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Background: Mesangial cell (MC)-mediated immune inflammatory injury is a basic pathological process in glomerulonephritis. However, due to the limited drug accumulation and serious adverse effects, it remains challenging to explore a rational delivery system integrating high efficiency and low toxicity to deliver anti-inflammatory drugs to the glomerular MC region. Results: Salvianolic acid B (SAB)-loaded hybrid membrane biomimetic nanovesicles (SAB@HMVs) were developed by fusing erythrocyte membrane nanovesicles with mesenchymal stem cells biomimetic membrane nanovesicles. SAB@HMVs had a spheroidal structure, low cytotoxicity, particle size of 143.83 ± 1.33 nm and exhibited a high drug loading capacity (7.02 %±0.30 %) along with a good sustained release function. The in vitro anti-inflammatory results revealed that HMVs were effectively taken up by MCs and showed significant anti-inflammatory activity. Furthermore, in vivo pharmacodynamic studies revealed that SAB@HMVs could deliver SAB to kidney tissue and elicit an effective anti-inflammatory response to improve the pathological changes in the glomerular mesangial region, significantly reducing the levels of cytokines and alleviating kidney inflammation. Especially, noteworthy was the observation that SAB@HMVs augmented the renal delivery of SAB, downregulated the gene expression of p38 MAPK and NF-κB, inhibited the levels of MMP9 and TNF-α proteins as well as elevated the level of iκB protein, indicating that the anti-inflammatory mechanism of SAB@HMVs should be based on regulating MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways. Conclusion: We provided a novel strategy to increase nanovesicles accumulation in MCs with the potential to exert anti-inflammatory regulatory effects in glomerulonephritis. Furthermore, this biomimetic hybrid membrane loaded with pure drugs may offer a functional platform to address multiple clinical needs.

A novel method to engineer high-gain and polarization-insensitive Fabry-Perot (FP) antenna with low scattering is presented by combining a polarization-insensitive broadband frequency selective rasorber with partially reflective surface (FSRP) and a reflective metasurface. The FSRP element consists of an upper indium tin oxide layer printed on polyethylene glycol terephthalate substrate, a metallic loop, and a metallic patch in the middle and bottom layer, respectively, which is designed to absorb most of out-of-band incidence while achieving in-band reflection. The bottom metallic patch is a partially reflected surface which is utilized to construct an FP resonant cavity with the reflective metasurface to ensure in-band radiation. The excellent performance of proposed FP antenna is demonstrated by simulations and measurements, revealing that the antenna exhibits an in-band peak measured gain of 21.8 dBiC at 12 GHz. Besides, a significant out-of-band scattering reduction is achieved within 9.9-11.3 GHz and 13.3-20 GHz under normal detection. Our paradigm setups a new avenue for low radar cross section of a high-gain antenna, promising great potential in practical applications.

Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a versatile spectroscopic technique, which plays a crucial role in enhancing analytical sensitivity, investigating interfacial reaction mechanisms, enabling biosensing, and fostering efficient catalysis. Currently, the common SERS substrates are primarily metal nanostructures, which entail high manufacturing costs, complex processes, and the metal surface undergo change over time and with environmental conditions. These issues limit the development of SERS technology. In this work, a nitrogen‐doped graphene (N‐graphene) hydrangea was synthesized on a silicon (Si) substrate using plasma‐assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD), forming an N‐graphene hydrangea/Si hybrid structure as a SERS substrate. This substrate offers the advantages of high stability, ultra‐sensitivity, and reusability. The three‐dimensional nano‐cavity structure of graphene can increase the interaction between light and graphene, resulting in an increased localized electric field. Combining theoretical simulation analysis, the introduction of nitrogen (N) elements adjusts the Fermi level of graphene, promoting efficient charge transfer. In practical scenarios, Di(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a commonly used plasticizer, has raised concerns due to its potential as an endocrine disruptor and carcinogen. The as‐prepared SERS substrate achieves a remarkable detection limit of as low as 10−8 m for DEHP, providing significant support for environmental conservation and human health.

Circularly polarized (CP) spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) functional metadevices, especially those with spin decoupling and hybrid modes, play an important role in modern photonics applications. However, currently available SSPP functional metadevices have the defect of restricted functionalities and single‐working modes for a given polarization, as it is a great challenge to simultaneously support SSPPs with hybrid modes and different wavefronts. Herein, a general strategy is proposed for designing CP SSPP functional metadevices with spin decoupling and hybrid modes based on transmissive spin‐decoupled metasurfaces and angle‐insensitive anisotropic SSPP eigenmode plates (EMPs). The metasurface can simultaneously and independently control the resonant and geometrical phases of the CP waves, and the SSPP EMP satisfies the hybrid‐mode (both transverse magnetic [TM] and transverse electric [TE] modes) momentum matching with high angular/momentum stability of the propagating SSPPs. For verification, a CP SSPP beam splitter is designed, fabricated, and experimentally demonstrated, which can convert incident right‐handed (R) and left‐handed (L) CP plane waves to CP hybrid‐mode SSPP deflected beams and decoupled beams, respectively. The work paves the way for the realization of CP SSPP multifunctional‐integration metadevices with hybrid modes and other functionalities, which can find extensive applications in different frequency domains.

Metallic nanoparticle (NP)/ceramic composite cermets present desirable broadband absorption of the solar spectrum and thus are the preferred material scheme for constructing cermet-based solar absorbers. However, the effects of fine nanoparticle structural features on the light-matter interactions in nanocermet layers and corresponding cermet-based solar absorbers are still not well clear until now. Herein, we report a systematical investigation on the effects of W (tungsten) nanoparticle sizes, its concentrations and configurations in an alumina matrix on the optical responses of WAl2O3 nanocermet layers and a solar absorber with double-cermet layers. It is found that to possess admirable light absorption features at high temperatures, it is better to maintain the fine particle size of less than 10 nm, isolated states and suitable separations between them for WAl2O3 nanocermets. Thus, the dominated intrinsic absorption of W NPs, their plasmonic excitation and coupling effects among each other all contribute significantly to the broadband optical performance of the cermet layers and the whole absorber. More importantly, this study demonstrates a valuable criterion for maintaining optical performances of nanocermet layers and cermet-based solar absorbers under heating and thus their thermal robustness.

In recent years, optical metasurfaces, i.e., surface‐confined arrays of engineered nanostructured elements (meta‐atoms), have become an emerging research area due to their unprecedented capabilities of manipulating light with subwavelength spatial resolutions. The metasurfaces revolutionize thereby conventional bulky optics with compact planar elements. As the polarization is one of the intrinsic properties of light and of crucial importance for fundamental sciences and practical applications, the polarization‐encoded functional optical metasurfaces featuring compactness, integration compatibility, and multiple functionalities have been in the focus of intensive research and development. Herein, the basic principles and emerging applications of polarization‐encoded functional metasurfaces operating in the optical range are reviewed. Starting with the description of different polarization states, the review proceeds with considerations of how to interconvert and detect the state of polarization. The main achievements in polarization‐multiplexing metasurface components (metadevices) are then summarized. Finally, a personal outlook on potential directions in this fast‐growing research area is provided in the conclusions.

ABSTRACT: Purpose: The aim of this study was to systematically review the safety and efficacy of uterine artery embolization (UAE) versus surgery for symptomatic uterine fibroids.Materials and Methods: An electronic search of the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases was conducted from their inception to May 2017 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed UAE versus surgery for the treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids. The references of the included studies were also retrieved. Two reviewers independently screened the studies based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the data, and assessed the methodological quality. The meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.3 software.Results: A total of seven RCTs involving 859 patients were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed a shorter hospital stay and recovery time for UAE as compared to surgery. Surgery was not reported to be better for improving health-related quality of life in any of the included studies. There were no significant differences in patient satisfaction (1-2 and 5 years), and intra-procedural complications or major complications (1 year). However, the rates of minor complications (1 year) and further interventions (2 and 5 years) were significantly higher in patients who underwent UAE rather than surgery. The rates of pregnancy and live births were significantly lower among patients who underwent UAE than surgery.Conclusion: UAE is safe and effective, and has the advantages of shorter hospital stay and recovery time as compared to surgery. However, UAE has the risk of re-intervention, and lower pregnancy and live birth rates. Keywords:: uterine artery embolization, surgery, meta-analysis

Metasurfaces offer great opportunities to control electromagnetic (EM) waves, attracting intensive attention in science and engineering communities. Recently, many efforts were devoted to multifunctional metasurfaces integrating different functionalities into single flat devices. In this article, we present a concise review on the development of multifunctional metasurfaces, focusing on the design strategies proposed and functional devices realized. We first briefly review the early efforts on designing such systems, which simply combine multiple meta-structures with distinct functionalities to form multifunctional devices. To overcome the low-efficiency and functionality cross-talking issues, a new strategy was proposed, in which the meta-atoms are carefully designed single structures exhibiting polarization-controlled transmission/reflection amplitude/phase responses. Based on this new scheme, various types of multifunctional devices were realized in different frequency domains, which exhibit diversified functionalities (e.g., focusing, deflection, surface wave conversion, multi-beam emissions, etc.), for both pure-reflection and pure-transmission geometries or even in the full EM space. We conclude this review by presenting our perspectives on this fast-developing new sub-field, hoping to stimulate new research outputs that are useful in future applications.