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The carboxysome is a protein-based nanoscale organelle in cyanobacteria and many proteobacteria, which encapsulates the key COsub2/sub-fixing enzymes ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) and carbonic anhydrase (CA) within a polyhedral protein shell. The intrinsic self-assembly and architectural features of carboxysomes and the semipermeability of the protein shell provide the foundation for the accumulation of COsub2/subwithin carboxysomes and enhanced carboxylation. Here, we develop an approach to determine the interior pH conditions and inorganic carbon accumulation within an α-carboxysome shell derived from a chemoautotrophic proteobacteriumiHalothiobacillus neapolitanus/iand evaluate the shell permeability. By incorporating a pH reporter, pHluorin2, within empty α-carboxysome shells produced iniEscherichia coli/i, we probe the interior pH of the protein shells with and without CA. Ouriin vivo/iandiin vitro/iresults demonstrate a lower interior pH of α-carboxysome shells than the cytoplasmic pH and buffer pH, as well as the modulation of the interior pH in response to changes in external environments, indicating the shell permeability to bicarbonate ions and protons. We further determine the saturated HCOsub3/subsup-/supconcentration of 15 mM within α-carboxysome shells and show the CA-mediated increase in the interior COsub2/sublevel. Uncovering the interior physiochemical microenvironment of carboxysomes is crucial for understanding the mechanisms underlying carboxysomal shell permeability and enhancement of Rubisco carboxylation within carboxysomes. Such fundamental knowledge may inform reprogramming carboxysomes to improve metabolism and recruit foreign enzymes for enhanced catalytical performance.

Large-scale millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) integrated phased array is the key technology to enable broadband 5G and satellite communications. This paper details the design considerations, challenges and trade-offs of mm-Wave integrated phased arrays based on bulk CMOS and multi-layer hybrid PCB technologies. Both technologies attain high yield and low cost for mass production. Important beamforming building blocks are addressed and compared in detail. Demonstrators of integrated phased arrays are presented from circuit to board levels. The 1024- and 4096-element integrated phased arrays achieve the EIRP of 72.5 and 84.0 dBm respectively. Finally, relevant phased-array transceivers and antennas from the recent literature are discussed.

Background: Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains the most prevalent cause of end-stage renal disease. Nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 2 (NR4A2) is a nuclear receptor with unique physiological characteristics. Objective: This study explored the molecular mechanism of NR4A2 in renal and cardiac functions of DN rats. Methods: A rat model of DN was established by intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin. NR4A2, histone deacetylase 11 (HDAC11), and sprouty 1 (SPRY1) expressions were detected. The fasting blood glucose (FBG), urinary albumin (UAlb), serum creatinine (Cr), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were determined. The pathological injury of renal and myocardial tissues was evaluated. The mitral early to late diastolic flow velocity ratio (E/A ratio), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular systolic function (LVSF), left ventricular internal dimension systole (LVIDs), and left ventricular internal diameter diastole (LVIDd) were tested, and the levels of serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) were examined. The enrichment of NR4A2 in HDAC11 promoter and enrichment of H3K27 acetylation in SPRY1 promoter were measured. Results: NR4A2 and SPRY1 were downregulated while HDAC11 was upregulated in renal and myocardial tissues of DN rats. NR4A2 overexpression reduced FBG, UAlb, Cr, and BUN, alleviated pathological injury of renal and myocardial tissues, elevated the E/A ratio, LVEF, and LVFS, but reduced LVIDs, and decreased serum cTnI and CK-MB. NR4A2 depressed HDAC11 expression by binding to the HDAC11 promoter. HDAC11 repressed SPRY1 transcription by suppressing the H3K27ac level. HDAC11 overexpression or SPRY1 inhibition reversed the alleviating effect of NR4A2 overexpression on DN rats. Conclusion: NR4A2 was poorly expressed in DN rats. NR4A2 overexpression suppressed HDAC11 expression by binding to the HDAC11 promoter and enhanced SPRY1 transcription by enhancing H3K27 acetylation, thereby alleviating the renal and myocardial injury of DN rats.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a serious health issue which causes significant morbidity and mortality. Inflammation is an important factor in the pathogenesis of ALI. Even though ALI has been successfully managed using a traditiomal Chinese medicine (TCM), Huanglian Jiedu Decoction (HLD), its mechanism of action remains unknown.This study explored the therapeutic potential of HLD in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI rats by utilizing integrative pharmacology.Here, the therapeutic efficacy of HLD was evaluated using lung wet/dry weight ratio (W/D), myeloperoxide (MPO) activity, and levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6. Network pharmacology predictd the active components of HLD in ALI. Lung tissues were subjected to perform Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, metabolomics, and transcriptomics. The acid ceramidase (ASAH1) inhibitor, carmofur, was employedto suppress the sphingolipid signaling pathway.HLD reduced pulmonary edema and vascular permeability, and suppressed the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in lung tissue, Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and serum. Network pharmacology combined with transcriptomics and metabolomics showed that sphingolipid signaling was the main regulatory pathway for HLD to ameliorate ALI, as confirmed by immunohistochemical analysis. Then, we reverse verified that the sphingolipid signaling pathway was the main pathway involed in ALI. Finally, berberine, baicalein, obacunone, and geniposide were docked with acid ceramidase to further explore the mechanisms of interaction between the compound and protein.HLD does have a better therapeutic effect on ALI, and its molecular mechanism is better elucidated from the whole, which is to balance lipid metabolism, energy metabolism and amino acid metabolism, and inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation by regulating the sphingolipid pathway. Therefore, HLD and its active components can be used to develop new therapies for ALI and provide a new model for exploring complex TCM systems for treating ALI.

Physalis alkekengi L. var. franchetii (Mast.) Makino (PAF) (Chinese name Jin-Deng-Long) from the Solanaceae family is a traditional Chinese medicine with various pharmacological effects, such as removing heat, detoxification, improving throat conditions, removing phlegm, and ameliorating diuresis.This paper reviews the existing literature and patents and puts forward some suggestions for future PAF research.Using the PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases, we performed comprehensive search of literature and patents published before April 2022 on PAF and its active ingredients.We comprehensively reviewed the research progress of PAF from aspects of the traditional application, botany, chemical composition, pharmacological effects, and toxicology, and first discussed quality control and modern applications, which have not been explored in previous reviews. Thereafter, we reviewed the limitations of pharmacological mechanism and quality control studies and proposed appropriate solutions, which is of great practical significance to subsequent studies.In this review, we present a comprehensive overview on PAF, and put forward new insights on studies regarding quality control, material basis, and mechanisms in classical prescription, providing theoretical guidance for the clinical application and development of Chinese medicine.

Hindered by price and scarcity, the exploitation of supported Pt-based electrocatalysts with Pt single atoms or Pt nanoclusters is an alternative way to decrease the dosage of Pt and improve the electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) of water splitting. The anodization technology is used to modify the surface of nickel foam (NF) to form the porous NiF2 network structure. Then Pt nanodots interfaced with Ni(OH)2 (Pt/Ni(OH)2) hybrid on the anodized NF has been in-situ synthesized by a simple hydrothermal decomposition method. Results show that Pt nanodots on the substrate have good dispersion with the average size of 3 nm, and the Pt loading is only 0.229 mg cm−2. The prepared electrode exhibits the low overpotentials of 25.9 mV and 211 mV at the current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm−2, respectively, a small Tafel slope of 37.6 mV dec−1, and the excellent durability for HER. The porous network nanostructure of Pt/Ni(OH)2 hybrid, the large electrochemical surface area, the fast facilitated electron transport capability, and the firm adhesion of Pt nanodots with the anodized NF substrate contribute to the remarkable performance towards HER.

Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are self-assembling prokaryotic organelles consisting of a polyhedral proteinaceous shell and encapsulated enzymes that are involved in CO2 fixation or carbon catabolism. Addressing how the hundreds of building components self-assemble to form the metabolically functional organelles and how their structures and functions are modulated in the extremely dynamic bacterial cytoplasm is of importance for basic understanding of protein organelle formation and synthetic engineering of metabolic modules for biotechnological applications. Here, we highlight recent advances in understanding the protein composition and stoichiometry of BMCs, with a particular focus on carboxysomes and propanediol utilization microcompartments. We also discuss relevant research on the structural plasticity of native and engineered BMCs, and the physiological regulation of BMC assembly, function and positioning in native hosts.

Erzhi Pill (EZP) is a traditional Chinese prescription that has marked effects in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy. However, its underlying pharmacological mechanisms in the treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), remain to be elucidated.This study aimed to apply an integrative pharmacological strategy to systematically evaluate the pharmacological effects and molecular mechanisms of EZP, and provide a solid theoretical basis for the clinical application of EZP in the treatment of DCM.In this study, the potential targets and key pathways of EZP were predicted and validated using network pharmacology and molecular docking, respectively. Changes in cardiac metabolites and major metabolic pathways in rat heart samples were examined usingWe found that EZP decreased fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in the serum, and alleviated the morphological abnormalities of the heart tissue in diabetic rats. Furthermore, EZP effectively restored superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 activity levels, as well as the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), B-cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2, and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) in the heart tissue. Network pharmacology prediction results indicated that the mechanism of EZP in treating DCM was closely related to apoptosis, oxidative stress, and the HIF-1, PI3K-Akt, and FoxO signaling pathways. In addition,The results confirmed that the overall therapeutic effect of EZP in the DCM rat model is exerted via inhibition of oxidative stress and apoptosis, alongside the regulation of energy metabolism and amino acid metabolism, as well as the AMPK and PI3K/Akt/FoxO3a signaling pathways. This study provides an experimental basis for the use of EZP in DCM treatment.

Many studies have tested perceptual symbols in conceptual processing and found that perceptual symbols contain experiences from multisensory channels. However, whether the disability of one sensory channel affects the processing of the perceptual symbols and then affects conceptual processing is still unknown. This line of research would extend the perceptual symbol theory and have implications for language rehabilitation and mental health for people with disabilities. Therefore, the present study filled in this gap and tested whether Chinese children with congenital and acquired blindness have difficulty in recruiting perceptual symbols in the processing of concrete concepts. Experiment 1 used the word-pair-matching paradigm to test whether blind children used vertical space information in understanding concrete word pairs. Experiment 2 used the word-card-pairing paradigm to test the role of tactile experiences in the processing of concrete concepts for blind children. Results found that blind children automatically activated the spatial information of referents in the processing of concepts through the tactile sensory channel even when the visual sensory channel was disabled. This finding supported the compensatory phenomenon of other sensory channels in conceptual representation. In addition, the difference between elementary school blind children and middle school blind children in judging the spatial position of concrete words also indicated the vital influence of perceptual experiences on perceptual symbols in conceptual representation. Interestingly, there were no significant differences between children with congenital or acquired blindness. This might suggest that the compensatory of other sensory channels did not have a sensitive period. This study not only provided new evidence for the perceptual symbol theory but also found that perceptual symbols could be developed by a compensatory mechanism. This compensatory mechanism can be used to develop a rehabilitation program for improving language learning in blind children. Improved language ability in blind children will also improve their mental health problems caused by difficulties in social interaction (e.g., social anxiety).

In this work, cobalt oxyhydroxide (CoOOH) nanoflakes/cellulose composite membranes (CCM) were fabricated by a simple one-step method and green route without further treatment. The CoOOH nanoflakes were synthesized in the high-purity cellulose membranes (CM) matrix that expected to enhance its detection performance of ascorbic acid in comparison to the traditional paper-based sensors that were made of commercially available filter paper. The structure and properties of CM and CCM were characterized by SEM, EDS, FT-IR, XRD and XPS, etc. The combination mechanism between nanoflakes and cellulose was well analyzed and discussed by various characterizations and experiments. When the CCM was immersed into the ascorbic acid (AA) solution, the color changing from colorless to blue was observed only in 2 min. Furthermore, the CCM can be used for AA determination in real samples.

High-purity cellulose membranes prepared via a green pathway were used to attempt to enhance their performance of glucose detection compared with that of traditional filter paper. In this work, cellulose-based strips (CBS) for the low concentration of glucose detection have been designed based on a fast, sensitive, and easy enzyme colorimetric assay from porous and high-purity cellulose membranes (CM). Different from the traditional paper-based sensors that were made of commercially available filter paper, the cellulose-based membranes matrix was fabricated by a "green" route in that cellulose was dissolved in an aqueous NaOH/urea solution, and then modified by the sodium periodate oxidation method to immobilize the glucose oxidase (GOX) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) with Schiff-base reaction. The structure and properties of CM and CBS were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray mapping (EDS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), etc. SEM images showed a porous, interpenetrating structure of CM, which benefited the enzyme immobilization and enzymatic reaction. When glucose solution was dropped onto the CBS, the color change from colorless to blue was only 5 min. The limit of detection (LOD) is 0.45 mM in the linear range of glucose from 1 to 11 mM. Moreover, the CBS had also been successfully used for glucose determination in real urine samples, and the color changes can be easily recorded by a simple camera to achieve the semiquantitative detection of glucose. This work provided a new design strategy for the cellulose-based functional materials which could be applied in biosensors, drug carriers, and biomedicine.

This paper presents a study on the degradation of Poly (lactic acid) (PLA), Poly (butylene abdicate—terephthalate) (PBAT) and their blends with different proportions in the environment of digested sludge. The degradation rates of PLA and PBAT were obtained through anaerobic reaction device. The samples obtained at regular intervals were measured and analyzed by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) respectively. The results showed that the degradation rate of PLA was higher than that of PBAT under the same degradation environment and degradation time. DSC results showed that the degradation rate of PLA in the amorphous phase was slowed by the influence of PBAT. The characteristic peaks of the materials on the infrared spectrum shifted after degradation which implicit the degradation occurs. At the microscopic level, numerous protruding ribs in the material can be seen in the electron micrograph. Obviously, the samples can be degraded under the environment of digested sludge.

2D Bi2S3/CdS nanosheet arrays have been constructed by a simple three-step method. Firstly, BiOI nanosheet arrays have been electrochemically grown on the surface of conductive FTO substrate and then converted into Bi2S3 nanosheet arrays by ion exchange. Finally, CdS was hydrothermally deposited onto the surface of Bi2S3 nanosheet arrays to form hybrid Bi2S3/CdS nanosheet arrays. The obtained hybrid heterojunction arrays have been used as photoanodes for photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution and showed enhanced performance and prolonged stability. The photocurrent density of the elegant Bi2S3/CdS nanosheet arrays reaches 9.48 mA/cm2 at 1.23 VRHE under an illumination of 100 mW/cm2 from AM 1.5G sun simulator, which is more than ten times higher than that of the pure Bi2S3 nanosheet arrays and the photocurrent density does not decline obviously after 4 h of continuous operation. Ultimately, a rational mechanism is proposed to elucidate the high performance and excellent stability of Bi2S3/CdS nanosheet arrays for photoelectrochemical cells. To obtain nanosheet arrays: Arrays of Bi2S3/CdS nanosheets on a FTO substrate are synthesized by electrodeposition, ion exchange and hydrothermal process. The Bi2S3/CdS nanosheet photoanodes show better photoactive and photostability compared to bare Bi2S3 (CdS) nanosheets for photoelectrochemical splitting of water.

This letter presents a compact active switch together with broadband amplifiers for phased-array transceiver in 65-nm CMOS. The active switch is composed of cascaded common-gate stage in transmitter (TX) mode and common-drain stage in receiver (RX) mode. It relies on the device terminal impedance and is easily controlled by turning on and off their bias voltages. Compared with prior-art passive switches, the proposed active switch reduces the area overhead and features competitive performance in terms of switch loss and bandwidth. The implemented active switch together with broadband amplifiers provides 16.4 dB gain in TX mode and 12.8 dB in RX mode with −3 dB bandwidth of over 10 GHz (30–40 GHz). In TX/RX modes, the measured return loss is better than 10 dB and the switch isolation achieves 29 dB across the bandwidth. The overall design occupies 0.52 mm2 including pads, where the core area is 0.2 mm2.

Background/aims Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive, chronic, even disabling systemic autoimmune disease. Imbalance between pathogenic immune cells and immunosuppressive cells is associated with the pathogenesis and development of RA and other autoimmune diseases. As Foxp3 is also expressed on activated CD4+ cells in the presence of inflammation, the identification of Treg cells in patients with RA remains a challenge. Methods Comprehensive analyses were carried out by Flow cytometry. Expression of Helios, CD226, T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains clinical samples and healthy controls. Results We have systemically examined three potential markers, Helios, CD226 and TIGIT, that are possibly related to Treg identification, and found that Helios expression on CD4+Foxp3+cells was decreased and negatively correlated with the disease activity of RA patients, while CD226 and TIGIT both showed elevated expression levels in CD4+Foxp3+cells in RA patients and they were not associated with disease activity of RA patients. Conclusion Taken together, our findings indicate that CD4+CD25hiCD127low/-Foxp3+Helios+ may represent the real Treg cell population in patients with RA.

Compartmentalization is a ubiquitous building principle in cells, which permits segregation of biological elements and reactions. The carboxysome is a specialized bacterial organelle that encapsulates enzymes into a virus-like protein shell and plays essential roles in photosynthetic carbon fixation. The naturally designed architecture, semi-permeability, and catalytic improvement of carboxysomes have inspired rational design and engineering of new nanomaterials to incorporate desired enzymes into the protein shell for enhanced catalytic performance. Here, we build large, intact carboxysome shells (over 90 nm in diameter) in the industrial microorganism Escherichia coli by expressing a set of carboxysome protein-encoding genes. We develop strategies for enzyme activation, shell self-assembly, and cargo encapsulation to construct a robust nanoreactor that incorporates catalytically active [FeFe]-hydrogenases and functional partners within the empty shell for the production of hydrogen. We show that shell encapsulation and the internal microenvironment of the new catalyst facilitate hydrogen production of the encapsulated oxygen-sensitive hydrogenases. The study provides insights into the assembly and formation of carboxysomes and paves the way for engineering carboxysome shell-based nanoreactors to recruit specific enzymes for diverse catalytic reactions., The extreme oxygen sensitive character of hydrogenases is a longstanding issue for hydrogen production in bacteria. Here, the authors build carboxysome shells in E. coli and incorporate catalytically active hydrogenases and functional partners within the empty shell for the production of hydrogen.

In the above article [1] , Table III makes the comparison between the phase shifters with different topologies. The work in [2] is referred in the comparison table, which presents the designs of two active vector-modulated phase shifters (VMPS). In [2] , one of the presented test chips is with relatively small chip size and the other shows increased gain. In Table III of the work in [1] , only the design with small chip size is included. For the completeness of the comparison, the performances of both designs are now shown in Table I .

A photoelectrochemical device was achieved by interfacial self-assembly of macrocyclic π-conjugated copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) on surface of TiO2 nanorod arrays (NRs). The photocurrent density of the elegant TiO2@CuPc NRs photoanode reaches 2.40 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE under the illumination of 100 mW/cm2 from AM 1.5G sun simulator, which is 2.4 times higher than that of the pure TiO2. At the same time, the photoelectrochemical device constructed through this strategy has good stability and the photocurrent density remain almost no decline after 8 h of continuous operation. The Mott-Schottky and LSV curves demonstrate that CuPc act as a co-catalyst for water oxidation and a possible mechanism is proposed for water oxidation based on careful analysis of the detailed results. The holes from VB of TiO2 photogenerated by electrons exciting are consumed by a process in which Cu2+ is oxidized to Cu3+ and Cu4+, and then oxidize water to produce oxygen. CuPc species is considered to be a fast redox mediator to reduce the activation energy of water oxidation in and effectively promote charge separation.

Although antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) has become a promising photovoltaic material, the performance of Sb2S3 planar solar cells is pinned by the charge recombination and interface defects of Sb2S3 thin film . Herein, n-type indium sulfide (In2S3) serving as the buffer layer between TiO2 and the Sb2S3 layers was prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. Sb2S3 thin films were in situ prepared with a solution-processed construction strategy. The characteristics of the obtained thin films were studied in more detail by electron microscopy, X-ray technique, optical and electrochemical performance measurements. Results show that the In2S3 buffer layer prepared by the optimized CBD time improves the compactness and crystallinity, prevents Sb3+ from being oxidized, and boosts the light absorption ability for the Sb2S3 films. The fabricated FTO/TiO2/In2S3/Sb2S3/P3HT/Au planar cell device exhibits the higher open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.59 V, short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 8.90 mA cm−2, and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.41%, respectively, compared to the FTO/TiO2/Sb2S3/P3HT/Au cell device. The superior photoelectric conversion performance is attributed to the promoting effects of the In2S3 buffer layer at the interface between TiO2 and the Sb2S3 layers, which reduce the charge recombination, facilitate the electron transfer, and enhance the electron lifetime. This work proposes an original insight towards non-toxic In2S3 as a buffer layer in Sb2S3 planar solar cells.