusted 32–41% lower risk of OSCC compared to the lowest quartile (p-trend 0.01). There was a positive association between increasing magnesium intake and OAC risk, but only among participants with low calcium:magnesium intake ratios (p-trend 0.04). There was a significant interaction with smoking status. Conclusions Based on a retrospective analysis of the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study prospective cohort, dietary intakes of calcium and magnesium were significantly associated with risk of OSCC and, among certain participants, OAC, respectively. If validated, these findings could inform dietary modifications among at-risk individuals. Mechanistic investigations would provide additional insight.

Endocannabinoids play important roles in the functioning of various physiological systems in humans and non-mammalian animals, including invertebrates. However, information concerning their roles in physiological functions in members of the phylum Mollusca is scarce. Here the hypothesis that the endocannabinoids are involved in mediating settlement of marine invertebrates was tested. Two endocannabinoids [N-arachidonoyl ethanolamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG)], and two endocannabinoid-like lipids [N-Oleoylethanolamide (OEA) and N-Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA)] were detected in the green mussel Perna viridis. In particular, 2-AG was present at significantly higher levels in unattached P. viridis compared with attached mussels. The in vivo level of 2-AG was inversely correlated with the attachment activity of P. viridis. Furthermore, exposure to synthetic 2-AG inhibited attachment of P. viridis in a reversible manner. Transcriptomic analysis suggested that up-regulation of 2-AG synthase (Phospholipase C-β, PLC-β) and down-regulation of its degrading enzyme (Monoacylglycerol lipase, MAGL) resulted in higher levels of 2-AG in unattached mussels. A putative mechanism for the negative regulation of mussel attachment by 2-AG is proposed that involves a Ca2+- Nitric oxide (NO)- cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway. This study broadens our understanding of the evolution and roles of the endocannabinoid system in animals, and reveals an endogenous regulatory cue for mussel attachment.

In various types of malignant tumors, metastasis is responsible for most of the tumor-induced death. Though emerging technologies provided early detection of tumor metastasis or even warning of high metastatic risk before the actual occurrence of metastasis, clinical treatment on metastasis prevention lags far behind. Evidences have illustrated that primary tumor induced pre-metastatic niche (PMN) formation in distal organs by producing pro-metastasis factors, spreading the spark to ignite the distal microenvironment. Given the fundamental role of PMN in the development of metastases, interruption of PMN formation would be a promising strategy to take early actions against tumor metastasis. Here we report an enzyme-activatable assembled peptide FR17 that can serve as a “flame-retarding blanket” at PMN site specifically to extinguish the “fire” of tumor-supportive microenvironment adaption. Our experiment demonstrated that the assembled peptide successfully reversed extracellular matrix deposition, vascular leakage and angiogenesis through inhibition on fibroblasts activation in PMN, which suppressed the remodeling of metastasis-supportive host stromal, and further prevented the recruitment of myeloid cells to PMN and then recovered the immunosuppressive microenvironment. Cell transcriptomic analysis of the pulmonary recruited MDSC suggested that FR17 intervention could regulate immune response activation, immune cells chemotaxis and migration pathways. Consequently, FR17 administration effectively inhibited pulmonary PMN formation and postoperative metastasis of melanoma, with only 30% lung-metastasis occurrence was observed for FR17 treated group at the time point when 100% occurrence was observed for the control group and 80% occurrence for anti-PD1 treated group, offering a robust therapeutic strategy against PMN establishing to prevent metastasis.

Herein, 2D siloxene terminated by surface functional groups of Si-H and Si-OH is demonstrated to be an effective support for the spontaneous deposition of iridium nanoparticles (Ir NPs) to promote HER electrocatalysis. With ultra-low Ir loading, the obtained Ir NPs/siloxene electrocatalyst shows superior electrocatalytic activity toward the HER.

The Drosophila genome encodes three BEN-solo proteins including Insensitive (Insv), Elba1 and Elba2 that possess activities in transcriptional repression and chromatin insulation. A fourth protein—Elba3—bridges Elba1 and Elba2 to form an ELBA complex. Here, we report comprehensive investigation of these proteins in Drosophila embryos. We assess common and distinct binding sites for Insv and ELBA and their genetic interdependencies. While Elba1 and Elba2 binding generally requires the ELBA complex, Elba3 can associate with chromatin independently of Elba1 and Elba2. We further demonstrate that ELBA collaborates with other insulators to regulate developmental patterning. Finally, we find that adjacent gene pairs separated by an ELBA bound sequence become less differentially expressed in ELBA mutants. Transgenic reporters confirm the insulating activity of ELBA- and Insv-bound sites. These findings define ELBA and Insv as general insulator proteins in Drosophila and demonstrate the functional importance of insulators to partition transcription units., The BEN-solo proteins—including Insensitive (Insv), Elba1 and Elba2—function in both transcriptional repression and chromatin insulation. Here, the authors investigate the role of these proteins in Drosophila embryos, finding that ELBA and Insv function as general insulators and partition active chromatin to ensure proper gene activation in Drosophila.

Emerging antimicrobial resistant fungal pathogens are a growing threat, and fungicides with novel modes of action are urgently needed to prevent critical failures in global food security. Fenpicoxamid, the prodrug of UK-2A, is a member of a new class of antifungal agents that displays no cross-resistance to other fungicides. Rational engineering of its structure using a biosynthetic approach is a promising avenue for developing more potent fungicides. Herein, through in vitro enzymatic reconstitution, we elucidate the biosynthetic pathway of UK-2A. Its biosynthesis involves a flexible AMP-binding protein and dilactone formation assembly enzymes that are able to select and incorporate highly diverse substituted salicylic acids into the dilactone scaffold. By introducing diverse salicylic acids into the in vitro biosynthetic pathway, we successfully generate 14 novel deacyl UK-2A analogues. This study reveals the flexibility of the biosynthetic pathway of UK-2A and provides an effective solution to rationally engineer its crucial C3 moiety.

Background Evidence from anatomical, pharmacological, and genetic studies supports a role for the neuropeptide melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) system in modulating emotional and cognitive functions. Genome wide association (GWA) studies revealed a potential association between the MCH receptor (MCHR1) gene locus and schizophrenia and the largest GWA study conducted to date shows a credible GWA. Methods We analyze MCHR1 and pro-melanin concentrating hormone (PMCH) RNA-Seq expression in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Disruptions in the MCH system were modeled in the mouse brain by germline deletion of MCHR1 and by conditional ablation of MCH expressing neurons using a Cre-inducible diphtheria toxin (iDTR) system. Results MCHR1 expression is decreased in the prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia samples (FDR p< 0.05, CommonMind and PsychEncode combined datasets, N = 901) while PMCH is below the detection threshold. MCHR1 expression decreased with aging (p = 6.6E-57) in human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The deletion of MCHR1 was found to lead to behavioral abnormalities mimicking schizophrenia-like phenotypes: hyperactivity, increased stereotypic and repetitive behavior, social impairment, impaired sensorimotor gating, and disrupted cognitive functions. Conditional ablation of PMCH neurons increased repetitive behavior and produced a deficit in sensorimotor gating. Conclusions Our study indicates that early disruption of the MCH system interferes with neurodevelopmental processes which may contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Further neurobiological research on the developmental timing and circuits that are affected by MCH may lead to a therapeutic target for early prevention of schizophrenia.

Background We aimed to evaluate the associations between calcium and various stages of colorectal carcinogenesis and whether these associations are modified by the calcium to magnesium (Ca:Mg) ratio. Methods We tested our hypotheses in the prostate lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer screening trial. Results Calcium intake did not show a dose–response association with incident adenoma of any size/stage (P-trend = 0.17), but followed an inverse trend when restricted to synchronous/advanced adenoma cases (P-trend = 0.05). This inverse trend was mainly in participants with Ca:Mg ratios between 1.7 and 2.5 (P-trend = 0.05). No significant associations were observed for metachronous adenoma. Calcium intake was inversely associated with CRC (P-trend = 0.03); the association was primarily present for distal CRC (P-trend = 0.01). The inverse association between calcium and distal CRC was further modified by the Ca:Mg ratio (P-interaction P-trend = 0.04). No associations for calcium were found in the Ca:Mg ratio above 2.5 or below 1.7. Conclusion Higher calcium intake may be related to reduced risks of incident advanced and/or synchronous adenoma and incident distal CRC among subjects with Ca:Mg intake ratios between 1.7 and 2.5.

Background Microalgae as a viable biodiesel feedstock show great potential to approach the challenges of energy shortage and environment pollution, but their economic feasibility was seriously hampered by high production cost. Thus, it is in urgent need to reduce the cost of cultivation and improve the biomass and lipid production of microalgae. In this work, anaerobic digestion effluent from cattle manure combined with municipal wastewater was used as a cost-effective medium for cultivating microalgae and expected to obtain high biomass. The pretreatment of anaerobic digested effluent containing dilution rate, sterilization and nutrient optimization was investigated. Then, initial pH and light intensity for algal growth, lipid production and wastewater purification were optimized in this study. Results Scenedesmus sp. could grow rapidly in 10% anaerobic digestion effluent from cattle manure combined with secondary sedimentation tank effluent without sterilization. Optimum nutrient additives for higher biomass were as follows: glucose 10 g/L, NaNO3 0.3 g/L, K2HPO4·3H2O 0.01 g/L, MgSO4·7H2O 0.075 g/L and trace element A5 solution 1 mL/L. Biomass of 4.65 g/L and lipid productivity of 81.90 mg/L/day were achieved during 7-day cultivation accompanying over 90% of COD, NO3−-N, NH4+-N, and 79–88% of PO43−-P removal with optimized initial pH of 7.0 and light intensity of 5000 l×. The FAME profile in ADEC growth medium consisted in saturated (39.48%) and monounsaturated (60.52%) fatty acids with the 16- to 18-chain-length fatty acids constituting over 98% of total FAME. Conclusions This study proves the potential of anaerobic digested effluent combined with municipal wastewater for microalgae culture, and provides an effective avenue for simultaneous microalgal lipid production and treatment of two kinds of wastewater.

In graphene oxide (GO)-based compound photocatalysts, where GO is a novel cocatalyst, the mainly photophysical processes are the charge separation/transfer between GO and other nanocatalysts. Howev...

Background CCAAT enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), as an important transcription factor involved in cell proliferation, differentiation and metabolism, was up-regulated in primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and predicted poorer prognosis. In this study, we explored how histone deacetylases (HDACs) up-regulated C/EBPα in HCC. Methods The protein expressions of HDAC1, HDAC2 were associated with C/EBPα by immunohistochemistry staining in a HCC tissue microarray. HCC cells were then treated with HDAC inhibitors or siRNAs to determine the roles of miR-124-3p and miR-25 in the regulation of C/EBPα mRNA expression. Results Both HDAC1 and HDAC2 proteins were significantly associated with C/EBPα. Inhibition of HDAC by either pharmacological inhibitors or siRNAs decreased C/EBPα mRNA expression in dose-dependent manners in HCC cells. HDAC inhibitors reduced C/EBPα mRNA stability as shown by pmiRGLO luciferase reporter assays. HDAC inhibition consistently induced miR-124-3p and miR-25 expression. Conversely, blockage of miR-124-3p and/or miR-25 by treatment with specific synthetic inhibitors abolished C/EBPα reduction. More importantly, C/EBPα mRNA stability could be rescued by site-directed mutations of miR-124-3p or miR-25 recognition sites in the C/EBPα 3′UTR sequence. In summary, HDAC may up-regulate C/EBPα expression through miR-124-3p and miR-25 in HCC.

Recent studies suggest a diet low in dietary magnesium intake or lower blood magnesium levels is linked with increased prostate cancer risk. This study investigates the race-specific link between blood magnesium and calcium levels, or dietary magnesium intake, and the diagnosis of low-grade and high-grade prostate cancer. The study included 637 prostate cancer cases and 715 biopsy-negative controls (50% black) recruited from Nashville, TN or Durham, NC. Blood was collected at the time of recruitment, and dietary intake was assessed by food frequency questionnaire. Percent genetic African ancestry was determined as a compliment to self-reported race. Blood magnesium levels and dietary magnesium intake were significantly lower in black compared to white men. However, magnesium levels or intake were not associated with risk of total prostate cancer or aggressive prostate cancer. Indeed, a higher calcium-to-magnesium diet intake was significantly protective for high-grade prostate cancer in black (OR = 0.66 (0.45, 0.96), p = 0.03) but not white (OR = 1.00 (0.79, 1.26), p = 0.99) men. In summary, there was a statistically significant difference in magnesium intake between black and white men, but the biological impact was unclear, and we did not confirm a lower prostate cancer risk associated with magnesium levels.

OBJECTIVE: Fish oil supplementation may represent a potential chemopreventive agent for reducing colorectal cancer risk. Fish oil’s mechanism of action is unknown but presumed to be related to eicosanoid modification. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of fish oil supplementation on levels of urinary and rectal eicosanoids. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of 2.5 grams of fish oil per day compared to olive oil supplementation over a six month period. Study participants had a history of colorectal adenomas. Randomization was stratified based on the gene variant rs174535 in the fatty acid desaturase 1 enzyme (FADS1), which affects tissue levels of arachidonic acid. RESULTS: A total of 141 subjects were randomized. Urinary prostaglandin E(2) metabolite (PGE-M) was measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months and rectal prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) at baseline and 6 months. Repeated measures linear regression was used to determine the effect of the intervention on each outcome measure. Overall, fish oil supplementation was found to reduce urinary PGE-M production compared to olive oil (P = 0.03). Fish oil did not reduce rectal PGE(2) overall, however it did significantly reduce PGE(2) in the subgroup of participants not using aspirin or NSAIDs (P=0.04). FADS1 genotype did not seem to modify fish oils effects on PGE(2) production. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that fish oil supplementation has a modest but beneficial effect on eicosanoids associated with colorectal carcinogenesis, particularly in those not taking aspirin or NSAIDs.

Simple Summary Anti-cancer effects of bioactive compounds have been extensively investigated; however, the effective dosages of the bioactive compounds are too high to be obtained by oral intake. Our study aimed to assess if combined two bioactive compounds, luteolin (LUT) and indole-3-carbinol (I3C), at low dosages that LUT or I3C along has no significant effect, synergistically exerts anti-breast cancer. We confirmed that combined LUT and I3C synergistically suppressed estrogen receptor-alpha positive breast cancer in cultured cells and cells-derived xenograft mice. Our results also indicated two possible molecular pathways involving the synergistic effects of the combination of LUT and I3C. Our findings provide a practical approach to treat or prevent breast cancer by combining two bioactive compounds. Abstract The high concentrations of individual phytochemicals in vitro studies cannot be physiologically achieved in humans. Our solution for this concentration gap between in vitro and human studies is to combine two or more phytochemicals. We screened 12 phytochemicals by pairwise combining two compounds at a low level to select combinations exerting the synergistic inhibitory effect of breast cancer cell proliferation. A novel combination of luteolin at 30 μM (LUT30) and indole-3-carbinol 40 μM (I3C40) identified that this combination (L30I40) synergistically constrains ERα+ breast cancer cell (MCF7 and T47D) proliferation only, but not triple-negative breast cancer cells. At the same time, the individual LUT30 and I3C40 do not have this anti-proliferative effect in ERα+ breast cancer cells. Moreover, this combination L30I40 does not have toxicity on endothelial cells compared to the current commercial drugs. Similarly, the combination of LUT and I3C (LUT10 mg + I3C10 mg/kg/day) (IP injection) synergistically suppresses tumor growth in MCF7 cells-derived xenograft mice, but the individual LUT (10 mg/kg/day) and I3C (20 mg/kg/day) do not show an inhibitory effect. This combination synergistically downregulates two major therapeutic targets ERα and cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6/retinoblastoma (Rb) pathway, both in cultured cells and xenograft tumors. These results provide a solid foundation that a combination of LUT and I3C may be a practical approach to treat ERα+ breast cancer cells after clinical trials.

BACKGROUND: Kidney reabsorption of magnesium (Mg) is essential for homeostasis. OBJECTIVES: We developed and validated models with the kidney reabsorption-related magnesium depletion score (MDS) to predict states of magnesium deficiency and disease outcomes. METHODS: MDS was validated in predicting body magnesium status among 77 adults (aged 62 ± 8 y, 51% men) at high risk of magnesium deficiency in the Personalized Prevention of Colorectal Cancer Trial (PPCCT) (registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01105169) using the magnesium tolerance test (MTT). We then validated MDS for risk stratification and for associations with inflammation and mortality among >10,000 US adults (weighted: aged 48 ± 0.3 y, 47% men) in the NHANES, a nationally representative study. A proportional hazards regression model was used for associations between magnesium intake and the MDS with risks of total and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. RESULTS: In the PPCCT, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for magnesium deficiency was 0.63 (95% CI: 0.50, 0.76) for the model incorporating the MDS with sex and age compared with 0.53 (95% CI: 0.40, 0.67) for the model with serum magnesium alone. In the NHANES, mean serum C-reactive protein significantly increased with increasing MDS (P-trend

The factors controlling the migration and enrichment of iron in Archean banded iron formations are important for understanding the formation of iron ore resources. Here we present, for the first time, a micro-three-dimensional modeling method that can be applied to hand specimens of iron ores. This method and petrographic observations, electron probe microanalysis, and the structural deformation characteristics of magnetite quartzite are used to assess the mechanisms of iron enrichment in such ores. The Anshan–Benxi area is located in the eastern part of the North China Craton, and is one of the most significant Archean banded iron deposits in the world. Magnetite quartzite is developed on a large scale in this area, which has experienced complex structural deformation, and thus these samples are ideal for our study. As such, we undertook micro-scale, three-dimensional structural modeling of representative hand specimens of the magnetite quartzite. Our methodology involved combined surface and internal modeling. The rock samples were sliced at fixed intervals and detailed scanned images of the slices were obtained, which enabled a three-dimensional model to be constructed of each sample. These three-dimensional models allow the deformational characteristics of the banded iron formation to be quantified on a hand specimen scale. Petrographic analysis showed that the banded magnetite quartzite has experienced brittle deformation, and electron microprobe analysis revealed iron enrichment in the fold axes. Structural deformation, such as folding and ductile shearing, has a controlling effect on iron enrichment, and the microscopic three-dimensional modeling method provides a new approach for studying the deformational characteristics of iron-bearing formations.

The past decades have seen growing research interest in developing efficient fabrication techniques for preparing bioinspired graphene surfaces with superwettability. Among the various fabrication methods, laser fabrication stands out as a prominent one to achieve this end and has demonstrated unique merits in the development of graphene surfaces with superwettability. In this paper, we reviewed the recent advances in this field. The unique advantages of laser fabricated graphene surfaces have been summarized. Typical graphene surfaces with superwettability achieved by laser fabrication, including superhydrophobic graphene surfaces, oil/ water separation, fog collection, antibacterial surfaces, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and desalination, have been introduced. In addition, current challenges and future perspectives in this field have been discussed. With the rapid progress of novel laser physical/ chemical fabrication schemes, graphene surfaces with superwettability prepared by laser fabrication may undergo sustained development and thus contribute greatly to the scientific research and our daily life.

Background Deterioration of ionized calcium (Ca2+) handling in neurons could lead to neurodegenerative disease. Magnesium (Mg) antagonizes Ca during many physiologic activities, including energy metabolism and catalyzation of demethylation from 5-methylcytosine(5-mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine(5-hmC). Objective To test the hypothesis that actively reducing the Ca:Mg intake ratio in the diet through Mg supplementation improves cognitive function, and to test whether this effect is partially mediated by modified cytosines in Apolipoprotein E (APOE). Methods This study is nested within the Personalized Prevention of Colorectal Cancer Trial (PPCCT), a double-blind 2×2 factorial randomized controlled trial, which enrolled 250 participants from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Target doses for both Mg and placebo arms were personalized. Results Among those aged > 65 years old who consumed a high Ca:Mg ratio diet, we found that reducing the Ca:Mg ratio to around 2.3 by personalized Mg supplementation significantly improved cognitive function by 9.1% (p = 0.03). We also found that reducing the Ca:Mg ratio significantly reduced 5-mC at the cg13496662 and cg06750524 sites only among those aged > 65 years old (p values = 0.02 and 0.03, respectively). Furthermore, the beneficial effect of reducing the Ca:Mg ratio on cognitive function in those aged over 65 years was partially mediated by reductions in 5-mC levels (i.e., cg13496662 and cg06750524) in APOE (p for indirect effect = 0.05). Conclusion Our findings suggest that, among those age 65 and over with a high dietary Ca:Mg ratio, optimal Mg status may improve cognitive function partially through modifications in APOE methylation. These findings, if confirmed, have significant implications for the prevention of cognitive aging and Alzheimer's disease.Clinical Trial Registry number and website: #100106 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03265483.

Orderly division of radial glial progenitors (RGPs) in the developing mammalian cerebral cortex generates deep and superficial layer neurons progressively. However, the mechanisms that control RGP behavior and precise neuronal output remain elusive. Here we show that the oxidative stress level progressively increases in the developing mouse cortex and regulates RGP behavior and neurogenesis. As development proceeds, numerous gene pathways linked to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress exhibit drastic changes in RGPs. Selective removal of PRDM16, a transcriptional regulator highly expressed in RGPs, elevates ROS level and induces expression of oxidative stress responsive genes. Coinciding with an enhanced level of oxidative stress, RGP behavior was altered, leading to abnormal deep and superficial layer neuron generation. Simultaneous expression of mitochondrially targeted Catalase to reduce cellular ROS levels significantly suppresses cortical defects caused by PRDM16 removal. Together, these findings suggest that oxidative stress actively regulates RGP behavior to ensure proper neurogenesis in the mammalian cortex.

DNA N6-methyladenine (6mA) modification has been discovered as the most prevalent DNA modification in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, involving gene expression, DNA replication and repair, and host-pathogen interactions. Single-molecule real-time sequencing (SMRT-seq) can detect 6mA events in prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes at the single-nucleotide level. However, there are no strict and economical quality control methods for high false-positive 6mA events in eukaryotic genomes. Therefore, by analyzing the distribution of 6mA in eukaryotic and prokaryotes, we proposed a method named MASQC (MeDIP-seq assists SMRT-seq for quality control in 6mA identification), which can identify 6mA events without doing the whole genome amplification (WGA) sequencing. The proposed MASQC method was assessed on two eukaryotic genomes and six bacterial genomes, our results demonstrate that MASQC performs well in quality control of false positive 6mA identification for both eukaryotic and prokaryotic genomes.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive haematological malignancy characterized by highly proliferative accumulation of immature and dysfunctional myeloid cells. Quercetin (Qu), one kind of flavonoid, exhibits anti-cancer property in multiple types of solid tumor, but its effect on acute myeloid leukemia is less studied, and the underlying mechanisms still largely unknown. This study aimed to explore the specific target and potential mechanism of quercetin-induced cell death in AML. First, we found that quercetin induces cell death in the form of apoptosis, which was caspase dependent. Second, we found that quercetin-induced apoptosis depends on the decrease of mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) and Bcl-2 proteins. With quantitative chemical proteomics, we observed the downregulation of VEGFR2 and PI3K/Akt signaling in quercetin-treated cells. Consistently, cell studies also identified that VEGFR2 and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways are involved in the action of quercetin on mitochondria and Bcl-2 proteins. The decrease of MMP and cell death could be rescued when PI3K/Akt signaling is activated, suggesting that VEGFR2 and PI3K/Akt exert as upstream regulators for quercetin effect on apoptosis induction in AML cells. In conclusion, our findings from this study provide convincing evidence that quercetin induces cell death via downregulation of VEGF/Akt signaling pathways and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in AML cells.

Saixu Huang, 1–3,* Zhiyong Huang, 1–3,* Zhiqin Fu, 3,* Yamin Shi, 3, 4 Qi Dai, 1, 2 Shuyan Tang, 3 Yongwei Gu, 3 Youfa Xu, 3 Jianming Chen, 3, 4 Xin Wu, 3 Fuzheng Ren 1, 2 1Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Engineering Research Centre of Pharmaceutical Process Chemistry, Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Shanghai Weier Biological Medicine Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pharmacy, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fujian, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Fuzheng RenSchool of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, No. 130, Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86 21 6425 3255Email fzren@ecust.edu.cnXin WuShanghai Weier Biological Medicine Science and Technology Co. Ltd., No. 358, Tian Chen Road, Shanghai 201799, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86 21 3119 8947Email xinwu007@126.comPurpose: Nimodipine (NIMO) is used clinically to treat ischemic damage resulting from subarachnoid hemorrhage. However, clinical application of NIMO is limited by poor aqueous solubility and low safety. To overcome these limitations, a novel two-vial NIMO-loaded nanoemulsion (NIMO-TNE) was designed in this study.Methods: NIMO-TNE was prepared by mixing a nimodipine-polyethylene glycol 400 (NIMO-PEG400) solution and a commercially available 20% injectable blank nanoemulsion (BNE). Drug distribution in NIMO-TNE, physical stability, and dilution stability were evaluated in vitro, and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics were evaluated in vivo. Safety was assessed using the hemolysis test and the intravenous irritation test, and acute toxicity of NIMO-TNE was compared with that of commercial Nimotop injection.Results: Drug loading (DL) in NIMO-TNE was enhanced 5-fold compared with that in Nimotop injection. The mean particle size of NIMO-TNE was 241.53 ± 1.48 nm. NIMO-TNE and NIMO-TNE diluted in 5% glucose injection and 0.9% sodium chloride was stable for a sufficient duration to allow for clinical use. In addition, NIMO-TNE exhibited a similar pharmacokinetic profile and similar brain ischemia reduction in a rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model compared to Nimotop injection. Furthermore, NIMO-TNE did not induce hemolysis at 37°C, and NIMO-TNE induced less intravenous irritation than Nimotop injection. Moreover, NIMO-TNE could be injected at a 23-fold higher dose than the LD 50 of Nimotop injection with no obvious toxicity or side effects.Conclusion: NIMO-TNE is a promising formulation suitable for intravenous injection, is easy to prepare, and exhibits excellent safety.Keywords: nimodipine, nanoemulsion, pharmacokinetics, MCAO, LD50

Sorafenib is the first-line treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is a lack of validated biomarkers to predict sorafenib sensitivity. In this study we investigated the role of ACSL4, a positive-activating enzyme of ferroptosis, in sorafenib-induced cell death and HCC patient outcome. We showed that ACSL4 protein expression was negatively associated with IC(50) values of sorafenib in a panel of HCC cell lines (R = −0.952, P

Color centers are widely used in quantum information, quantum sensing, micro-nano optics and other relevant fields. In addition to the traditional ways that can generate color centers, for instance, ion beam implantation, direct laser writing (DLW) technology has recently emerged as an appealing alternative to induce color centers because it enables true three-dimensional and high precision machining. Particularly, DLW can induce color centers near/on the surface or inside the crystals with a homogeneous and pure surrounding environment, which permits subsequent integration with other components. In this paper, the recent advances in laser-induced color centers in different crystals are comprehensively reviewed, including diamond, silicon carbide, alkali halide crystals and others. Meanwhile, cutting-edge applications of laser-induced color centers are introduced. Lastly, current challenges and future perspective of this field have been discussed.

Background: Urinary metals are considered measures of long-term exposures of metals, such as cadmium (Cd). Some studies indicate reduced renal function may affect the urinary excretion of several metals in general population making assessments difficult. Objectives: To examine whether reduced renal function is associated with reduced urinary excretion of 12 metals or their metabolites and, in turn, an underestimated measure of Cd in general population. Methods: We conducted analyses using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2012. Multiple linear regression models were used to examine the associations between urinary metal levels and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Restricted cubic spline regression models were used to evaluate the nonlinearity. Results: Urinary metal levels significantly increased (p

Background Astragalus membranaceus is a fundamental herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine and has attracted significant attention due to its anti-inflammatory, and longevity effects. However, its anti-photoaging property remains to be defined. Autophagy plays important roles in regulating cell homeostasis and aging processes. Whether regulation of autophagy could be an efficient way for anti-photoaging is still unclear. Objective To investigate the effects and the possible mechanism of astragaloside on anti-photoaging in UVB-induced photoaging cell model. Methods Primary rat dermal fibroblasts were prepared by repeated exposures to UVB irradiation. The expression levels of cytokines and signal molecules were determined by RT-PCR and western blot. SA-β-gal staining was performed to indicate senescence level. Intracellular reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial membrane potential were monitored by fluorescent probes DCFH-DA and JC-1. The cell viability was determined using Cell Counting Kit-8. Results Astragaloside increases the expression of collagen-I (Col1) downregulated by UVB. UVB-induced oxidative stress and photoaging could be inhibited by astragaloside. The degradation of Col1 caused by UVB irradiation through activated ERK and p38 signals could be suppressed by astragaloside. Importantly, autophagy was induced by astragaloside. Col1 could be further accumulated by chloroquine but decreased by 3-methyladenine in photoaged cell after treatment of astragaloside. Conclusion Autophagy play essential roles, at least partially, in modulating the formation and degradation of Col1 in photoaging cell model. Astragaloside increases the accumulation of Col1 and protects UVB-induced photoaging cells through not only ERK and p38 inhibition but also autophagy activation, indicating the potential application of astragaloside for anti-photoaging therapy.

A crystalline silicon (Si) surface was modified using nanosecond laser pulses in an argon atmosphere. The laser-modified Si (M-Si) samples have a higher performance and thermostable absorption in the broadband range (400–2400 nm) than conventional Si. The concentration of carrier electrons in the M-Si layer is at least five orders of magnitude greater than the carrier concentration of the Si substrate. Using the N+–N− junction formed between the M-Si layer and the Si substrate, visible and near-infrared (VIS-NIR) M-Si photodetectors are made. The N+–N− photodiode has good rectification characteristics and a high photoresponse to the subbandgap NIR light at 1310 nm. At the same time, the M-Si photodetector at a low reverse bias shows a large gain to the VIS-NIR light above the bandgap. By comparing the response time of the M-Si photodetector to the light of 900 and 1310 nm, the response speed of the device to the photon above-bandgap energy is faster.

Micro-ripple and micro-bead structures are formed on a silicon (Si) surface after irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses in nitrogen (N2) atmosphere. Simultaneously, supersaturated nitrogen (N) atoms, with a concentration above 1020 cm−3, are doped into the textured black Si layer via laser ablation. The N-doped Si exhibits strong below-bandgap infrared absorption from 1.1 to $2.5~\mu \text{m}$ , which remains nearly unchanged after annealing for 30 min at 873 K. The mechanism of this thermally stable infrared absorption is analyzed by first-principles calculations. According to the transmission electron microscopy results, multiple phases (including single crystalline, nanocrystalline, and amorphous phases) are observed in the laser-irradiated layer. Hall Effect measurements prove that N-dopants induce a low background free-carrier concentration ( $\sim 1.67\times 10^{16}\,\,\text {cm}^{-3}$ ). Finally, a Schottky-based bulk structure photodiode is made. This broadband photodiode exhibits good thermal stability and a photo-responsivity of 5.3 mA/W for $1.31~\mu \text{m}$ at a reverse bias of 10 V.

Natural product discovery is pivot for drug development, however, this endeavor is often challenged by the wide inactivation or silence of natural products biosynthetic pathways. We recently developed a highly efficient approach to activate cryptic/silenced biosynthetic pathways through augmentation of the phosphopantetheinylation of carrier proteins. By applying this approach in the Streptomyces alboniger NRRL B-1832, we herein identified three cryptic nucleosides products, including one known puromycin A and two new derivatives (puromycin B and C). The biosynthesis of these products doesn't require the involvement of carrier protein, indicating the phosphopantetheinyl transferase (PPtase) indeed plays a fundamental regulatory role in metabolites biosynthesis. These results demonstrate that the PPtase-based approach have a much broader effective scope than the previously assumed carrier protein-involving pathways, which will benefit future natural products discovery and biosynthetic studies.

Femtosecond (fs-) laser induced subwavelength and deep-subwavelength periodic structures have attracted attention due to their sub-diffraction feature size and rich physics of laser-matter interaction. However, the formation mechanisms of fs-laser induced deep-subwavelength structures on organic materials have not been reported nor systematically studied. Herein, based on the degree of laser induced free-carrier excitation, the formation of deep-subwavelength structures by fs-laser ablation was systematically studied on popular materials: negative tone resists SU8 and conductive polymer poly-3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene: poly-(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS). A weak propensity to form deep-subwavelength structures was found on poly-methylmethacrylate and polyvinyl alcohol. The photo-excited electrons forming the surface plasmonic wave contributed to energy localization and absorption, which led to the imprinting of deep-subwavelength structures on polymers. It has been found that materials with $\pi $ -bonds and benzene rings were most susceptible to deep-subwavelength structure formation. Based on a laser-induced surface plasmonic model, the period of regular patterns was estimated and was in a good accordance with experimental results. The proposed formation mechanism of the deep-subwavelength structures on organic materials extends an application field of fs-laser micro/nanomachining of polymers.

Epidemiological studies suggest that antidepressants use may increase the risk of cataract, but the results are inconclusive. We aimed to examine this association by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis. Relevant studies were identified by searching PubMed and Web of Science databases through June 2017. We included studies that reported risk estimates for the association between antidepressants use and cataract risk. A random-effects model was used to calculate the summary odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI). We identified seven studies of antidepressants use and risk of cataract involving 447,672 cases and 1,510,391 controls. Overall, the combined ORs (95% CIs) of cataract for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) were 1.12 (1.06–1.19), 1.13 (1.04–1.24), and 1.19 (1.11–1.28), respectively. A certain degree of heterogeneity was observed across studies (P

Three new perovskite-like iodobismuthate hybrids with two butylpyridinium cations, namely (BPY)3(Bi2I9) (1), (BPY)5(Bi2I11) (2) and (BMPY)3(Bi2I9) (3) (BPY ​= ​1-butylpyridinium, BMPY ​= ​1-butyl-4-methylpyridinium), were synthesized by reacting of BiI3 and butylpyridinium. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that these three hybrids exhibit two types of di-nuclear cluster structures, face-sharing Bi2I93− cluster for 1 and 3, and vertex-sharing Bi2I115− cluster for 2. Their optical band gaps were determined as 2.06 ​eV(1), 2.01 ​eV(2), 1.86 ​eV(3), respectively. DFT calculation reveals that their valence band tops and conduction band bottoms are composed of the states of iodine and pyridinium cations, respectively. Therefore these materials were classified as charge-transfer salts. Compared with similar iodobismuthates, their band gaps are significantly reduced. In addition, it is found that the band gaps should be affected by supramolecular interaction between cations in 2 and also by the conformational multiplicity of cations in structure 3. Photocurrent response test showed that these charge-transfer salts have rapid and consistent photocurrent response. This result indicated their potential applications as a photocatalyst or a photovoltaic absorber.

Portulaca oleracea L. is a traditional Chinese medicine, which has been used as adjuvant therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the mechanism of its activity in IBD still remains unclear. Since previous studies have documented the anti-inflammatory effect of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors-γ (PPAR-γ), Portulaca regulation of PPAR-γ in inflammation was examined in current study. Ulcerative colitis (UC) was generated by 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in mice and four groups were established as normal control, DSS alone, DSS plus mesalamine, and DSS plus Portulaca. Severity of UC was evaluated by body weight, stool blood form, and length of colorectum. Inflammation was examined by determination of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-1a). Portulaca extract was able to attenuate development of UC in DSS model similar to the treatment of mesalazine. Moreover, Portulaca extract inhibited proinflammatory cytokines release and reduced the level of DSS-induced NF-κB phosphorylation. Furthermore, Portulaca extract restored PPAR-γ level, which was reduced by DSS. In addition, Portulaca extract protected DSS induced apoptosis in mice. In conclusion, Portulaca extract can alleviate colitis in mice through regulation of inflammatory reaction, apoptosis, and PPAR-γ level; therefore, Portulaca extract can be a potential candidate for the treatment of IBD.

GeSbTe alloys have the ability of rapidly transforming between amorphous and crystalline phases. Therefore, they can be used in the non-volatile phase change memory. Recently, a vacancy-ordered cubic Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 ( VOC GST) phase change material where the vacancies are highly ordered in the (111) plane, has been experimentally demonstrated by STEM. However, studies are mainly on the structural characterization, rather than on the phase change behavior and possible applications of the VOC GST. Here, using first-principles molecular dynamic simulations, we study the melt-quenched amorphization process and its possible applications. We find that the VOC GST exhibits a quasi-two-dimensional amorphization process that is triggered by the diffusion of Ge atoms but not others. A partial amorphous ( P-amor ) phase is obtained, which can act as an intermediate state between the pure amorphous and pure crystalline phases for possible ternary-state data storage.