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Xiaoyan Sai,* Chu Qin,* Zixiao Zhang,* Haoda Yu, Tao Bian Department of Respiratory Medicine, Wuxi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi People’s Hospital, Wuxi Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Haoda Yu, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Wuxi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi People’s Hospital, Wuxi Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214000, People’s Republic of China, Email yhd9988@sina.com Tao Bian, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Wuxi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi People’s Hospital, Wuxi Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214000, People’s Republic of China, Email biantaophd@126.comBackground: This study sought to explore the underlying mechanism of miR-21 mediated apoptosis and inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) induced by cigarette smoke (CS).Methods: We detected levels and PTEN/Akt/NF-κB axis protein levels in peripheral lung tissues of COPD patients and CS-exposed mice and HBE cells. Western blotting assay was used to determine the expression of cleaved caspase-3. IL-6 and IL-8 protein was detected in cell supernatant from cells by ELISA. HBE cells were transfected with a miR-21 inhibitor, and co-culture with A549.Results: Increased miR-21 expression, reduced PTEN expression and following activation of Akt in in peripheral lung tissues of COPD patients and CS-exposed mice and HBE cells. Inhibition of miR-21 showed enhanced PTEN levels and reduced the expression of phosphorylated form of Akt and NF-κB. Decreased expression of cleaved caspase-3, IL-6 and IL-8 in A549 cells co cultured with HBE cells transfected with miR-21 inhibitor compared with transfected with miR-21 control inhibitor.Conclusion: MiR-21 contributes to COPD pathogenesis by modulating apoptosis and inflammation through the PTEN/Akt/NF-κB pathway. Targeting miR-21 may increase PTEN expression and inhibit Akt/NF-κB pathway, offering potential diagnostic and therapeutic value in COPD management.Keywords: COPD, miR-21, PTEN/Akt/NF-κB axis, apoptosis, inflammation

Zixiao Zhang,1,* Congli Fu,1,2,* Jiaxin Liu,1 Xiaoyan Sai,1 Chu Qin,1 Tingting Di,1 Yue Yang,1 Yan Wu,1 Tao Bian1 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Wuxi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing, Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214023, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, People’s Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310014, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Tao Bian; Yan WuDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Wuxi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214023, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail btaophd@sina.com; wuyanyangting@163.comBackground: Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is involved in oxidative stress and lung inflammation and regulates the etiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Ferroptosis is characterized by the accumulation of lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS) via ferrous ion-dependent Fenton reactions and is involved in COPD. However, the role of Nrf2 in ferroptosis and its epigenetic regulation in the pathogenesis of COPD remain unclear.Methods: Ferroptosis was detected by 4-HNE, MDA, C11BODIPY, DCFH-DA, Peals’ staining and CCK-8 assays. qPCR and Western blotting were performed to examine the Nrf2 levels in peripheral lung tissues, primary epithelial cells collected from patients with COPD and subjects with normal pulmonary function (never-smoker [control-NS]; smoker [control-S]), and cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-treated human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells. ELISA was used to quantify IL-8 and IL-1β levels. Methylation of the Nrf2 promoter was analyzed by bisulfite sequencing and pyrosequencing.Results: Ferroptosis was involved in COPD and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) expression was downregulated in the COPD group. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxides and MDA were increased, but GPX4 and SOD were exhausted in CSE-treated HBE cells. The production of IL-1β and IL-8 was promoted in HBE cells in response to CSE but could be reversed by the ferroptosis inhibitor fer-1. The Nrf2 level was significantly decreased in the COPD group compared with the control-S and control-NS groups. Increased Nrf2 expression enhanced GPX4 and SOD levels and inhibited ferroptosis and proinflammatory cytokines in the supernatant. Inhibition of GPX4 reversed the effect of Nrf2 overexpression and promoted ferroptosis. Two specific CpG sites within the Nrf2 promoter were hypermethylated in the COPD group. Similarly, CSE-treated HBE cells exhibited hypermethylation of the Nrf2 gene.Conclusion: Nrf2 expression was downregulated in the lungs of COPD patients due to hypermethylation of the Nrf2 promoter, inhibiting Nrf2/GPX4 and ferroptosis, which is related to the initiation and progression of COPD. Targeting Nrf2/GPX4 may inhibit ferroptosis, which could provide strategies to delay or treat COPD.Keywords: COPD, Nrf2, ferroptosis, GPX4, DNA methylation, oxidative stress, inflammation

Xiaodong Fan,1,* Nian Zhao,2,3,* Zhen Yu,1 Haoda Yu,1 Bo Yin,1 Lifei Zou,1 Yinying Zhao,1 Xiufen Qian,1 Xiaoyan Sai,1 Chu Qin,1 Congli Fu,1 Caixia Hu,1 Tingting Di,1 Yue Yang,1 Yan Wu,1 Tao Bian1 1Departments of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Wuxi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214023, People’s Republic of China; 2Departments of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First People’s Hospital of Kunshan, Kunshan, Jiangsu, 215300, People’s Republic of China; 3The first medical college of Nanjing Medical University, NanJing, Jiangsu, 211166, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yan Wu; Tao BianDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Wuxi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214023, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail wuyanyangting@163.com; biantaophd@126.comPurpose: Exhaled nitric oxide has been used as a marker of airway inflammation. The NO concentration in the central and peripheral airway/alveolar can be measured by a slow and fast exhalation flow rate to evaluate inflammation in different divisions within the respiratory tract. We hypothesized that FeNO200 (exhaled NO at a flow rate of 200mL/s) could be used as an evaluation tool for peripheral airway/alveolar inflammation and corticosteroid therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.Methods: We recruited 171 subjects into the study: 73 healthy controls, 59 stable COPD patients, and 39 acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) patients. Exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO50 (exhaled NO at a flow rate of 50mL/s)), FeNO200 and CaNO (peripheral concentration of NO/alveolar NO) and clinical variables including pulmonary function, COPD Assessment Test (CAT), C-reactive protein concentration (CRP) and circulating eosinophil count were measured among the recruited participants. FeNO50, FeNO200 and CaNO were repeatedly evaluated in 39 AECOPD patients after corticosteroid treatment.Results: FeNO200 was significantly higher in stable COPD and AECOPD patients than in healthy controls. Nevertheless, CaNO could not differentiate COPD from healthy controls. No correlation was found between circulating eosinophil counts or FEV1 and exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO50, FeNO200, CaNO) in COPD patients. For AECOPD patients, 64% of patients had eosinophil counts > 100 cells/μL; 59% of patients had FeNO200 > 10 ppb; only 31% of patients had FeNO50 > 25 ppb. Among AECOPD patients, the high FeNO50 and FeNO200 groups’ levels were significantly lower than their baseline levels, and significant improvements in CAT were seen in the two groups after corticosteroid treatment. These implied a good corticosteroid response in AECOPD patients with FeNO200> 10ppb.Conclusion: FeNO200 is a straightforward and feasible method to evaluate the peripheral NO concentration in COPD. FeNO200 can be a type 2 inflammation biomarker and a useful tool for predicting corticosteroid therapy in COPD.Keywords: exhaled nitric oxide, chronic obstruction pulmonary disease, corticosteroid, biomarker

Abstract Background In a previously reported Phase I trial, we observed therapy‐associated declines in circulating myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) with the administration of white button mushroom (WBM) tablets in prostate cancer (PCa) patients. These observations led us to hypothesise that WBM could mitigate PCa progression by suppressing MDSCs. Methods We performed bidirectional translational research to examine the immunomodulatory effects of WBM consumption in both syngeneic murine PCa models and patients with PCa participating in an ongoing randomised Phase II trial (NCT04519879). Results In murine models, WBM treatment significantly suppressed tumour growth with a reduction in both the number and function of MDSCs, which in turn promoted antitumour immune responses mediated by T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. In patients, after consumption of WBM tablets for 3 months, we observed a decline in circulating polymorphonuclear MDSCs (PMN‐MDSCs), along with an increase in cytotoxic CD8+ T and NK cells. Furthermore, single immune cell profiling of peripheral blood from WBM‐treated patients showed suppressed STAT3/IRF1 and TGFβ signalling in circulating PMN‐MDSCs. Subclusters of PMN‐MDSCs presented transcriptional profiles associated with responsiveness to fungi, neutrophil chemotaxis, leukocyte aggregation, and regulation of inflammatory response. Finally, in mouse models of PCa, we found that WBM consumption enhanced the anticancer activity of anti‐PD‐1 antibodies, indicating that WBM may be used as an adjuvant therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Conclusion Our results from PCa murine models and patients provide mechanistic insights into the immunomodulatory effects of WBM and provide a scientific foundation for WBM as a nutraceutical intervention to delay or prevent PCa progression. Highlights White button mushroom (WBM) treatment resulted in a reduction in pro‐tumoural MDSCs, notably polymorphonuclear MDSCs (PMN‐MDSCs), along with activation of anti‐tumoural T and NK cells. Human single immune cell gene expression profiling shed light on the molecular alterations induced by WBM, specifically on PMN‐MDSCs. A proof‐of‐concept study combining WBM with PD‐1 blockade in murine models revealed an additive effect on tumour regression and survival outcomes, highlighting the clinical relevance of WBM in cancer management.

The annual number of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HCT) is increasing steadily. Comparative studies about haplo-HCT versus HCT with HLA-matched sibling donors (MSD-HCT) have been tried in acute myeloid leukemia and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (ALL). Few studies were reported in adult T-cell ALL (T-ALL). In this retrospective study, a total of 88 consecutive patients with T-ALL were enrolled who underwent MSD-HCT ( n = 24) and haplo-HCT ( n = 64) with antithymocyte globulin (ATG)-based graft versus host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis between 2010 and 2022. Median follow-up for survivors was similar (43.5 [range: 7–88] months for MSD-HCT versus 43.5 (range: 6–144) months in the Haplo-HCT group). The 100-day cumulative incidence of grade II to IV acute GVHD (aGVHD) was similar, 33% (95% confidence interval [CI], 16%–52%) after MSD-HCT versus 44% (95% CI, 31%–55%) after haplo-HCT, P = 0.52. The cumulative incidences of grade III–IV aGVHD were 8% (95% CI, 1%–23%) in the MSD-HCT group and 5% (95% CI, 1%–12%) in the haplo-HCT group ( P = 0.50). The 2-year cumulative incidence of chronic GVHD (limited and extensive) in the haplo-HCT, 11% (95% CI, 5%–20%) was significantly lower than that in the MSD-HCT group (42% [95% CI, 21%–62%], P = 0.002). The cumulative incidence of 4-year relapse rates (44% versus 37%, P = 0.56) and non-relapse mortality (7% versus 21%, P = 0.08) did not differ between these two groups. There were also no differences in 4-year overall survival (46% versus 47%, P = 0.44) and progression-free survival (49% versus 42%, P = 0.45) between these two groups. On multivariate analysis, using busulfan/fludarabine (BU/Flu) conditioning regimen was found to be associated with worse clinical outcome. Our results suggested that ATG-based haplo-HCT platform could work as an alternative to MSD-HCT for adult patients with T-ALL. Compared with MSD-HCT, haplo-HCT might carry a low risk for cGVHD.

Abstract Raising photoelectric conversion efficiency and enhancing heat management are two critical concerns for silicon-based solar cells. In this work, efficient Yb3+ infrared emissions from both quantum cutting and upconversion were demonstrated by adjusting Er3+ and Yb3+ concentrations, and thermo-manage-applicable temperature sensing based on the luminescence intensity ratio of two super-low thermal quenching levels was discovered in an Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped tungstate system. The quantum cutting mechanism was clearly decrypted as a two-step energy transfer process from Er3+ to Yb3+. The two-step energy transfer efficiencies, the radiative and nonradiative transition rates of all interested 4 f levels of Er3+ in NaY(WO4)2 were confirmed in the framework of Föster-Dexter theory, Judd-Ofelt theory, and energy gap law, and based on these obtained efficiencies and rates the quantum cutting efficiency was furthermore determined to be as high as 173% in NaY(WO4)2: 5 mol% Er3+/50 mol% Yb3+ sample. Strong and nearly pure infrared upconversion emission of Yb3+ under 1550 nm excitation was achieved in Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped NaY(WO4)2 by adjusting Yb3+ doping concentrations. The Yb3+ induced infrared upconversion emission enhancement was attributed to the efficient energy transfer 4I11/2 (Er3+) + 2F7/2 (Yb3+) → 4I15/2 (Er3+) + 2F5/2 (Yb3+) and large nonradiative relaxation rate of 4I9/2. Analysis on the temperature sensing indicated that the NaY(WO4)2:Er3+/Yb3+ serves well the solar cells as thermos-managing material. Moreover, it was confirmed that the fluorescence thermal quenching of 2H11/2/4S3/2 was caused by the nonradiative relaxation of 4S3/2. All the obtained results suggest that NaY(WO4)2:Er3+/Yb3+ is an excellent material for silicon-based solar cells to improve photoelectric conversion efficiency and thermal management.

In this study, we present an electronic nose (e-nose) humidity compensation system based on rapid detection to solve the issue of humidity drift’s potential negative impact on the performance of electronic noses. First, we chose the first ten seconds of non-steady state (rapid detection mode) sensor data as the dataset, rather than waiting for the electronic nose to stabilize during the detection process. This was carried out in the hope of improving the detection efficiency of the e-nose and to demonstrate that the e-nose can collect gasses efficiently in rapid detection mode. The random forest approach is then used to optimize and reduce the dataset’s dimensionality, filtering critical features and improving the electronic nose’s classification capacity. Finally, this study builds an electronic nose humidity compensation system to compensate for the datasets generated via rapid real-time detection, efficiently correcting the deviation of the sensor response caused by humidity variations. This method enhanced the average resolution of the electronic nose in this trial from 87.7% to 99.3%, a 12.4% improvement, demonstrating the efficacy of the humidity compensation system based on rapid detection for the electronic nose. This strategy not only improves the electronic nose’s anti-drift and classification capabilities but also extends its service life, presenting a new solution for the electronic nose in practical detecting applications.

A series of Eu3+ doped Sr2GdTaO6 (SGT) phosphors with double perovskite structure were synthesized via a high-temperature solid-state reaction approach. The crystal structure, morphology and luminescence properties were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, luminescence spectroscopy and fluorescence decay lifetimes, respectively. Under the excitation of 394 nm, intense red emission in the visible region was observed in Eu3+ doped SGT phosphors, and the critical quenching concentration of Eu3+ in SGT phosphors was derived to be 15 mol%. The chromaticity coordinates and color purity of SGT: 15 mol% Eu3+ were calculated to be (0.61, 0.36) an 93.82 %, respectively. Meanwhile, it was also confirmed that the electric quadrupole–quadrupole interaction is responsible for the luminescence concentration quenching of Eu3+. The internal quantum efficiency of SGT: Eu3+ phosphors with different Eu3+ concentrations were calculated. Furthermore, the crossover process was confirmed to be the main mechanism for luminescence thermal quenching based on the temperature-dependent emission spectra and temperature-dependent fluorescence lifetimes. In addition, the Judd-Ofelt parameters, radiative transition rates and branch ratios from the 5D0 emitting states to various lower energy states were evaluated with the aid of the Judd-Ofelt theory, respectively. All results indicate that SGT: Eu3+ samples are a promising red-emitting phosphor.

Abstract Background Meiotic recombination is initiated by Spo11-dependent programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) that are preferentially concentrated within genomic regions called hotspots; however, the factor(s) that specify the positions of meiotic DSB hotspots remain unclear. Results Here, we examined the frequency and distribution of R-loops, a type of functional chromatin structure comprising single-stranded DNA and a DNA:RNA hybrid, during budding yeast meiosis and found that the R-loops were changed dramatically throughout meiosis. We detected the formation of multiple de novo R-loops in the pachytene stage and found that these R-loops were associated with meiotic recombination during yeast meiosis. We show that transcription-replication head-on collisions could promote R-loop formation during meiotic DNA replication, and these R-loops are associated with Spo11. Furthermore, meiotic recombination hotspots can be eliminated by reversing the direction of transcription or replication, and reversing both of these directions can reconstitute the hotspots. Conclusions Our study reveals that R-loops may play dual roles in meiotic recombination. In addition to participation in meiotic DSB processing, some meiotic DSB hotspots may be originated from the transcription-replication head-on collisions during meiotic DNA replication.

This study examines the impact of lending facilities on commercial banks’ lending and its underlying mechanism by employing the difference-in-difference method utilizing Chinese banking data. It is found that lending facilities significantly increase the scale of lending by commercial banks through the channel of the eligible collateral, and this effect has increased over time. The findings confirm for the first time that lending facilities in China play a credit promotion role through the channel of the eligible collateral, providing empirical evidence in the Chinese context of the effectiveness on lending facilities and important insights for improving lending facility operations.

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of our daily diet and contain low-content components that are crucial for our health. Detecting these components accurately is of paramount significance. However, traditional detection methods face challenges such as complex sample processing, slow detection speed, and the need for highly skilled operators. These limitations fail to meet the growing demand for intelligent and rapid detection of low-content components in fruits and vegetables. In recent years, significant progress has been made in intelligent rapid detection technology, particularly in detecting high-content components in fruits and vegetables. However, the accurate detection of low-content components remains a challenge and has gained considerable attention in current research. This review paper aims to explore and analyze several intelligent rapid detection techniques that have been extensively studied for this purpose. These techniques include near-infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, and terahertz spectroscopy, among others. This paper provides detailed reports and analyses of the application of these methods in detecting low-content components. Furthermore, it offers a prospective exploration of their future development in this field. The goal is to contribute to the enhancement and widespread adoption of technology for detecting low-content components in fruits and vegetables. It is expected that this review will serve as a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners in this area.

The landscape of extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) during mammalian spermatogenesis, as well as the biogenesis mechanism, remains to be explored. Here, we revealed widespread eccDNA formation in human sperms and mouse spermatogenesis. We noted that germline eccDNAs are derived from oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation in cells likely undergoing cell death, providing a potential new way for quality assessment of human sperms. Interestingly, small-sized eccDNAs are associated with euchromatin, while large-sized ones are preferentially generated from heterochromatin. By comparing sperm eccDNAs with meiotic recombination hotspots and structural variations, we found that they are barely associated with de novo germline deletions. We further developed a bioinformatics pipeline to achieve nucleotide-resolution eccDNA detection even with the presence of microhomologous sequences that interfere with precise breakpoint identification. Empowered by our method, we provided strong evidence to show that microhomology-mediated end joining is the major eccDNA biogenesis mechanism. Together, our results shed light on eccDNA biogenesis mechanism in mammalian germline cells.

Organ laterality of vertebrates is specified by accelerated asymmetric decay of Dand5 mRNA mediated by Bicaudal-C1 (Bicc1) on the left side, but whether binding of this or any other mRNA to Bicc1 can be regulated is unknown. Here, we found that a CRISPR-engineered truncation in ankyrin and sterile alpha motif (SAM)-containing 3 (ANKS3) leads to symmetric mRNA decay mediated by the Bicc1-interacting Dand5 3' UTR. AlphaFold structure predictions of protein complexes and their biochemical validation by in vitro reconstitution reveal a novel interaction of the C-terminal coiled coil domain of ANKS3 with Bicc1 that inhibits binding of target mRNAs, depending on the conformation of ANKS3 and its regulation by ANKS6. The dual regulation of RNA binding by mutually opposing structured protein domains in this multivalent protein network emerges as a novel mechanism linking associated laterality defects and possibly other ciliopathies to perturbed dynamics in Bicc1 ribonucleoparticle (RNP) formation.

Novel and high-security anti-counterfeiting technology has always been the focus of attention and research. This work proposes a nanocomposite combination of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and perovskite quantum dots (PeQDs) to achieve color-adjustable dual-mode luminescence anti-counterfeiting. Firstly, a series of NaGdF4: Yb/Tm UCNPs with different sizes were synthesized, and their thermal-enhanced upconversion luminescence performances were investigated. The upconversion luminescence (UCL) intensity of the samples increases with rising temperature, and the UCL thermal enhancement factor rises as the particle size decreases. This intriguing thermal enhancement phenomenon can be attributed to the mitigation of surface luminescence quenching. Furthermore, CsPbBr3 PeQDs were well adhered to the surfaces and surroundings of the UCNPs. Leveraging energy transfer and the contrasting temperature responses of UCNPs and PeQDs, this nanocomposite was utilized as a dual-mode thermochromic anti-counterfeiting system. As the temperature increases, the color of the composite changes from green to pink under 980 nm excitation, while it displays green to non-luminescence under 365 nm excitation. This new anti-counterfeiting material, with its high security and convenience, has great potential in anti-counterfeiting applications.

Objective This study aims to elucidate the underlying mechanism of hyperglycemia induced Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like pathological changes. Methods Thirty Sprague Dawley rats (aged 18 weeks) were randomly divided into one control groups and two experimental groups (n=10 for each group), including control group, STZ+HFD group, and STZ+HFD+AICAR group. Control rats (n=10) was fed with the standard diet and experimental rats (n=20) was fed with high fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks. 8 weeks after feeding, we estimated the reliability of the experimental model by measuring blood glucose levels (each week) of rats, serum insulin concentrations and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) test. Then experimental rats were injected with 50 mg/kg/ day Streptozotocin (STZ) intraperitoneally for three days, whereas the control rats were given the same dose of citric acid buffer for comparison. Morris water maze tests was performed to observe the functional changes of brain regions related to spatial learning and memory in each group. Western blot was performed to detect the abundances of AMPK, p-AMPK, SIRT1, H3acK9 and CDK5 in rats. Immunohistochemistry staining was performed to evaluate the levels of MAPT/Tau which can reflect the AD-like pathological changes. Furthermore, AMPK agonist (AICAR) was used to assess whether AMPK/SIRT1 pathway, which participate in the AD-like pathological changes, is the upstream molecules of H3acK9 and CDK5. Results We found treatment with HFD and STZ significantly increased blood glucose and serum insulin levels, and impaired glucose tolerance in rats. Hyperglycemia led to a decrease in the activity of AMPK and expression of SIRT1. The expression levels of underlying molecules of AMPK including H3acK9 and CDK5 significantly increased. The levels of phosphorylated Tau significantly increased in brain tissues. Additonally, AICAR administration partial reversed hyperglycemia-induced AD-like molecular pathologic changes through activating AMPK/SIRT1, decreasing expression of H3acK9 and CDK5, and inhibiting Tau protein hyperphosphorylation in rat brain tissues. Conclusion Hyperglycemia induces inactivation of AMPK/SIRT1 pathway which promotes excessive deacetylation of H3K9 and over expression of CDK5, these changes in turn lead to Tau protein hyperphosphorylation and AD-like molecular pathologic changes.

Abstract Owing to the significant roles in balancing carrier transport, bandgap alignment, and perovskite crystallization, realizing high‐quality electron transport layers (ETLs) and their effective electronic contact with the perovskite photoactive layer is crucial for future commercialization of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, a high‐quality SnO2 ETL is firstly deposited at room temperature via the low‐cost electron beam evaporation (E‐beam) technology to help achieve an impressive PCE of 18.88% for rigid PSCs and a PCE of 15.73% for flexible devices. Then we introduced a novel passivating ligand molecule, 11 Maleimidoundecanoic acids (11MA), to help induce functional defects passivation at the interface of SnO2/Perovskite to coordinate with Pb2+ in perovskite and Sn4+ in SnO2 via the functional groups (‐C = O, ‐COOH). As a result, 11MA could help achieve the best PCE of 20.94% with negligible hysteresis for rigid devices. Also, doping 11MA in the perovskite photoactive layer further enhanced the PCE to 22.08% with much improved 2000 hours ambient stabilities. Finally, we fabricated different large‐area rigid devices (10, 40, 100, and 600 mm2) toward speeding up the commercialization of PSCs by industrial E‐beam technology and rational defects passivation strategies.

Abstract Background The blood–testis barrier (BTB) is essential to the microenvironment of spermatogenesis, and Sertoli cells provide the cellular basis for BTB construction. Numerous nuclear transcription factors have been identified to be vital for the proper functioning of Sertoli cells. PA1 has been reported to play important roles during diverse biological processes, yet its potential function in male reproduction is still unknown. Results Here, we show that PA1 was highly expressed in human and mouse testis and predominantly localized in the nuclei of Sertoli cells. Sertoli cell-specific Pa1 knockout resulted in an azoospermia-like phenotype in mice. The knockout of this gene led to multiple defects in spermatogenesis, such as the disorganization of the cytoskeleton during basal and apical ectoplasmic specialization and the disruption of the BTB. Further transcriptomic analysis, together with Cut-Tag results of PA1 in Sertoli cells, revealed that PA1 could affect the expression of a subset of genes that are essential for the normal function of Sertoli cells, including those genes associated with actin organization and cellular junctions such as Connexin43 (Cx43). We further demonstrated that the expression of Cx43 depended on the interaction between JUN, one of the AP-1 complex transcription factors, and PA1. Conclusion Overall, our findings reveal that PA1 is essential for the maintenance of BTB integrity in Sertoli cells and regulates BTB construction-related gene expression via transcription factors. Thus, this newly discovered mechanism in Sertoli cells provides a potential diagnostic or even therapeutic target for some individuals with azoospermia.

Multi-Global Navigation Satellite Systems (multi-GNSS) (including GPS, BDS, Galileo, and GLONASS) provide a significant opportunity for high-quality zenith tropospheric delay estimation and its applications in meteorology. However, the performance of zenith total delay (ZTD) retrieval from single- or multi-GNSS observations is not clear, particularly from the new, fully operating BDS-3. In this paper, zenith tropospheric delay is estimated using the single-, dual-, triple-, or four-GNSS Precise Point Positioning (PPP) technique from 55 Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) stations over one year. The performance of GNSS ZTD estimation is evaluated using the International GNSS Service (IGS) standard tropospheric products, radiosonde, and the fifth-generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis (ERA5). The results show that the GPS-derived ZTD time series is more consistent and reliable than those derived from BDS-only, Galileo-only, and GLONASS-only solutions. The performance of the single-GNSS ZTD solution can be enhanced with better accuracy and stability by combining multi-GNSS observations. The accuracy of the ZTD from multi-GNSS observations is improved by 13.8%, 43.8%, 27.6%, and 22.9% with respect to IGS products for the single-system solution (GPS, BDS, Galileo, and GLONASS), respectively. The ZTD from multi-GNSS observations presents higher accuracy and a significant improvement with respect to radiosonde and ERA5 data when compared to the single-system solution.

Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) (Sapinadeae) fruit, a nutritional staple in Hawaii, exhibits desiccation and physiological browning soon after harvest, and methods to prolong shelf life may be commercially advantageous. In this study, freshly harvested fruit were treated with pectin coatings with or without trans-cinnamaldehyde (TCIN) and stored at 10 °C or 20 °C (room temperature) to evaluate postharvest quality attributes. Control fruit were treated with deionized water only. To find the best formulation of the coatings, three concentrations of TCIN were incorporated into a pectin solution to get 0.05% TCIN, 0.1% TCIN, and 0.2% TCIN coatings. At 0, 2, 4, and 6 days postharvest, fruit stored at 20 °C were evaluated for weight loss, firmness, pericarp browning, sugar, acid, and taste. The results showed that the 0.1% TCIN coating exhibited significantly lower weight loss than both control and the 0.2% TCIN coating through the entire storage time at 20 °C. The 0.1% TCIN coating–treated fruit were significantly firmer than control after 4 days of storage at 20 °C. The 0.1% TCIN coating also significantly reduced the pericarp browning over the control. Therefore, we selected 0.1% TCIN coating for fruit storage at 10 °C for up to 15 days. At 10 °C, the control fruit showed significantly higher pericarp browning than all TCIN-containing coated fruit. The 0.1% TCIN-treated fruit showed a significantly higher overall quality value than control fruit. The results indicate that the 0.1% TCIN coating may extend the commercial shelf life of rambutans and other perishable fruits. By extending shelf life, this coating can reduce postharvest losses and facilitate expanded fruit exports in Hawaii.

Denitrifying anaerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria (DAMO bacteria) plays an important role in reducing methane emissions from river ecosystems. However, the assembly process of their communities underlying different hydrologic seasons remains unclarified. In this study, the dynamics of DAMO bacterial communities in river networks of the Taihu Basin were investigated by amplicon sequencing across wet, normal, and dry seasons followed by multiple statistical analyses. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Group B was the major subgroup of DAMO bacteria and significant dynamics for their communities were observed across different seasons (constrained principal coordinate analysis, p = 0.001). Furthermore, the neutral community model and normalized stochasticity ratio model were applied to reveal the underlying assembly process. Stochastic process and deterministic process dominated the assembly process in wet season and normal season, respectively and similar contributions of deterministic and stochastic processes were observed in dry season. Meanwhile, abundant (relative abundance >0.1%) and rare (relative abundance

Visible/near-infrared (VIS/NIR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for rapid, nondestructive fruit quality detection. This technology has been widely applied for quality detection of small thin-peel fruit, although less so for large thick-peel fruit because of the low signal-to-noise ratio of the spectral signal, resulting in a reduction of accuracy. More modeling work should be focused on solving this problem. This research explored a method of spectroscopy for the total soluble solid (TSS) content and acidity detection of ‘Shatian’ pomelo, which are two major parameters of fruit internal flavor. VIS/NIR spectral signal detection of 100 pomelo samples during storage was performed. Detection based on raw data, signal jitter, and scattered light noise removal, feature extraction, and deep learning were performed and combined with modeling detection to achieve an accurate step-by-step detection. Our results showed that 600 W is the optimal light intensity for detecting the internal flavor of pomelo. The TSS content of pomelo is optimally detected using Savitzky-Golay (SG) + multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) + genetic algorithm (GA) + principal component analysis (PCA) + convolutional neural network (CNN) + partial least squares regression (PLSR); however, acidity of pomelo is optimally detected using SG + MSC + GA + PLSR. With the optimal detection method, the coefficient of determination and root mean squared error (RMSE) of the validation set for TSS detection are 0.72 and 0.49, respectively; and for acidity detection are 0.55 and 0.10, respectively. Even though the accuracy is not high, the data are still acceptable and helpful in nondestructive quality grading of large quantities postharvest fruit. Therefore, our results demonstrated that VIS/NIR was feasible for detecting the TSS content and acidity of postharvest pomelo, and for providing a possible method for the nondestructive internal quality detection of other large thick-peel fruit.

Pineapple is mainly grown in tropical regions and consumed fresh worldwide due to its attractive flavor and health benefits. With increasing global production and trade volume, there is an urgent need for nondestructive techniques for accurate and efficient detection of the internal quality of pineapples. Therefore, this study is dedicated to developing a nondestructive method for real-time determining the internal quality of pineapples by using VIS/NIR transmittance spectroscopy technique and machine learning methodologies. The VIS/NIR transmittance spectrums ranging in 400–1100 nm of total 195 pineapples were collected from a dynamic experimental platform. The maturity grade and soluble solids content (SSC) of individual pineapples were then measured as indicators of internal quality. The qualitative model for discriminating maturity grades of pineapple achieved a high accuracy of 90.8% by the PLSDA model for unknown samples. Meanwhile, the quantitative model for determining SSC also reached a determination coefficient (RP2) of 0.7596 and a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.7879 °Brix by the ANN-PLS model. Overall, high model performance demonstrated that using VIS/NIR transmittance spectroscopy technique coupled with machine learning methodologies could be a feasible method for nondestructive and real-time detection of the internal quality of pineapples.

The flavor of Pomelo is highly variable and difficult to determine without peeling the fruit. The quality of pomelo flavor is due largely to the total soluble solid content (TSSC) in the fruit and there is a commercial need for a quick but nondestructive TSSC detection method for the industrial grading of pomelo. Due to the large size and thick mesocarp of pomelo, determining the internal quality of a pomelo fruit in a nondestructive manner is difficult, and the detection accuracy is further complicated by the noise typically generated by the common methods for the internal quality detection of other fruits. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the optimal method to accurately detect pomelo TSSC and find a de-noising model which reduces the influence of noise on the optimal method’s results. After developing a full-transmission visible/near infrared (VIS/NIR) spectroscopy sampling method, the confirming experimental results showed that the optimal pomelo TSSC detection model was Savitzky Golay + standard normal variate + competitive adaptive reweighted sampling + partial least squares regression. The R2 and RMSE of the calibration set for pomelo TSSC detection were 0.8097 and 0.8508, respectively, and the R2 and RMSE of the validation set for pomelo TSSC detection were 0.8053 and 0.8888, respectively. Both reference and dark de-noising are important for pomelo internal quality detection and should be calibrated frequently to compensate for time drift. This study found that large sensor response translation noise can be reduced with an artificial horizontal shift. Data supplementation is efficient for improving the adaption of the detection model for batch differences in pomelo samples. Using this optimized de-noising model to compensate for time drift, sensor response translation, and batch differences, the developed detection method is capable of satisfying the requirements of the industry (TSSC detection R2 was equal or larger than 0.9, RMSE was less than 1). These results indicate that full-transmission VIS/NIR spectroscopy can be exploited to realize the nondestructive detection of pomelo TSSC on an industrial scale, and that the methodologies used in this study can be immediately implemented in real-world production.

With the improvement in living standards, consumers have become more aware of healthy diets and pay more attention to the quality and safety of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen the research on rapid detection of the quality and safety of fruits and vegetables. This study mainly outlines five Raman spectroscopy techniques. It introduces their principles and advantages and the current research progress of their application in fruit and vegetable quality and safety detection. Based on the characteristic Raman spectroscopy analysis of different fruits and vegetables, researchers found that Raman spectroscopy techniques can quickly and accurately detect classification identification, ripeness, freshness, disease infestation, and surface pesticide residues of fruits and vegetables. In addition, Raman spectroscopy techniques can also detect the content and distribution of material components of fruits and vegetables. This paper also discusses Raman spectroscopy’s current technology and application difficulties in fruit and vegetable quality and safety testing. It looks forward to its future development trend, expecting to promote the broad application of Raman spectroscopy in fruit and vegetable quality and safety testing.

The soluble solids content (SSC) is one of the important evaluation indicators for the internal quality of fresh grapes. However, the current non-destructive detection method based on hyperspectral imaging (HSI) relies on manual operation and is relatively cumbersome, making it difficult to achieve automatic detection in batches. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to conduct research on an improved non-destructive detection method for the SSC of bunch-harvested grapes. This study took the Shine-Muscat grape as the research object. Using Mask R-CNN to establish a grape image segmentation model based on deep learning (DL) applied to near-infrared hyperspectral images (400~1000 nm), 35 characteristic wavelengths were selected using Monte Carlo Uninformative Variable Elimination (MCUVE) to establish a prediction model for SSC. Based on the two abovementioned models, the improved non-destructive detection method for the SSC of bunch-harvested grapes was validated. The comprehensive evaluation index F1 of the image segmentation model was 95.34%. The Rm2 and RMSEM of the SSC prediction model were 0.8705 and 0.5696 Brix%, respectively, while the Rp2 and RMSEP were 0.8755 and 0.9177 Brix%, respectively. The non-destructive detection speed of the improved method was 16.6 times that of the existing method. These results prove that the improved non-destructive detection method for the SSC of bunch-harvested grapes based on DL and HSI is feasible and efficient.

A secure transmission method was proposed based on cooperative jamming to reduce the secrecy loss caused by the correlation between main and wiretap channels and to improve the secrecy.Considering that the existing methods of cooperative jamming focused on the case of independent main and wiretap channels, the achievable secrecy performance was not satisfactory.In view of this, a cooperative jamming method for correlated main and wiretap channels was proposed.Based on the model of cooperative jamming under correlated main and wiretap channels, the secrecy rate maximization under secrecy outage constraint was formulated.Then, the norm bounding approach and the Bernstein-type inequality approach were employed to approximately transform the probabilistic constraint into a deterministic form, and a safe approximate solution of beamforming vector and AN covariance matrix was obtained.Simulation results show that the proposed method can reduce the secrecy loss under high correlation.

The era of smart tourism has arrived. In the context of big data information, based on the thinking of the entire tourism activity, it is worth thinking about the role of tourism information in tourism activities. This paper proposes a method for evaluating the psychological expectations of tourist destinations by applying the quality function configuration. According to the needs of tourists, the relevant product characteristics of the tourist destination are selected, an evaluation quality house is established, and various relationships within the quality house are weighed, and established a mathematical model for the evaluation of tourists’ psychological expectations in tourist destinations. Bringing the methods of machine learning (ML) and data mining (DM) into the research of tourists’ psychological expectation value evaluation, ML is one of the main methods to solve the problem of DM. ML is the process of using the system itself to improve itself, therefore, ML is widely used in data mining. The research combines psychology and tourism research, through empirical research, to establish a structural equation model. It analyzes the influence of tourism information on tourists’ behavioral decisions, increases the media’s variable expectations of tourism, and uses tourist satisfaction and behavior as dependent variables. The results showed that the effect of tourism information on tourists is significantly greater than the expected effect (p = 0.510, P is significant at 0.001 level) than the effect of tourist satisfaction (p = 0.290, P is significant at 0.05 level). Therefore, in order to create good expectations for tourists, the general image of a tourist destination must match the actual local conditions. Using the support vector machine algorithm with the introduction of optimization mechanism to train the feature set of the user data, and then predict the links in Sina Weibo, and obtain higher prediction accuracy and prediction speed. The psychological expectation evaluation model of tourists in tourist destinations can effectively calculate the perceived value of psychological expectation evaluation of tourists in tourist destinations, and help tourists choose reasonable and satisfactory travel plans.

A serious of Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped Cs2Bi2Sr(P2O7)(PO4)2 (CBSPO) phosphors are prepared by solid phase reaction method, and the related thermal enhancement of up-conversion luminescence (UCL) are studied in depth under 980 and 1550 nm laser excitations. When doping concentration of Er3+is fixed at 0.1, and doping concentration of Yb3+ is adjusted to improve the thermal enhancement effect in the temperature range from 303 to 723 K. The optimal doping concentrations of Er3+/Yb3+ are found as 0.1 and 0.5, and the maximum enhancement of green UCL emission reaches 5.25 and 16.74 times under 980 and 1550 nm laser excitations, respectively. This is because of the combined action of electronic thermal agitation, phonon assisted transition and lattice distortion of doping Er3+ sites. The change of structure with temperature is studied by variable temperature XRD. Additionally, based on FIR technique, the absolute sensitivity of 0.00955 K−1 at 557 K, 0.00643 K−1 at 509 K are got in CBSPO:0.1Er3+/0.3Yb3+ under 980 nm laser excitation and in CBSPO:0.1Er3+/0.4Yb3+ under 1550 nm laser excitation, respectively. The structure changes of polyphosphate with temperature provide new ideas for development of thermally enhanced up-conversion phosphors, which can be applied as optical thermometer at high temperature environment.

Usually, Dy3+ doped phosphors can simultaneously generate both blue and yellow emissions which can be mixed as white light if the intensities of them are closer. The aim of this work is to explore white-light generation in Dy3+ doped YNbO4 phosphors by introducing Tm3+ to compensate the lack of blue component of Dy3+. To this end, the Dy3+, Tm3+ single- and co-doped YNbO4 phosphors were synthesized via a high-temperature solid-state reaction method. Under the excitation of 354 nm, the YNbO4: Dy3+ phosphors exhibit a blue emission at 487 nm and a yellow emission at 579 nm and the results indicated that the white light cannot be obtained from Dy3+ single-doped YNbO4 phosphors owing to the deficiency of blue spectral component. To tune the emission color, Tm3+ was introduced into Dy3+ doped samples, and the energy transfer behavior between Tm3+ and Dy3+ was investigated based on the fluorescence dynamics. The chromatic property of the while light emitting phosphor was studied. High-quality white emission was obtained when Tm3+ concentration was 1.0 mol%. The color coordinates and the correlated color temperature for the concentration-optimized sample are (0.3355, 0.3345) and 5352 K, respectively.

Abstract Background To date, it has repeatedly been demonstrated that infusing bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs) into acellular nerve scaffolds can promote and support axon regeneration through a peripheral nerve defect. However, harvesting BMSCs is an invasive and painful process fraught with a low cellular yield. Methods In pursuit of alternative stem cell sources, we isolated stem cells from the inguinal subcutaneous adipose tissue of adult Sprague–Dawley rats (adipose-derived stem cells, ADSCs). We used a co-culture system that allows isolated adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and Schwann cells (SCs) to grow in the same culture medium but without direct cellular contact. We verified SC phenotype in vitro by cell marker analysis and used red fluorescent protein-tagged ADSCs to detect their fate after being injected into a chemically extracted acellular nerve allograft (CEANA). To compare the regenerative effects of CEANA containing either BMSCs or ADSCs with an autograft and CEANA only on the sciatic nerve defect in vivo, we performed histological and functional assessments up to 16 weeks after grafting. Results In vitro, we observed reciprocal beneficial effects of ADSCs and SCs in the ADSC–SC co-culture system. Moreover, ADSCs were able to survive in CEANA for 5 days after in vitro implantation. Sixteen weeks after grafting, all results consistently showed that CEANA infused with BMSCs or ADSCs enhanced injured sciatic nerve repair compared to the acellular CEANA-only treatment. Furthermore, their beneficial effects on sciatic injury regeneration were comparable as histological and functional parameters evaluated showed no statistically significant differences. However, the autograft group was roundly superior to both the BMSC- or ADSC-loaded CEANA groups. Conclusion The results of the present study show that ADSCs are a viable alternative stem cell source for treating sciatic nerve injury in lieu of BMSCs.

Susceptibility to mechanical injury and fast decay rates are currently two main problems of litchi fruit after harvesting. To achieve better postharvest management of litchi fruit, this study aimed to find an effective method of litchi fruit supervision during the circulation process that included mechanical injury detection and storage quality detection. For mechanical injury detection, injury-free litchis without any treatment and litchis with mild and severe mechanical injuries were dropped from 80 and 110 cm high, respectively. The electronic nose (E-nose) response, total soluble solid (TSS), and titratable acidity (TA) of samples were tested on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 after injury at room temperature. For storage quality detection, normal litchis were stored in a cold environment. The E-nose response, TSS, and TA of samples were tested on storage days 0, 3, 6, 10, 15, 19, and 24. The experimental results showed that mechanical injury not only accelerated pericarp browning but also accelerated flavor (TA and TSS) loss. The browning index quickly increased during storage, and the TSS and TA of defect-free litchis changed only barely at room temperature and during cold environment storage. After feature extraction, mechanical injury of litchi can be well-detected by E-nose from day 1 to day 4 after injury. The best mechanical injury detection time of litchi fruit is at day 4 after injury under room temperature storage conditions. After singular sensor elimination and comprehensive feature extraction, the storage time and browning degree, but not TSS and TA, of litchi fruit can be detected by E-nose. E-nose data preprocessing should differ according to the litchi variety and detection target.

In this study, a Bayesian-based decision fusion technique was developed for the first time to quickly and non-destructively identify codfish using near infrared (NIRS) and Raman spectroscopy (RS). NIRS and RS spectra from 320 codfish samples were collected, and separate partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were developed to establish the relationship between the raw data and cod identity for each spectral technique. Three decision fusion methods: decision fusion, data layer or feature layer, were tested and compared. The decision fusion model based on the Bayesian algorithm (NIRS-RS-B) was developed on the optimal discrimination features of NIRS and RS data (NIRS-RS) extracted by the PLS-DA method whereas the other fusion models followed conventional, non-Bayesian approaches. The Bayesian model showed enhanced classification metrics (92% sensitivity, 98% specificity, 98% accuracy) that were significantly superior to those demonstrated by any of other two spectroscopic methods (NIRS, RS) and the two data fusion methods (data layer fused, NIRS-RS-D, or feature layer fused, NIRS-RS-F). This novel proposed approach can provide an alternative classification for codfish and potentially other food speciation cases.

To reduce the secrecy loss due to the correlation between main and wiretap channels, this paper introduces a cooperative jamming relay to degrade the reception at the eavesdropper. We consider slow-fading multiple-input-single-output wiretap channels with a passive single-antenna eavesdropper, where full information for the channels to the legitimate receiver and statistical information for the channels to the eavesdropper is available. By deploying the cooperative jamming relay reasonably, the correlation between the channels from the introduced relay to the legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper can be much below than that between the main and wiretap channels. Thus, the relay can interfere with the eavesdropper more effectively than the traditional scheme of artificial noise-aided beamforming at the transmitter. The simulation results demonstrate that the secrecy outage probability under the transmit power and target secrecy rate constraints is reduced substantially.

BackgroundOsteoporosis affects the quality of life among middle-aged and elderly individuals. In addition, dysfunction of osteoblasts can lead to the progression of osteoporosis. Circular (circ)RNAs are involved in various types of diseases, including osteoporosis. Moreover, it has been reported that hsa_circ_0001275 expression is upregulated in osteoporosis. However, the effects of hsa_circ_0001275 on the growth of osteoblasts remain unclear.MethodsIn the present study, the gene and protein expression levels in hFOB1.19 cells were detected via reverse transcription-quantitative (RT-qPCR) and western blot analyses, respectively. In addition, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and calcium nodules were examined by ALP and alizarin red staining, respectively. Cell proliferation was measured using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry. Furthermore, dual luciferase reporter and RNA pull-down assay were used to confirm the association among hsa_circ_0001275, microRNA (miR)-377 and CDKN1B.ResultsDEX-induced hFOB1.19 cell growth inhibition was significantly reversed by silencing hsa_circ_0001275. Moreover, DEX significantly increased ALP activity and calcium nodules in hFOB1.19 cells, while this effect was significantly reversed in the presence of hsa_circ_0001275 small interfering RNA. In addition, miR-377 was sponged by hsa_circ_0001275 and CDKN1B was directly targeted by miR-377 in hFOB1.19 cells. Furthermore, the therapeutic effect of hsa_circ_0001275 knockdown on osteoporosis was notably reversed by miR-377 antagomir.ConclusionThe data demonstrated that knockdown of hsa_circ_0001275 reversed DEX-induced osteoblast growth inhibition via activation of the miR-377/CDKN1B axis. Therefore, this study might shed new lights on the treatment of osteoporosis.

Broadband tunable solid-state lasers continue to present challenges to scientists today. The gain medium is significant for realizing broadband tunable solid-state lasers. In this investigation, the optical gain performance for Tm3+ and Cu+ single-doped and co-doped germanate glasses with broadband emissions was studied via an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) technique. It was found that the net optical gain coefficients (NOGCs) of Tm3+ single-doped glass were larger than those for Cu+ single-doped glass. When Tm3+ was introduced, the emission broadband width of Cu+-doped glass was effectively extended. Moreover, it was found that for the co-doped glass the NOGCs at the wavelengths for Tm3+ and Cu+ emissions were larger than those of Tm3+ and Cu+ single-doped glasses at the same wavelengths. In addition, the NOGC values of Tm3+ and Cu+ co-doped germanate glasses were of the same order of magnitude, and were maintained in a stable range at different wavelengths. These results indicate that the Tm3+ and Cu+ co-doped glasses studied may be a good candidate medium for broadband tunable solid-state lasers.

Sensitive on-line detection of Cu2+ in lubricating oil of marine power plant is important for displaying equipment wear status and fault pre-judgment in real time. However, there are few reports on in-situ, portable and highly sensitive Cu2+ detection devices in organic media before. In this report, CsPbBr3 perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) are employed as fluorescence probe for Cu2+ detection in microfluidic chip. The size effect of the CsPbBr3 QDs on the detection performances is firstly investigated. To obtain preferable sensitivity and detection limit, polymethyl methacrylate opal photonic crystals (PMMA OPCs) film is developed as microfluidic sensor substrate, which can tremendously improve the fluorescence intensity of PQDs as high as 26-fold. The enhancement effect can be attributed to the coupling between photonic crystal stopband effect and the excitation light field. Moreover, the use of photomultiplier module for fluorescence signal measurement enables the detection device to be portable. The novel strategy offers the advantages of higher sensitivity (8.62 μM–1) and lower detection limit (0.40 nM). Otherwise, this sensor also provides wide detection range and good selectivity, thus, it will have potential in oil quality in-situ detection and mechanical wear prediction in the future.

Abstract Meiosis increases genetic diversity, yet the genome complement needs to be stable to ensure offspring viability. Both small ubiquitin‐like modifier (SUMO) and ubiquitin have been reported to participate in meiotic regulation, yet functions of the SUMO‐ubiquitination crosstalk in meiosis remain unclear. Here, it is reported that a SUMO‐targeted ubiquitin ligase, Slx8p, promotes accurate chromosome segregation during meiosis, since the deletion of SLX8 leads to increased aneuploidy due to a defect in synaptonemal complex (SC) component degradation. Both the RING domain and SUMO interacting motifs of Slx8p are essential for meiotic progression and maintaining spore viability, and the expression of tetraubiquitin fused with SUMO partially rescues meiotic defects in the SLX8‐deletion strain. Furthermore, Slx5p‐Slx8p can directly add ubiquitin to SUMOylated Zip1p and Ecm11p, and forced degradation of Ecm11p partially rescues the sporulation defects of the SLX8 deletion strain. These findings provide a mechanism for SC disassembly and reveal that the crosstalk between SUMOylation and ubiquitination facilitates accurate chromosome segregation by promoting SC component degradation during meiosis.

Based on the results of molecular dynamics simulation, in a gas-water miscible zone, the velocity profiles of the flowing water film do not increase monotonously but increase first and then decrease, which is due to the interaction between water and gas molecules. This exhibits a new physical mechanism. In this paper, we firstly propose a gas-water flow model that takes into account the new physical phenomena and describes the distribution of gas-water velocity in the whole pore more accurately. In this model, a decreasing factor for water film in the gas-water miscible zone is used to describe the decrease of water velocity in the gas-water miscible zone, which leads to the gas velocity decrease correspondingly. The new flow model considers the interaction among gas and water molecules in the miscible zone and can provide more accurate velocity profiles compared with the flow models not considering the miscible region. Comparison calculation shows that the previous model overestimates the flow velocity, and the overestimation increases with the decrease of the pore radius. Based on the new gas-water flow model, a new permeability correction factor is deduced to consider the interaction among gas and water molecules.

Microneedles are one promising penetration enhancement vehicle to overcome the stratum corneum skin barrier, which hampers the penetration of drug nanocrystals by transdermal delivery. In order to clarify the particle size effect of nanocrystals on transdermal delivery, 60 nm, 120 nm, and 480 nm curcumin nanocrystals were fabricated and incorporated into dissolving hyaluronic acid polysaccharide microneedles. The microneedles showed good mechanical strength with 1.4 N/needle, possessing the ability to insert into the skin. The passive permeation results showed that the smaller particle size of 60 nm curcumin nanocrystals diffused faster and deeper than the larger 120 nm and 480 nm curcumin nanocrystals with size-dependent diffusion behaviors. Thereafter, higher concentration gradients and overlap diffusional coronas also formed in the skin layers by the smaller-particle-size nanocrystals. Furthermore, the diffusion rate of the smaller particle size of curcumin nanocrystals to the hair follicle was also higher than that of the larger curcumin nanocrystals. In conclusion, the particle sizes of curcumin nanocrystals influenced the transdermal and transfollicular penetration in deeper skin layers

Permeability is usually considered to be related to porosity. However, rocks with the same porosity may have different permeabilities in some cases, because of the variations in pore and throat size and pore space connectivity. It is vitally important to understand the effect of throat size on the transport property. In this work, five sets of regular pore network models and six core-based models are employed to study the effect of throat size on permeability. Four kinds of random distributions, i.e., uniform, normal, Weibull, and log normal, are utilized to generate random pore size. Pore coordination number is set to be two and six for the verification of the effect of connectivity on permeability. Then, single-phase flow simulation is conducted based on the constructed pore network models. The simulation results show that permeability decreases significantly when only one of the nine throats reduces to half size in terms of diameter. The influence of pore coordination number on permeability is not obvious compared to that of small throat size. This study indicates that small throats play an extremely important role in determining permeability.

For developing novel photothermal converting agent with temperature self-reading-out function in photothermal therapy, NaYF4:Dy3+/Yb3+@NaYF4:Er3+/Yb3+ core-shell nanostructure was designed and prepared via a thermal decomposition technique. The temperature sensing, fluorescence temperature quenching and photothermal conversion properties were investigated. The measurement of fluorescence intensity ratios (FIRs) indicated that the NaYF4:Er3+/Yb3+ shell has a good performance in temperature sensing. Meanwhile, it was also confirmed that the temperature quenching of Er3+ green fluorescence was mainly induced by the increasing nonradiative transition probability of 4S3/2 state with elevating sample temperature. Furthermore, the photothermal conversion was studied based on the experimentally confirmed temperature sensing of the shell structure. It was proved that the core-shell nanoparticles can effectively convert the excitation luminous energy into heat energy. All the results indicated that the designed nanoparticles might be an excellent photothermal converter with optical temperature sensing for promising application in photothermal therapy. Keywords: Core-shell structure, Photothermal conversion, Optical temperature sensing, Fluorescence temperature quenching

It is urgent that a convenient and sensitive technique of detecting Hg2+ be developed because of its toxicity. Conventional fluorescence analysis works with a single fluorescence probe, and it often suffers from signal fluctuations which are influenced by external factors. In this research, a novel dual-emission probe assembled through utilizing CdTe quantum dots (QDs) and rhodamine B was designed to detect Hg2+ visually. Only the emission of CdTe QDs was quenched after adding Hg2+ in the dual-emission probe, which caused an intensity ratio change of the two different emission wavelengths and hence facilitated the visual detection of Hg2+. Compared to single emission QDs-based probe, a better linear relationship was shown between the variation of fluorescence intensity and the concentration of Hg2+, and the limit of detection (LOD) was found to be11.4 nM in the range of 0–2.6 μM. Interestingly, the intensity of the probe containing Hg2+ could be recovered in presence of glutathione (GSH) due to the stronger binding affinity of Hg2+ towards GSH than that towards CdTe QDs. Based on this phenomenon, an IMPLICATION logic gate using Hg2+/GSH as inputs and the fluorescence signal of QDs as an output was constructed.