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Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) have emerged as new-generation light-emitting materials with important potentials in optoelectronic applications. However, the toxicity of lead metal and ...

Aragonite, one of the most common biological calcium carbonate minerals, is widespread in marine plankton and neritic sediments (e.g., accounting for 89% of pelagic calcification of CaCO3 in the surface ocean). Its dissolution directly affects the export fluxes of CaCO3 in seawater. The aragonite dissolution in the ocean correlates with the increase of partial pressure of carbon dioxide and is pertinent to acidic biomolecules. However, aragonite dissolution in seawater with acidic biomolecules has been overlooked, and the interaction mechanism is unclear. In-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to observe the dissolution features of aragonite (110) growth surfaces in succinic acid (SUC, HOOC-CH2-CH2-COOH) solutions. The results demonstrate that (1) both the morphologies and spreading rates of the etch pits formed on aragonite (110) surfaces are altered by the interactions between SUC molecules and the surfaces; (2) the [1-11] and [-111] steps of the etch pits on aragonite (110) surfaces in SUC solutions are kinetically controlled; (3) dissolution rates of aragonite (110) surfaces are proportional to SUC concentrations, which is attributed to the strong complexation between SUC molecules and surface-bounded Ca atoms (≡Ca+); (4) etch pits morphologies of aragonite (110) and calcite (10.4) surfaces are different in SUC solutions, and the spreading rates of the etch pits of the former are one to two orders of magnitude lower than those of the latter. Furthermore, aragonite is found to be more sensitive to SUC molecules than calcite, suggesting that dissolving aragonitic materials could be more easily affected by circumambient biomolecules than dissolving calcitic materials. In seawater that contains organic molecules, the dissolution fluxes of aragonite could be much slower than those of calcite. These findings not only reveal the site-specific interactions between SUC molecules and the ≡Ca+ on aragonite (110) surfaces but also emphasize its implication for the oceanic aragonite dissolution fluxes.

Incorporation of nanoparticles into polymer blend to obtain finely dispersed morphology has been considered as an effective strategy to prepare nanocomposites. Owing to the renewable and degradable characters, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have been proposed to tailor the phase morphology of poly (L-lactic acid) blend for producing high-performance fused deposition modeling (FDM) consumables. However, the main challenge associated with the ternary systems is the dispersion of the highly hydrophilic CNCs in nonpolar PLLA blend by industrial melt blending without involving solution. Herein, with polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) modified CNCs powder (a mixture of PVAc grafted from CNCs and PVAc homopolymer latex), the selective dispersion of CNCs in PLLA has been achieved by simple melt processing of PLLA/TPU (polyether polyurethane)/CNCs blend. This results in the ultra-fine TPU droplets at nanoscale in PLLA and improves the melt processibility of composites in FDM due to the decreased viscosity ratio of the dispersed/matrix and the enhanced melt elasticity of PLLA. Combined with the intensive shear and continuous stretch effect during FDM, aligned TPU nanofibers (TNFs) were in-situ formed along the elongational flow direction during deposition, which in turn contributed to the improvement of PLLA/TPU/CNCs with 5 wt% filler loading in tensile ductility by 418%, inter-layer adhesion strength and notched impact toughness by 261% and 210%, respectively, as well as achieved good dimensional accuracy and very fine surface quality.

A membrane-lytic mechanism-based nanodrug is developed for drug-resistant tumor therapy by anchoring the small-molecule quaternary ammonium salt (QAS) on cross-linked (R)-(+)-lipoic acid nanoparticles (cLANs). The anchoring of QAS on the nanoparticle avoids the direct attack of long alkyl chains to the cell membrane under physiological conditions, while after entering tumor cells, the QAS is released from the dissociated cLANs, migrates to the phospholipid bilayer via electrostatic interaction, and destroys the cell membrane by the puncture of long alkyl chains. Since the QAS is designed to finally be hydrolyzed to amino acid betaine and food additive cetanol and the cLANs degrade to dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA, reduced form of dietary antioxidant lipoic acid in cells), the QAS@cLANs hold superior biosafety. In addition to the drug-resistant tumors, the QAS@cLANs demonstrate significant inhibition of metastatic tumors. This work provides not only a general and clinic-promising treatment for the refractory tumors but also opens a door for the medicinal use of QAS.

Herein, a new organic-inorganic hybrid cuprous iodide of [(Me)2-DABCO]Cu6I8 was prepared and structurally characterized with a novel three-dimensional (3D) [Cu6I8]2- framework. Significantly, this 3D cuprous iodide displays infrequent broadband red-to-near-infrared light emission (600-1000 nm) stemming from the radiative recombination of self-trapped excitons.

Objective: Smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotypic switching is associated with development of a variety of occlusive vascular diseases. Paeonol has been reported to be involved in suppressing SMC proliferation. However, it is still unknown whether paeonol can regulate SMC phenotypic switching, and which eventually result in suppressing vasculogenesis. Methods: Murine left common carotid artery was injured by completely ligation, and paeonol was administrated by intraperitoneal injection. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was performed to visualize vascular neointima formation. Rat aortic SMCs were used to determine whether paeonol suppresses cell proliferation and migration. And murine hind limb ischemia model was performed to confirm the function role of paeonol in suppressing vasculogenesis. Results: Complete ligation of murine common carotid artery successfully induced neointima formation. Paeonol treatment dramatically reduced the size of injury-induced neointima. Using rat aortic primary SMC, we identified that paeonol strongly suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and decreased extracellular matrix deposition. And paeonol treatment dramatically suppressed vasculogenesis after hind limb ischemia injury. Conclusion: Paeonol could regulate SMC phenotypic switching through inhibiting proliferation and migration of SMC, which results in inhibiting ischemia-induced vasculogenesis.

Background Additional epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations confer the drug resistance to generations of EGFR targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), posing a major challenge to developing effective treatment of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). The strategy of combining EGFR-TKI with other synergistic or sensitizing therapeutic agents are considered a promising approach in the era of precision medicine. Moreover, the role and mechanism of SHP2, which is involved in cell proliferation, cytokine production, stemness maintenance and drug resistance, has not been carefully explored in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Methods To evaluate the impact of SHP2 on the efficacy of EGFR T790M mutant LUAD cells to Osimertinib, SHP2 inhibition was tested in Osimertinib treated LUAD cells. Cell proliferation and stemness were tested in SHP2 modified LUAD cells. RNA sequencing was performed to explore the mechanism of SHP2 promoted stemness. Results This study demonstrated that high SHP2 expression level correlates with poor outcome of LUAD patients, and SHP2 expression is enriched in Osimertinib resistant LUAD cells. SHP2 inhibition suppressed the cell proliferation and damaged the stemness of EGFR T790M mutant LUAD. SHP2 facilitates the secretion of CXCL8 cytokine from the EGFR T790M mutant LUAD cells, through a CXCL8-CXCR1/2 positive feedback loop that promotes stemness and tumorigenesis. Our results further show that SHP2 mediates CXCL8-CXCR1/2 feedback loop through ERK-AKT-NFκB and GSK3β-β-Catenin signaling in EGFR T790M mutant LUAD cells. Conclusions Our data revealed that SHP2 inhibition enhances the anti-cancer effect of Osimertinib in EGFR T790M mutant LUAD by blocking CXCL8-CXCR1/2 loop mediated stemness, which may help provide an alternative therapeutic option to enhance the clinical efficacy of osimertinib in EGFR T790M mutant LUAD patients.

Background: TiO2 nanoparticles possess adsorption capacity and photocatalytic activity, and are thus fitted for removal of dyes from water. However, TiO2 nanoparticles are difficult to separate from the bulk solution due to high loss. Moreover, TiO2 can only use light with a wavelength of less than 387.5 nm, so the utilization efficiency of solar energy is very low. The present work prepared Fe3O4@C@TiO2-AgBr-Ag composites to overcome the shortcomings of TiO2. Objective: Adsorptive and photocatalytic performance of nano-magnetic materials Fe3O4@C@TiO2- AgBr-Ag. Methods: Fe3O4@C@TiO2 and Fe3O4@C@TiO2-AgBr-Ag magnetic nanocomposites were prepared by the sol-gel method. Their structure was characterized. Performances of Fe3O4@C@TiO2 and Fe3O4@C@TiO2-AgBr-Ag for removing Rh B were thoroughly investigated and compared. Langmuir– Hinshelwood kinetic model was applied to analyze the heterogeneous processes of adsorption and photodegradation. Results: Removal experiments were carried out with Rhodamine B as the subject. The effects of contacting time, pH, subject concentration, and doses of photocatalyst on the removal performance were studied. The removal of Rh B by Fe3O4@C@TiO2 and Fe3O4@C@TiO2-AgBr-Ag involved both adsorption and photodegradation, and the photocatalytic activity of Fe3O4@C@TiO2-AgBr-Ag was much higher than that of Fe3O4@C@TiO2. The optimum removal conditions were determined. Under the optimal conditions, the removal rate of Rhodamine B with Fe3O4@C@TiO2 was 77.8%, and the removal rate of Rhodamine B with Fe3O4@C@TiO2- AgBr-Ag was 87.3%. Conclusion: The coupling of the nanostructured metal Ag to the outer surface of TiO2 could effectively increase photocatalytic efficiency under visible light. The photocatalysts could be separated from bulk solutions by using a magnet and be easily recycled. The removal reaction kinetics fitted with the first-order model.

Dry air alters salt and water balance in the upper airways and increases the risks of COVID-19 among other respiratory diseases. We explored whether such upper airway variations in salt and water balance might alter respiratory droplet generation and potentially contribute to observed impacts of airway hydration on respiratory disease. In a randomized 4-arm study of 21 healthy human subjects we found that the breathing of humid air, the wearing of cotton masks, and the delivery of (sodium, calcium, and magnesium chloride) salt droplets sized to deposit in the nose, trachea, and main bronchi similarly reduce the exhalation of respiratory droplets by approximately 50% ([Formula: see text] < 0.05) within 10 minutes following hydration. Respiratory droplet generation returns to relatively high baseline levels within 60–90 minutes on return to dry air in all cases other than on exposure to divalent (calcium and magnesium) salts, where suppression continues for 4–5 hours. We also found via a preliminary ecological regression analysis of COVID-19 cases in the United States between January 2020 and March 2021 that exposure to elevated airborne salt on (Gulf and Pacific) US coastlines appears to suppress by approximately 25%–30% ([Formula: see text] < 0.05) COVID-19 incidence and deaths per capita relative to inland counties — accounting for ten potential confounding environmental, physiological, and behavioral variables including humidity. We conclude that the hydration of the upper airways by exposure to humidity, the wearing of masks, or the breathing of airborne salts that deposit in the upper airways diminish respiratory droplet generation and may reduce the risks of COVID-19 incidence and symptoms.

Metal complexes exhibiting multifunctional properties are very rare. Here, we report a Zn(II) complex, [Zn(benzoate)(25F-spy)2], where 25F-spy = 2′,5′-difluoro-4-styrylpyridine, displays unpredicte...

The large-scale manufacturing of lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery has been long hampered by the rapid capacity degradation and short cycle life, which is primarily attributed to the soluble polysulfides and subsequent continuing shuttling effect. The separator modification as a simple and effective technique has been extensively applied in Li-S batteries to solve inherent defects. Herein, the composite of Ketjen black (KB) and Ti4O7 was synthetized by carbothermal reduction and made into KB/Ti4O7-modified separator. The multifunctional layer can improve utilization of active substances and restrain shuttling effect by forming synergistic effect of physical obstruct and chemisorption for polysulides. The cell using KB/Ti4O7 separator exhibits enhanced electrochemical properties reflecting in higher specific capacity (1074 mAh g-1 at 1C) and longer cycling life (836 mAh g-1 after 100 cycles). The above results indicate that the composite of carbon and metallic oxide modified separator is pretty suitable for advanced Li-S battery.

Advances in DNA-sequencing technology have far outpaced Moore’s law, imposing significant challenges on the computationally intensive secondary analysis in the sequencing pipeline. An accelerator for seed extension, a critical and computationally intensive step in genome sequencing, is proposed. The accelerator, implementing a string-independent automata, consists of a triangular array of $25\times 2$ custom-designed processing elements. It performs 2.46 million reads per second (MRPS), achieving a $1581\times $ improvement in power efficiency and $165.5\times $ smaller silicon footprint compared to a system setting with dual-socket Xeon E5-2697 v3 server processors.

An up-conversion luminescence (UCL) transparent ferroelectric oxide (KNN) introduced by rare-earth ions (Er3+ and Bi3+) has been demonstrated to exhibit a unique, high-purity, red emitting, high tr...

Lead halide perovskites have shown great potential in photovoltaic and photocatalytic fields. However, the toxicity of lead impedes their wide application. Herein composites of lead-free halide perovskite Cs2AgBiBr6 supported on nitrogen-doped carbon (N-C) materials were synthesized successfully through a facile one-pot method for the first time. Without deposition of noble metals as the cocatalyst, the optimal composite Cs2AgBiBr6/N-C (Cs2AgBiBr6/N-C-140) exhibits outstanding photocatalytic performance with a high hydrogen evolution rate of 380 μmol g-1 h-1 under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm), which is about 19 times faster than that of pure Cs2AgBiBr6 and 4 times faster than that of physically mixed Cs2AgBiBr6/N-C-140, respectively. The Cs2AgBiBr6/N-C-140 composite also displays high stability with no significant decrease after six cycles of repeated hydrogen evolution experiments. The addition of N-C with a high surface area helps to prevent aggregation of Cs2AgBiBr6 NPs and provides more pathways for the migration of photoinduced carriers. The nitrogen dopant can facilitate photoinduced electron transfer from Cs2AgBiBr6 to N-C to result in spatially separated electrons and holes with prolonged electron time and greatly enhance the photocatalytic performance. This study indicates that Cs2AgBiBr6-based perovskite materials are promising candidates for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

An unprecedented chiral secondary amine-catalyzed [3 + 3] annulation of isatin N,N'-cyclic azomethine imines with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes was developed. This strategy allowed the construction of structurally novel spiro N-heterocyclic oxindole derivatives in good yields (up to 91%) and good to excellent enantioselectivities (up to >99% ee), albeit with modest diastereoselectivities (up to 3.1:1 dr).

Five new zero-dimensional hybrid manganese halides based on discrete [MnCl4]2− tetrahedrons were prepared and used as highly efficient green-light emitters. Through rational management of organic cations to tailor the Mn⋯Mn separation distances between neighboring [MnCl4]2− tetrahedrons, the photoluminescence quantum yield increased significantly from 7.98% to 81.11%.

A facile, green and economical preparation technique is critical for the cost-effective scale-up manufacture and optoelectronic device engineering of halide perovskites. Herein, we developed a viable solvent-free mechanochemical synthetic route to systematically prepare organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites. In this work, an enormous halide library comprising 16 zero-dimensional hybrid manganese halides with the formula of AnMnX4 (A = organic cations, X = Cl, Br, n =1, 2) was synthesized through an economically and environmentally friendly mechanical grinding solid-state reaction within a quite fast time of 40 s and 100% yield. Even without any crystallization process, these AnMnX4 display strong green light emissions with the highest photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 79.5%, which reaches up to the top rank of green-light-emitting halide perovskites. Moreover, the enormous structural library facilitates us to build up a direct correlation between intermolecular Mn⋯Mn distances and PLQY, which provides a feasibility of fine-tuning luminescence performance by reasonably managing organic species to tailor the Mn⋯Mn distance. This work not only paves a green assembly way of hybrid perovskite materials but also provides a generalized method to rationally optimize the luminescence performances of hybrid manganese halides, which is potentially extended to all emissive hybrid metal halides.

Recently, low-dimensional organic–inorganic hybrid metal halides have attracted considerable attention in solid-state optical application fields, especially in white-light emitting diodes (WLEDs) owing to intrinsic broadband luminescence performances. Herein, by selecting different types of organic cations as a structural decoration strategy, we designed a series of new 1D hybrid halides of A2Pb3Br10 (A = NPM, DMPDA, TMEN) based on same [Pb3Br10]4− chains composed of edge-shared [Pb3Br12]6− trimers. The low-dimensional crystal lattice results in the formation of self-trapped excitons, which leads to broadband light emissions covering the entire visible region for all A2Pb3Br10 homologues. Specifically, compound 1 exhibits yellowish-white light emission (0.34, 0.45) with a photoluminescence quantum efficiency of 2.51%. Both compounds 2 and 3 show bluish-white light emissions centered at 438 nm and 440 nm, respectively, with high color rendering index (CRI) of 96, which belongs to one of the highest values to date. The intrinsic broadband white light emissions enable them as promising candidates for single-component white-light emitting materials.

Influenza virus (IV) infections usually cause acute lung injury characterized by exaggerated proinflammatory responses. The paucity of therapeutic strategies that target host immune response to attenuate lung injury poses a substantial challenge in management of IV infections. In this study, we chemically synthesized a novel fatty acid (2Z,4E)-deca-2,4-dienoic acid (DDEA) identified from Chinese Cordyceps by using UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS techniques. The DDEA did not inhibit H1N1 virus replication but attenuated proinflammatory responses by reducing mRNA and protein levels of TNF-α, IFN-α, IFN-β, IL-6, CXCL-8/IL-8, CCL-2/MCP-1, CXCL-10/IP-10, CCL-3/MIP-1α, and CCL-4/MIP-1β in A549 cells and U937-derived macrophages. The anti-inflammatory effect occurred through downregulations of TLR-3-, RIG-I-, and type I IFN-activated innate immune signaling pathways. Altogether, our results indicate that DDEA may potentially be used as an anti-inflammatory therapy for the treatment of IV infections.

The pancreatic β-cell death or dysfunction induced by oxidative stress plays an important effect on the development and progression of diabetes mellitus. Based on our previous findings, a natural proteoglycan extracted from Ganoderma Lucidum, named FYGL, could treat T2DM in vivo. In this study, we investigated the effects of FYGL on STZ-induced apoptosis of INS-1 cells and its underlying mechanisms. The results showed that FYGL significantly improved the cell viability and alleviated the apoptosis in STZ-treated INS-1 cells. Moreover, FYGL markedly decreased the intracellular ROS accumulation and NO release, and deactivated NF-κB, JNK, and p38 MAPK signaling pathways in STZ-induced INS-1 cells. Furthermore, FYGL improved the insulin secretion through inhibiting the activation of JNK and improving the expression of Pdx-1 in INS-1 cells damaged by STZ. These results indicated that FYGL could protect pancreatic β-cells against apoptosis and dysfunction, and be used as a promising pharmacological medicine for diabetes management.Abbreviations: T2DM: type 2 diabetes mellitus; FYGL: Fudan-Yueyang G. lucidum; ROS: reactive oxygen species; NO: reactive oxygen species; NF-κB: nuclear factor kappa beta; JNK: c-jun N-terminal kinase; MAPK: mitogen-activated protein kinase; Pdx-1: Pancreatic duodenal homeobox 1

Cerebrovascular and functional neurological lesions are the major disorders threatening human health and quality of life. The presence of the blood-brain barrier seriously affects the distribution and efficacy of various drugs in the brain. Ginkgolide B (GB) and Puerarin (Pue) are active pharmaceutical ingredients for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Here, we have developed a novel strategy to construct a GB-Pue niosomal composite drug. The in vitro cytology study of the niosomal composite drug showed that 20 mmol/L glutamate resulted in a mortality of 50–60% in the SHSY-5Y cells, while 30 μmol/L niosomal composite drug resulted in a survival rate of 95.2% in the SHSY-5Y cells with a maximum uptake value of 3.5 μg/mg and a peak uptake time at 2 hr. The monolayer cells reached a maximum transepithelial/endothelial electrical resistance (TEER) value of 626 Ω*cm2 at 36 hr in culture, and the cellular integrity was negatively correlated with the amount of drug accumulated in the cells. The accumulated GB and Pue in cells reached 86.53% and 76.49%, respectively. The 30 μmol/L composite drug preparation provided a higher cell survival rate in the glutamate (Glu) injured cells compared to the single drug preparations. Therefore, the composite preparation of the two drugs generated a synergistic effect, meeting the requirement for a combined use. The cell transmembrane transport experiments demonstrated that the pharmaceutical preparations traversed the blood-brain barrier through the active transport of cells.

The steatosis and resultant oxidative stress and apoptosis play the important roles in the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), therefore, searching for the effective drugs against NAFLD has been a hot topic. In this work, we investigated a hyperbranched proteoglycan, namely FYGL extracted from Ganoderma lucidum, inhibiting the palmitic acid (PA)-induced steatosis in HepG2 hepatocytes. FYGL compose of hydrophilic polysaccharide and lipophilic protein. Both moieties conclude the reductive residues, such as glucose and cystine, making FYGL capable of anti-oxidation. Herein, we demonstrated that FYGL can significantly inhibit the steatosis, i.e., decrease the contents of triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) in hepatic cells on the mechanism of increasing the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), therefore inhibiting the expressions of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1) and fatty acid synthase (FASN), furthermore leading to the carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (CPT-1) expression increased against steatosis induced by fatty acids oxidation. Meanwhile, FYGL can alleviate reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), promote superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). Moreover, FYGL can prevent the cells from apoptosis by regulating the apoptosis-related protein expressions and alleviating oxidative stress. Notably, FYGL could significantly recover the cells activity and inhibit lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release which were negatively induced by high concentration PA. These results demonstrated that FYGL has the potential functions to prevent the hepatocytes from lipid accumulation, oxidative stress and apoptosis, therefore against NAFLD.

In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) hybrid lead halide perovskites based on corner-shared [PbX6] octahedrons have received extensive attention with important potentials in single-component white-...

Developing an effective method for improving the reproducibility of positive temperature coefficient (PTC) effect is of great significance for large-scale application of polymer based PTC composites, owing to its contribution to the security and reliability. Herein, we developed a carbon black (CB)/high density polyethylene (HDPE)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) composite with outstanding PTC reproducibility, by incorporating 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([OMIm][NTf2]) into the composite. After multiple repeated temperature cycles, the PTC performance of as-prepared material keeps almost unchanged and the varition of resistance at room temperature is less than 7%. Our studies revealed that [OMIm][NTf2] contributes to the improvement of PTC reproducibility in two ways: (i) it acts as an efficient plasticizer for refining the co-continuous phase morphology of HDPE/PVDE blends; (ii) it inhibits the crystallization of PVDF through the dilution effect, leading to more overlaps of the volume shrinkage process of HDPE and PVDF melt which results in the decrease of interface gap between HDPE and PVDF. This study demonstrated that ionic liquids as the multifunctional agents have great potential for improving the reproducibility in the application of the binary polymer based PTC composites.

Hyperoside has been reported to possess anti‐inflammatory properties. Here, we confirmed that hyperoside exhibits potential therapeutic properties against periodontitis via promotion of proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells through activation of the NF‐κB signaling pathway. Therefore, our study provides evidence that hyperoside may have potential as a novel therapeutic option for periodontitis treatment., Hyperoside, as an active compound, widely exists in a large number of Chinese herbal medicines and has been reported to possess anti‐inflammatory and diuretic properties. However, the effects and underlying mechanisms of hyperoside on periodontitis have not been previously reported. In this study, we found that hyperoside ameliorates symptoms of periodontitis in a rat model, with improvements in alveolar bone resorption, relief of inflammatory infiltration, increase in orderly arrangement of collagen fibers and increase of osteogenic differentiation. In addition, hyperoside promoted proliferation, up‐regulated EdU‐positive cells, decreased cell‐cycle distribution and increased the protein expression of Ki67 and PCNA in rat bone mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSCs), as revealed by Cell Counting Kit‐8, EdU, flow cytometry and western blot analysis. Moreover, hyperoside significantly promoted osteogenic differentiation, as shown by quantitative RT‐PCR, western blot and alizarin red staining assays. Furthermore, hyperoside activated the nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) signaling pathway in rBMSCs, similar to the results observed in vivo. Finally, BMS345541, an inhibitor of the NF‐κB signaling pathway, could reverse the effects of hyperoside on the biological functions in rBMSCs. In conclusion, our results suggest that hyperoside has potential therapeutic properties against periodontitis via promotion of proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of rBMSCs via activation of the NF‐κB signaling pathway.

Ginkgolide B (GB) and Puerarin (Pue) are active pharmaceutical ingredients for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD); however, both are poorly water-soluble, which limits their bioavailability. The present study used the niosome vesicle encapsulation technique to prepare a novel GB composite drug. The conditions for GB–Pue niosomal complex preparation were as follows: a hydration temperature of 60°C, a hydrophilic–lipophilic balance of 10.5, a drug–carrier mass ratio of 8:100, and a surfactant–cholesterol mass ratio of 1.5:1. The niosomal complex suspension was uniformly distributed and milky white in color, with no stratification over a duration of 1 month. It had an average particle size of 187.3 nm, a particle-size distribution of 0.237, a GB encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 68.2%, a GB drug-loading rate of 90.1%, a Pue EE of 40.5%, and a Pue drug-loading rate of 83.3%. The optimal storage temperature for the niosomal complex suspension was 4°C. Following an intravenous injection of the niosomal complex suspension into the rat tail, the area under the curve (AUC) from 0 to 4 h was 54.1 h µg mL−1, with a mean residence time (MRT) of 0.96 h, a distribution half-life (T1/2α) of 0.195 h, and a total clearance of 0.003 L h−1 kg−1. The AUC and MRT of the composite prescription were 1.1- and 1.4-times those of the commercial injection, respectively, showing significantly increased sustained release and bioavailability. Moreover, the distribution of GB in the brain tissue was 1.8-times that of the commercial injection. In conclusion, the novel GB niosomal composite drug, with excellent stability, improved pharmacokinetics, and brain tissue distribution, demonstrates great potential for the delivery of GB and Pue for PD therapeutics.

The PEDOT/TiO2 nanocomposites with different TiO2 particle sizes were fabricated by a simple soft chemical approach-assisted in situ synthesis route and used as an effective cathode of Li-S batteri...

The aim of our study was to enhance the reusability of a taste sensor by increasing the efficiency of the cleaning process. In this paper, we proposed a surfactant cleaning method for two types of bitterness sensor using lipid polymer membranes with high hydrophobicity. To select suitable surfactants for cleaning, the usability of four types of surfactant with different polarities and ionicities was evaluated. Among these surfactants, the anionic surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) showed no impact on the initial membrane potential and completely removed residue substances of high-concentration quinine hydrochloride adsorbed on the bitterness sensor used for hydrochloride salts. On the other hand, the amphoteric surfactant lauryl dimethylaminoacetic acid (LDA) showed no impact on the initial membrane potential and almost completely removed residue substances of high-concentration iso- $\alpha $ acid adsorbed on the bitterness sensor used for acidic bitter materials. Moreover, we found that the combined use of the conventional cleaning solution and LDA acid solution in turn greatly improved the reusability of an astringency sensor in multiple measurements of black tea.

Ion-molecule charge-exchange reactions Ar+ + CO → Ar + CO+ at the center-of-mass collision energies of 4.40, 6.40, and 8.39 eV are investigated using ion velocity map imaging technique. Although multiple electronically excited states of CO+ are accessed, the population of CO+ at the A2Π state is predominant in the present collision-energy range. In contrast to our previous study for NO, but similar to the case of O2, the forward-scattered CO+ yields show a broader angular distribution at the higher collision energy. Typically, the Franck-Condon-region charge transfer, energy resonant charge transfer, and intimate collision are three different mechanisms in which the intimate collision experiences an intermediate complex, and this mechanism usually plays an essential role in the thermal-energy reactions. However, the present observations indicate that this mechanism, concerning the intermediate (Ar-CO)+, is still of utmost importance in a relatively high collision-energy range.

In the past few decades, organic-inorganic hybrid metal halides acting as single-component white light emission diodes (LEDs) have attracted extensive attentions, but most of the studies concentrate on the low-dimensional lead perovskites. Here, by using the nontoxic silver as optically active metal center, a series of hybrid silver halides based on one-dimensional structures were constructed and realized broadband white light emission. Compounds [H