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Neuropathic pain (NP) affects about 8% of the general population. Current analgesic therapies have limited efficacy, making NP one of the most difficult to treat pain conditions. Evidence indicates that excessive oxidative stress can contribute to the onset of chronic NP and several natural antioxidant compounds have shown promising efficacy in NP models. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the pain-relieving activity of honokiol (HNK)-rich standardized extract of Magnolia officinalis Rehder & E. Wilson bark (MOE), well known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, in the spared nerve injury (SNI) model. The molecular mechanisms and efficacy toward neuroinflammation were investigated in spinal cord samples from SNI mice and LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia cells. MOE and HNK showed antioxidant activity. MOE (30 mg/kg p.o.) produced an antiallodynic effect in SNI mice in the absence of locomotor impairment, reduced spinal p-p38, p-JNK1, iNOS, p-p65, IL-1ß, and Nrf2 overexpression, increased IL-10 and MBP levels and attenuated the Notch signaling pathway by reducing Jagged1 and NEXT. These effects were prevented by the CB1 antagonist AM251. HNK reduced the proinflammatory response of LPS-stimulated BV2 and reduced Jagged1 overexpression. MOE and HNK, by modulating oxidative and proinflammatory responses, might represent interesting candidates for NP management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: An international multicenter randomized trial in 174 patients with T3-4 rectal cancer was conducted by the RectumSIB consortium (located at UZ Brussel-VUB in Brussels, Belgium). In this trial, they compared standard 5FU-chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and radiotherapy with a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) without concomitant chemotherapy in a non-inferiority design. The primary endpoint (metabolic response rate) and secondary endpoints (local control, progression-free survival, survival, pathological response and acute/late toxicity) revealed the equivalence of both treatments. Radiotherapy with an SIB is an appealing treatment strategy for patients with T3-4 rectal cancer that are too frail for chemotherapy. Background: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the standard treatment for T3-4 rectal cancer. Here, we compared image-guided and intensity-modulated RT (IG-IMRT) with a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) (instead of concomitant chemotherapy) versus CRT in a multi-centric randomized trial. Methods: cT3-4 rectal cancer patients were randomly assigned to receive preoperative IG-IMRT 46 Gy/23 fractions plus capecitabine 825 mg/m² twice daily (CRT arm) or IG-IMRT 46 Gy/23 fractions with an SIB to the rectal tumor up to a total dose of 55.2 Gy (RTSIB arm). Results: A total of 174 patients were randomly assigned between April 2010 and May 2014. Grade 3 acute toxicities were 6% and 4% in the CRT and RTSIB arms, respectively. The mean fractional change in SUVmax at 5 weeks after completion of preoperative RT were −55.8% (±24.0%) and −52.9% (±21.6%) for patients in the CRT arm and RTSIB arm, respectively (p = 0.43). The pathologic complete response rate was 24% with CRT compared to 14% with RTSIB. There were no differences in 5-year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) or local control (LC). Conclusions: The preoperative RTSIB approach was not inferior to CRT in terms of metabolic response, toxicity, OS, PFS and LC, and could be considered an available option for patients unfit for fluorouracil-based CRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a flexible and efficient strategy to precisely fabricate polymer patterns is increasingly significant for many research areas, especially for cell biology, pharmaceutical science, tissue engineering, soft photonics, and bioelectronics. Recent advances of patterning natural polymers using various nanofabrication techniques, including photolithography, electron-beam lithography, dip-pen nanolithography, inkjet printing, soft lithography, and nanoimprint lithography are discussed here. Integrating nanofabrication techniques with naturally derived macromolecules provides a feasible route for transforming these polymer materials into versatile and sophisticated devices while maintaining their intrinsic and excellent properties. Furthermore, the corresponding applications of these natural polymer patterns generated by the above techniques are elaborated. In the end, a summary of this promising research field is offered and an outlook for the future is given. It is expected that advances in precise spatial patterns of natural polymers would provide new avenues for various applications, such as tissue engineering, flexible electronics, biomedical diagnosis, and soft photonics., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

With the rapid development on 3D printing technology, more and more works have been devoted to 3D display. 3D display will really come true by using circularly polarized luminescence (CPL)-active materials with both high quantum yield and dissymmetry factor (g em ) in organic light-emitting diode or liquid crystals (LCs). But so far most of these CPL materials cannot meet the real application requirement because of the low g em values in the range of 10 -5 -10 -2 . In this paper, ternary chiral emissive LCs (P-N*-LCs) is designed by doping chiral binaphthyl-based enantiomers as chiral dopant (Guest 1) and achiral conjugated polymer as induced CPL emitter (Guest 2) into nematic liquid crystal (N-LCs) Host 5CB. Both Guest 1 and Guest 2 show excellent compatibility with Host 5CB. The obtained ternary P-N*-LCs can emit strong-induced CPL signal with g em up to 1.12 and Ф FL up to 66.1%. This work first develops a new strategy for the smart design of excellent CPL materials from versatile achiral conjugation fluorescence polymers., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Simple Summary: The commentary discusses the recent movement by animal rights organizations to secure legal personhood for animals in various courts in the United States. Laws, regulations, and legal jurisprudence are often influenced by scientific and societal developments. However, legal challenges on behalf of animals residing in zoological facilities using habeas corpus, a mechanism traditionally used by prisoners to challenge conditions of confinement, have been unsuccessful in each state and federal court that has considered the issue. Courts have been unwilling to include nonhuman animals within the meaning of "person" or afford them the legal rights and protections that humans receive in the American legal system. An analysis of these legal personhood decisions reveals that courts have rejected animals' complex cognitive abilities as a justification for an extension of the law. Courts have been careful to state that societal-changing legal developments must originate in the legislatures, not the courts, and emphasize that significant societal and ethical issues may occur if animals are extended the legal rights and protections afforded to humans. The use of Latin in identifying an organism's genus and species is likely familiar to scientists and zoological professionals, but a traditional legal doctrine, known as habeas corpus (meaning "you have the body") may not have obvious applicability to nonhumans in the animal kingdom. In recent years, animal rights organizations have utilized the habeas corpus doctrine as a basis to bring legal challenges on behalf of nonhuman animals to expand "legal personhood" to them. These lawsuits, which have focused on species such as nonhuman primates and elephants, seek to challenge the "confinement" of animals in zoological institutions and by private owners, much like a prisoner or other detainee. The small but vocal animal legal personhood movement bases its argument on the fact that elephants and nonhuman primates are highly sentient and have complex cognitive characteristics. Proponents of legal personhood for animals have argued that the common law has progressed and expanded over the years as societal norms and conditions have changed and, much like the law has expanded to afford women and persons of color legal rights and protections, so should the law expand to treat animals the same as humans. Despite these efforts, to date, no court in the United States has accepted this invitation. This article summarizes key legal challenges and decisions to date in the United States, examines how science and societal conditions have influenced the law, and analyzes the reasons why legal personhood for animals so far has been viewed as a "bridge too far" in the American legal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic semiconductors have emerged as promising neural interfacing materials due to their innate biocompatibility, soft mechanical properties, and mixed electron/ion conduction. One exciting application is their use as artificial photosensors for retinal prostheses via optically induced neuromodulation. In this study, the optoelectronic and neural interfacing properties of six organic semiconductor polymers and small molecules, split into donor/acceptor pairs that form promising candidates for a trichromatic artificial retina that closely mimics the native response of the human eye are presented. The biocompatibility of these materials using primary human retinal cell cultures by systematic measurement of both cell viability and morphological analysis of retinal ganglion cell neurite elongation over time is investigated. Comparable cell viability between human retinal cell cultures established on all the organic semiconductors and a glass control, which is a standard measurement for biocompatibility in materials science is observed. In contrast, differences in the morphological biocompatibility between the organic semiconductor materials and glass control are detected by analyzing neurite elongation with specific immunomarkers. The difference in the two results has implications for the future assessment of material biocompatibility for bioelectronics, and optimal methodology for assessing morphological biocompatibility in neural interface devices is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

pH dependence on water soluble aggregates is well‐known in the field of low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs), with different aggregates sometimes having very different properties depending on their final pH. This aggregation determines their applications and performance. Here, we investigate the pH dependence of perylene bisimide gels; initially solutions are formed at a high pH and gels form as the pH is decreased. We find it is not only the final pH but also the starting pH that can impact the resulting gel. We use small angle neutron scattering (SANS), rheology, 1H NMR spectroscopy and absorption spectroscopy to examine the effect of starting pH on gelation kinetics and final gel properties. Adjusting the solution from pH 9 (where there are few or no aggregates) to pH 6 results in the formation of different worm‐like micelles than the ones directly formed at pH 6, leading to again gels with different mechanical properties. This work highlights the importance of controlling the pH of solutions before gelation, but also opens up more possible morphologies and therefore more properties from the same molecule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tilapia, as one of the fish widely cultured around the world, is suffering severe impact from the streptococcus disease with the deterioration of the breeding environment and the increasing of breeding density, which brings serious economic loss to tilapia farming. In this study, the surface immunogenic protein (Sip) of Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae) was selected as the potential candidate antigen and connected with bacterial nano cellulose (BNC) to construct the nanocarrier subunit vaccine (BNC-rSip), and the immersion immune effects against S. agalactiae and Streptococcus iniae (S. iniae) in Nile tilapia were evaluated on the basis of the serum antibody level, non-specific enzyme activity, the immune-related gene expression and relative percent survival (RPS). The results indicated that Sip possessed the expected immunogenicity according to the immunoinformatic analysis. Compared with the rSip group, BNC-rSip significantly induced serum antibody production and improved the innate immunity level of tilapia. After challenge, the RPS of BNC-rSip groups were 78.95% (S. agalactiae) and 67.86% (S. iniae), which were both higher than those of rSip groups,31.58% (S. agalactiae) and 35.71% (S. iniae), respectively. Our study indicated that BNC-rSip can induce protective immunity for tilapia through immersion immunization and may be an ideal candidate vaccine for controlling tilapia streptococcal disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactions between Ln(NO3)3 and cucurbit[6]uril in HNO3 have been studied, aiming to create novel light-emitting systems. Aquanitrato complexes of lanthanides were obtained as supramolecular assemblies 1–10 with the organic macrocyclic cavitand cucurbit[6]uril. X-ray diffraction study demonstrated that these compounds have the following compositions: [{Ln(H2O)5(NO3)}2(C36H36N24O12)](NO3)4·HNO3·nH2O (Ln = Pr(1), Nd(2), Sm(3), Eu(4), Gd(5), Tb(6)) and 2[Ln(H2O)8](NO3)3·C36H36N24O12·2HNO3·mH2O (Ln = Dy(7), Ho(8), Er(9), Yb(10)). Compounds with different structures were shown to crystallize under the same synthesis conditions for the early and late lanthanides. The compounds were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric and elemental analyses, and IR spectroscopy. The magnetic property of compound 5 was also examined. The luminescent properties for compounds 1–10 were studied. The chromaticity coordinates (CIE) for compounds 1–10 were calculated. The color purity of compound 4 was found to be 96%, which is very close to that of the standard red light source. Compound 4 can be considered a potential red-emitting candidate for near-UV WLEDs. The color purity of compound 7 is very close to zero, so it is well suited for generation of white light, which further suggests its utility for W-LED applications. A cool white LED device was fabricated for the first time by combining the supramolecular coordination polymer 7 and a UV LED chip (365 nm) under a voltage of 3.0 V; the CIE, CCT and CP were (0.301, 0.325), 7228 K and 7%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new pair of multifunctional Zn(II)–Dy(III) enantiomers based on the chiral Schiff-base ligands [R,R-ZnLDy(H2O)(NO3)3] (1R2R-ZnDy) and [S,S-ZnLDy(H2O)(NO3)3] (1S2S-ZnDy) (H2L = phenol, 2,2′-[[(1R,2R/1S,2S)-1,2-diphenyl-1,2-ethanediyl]bis[(E)-nitrilomethylidyne]]bis[6-methoxy]) was synthesized and characterized. Magnetic studies indicate that 1R2R-ZnDy behaves as a single-molecule magnet. Enantiomers 1R2R-ZnDy and 1S2S-ZnDy show chiroptical activity and circularly polarized luminescence in the N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution. The chiral Zn(II)–Dy(III) complexes display magnetic circular dichroism signals at room temperature. Accordingly, these complexes will inspire intriguing research on single-molecule magnets with circular polarization of luminescence activity and magneto-optic effects, which will give new clues to design multifunctional molecular magnetic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropathic pain is a chronic disabling condition with a 7–10% of prevalence in the general population that is largely undertreated. Available analgesic therapies are poorly effective and are often accompanied by numerous side effects. Growing evidence indicates cannabinoids are a valuable treatment opportunity for neuropathic pain. The endocannabinoid system is an important regulator of pain perception through the CB1 receptors, but CB1 agonists, while largely effective, are not always satisfactory pain-relieving agents in clinics because of their serious adverse effects. Recently, several CB2 agonists have shown analgesic, anti-hyperalgesic, and anti-allodynic activity in the absence of CB1-induced psychostimulant effects, offering promise in neuropathic pain management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-neuropathic activity of a novel selective CB2 agonist, COR167, in a preclinical model of peripheral neuropathy, the spared nerve injury (SNI). Oral COR167, in a dose-dependent manner, attenuated mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia after acute and repeated administration, showing the absence of tolerance induction. At anti-neuropathic doses, COR167 did not show any alteration in the locomotor behavior. SNI mice showed increased microglial levels of HDAC1 protein in the ipsilateral side of the spinal cord, along with NF-kB activation. COR167 treatment prevented the HDAC1 overexpression and the NF-kB activation and increased the levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 through a CB2-mediated mechanism. Oral administration of COR167 shows promising therapeutic potential in the management of neuropathic pain conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results obtained for the mural paintings (XV century CE) in the church of San Panfilo in Villagrande di Tornimparte (AQ, Italy) by means of noninvasive spectroscopic techniques; this research is a part of the project on the Saturnino Gatti pictorial cycle, promoted and coordinated by the AIAr (the Italian Archaeometry Association). Digital optical microscopy (OM), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy in the UV–Vis–NIR range (FORS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in the external reflection mode (ER-FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy were performed on the points selected based on the image analysis results and the few available records on previous intervention, with the aim of characterizing both the original and restoration organic and inorganic materials. The synergic application of complementary techniques allowed us to obtain a complete picture of the palette and the main alteration products and organic substances (of rather ubiquitous lipid materials and less widespread resin and proteinaceous materials in specific points). The identification of modern compounds permitted the individuation of restoration areas; this was confirmed by the comparison with multiband imaging results, as in the case of specific green and blue pigments, strictly related to the presence of high signals of zinc. This analytical protocol left only very few ambiguities and allowed to minimizing the number of samples taken to clarifying, by sample laboratory analyses, the few doubts still open. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Zingiberaceae family possess various phenolic compounds that have significant systemic bioactivities in the brain, including in age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Neurotrophins are growth factors that protect neurons from oxidative stress, and dysregulation of the neurotrophic system may result in neurocognitive disease. Phenolic compounds from the Zingiberaceae family have been used in traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) to improve cognitive functions. These compounds may affect the expression of neurotrophic agents, but their underlying molecular mechanisms require further investigation. Therefore, the goal of this review is to determine the expression and functional roles of phenolic compounds from the Zingiberaceae family in brain disorders and age-related neurodegenerative disorders. While previous studies have proposed various mechanisms for the neuroprotective activity of these compounds, their precise mechanism of action remains complex and poorly understood. Despite some promising findings, there are still shortcomings in the therapeutic use of these herbs, and current interventions involving the Zingiberaceae family appear to be clinically insufficient. This article aims to summarize recent discoveries of phenolic compounds from several Zingiberaceae family members and their use as neuroprotectants and provide the first review of evidence-linked neuroprotective activity of bioactive ingredients from prominent members of the Zingiberaceae family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zingiberaceae plants are widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries; however, research on the chemical composition and interspecific differences in the metabolome and volatilome of Zingiberaceae plants is still limited. In this study, seven species of Zingiberaceae plants were selected, including Curcuma longa L., Zingiber officinale Rosc., Alpinia officinarum Hance, Alpinia tonkinensis Gagnep, Amomum tsaoko Crevost et Lemarie, Alpinia hainanensis K. Schum. and Amomum villosum Lour. Myristica fragrans Houtt. was also selected due to its flavor being similar to that of the Zingiberaceae plant. The metabolome and volatilome of selected plants were profiled by widely targeted approaches; 542 volatiles and 738 non-volatile metabolites were detected, and β-myrcene, α-phellandrene and α-cadinene were detected in all the selected plants, while chamigren, thymol, perilla, acetocinnamone and cis-α-bisabolene were exclusively detected in certain Zingiberaceae plants. Differential analysis showed that some terpenoids, such as cadalene, cadalene-1,3,5-triene, cadalene-1,3,8-triene and (E)-β-farnesene, and some lipids, including palmitic acid, linoleic acid and oleic acid were amongst the most varied compounds in Zingiberaceae plants. In conclusion, this study provided comprehensive metabolome and volatilome profiles for Zingiberaceae plants and revealed the metabolic differences between these plants. The results of this study could be used as a guide for the nutrition and flavor improvement of Zingiberaceae plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) with circularly polarized emission can bring a breakthrough innovation in display technologies. However, it remains challenging due to the difficulty in obtaining high efficiency and large dissymmetry factor simultaneously. Herein, it is demonstrated that robust circularly polarized (CP) electroluminescence can be induced by cascade chirality transfer within the emitting layer. Through spectroscopic data and theoretical analysis, the initiation of this chirality transfer process is assigned to diastereomeric interaction. Utilizing this interaction and excellent Förster resonance energy transfer ability to the well‐known racemic emitter, CP‐OLEDs with an electroluminescence dissymmetry factor (|gEL|) up to 3.2 × 10−3 and high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 32% are successfully fabricated. These devices also show ultra‐low efficiency roll‐off at high brightness, with EQE ≥ 20% at 128 000 cd m−2. This study paves the way for the future development of CP‐OLEDs through synergistic materials and device engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of circularly polarized electroluminescence (CPEL) is currently hampered by the high difficulty and cost in the syntheses of suitable chiral materials and the notorious chirality diminishment issue in electrical devices. Herein, diastereomeric IrIII and RuII complexes with chiral (±)‐camphorsulfonate counteranions are readily synthesized and used as the active materials in circularly polarized light‐emitting electrochemical cells to generate promising CPELs. The addition of the chiral ionic liquid (±)‐1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazole camphorsulfonate into the active layer significantly improves the device performance and the electroluminescence dissymmetry factors (≈10−3), in stark contrast to the very weak circularly polarized photoluminescence of the spin‐coated films of these diastereomeric complexes. Control experiments with enantiopure IrIII complexes suggest that the chiral anions play a dominant role in the electrically‐induced amplification of CPELs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circularly polarized electroluminescence (CP‐EL) is generally produced in organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on special CP luminescent (CPL) materials, while common achiral luminescent materials are rarely considered to be capable of direct producing CP‐EL. Herein, near ultraviolet CPL materials with high photoluminescence quantum yields and good CPL dissymmetry factors are developed, which can induce blue to red CPL for various achiral luminescent materials. Strong near ultraviolet CP‐EL with the best external quantum efficiencies (ηexts) of 9.0 % and small efficiency roll‐offs are achieved by using them as emitters for CP‐OLEDs. By adopting them as hosts or sensitizers, commercially available yellow‐orange achiral phosphorescence, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and multi‐resonance (MR) TADF materials can generate intense CP‐EL, with high dissymmetry factors and outstanding ηexts (30.8 %), demonstrating a simple and universal avenue towards efficient CP‐EL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a class of zinc‐dependent endopeptidases that play important roles in disease progression. High expression of MMPs is associated with various diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, and inflammatory diseases. For better understanding the roles of MMPs in these diseases' development and the potential in early diagnosis and treatment monitoring, a number of sensors have recently been developed for MMPs detection in vitro and in vivo. These sensors are designed mainly based on the exploration of MMPs' molecular structure and enzymatic activity. This review seeks to provide a summary for the development and application of the sensors for the detection of MMPs in the past three years. The research hotspots, current challenges, and further research directions in this field are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL)-active molecular materials have drawn increasing attention due to their promising applications for next-generation display and optoelectronic technologies. Currently, it is challenging to obtain CPL materials with both large luminescence dissymmetry factor (g lum ) and high quantum yield (Φ). A pair of enantiomeric N N C-type Pt(II) complexes (L/D)-1 modified with chiral Leucine methyl ester are presented herein. Though the solutions of these complexes are CPL-inactive, the spin-coated thin films of (L/D)-1 exhibit giantly-amplified circularly polarized phosphorescences with |g lum | of 0.53 at 560 nm and Φ air of ~50 %, as well as appealing circular dichroism (CD) signals with the maximum absorption dissymmetry factor |g abs | of 0.37-0.43 at 480 nm. This superior CPL performance benefits from the hierarchical formation of crystalline fibrillar networks upon spin coating. Comparative studies of another pair of chiral Pt(II) complexes (L/D)-2 with a symmetric N C N coordination mode suggest that the asymmetric N N C coordination of (L/D)-1 are favorable for the efficient exciton delocalization to amplify the CPL performance. Optical applications of the thin films of (L/D)-1 in CPL-contrast imaging and inducing CP light generation from achiral emitters and common light-emitting diode lamps have been successfully realized., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Polysaccharides constitute over 90% of the carbohydrate mass in nature, which makes them a promising feedstock for manufacturing sustainable materials. Polysaccharide particles (PSPs) are used as effective scavengers, carriers of chemical and biological cargos, and building blocks for the fabrication of macroscopic materials. The biocompatibility and degradability of PSPs are advantageous for their uses as biomaterials with more environmental friendliness. This review highlights the progresses in PSP applications as advanced functional materials, by describing PSP extraction, preparation, and surface functionalization with a variety of functional groups, polymers, nanoparticles, and biologically active species. This review also outlines the fabrication of PSP-derived macroscopic materials, as well as their applications in soft robotics, sensing, scavenging, water harvesting, drug delivery, and bioengineering. The paper is concluded with an outlook providing perspectives in the development and applications of PSP-derived materials., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Introduction: Moral courage manifests in acts intended to intervene to stop or redress witnessed moral norm violations, despite the risk of negative consequences for the intervener. We investigate moral courage in everyday life and ask what personality processes are involved. Based on an extended process model of moral courage, we derived hypotheses on cognitive and emotional processes that should facilitate or hinder intervention. Further, we identified candidate personality dispositions that should shape these processes and thereby predict who tends to intervene against others' norm violations and who does not., Methods: Using a quota-based sample of the German population (N = 1108), we conducted a personality assessment, followed by a 7-day experience sampling during which participants reported norm violations witnessed in their daily life as well as their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions., Results: In total, 678 participants reported 1965 norm violations and intervened against 32% of them. Dispositional self-efficacy facilitated intervention by increasing a sense of efficacy when confronted with others' norm violations. Conversely, dispositional moral disengagement hindered intervention by reducing perceived own responsibility., Discussion: Our findings provide novel insights into the situations affording moral courage in everyday life, and the personality processes that uniquely guide this behavior., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Personality published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis of polysaccharides can provide valuable information not only on their primary structures but also on their conformation, dynamics, and interactions under physiological conditions. One of the main problems is that non-anomeric 1 H signals typically overlap, and this often hinders detailed NMR analysis. Isotope enrichment, such as with 13 C and 15 N, will add a new dimension to the NMR spectra of polysaccharides, and spectral analysis can be performed with enhanced sensitivity using isolated peaks. For this purpose, here we have prepared uniformly 13 C- and/or 15 N-labeled chondroitin polysaccharides -4)-β-D-glucuronopyranosyl-(1-3)-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1- with molecular weights in the range from 310 to 460 k by bacterial fermentation. The enrichment ratios for 13 C and 15 N were 98.9 and 99.8%, respectively, based on the mass spectrometric analysis of the constituent chondroitin disaccharides. 1 H and 13 C NMR signals were assigned mainly based on HSQC and 13 C-detection experiments including INADEQUATE, HETCOR, and HETCOR-TOCSY. The carbonyl carbon signal of the N-acetyl-β-D-galactosamine residue was unambiguously distinguished from the C6 carbon of the β-D-glucuronic acid residue by the observation of 13 C peak splitting due to 1 J CN coupling in 13 C- and 15 N-labeled chondroitin. The T 2 * and T 1 were measured and indicate that both rigid and mobile sites are present in the long sequence of chondroitin. The conformation, dynamics, and interactions of chondroitin and its derivatives will be further analyzed based on the results obtained in this study., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Addressing the dual enhancement of circular polarization (g lum ) and luminescence quantum yield (QY) in circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) systems poses a significant challenge. In this study, we present an innovative strategy utilizing the entropically driven self-assembly of amphiphilic phosphorescent platinum(II) complexes (L-Pt) with tetraethylene glycol chains, resulting in unique temperature dependencies. The entropically driven self-assembly of L-Pt leads to a synergistic improvement in phosphorescence emission efficiency (QY was amplified from 15 % at 25 °C to 53 % at 60 °C) and chirality, both in the ground state and the excited state (g lum value has been magnified from 0.04×10 -2 to 0.06) with increasing temperature. Notably, we observed reversible modulation of phosphorescence and chirality observed over at least 10 cycles through successive heating and cooling, highlighting the intelligent control of luminescence and chiroptical properties by regulating intermolecular interactions among neighboring L-Pt molecules. Importantly, the QY and g lum of the L-Pt assembly in solid state were measured as 69 % and 0.16 respectively, representing relatively high values compared to most self-assembled CPL systems. This study marks the pioneering demonstration of dual thermo-enhancement of phosphorescence and CPL and provides valuable insights into the thermal effects on high-temperature and switchable CPL materials., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Neuroinflammation has emerged as a crucial factor in the development of depression. Despite the well-known anti-inflammatory properties of 6-gingerol, its potential impact on depression remains poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the antidepressant effects of 6-gingerol by suppressing microglial activation. In vivo experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of 6-gingerol on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced behavioral changes and neuroinflammation in rat models. In vitro studies were performed to examine the neuroprotective properties of 6-gingerol against LPS-induced microglial activation. Furthermore, a co-culture system of microglia and neurons was established to assess the influence of 6-gingerol on the expression of synaptic-related proteins, namely synaptophysin (SYP) and postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD95), which are influenced by microglial activation. In the in vivo experiments, administration of 6-gingerol effectively alleviated LPS-induced depressive behavior in rats. Moreover, it markedly suppressed the activation of rat prefrontal cortex (PFC) microglia induced by LPS and the activation of the NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammatory pathway, while also reducing the levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18. In the in vitro experiments, 6-gingerol mitigated nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65, NLRP3 activation, and maturation of IL-1β and IL-18, all of which were induced by LPS. Furthermore, in the co-culture system of microglia and neurons, 6-gingerol effectively restored the decreased expression of SYP and PSD95. The findings of this study demonstrate the neuroprotective effects of 6-gingerol in the context of LPS-induced depression-like behavior. These effects are attributed to the inhibition of microglial hyperactivation through the suppression of the NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammatory pathway., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Recently, chiral metal-organic coordination materials have emerged as promising candidates for a wide range of applications in chiroptoelectronics, chiral catalysis, and information encryption, etc. Notably, the chiroptical effect of coordination chromophores makes them appealing for applications such as photodetectors, OLEDs, 3D displays, and bioimaging. The direct synthesis of chiral coordination materials using chiral organic ligands or complexes with metal-centered chirality is very often tedious and costly. In the case of ionic coordination materials, the combination of chiral anions with cationic, achiral coordination compounds through noncovalent interactions may endow molecular materials with desirable chiroptical properties. The use of such a simple chiral strategy has been proven effective in inducing promising circular dichroism and/or circularly polarized luminescence signals. This concept article mainly delves into the latest advances in exploring the efficacy of such a chiral anion strategy for transforming achiral coordination materials into chromophores with superb photo- or electro-chiroptical properties. In particular, ionic small-molecular metal complexes, metal clusters, coordination supramolecular assemblies, and metal-organic frameworks containing chiral anions are discussed. A perspective on the future opportunities on the preparation of chiroptical materials with the chiral anion strategy is also presented., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The external quantum efficiency (EQE) in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on isotropic quantum dots has approached the theoretical limit of close to 20%. Anisotropic nanorods can break this limit by taking advantage of their directional emission. However, the progress towards higher EQE by using CdSe/CdS nanorods (NRs) faces several challenges, primarily involving the low quantum yield and unbalanced charge injection in devices. Herein, the seeded growth method is modified and anisotropic nanorods are obtained with photoluminescence quantum yield up to 98% by coating a gradient alloyed CdZnSe shell around conventional spherical CdSe seeds. This intermediate alloyed CdZnSe shell combined with a subsequent rod-shaped CdZnS/ZnS shell can effectively suppress the electron delocalization in the typical CdSe/CdS nanorods due to their small conduction bandgap offset. Additionally, this alloyed shell can reduce the hole-injection barrier and create a larger barrier for electron injection, both effects promoting a balanced injection of electrons and holes in LEDs. Hence, LEDs are reached with high brightness (160341 cd m -2 ) and high efficiency (EQE = 22%, current efficiency = 23.19 cd A -1 ), which are the highest values to date for nanorod LEDs., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Planar microcavities with strong light-matter coupling, monolithically processed fully from solution, consisting of two polymer-based distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) comprising alternating layers of a high-refractive-index titanium oxide hydrate/poly(vinyl alcohol) hybrid material and a low-refractive-index fluorinated polymer are presented. The DBRs enclose a perylene diimide derivative (b-PDI-1) film positioned at the antinode of the optical mode. Strong light-matter coupling is achieved in these structures at the target excitation of the b-PDI-1. Indeed, the energy-dispersion relation (energy vs in-plane wavevector or output angle) in reflectance and the group delay of transmitted light in the microcavities show a clear anti-crossing-an energy gap between two distinct exciton-polariton dispersion branches. The agreement between classical electrodynamic simulations of the microcavity response and the experimental data demonstrates that the entire microcavity stack can be controllably produced as designed. Promisingly, the refractive index of the inorganic/organic hybrid layers used in the microcavity DBRs can be precisely manipulated between values of 1.50 to 2.10. Hence, microcavities with a wide spectral range of optical modes might be designed and produced with straightforward coating methodologies, enabling fine-tuning of the energy and lifetime of the microcavities' optical modes to harness strong light-matter coupling in a wide variety of solution processable active materials., (© 2023 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs) demonstrate promising application in 3D display due to the direct generation of circularly polarized electroluminescence (CPEL). But the chiral luminescence materials face challenges as intricated synthetic route, enantiomeric separation, etc. Herein, fresh CP-OLEDs are designed based on chiral hole transport material instead of chiral emitters. A pair of hole transport enantiomers (R/S-NPACZ) exhibit intense dissymmetry factors (|g PL |) about 5.0 × 10 -3 . With R/S-NPACZ as hole transport layers, CP-OLEDs are fabricated employing six achiral phosphorescence and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials with different wavelengths, in consistence with the generated CPEL spectra. The CP-OLEDs based on achiral red, green, and blue iridium(III) complexes exhibit external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 14.9%, 30.7%, and 14.1% with |g EL | factors of 8.8 × 10 -4 , 2.3 × 10 -3 , and 2.0 × 10 -3 , respectively. Moreover, the devices using achiral blue, blueish-green, and green TADF materials display EQEs of 24.1%, 17.9%, and 25.4% with |g EL | factors of 1.0 × 10 -3 , 3.6 × 10 -3 , and 2.2 × 10 -3 , respectively. As far as known, it is the first example of CP-OLEDs based on chiral hole transport materials, which act as the organic circularly polarizers and have potential to generate CPEL from achiral luminescence materials., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The intentional incorporation of transition metal impurities into colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals allows an extension of the host material's functionality. While dopant incorporation has been extensively investigated in zero-dimensional quantum dots, the substitutional replacement of atoms in two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures by magnetic dopants has been reported only recently. Here, we demonstrate the successful incorporation of Co2+ ions into the shell of CdSe/CdS core/shell nanoplatelets, using these ions (i) as microscopic probes for gaining distinct structural insights and (ii) to enhance the magneto-optical functionality of the host material. Analyzing interatomic Co2+ ligand field transitions, we conclude that Co2+ is incorporated into lattice sites of the CdS shell, and effects such as diffusion of dopants into the CdSe core or diffusion of the dopants out of the heterostructure causing self-purification play a minor role. Taking advantage of the absorption-based technique of magnetic circular dichroism, we directly prove the presence of sp-d exchange interactions between the dopants and the band charge carriers in CdSe/Co2+:CdS heteronanoplatelets. Thus, our study not only demonstrates magneto-optical functionality in 2D nanocrystals by Co2+ doping but also shows that a careful choice of the dopant type paves the way for a more detailed understanding of the impurity incorporation process into these novel 2D colloidal materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of bright and photostable colloidal quantum dots has been a truly interdisciplinary feat. Designing a specific composition of core and shell materials and then producing the desired nanoarchitecture through chemical routes require a blend of physical and inorganic chemistry, solid-state physics, and materials science. In a battle to separate charge carriers from a surface wrought with defect states, complex shell structures with precisely specified gradient compositions have been engineered, producing nanosized emitters with exceptional stability and color purity. However, much of the success has resided in II-VI materials, such as CdSe, and progress is only just being made on cadmium-free quantum dots. This perspective will discuss the primary challenges in engineering colloidal quantum dots and highlight how the advent of advanced analytical electron microscopy is revealing the structure-function relationships of these complex systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanopatterned arrays have potential applications in diverse devices, including high-density memory, wettability control, electronic chips, biochips, plasmonics (such as plasmon sensors, plasmon-enhanced molecular spectroscopy, and plasmon-mediated chemical reactions), and so on. In this tutorial, we first introduce colloidal lithography (CL) technique as an important method to prepare nanopatterned arrays. Based on the formation of a mask by self-assembly of polystyrene (PS) colloid spheres, the nanopatterned arrays can be achieved by following a series of various deposition, etching, transfer, and their combination steps. According to the structural differences of the acquired surface patterns, diverse nanopatterned arrays are fabricated by controlling the fabrication routes. Technical issues are discussed in detail, such as preparation and modification of the large-area and ordered PS colloid sphere arrays and design and hybridization of nanostructured arrays of films with various shapes. In the meantime, the potential applications of these nanopatterned array films are reviewed and summarized. Hopefully, the present tutorial will inspire more ingenious designs of nanopatterned arrays and developments of using CL technique in potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the fields of organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) and light‐emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) have improved tremendously with regard to tunable emission, efficiency, brightness, and thermal stability. Imidazole derivatives are excellent deep blue‐green light‐emitting layers in the OLED or LEC devices. This Review summarizes the major breakthroughs of various electroluminescence (EL) layers with imidazole‐containing organic or organometallic derivatives, the molecular design principles, and their light‐emitting performances as effective EL materials. The highly tunable chemical structures and flexible molecular design strategies of imidazole‐based compounds are advantages that provide great opportunities for researchers. They can provide a good basis for the design and development of new EL materials with narrower emission and higher efficiency. Moreover, imidazole compounds have demonstrated breakthrough performances in thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) properties where triplet excitons are utilized to inhibit anti‐intersystem quenching, showing great promise in breaking the theoretical external quantum efficiencies (EQE) limits in traditional fluorescent devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of advanced nanofabrication techniques over the past decades, different nanostructure-based plasmonic fiber-optic sensors have been developed and have presented a low limit of detection for various biomolecules. However, owing to both the dependence on complex equipment and the trade-off between the fabrication cost and sensing performance, nanostructured plasmonic fiber-optic sensors are rarely used outside laboratories. To facilitate wider application of the plasmonic fiber-optic sensors, a parylene-mediated hybrid plasmonic–photonic cavity-based sensor was developed. Compared with a similar plasmonic sensor which only works in the plasmonic mode, the proposed hybrid sensor shows a higher reproducibility (CV < 2.5%) due to its resistance to fabrication variations. Meanwhile, a self-referenced detection mechanism and a novel miniaturized system were developed to adapt to the hybrid resonance sensor. The entire system only has a weight of 263 g, and a size of 12 cm × 10 cm × 8 cm, and is especially suitable for outdoor applications in a handheld manner. In experiments, a high refractive index sensitivity of 3.148 RIU−1 and real-time biomolecule monitoring at nanomolar concentrations were achieved by the proposed system, further confirming the potential of the miniaturized system as a candidate for point-of-care health diagnostics outside laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic–inorganic hybrid metal halides are a promising platform for the design of materials for circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) and X‐ray detection applications. Meanwhile, despite the recent progress in this hot field, hybrid metal halides, simultaneously endowed with efficient CPL and high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), are still limited to a few examples. Herein, the efficient, stable, and low‐cost CPL‐active Mn(II) hybrids are developed via blending of luminogenic [MnBr4]2− anions with N/OH‐bond free R/S‐[MBA‐Me3]+ cations in a single ionic structure. The synthesized R/S‐[MBA‐Me3]MnBr4 hybrids display brightly green Mn2+‐centered circularly polarized phosphorescence with near‐unity PLQY and a high glum factor of 0.0045. Single crystals of R/S‐[MBA‐Me3]MnBr4 are used to fabricate UV‐pumped circularly polarized light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) displaying a high optical selectivity upon exposure to right‐handed and left‐handed circular polarization conditions. Moreover, the titled compounds are found to emit strong X‐ray radioluminescence with excellent linear response to X‐ray dose rate that is used for X‐ray imaging demonstration. These findings reveal a great potential of R/S‐[MBA‐Me3]MnBr4 as low‐cost materials for CPL‐LEDs, scintillators, and X‐ray imaging applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The breath figure (BF) method is a common laboratory‐scale pathway for fabricating porous structures. The emulsion BF approach, one of the BF variations, has attracted increasing attention since it bypasses the high humidity requirement, which is characteristic for the conventional BF method. In this paper, we used the emulsion BF technique with PS‐b‐P4VP block copolymer (BCP) and SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) as the stabilizers for water droplets. We combined this with the dip‐coating technique to obtain a hierarchical structure consisting of BF pores and BCP nanodomains. By altering the dip‐coating speeds and the NPs' surface wetting properties and size, the average diameters of BF pores could be controlled. Notably, we were able to achieve both nano and microscale BF pores in the network. The effect of NPs for stabilization and dip‐coating parameters on BF pores and BCP nanodomains formation was established, extending the comprehension of this underdeveloped subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exciton‐polaritons (EPs) are hybrid light–matter quasi‐particles with bosonic character formed by the strong coupling between excitons in matter and photons in optical cavities. Their hybrid character offers promising prospects for the realization of non‐equilibrium Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs), and room‐temperature BECs are possible with organic materials. However, the thresholds required to create BECs of organic EPs remain still high to allow condensation with electrical injection of carriers. One of the factors behind these high thresholds is the very short cavity lifetimes, leading to a fast EP decay and the need to inject higher exciton densities in the reservoir to form the condensate. Here a BEC of EPs in organic dyes and all‐dielectric metasurfaces at room temperature is demonstrated. By using dielectric metasurfaces that exhibit very low losses it is possible to achieve cavity lifetimes long enough to allow an efficient population of EP states via vibrational relaxation and radiative pumping. It is shown how polariton lasing or non‐equilibrium Bose–Einstein condensation is achieved in several cavities, and one of the lowest reported thresholds for BECs in organic materials is observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effect of social media endorsements (likes, retweets, shares) on individuals' policy preferences. In two pre-registered online experiments (N = 1,384), we exposed participants to non-neutral policy messages about the COVID-19 pandemic (emphasizing either public health or economic activity as a policy priority) while varying the level of endorsements of these messages. Our experimental treatment did not result in aggregate changes to policy views. However, our analysis indicates that active social media users did respond to the variation in engagement metrics. In particular, we find a strong positive treatment effect concentrated on a minority of individuals who correctly answered a factual manipulation check regarding the endorsements. Our results suggest that though only a fraction of individuals appear to pay conscious attention to endorsement metrics, they may be influenced by these social cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrared spectroscopy is a non‐destructive and rapid characterization tool that can distinguish different viral proteins by spectral details. However, traditional infrared spectroscopy has insufficient absorption signal intensity contrast when measuring low‐concentration samples. In this work, surface enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy is proposed by deploying a novel nanostructure array as SEIRA substrates. An array of gold dendric nanostructures are designed and fabricated with a precision resonance control to achieve surface enhancement covering a broadband molecular "finger‐print" region. The spectral positions of the multiple resonances accurately correspond to the characteristic absorption peaks of the SARS‐CoV‐2 proteins. An approach for SARS‐CoV‐2 protein detection based on SEIRA spectroscopy is then proposed. A low concentration detection of 40 μg/ml diluted SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleocapsid protein is experimentally demonstrated and the enhancement factor (EF) achieved is in good agreement with simulation results. The SEIRA methodology based on broadband resonance nanostructure design provides a systematic approach for sensitive, non‐destructive and rapid protein molecular detection, which could be extended to various kind of molecular characterization and biomedical diagnostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, partly owing to late detection which entails limited and often ineffective therapeutic options. Most cancers lack validated screening procedures, and the ones available disclose several drawbacks, leading to low patient compliance and unnecessary workups, adding up the costs to healthcare systems. Hence, there is a great need for innovative, accurate, and minimally invasive tools for early cancer detection. In recent years, multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests emerged as a promising screening tool, combining molecular analysis of tumor-related markers present in body fluids with artificial intelligence to simultaneously detect a variety of cancers and further discriminate the underlying cancer type. Herein, we aim to provide a highlight of the variety of strategies currently under development concerning MCED, as well as the major factors which are preventing clinical implementation. Although MCED tests depict great potential for clinical application, large-scale clinical validation studies are still lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]