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For successful long-term deployment and operation of kesterites Cu2ZnSn(S x Se1-x )4 (CZTSSe) as light-absorber materials for photovoltaics, device stability and recovery in kesterite solar cells are investigated. A low-temperature heat treatment is applied to overcome the poor charge extraction that developed in the natural aging process. It is suggested that defect states at aged CZTSSe/CdS heterojunctions were reduced, while apparent doping density in the CZTSSe absorber increased due to Cd/Zn interdiffusion at the heterojunction during the annealing process. In situ annealing experiments in a transmission electron microscope were used to investigate the elemental diffusion at the CZTSSe/CdS heterojunction. This study reveals the critical role of heat treatment to enhance the absorber/Mo back contact, improve the quality of the absorber/buffer heterojunction, and recover the device performance in aged kesterite thin-film solar cells. Ministry of Education (MOE) Published version This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (EP/T005491/1 and EP/S023836/1). The authors also appreciate the support from the North East Centre for Energy Materials (NECEM) (EP/ R021503/1) and the British Council Newton Fund Institutional Links Grant (CRP01286). This research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Singapore Tier 2 MOE2019-T2-2- 066.

Aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO) is a potential low-cost alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO) for application in optoelectronic devices as a transparent conducting thin film. Typically, AZO thin films are deposited using expensive, high vacuum equipment with high energy cost and materials wastage. In this study, slot-die coating was used as an inexpensive alternative to vacuum deposition to form AZO nanoparticle thin films under ambient laboratory conditions. The films were characterised structurally, optically and electrically and compared with a commercially obtained AZO film fabricated using physical vapour deposition (PVD). Structural characterisation of the nanoparticle film shows uniform coverage across the substrate with increased crystal quality following annealing in Ar up to 500 $$^{\circ }$$ ∘ C. The optical properties of the nanoparticle film exhibit a wider band gap than the PVD film, while the high density of grain boundary defects between the nanoparticles inhibits sheet conductivity. Graphical abstract

The overlaps between segmental vitiligo (SV) and nonsegmental vitiligo (NSV) suggest the underlying features of SV, which may be helpful for treating SV. In this study, 379 vitiligo patients were recruited and divided into SV (33.2%), mild-to-moderate NSV (M-NSV, affected body affected area [BSA] ≤10%, 34.0%), and severe NSV (S-NSV, affected BSA >10%, 32.7%) groups. Demographics and clinical data were collected through in-person interviews. The disease activity, progression, and prognosis were assessed through 6 months' follow-up. Serum cytokines profile and tissue-infiltrating immune cells were measured by ELISA assay and immunofluorescence, respectively. The SV exhibited lower rates of autoimmune comorbidities and recurrence than the S-NSV, but performed similar to the M-NSV. Moreover, the disease activity, progression, serum cytokines profile, and tissue-infiltrating Th/c1 cells in the active SV and M-NSV were comparable, but differed significantly from those of the active S-NSV. The clinical and immunological similarities between SV and M-NSV presented a deeper autoimmune understanding of SV. Additionally, a classification of active vitiligo according to disease extent may be more clinically meaningful than subtypes for guiding immunomodulatory treatment.

Our study aims to investigate the efficacy and clinical significance of the Zuogui pill (ZGP) on premature ovarian failure (POF) via the GDF-9/Smad2 pathway. Changes in clinical symptoms in the control group (treated with Femoston alone) and the treatment group (treated with ZGP combined with Femoston) were assessed before and after treatment. Sex hormone levels, serum inflammatory cytokine levels, and ultrasound parameters were measured before and after treatment. POF rat models were established using cyclophosphamide and the POF rats were treated with Femoston, or ZGP combined with Femoston. GDF-9 and Smad2 expression levels were determined by RT-qPCR. The follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-21 levels, and the pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) values were decreased, while the estradiol (E2) and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels, antral follicle count (AFC), ovarian volume (OV), mean ovarian diameter (MOD), and peak systolic velocity (PSV) values were increased in the treatment group compared to the control group. After treatment with ZGP combined with Femoston, GDF-9 and Smad2 expression in the ovarian tissues of POF rats increased. ZGP has a therapeutic effect on POF via modulation of the GDF-9/Smad2 pathway.

The objective of this study is to synthesize a series of sesamol-based phenolic acid derivatives, which were designed by combination principle. The hypolipidemic activity of all these compounds was preliminarily screened by acute hyperlipidemic mice model induced by Triton WR 1339, in which compound T6 exhibited more significant reducing plasma TG and TC than fenofibrate. Compound T6 was also found to obviously decrease TG and TC both in the plasma and hepatic tissue of high-fat-diet-induced hyperlipidemic mice. Moreover, T6 showed hepatoprotective effects, which remarkable amelioration in characteristic liver enzymes was examined and the histopathological observation displayed that compound T6 inhibited lipids accumulation in the hepatic. The levels of PPAR-α receptor related to lipids metabolism in hepatic tissue were upregulated after T6 treatment. Other potent effects of T6 such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity were also observed. On the bases of these findings, compound T6 may serve as an effective hypolipidemic and hepatoprotective agent.

Cu 2ZnSn(S,Se) 4 (CZTSSe) is a promising material for thin-film photovoltaics, however, the open-circuit voltage ( V OC) deficit of CZTSSe prevents the device performance from exceeding 13% conversion efficiency. CZTSSe is a heavily compensated material that is rich in point defects and prone to the formation of secondary phases. The landscape of these defects is complex and some mitigation is possible by employing non-stoichiometric conditions. Another route used to reduce the effects of undesirable defects is the doping and alloying of the material to suppress certain defects and improve crystallization, such as with germanium. The majority of works deposit Ge adjacent to a stacked metallic precursor deposited by physical vapour deposition before annealing in a selenium rich atmosphere. Here, we use an established hot-injection process to synthesise Cu 2ZnSnS 4 nanocrystals of a pre-determined composition, which are subsequently doped with Ge during selenisation to aid recrystallisation and reduce the effects of Sn species. Through Ge incorporation, we demonstrate structural changes with a negligible change in the energy bandgap but substantial increases in the crystallinity and grain morphology, which are associated with a Ge-Se growth mechanism, and gains in both the V OC and conversion efficiency. We use surface energy-filtered photoelectron emission microscopy (EF-PEEM) to map the surface work function terrains and show an improved electronic landscape, which we attribute to a reduction in the segregation of low local effective work function (LEWF) Sn(II) chalcogenide phases.

Structured light-based 3-D sensing technique reconstructs the 3-D shape from the disparity given by pixel correspondence of two sensors. However, for scene surface containing discontinuous reflectivity (DR), the captured intensity deviates from its actual value caused by the non-ideal camera point spread function (PSF), thus generating 3-D measurement error. First, we construct the error model of fringe projection profilometry (FPP). From which, we conclude that the DR error of FPP is related to both the camera PSF and the scene reflectivity. The DR error of FPP is hard to be alleviated because of unknown scene reflectivity. Second, we introduce single-pixel imaging (SI) to reconstruct the scene reflectivity and normalize the scene with scene reflectivity "captured" by the projector. From the normalized scene reflectivity, pixel correspondence with error opposite to the original reflectivity is calculated for the DR error removal. Third, we propose an accurate 3-D reconstruction method under discontinuous reflectivity. In this method, pixel correspondence is first established by using FPP, and then refined by using SI with reflectivity normalization. Both the analysis and the measurement accuracy are verified under scenes with different reflectivity distributions in the experiments. As a result, the DR error is effectively alleviated while taking an acceptable measurement time.

Highly selective recognition and purification of target proteins from complex biological matrices remains a challenging subject in natural and life sciences. Compared with natural recognition receptors, artificial imprinted polymers are an ideal alternative candidate. In this study, we report a novel method to prepare helical protein imprinted fibers (HPIFs) with zucchini-derived microcoils as a carrier, firstly. Inspired by the self-polymerization of adhesive proteins in mussels, dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid were chosen as bifunctional monomers for the first time to form a biocompatible imprinted layer. The chemical/physical properties and recognition performance of HPIFs were studied in a series of experiments. Additionally, the practicability of HPIFs was verified by specifically recognizing target protein in complex egg white sample. The one-step synthesis process and excellent binding performance of HPIFs make them a promising material for protein recognition and purification, and endow HPIFs with potential application value in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical fields.

In this study, a temperature-sensitive molecularly imprinted polymer was prepared by using the bifunctional monomer with the critical phase transition characteristics. Infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and specific surface area testing were used to characterize the polymers. Then, the recognizing properties of the polymers were studied. Based on the prepared smart polymers, an SPE-HPLC analytical method for the determination of quinolizidine alkaloids in the extracts of Sophora flavescens was established and verified. Finally, the smart polymers were applied to the enrichment of quinolizidine alkaloids in plant extracts. By changing the temperature and solvents of the solid phase extraction conditions, the extraction process can increase the concentration of quinolizidine alkaloids by 4.3 to 5.2 folds. The extraction process has mild conditions and less time consumption, avoiding the use of a large number of toxic reagents, which indicate that the extraction process are more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Aristolochia and related plants contain nephrotoxins and mutagens in the form of aristolochic acids (AAs). However, there is still lack of a fast and specific method for monitoring AAs in biological samples. Herein, we synthesized a hybrid magnetic mesoporous carbon-molecularly imprinted polymers (MMC@MIPs) as a novel magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) adsorbent for selective recognition of aristolochic acid I and II from rat urine samples. The choline chloride/glycol-based deep eutectic solvent (DES) and indomethacin were used as the eluent and dummy template molecule accordingly. The morphology, structure property and surface groups of the prepared materials were investigated in sequence, and the optimum conditions of the MMC@MIPs-MSPE procedure were also optimized well. Results showed that the proposed method had a relatively satisfactory recovery (86.7-94.3%), with low standard deviation (

Aiming at the problem that the computing tasks requested by user equipments of (UEs) exceed the computing capacity of mobile edge computing (MEC) server in the ground base station (BS), an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted resource allocation strategy is proposed in this paper. By deploying a UAV carried with an MEC server, when the computing tasks requested by the UEs are beyond the computing capacity of the ground BS MEC server, the UEs can offload the extra computing tasks to the UAV. The resource allocation problem is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem by jointly optimizing transmitting power, system bandwidth, and computing resources. The objective is to minimize system energy consumption while satisfying the constraints of energy consumption, computing resource, and transmitting power. Genetic algorithm (GA) and nonlinear programming methods are combined to obtain the optimal solution to the formulated optimization problem. Simulation results demonstrate that the system energy consumption can be reduced to some extent under our proposed approach compared with the traditional GA and the partial fixed power, system bandwidth, or computing resources method based on GA and nonlinear programming.

Due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, routine treatments are delayed to some extent and their negative impacts have been widely reported. However, virtually nothing is known about vitiligo in the context of COVID‐19. Therefore, we analyzed treatment delays and its impact on vitiligo, aiming to provide suggestions on vitiligo management within this special period. We performed a retrospective cohort study on 322 patients who visited our clinics at least 2 times from January to December 2020, and their medical records and photographs were reviewed. Patients were divided into normal (n = 155) and late group (n = 167) based on whether experienced treatment delays. As for the active cases, the late group showed higher progression rate than normal group (35 of 86 [40.7%] vs. 10 of 81 [12.3%]; p = 0.002). Moreover, we observed higher recurrence rate in delay group than those of normal group (26 of 81[32.1%] vs. 9 of 74 [12.2%]; p = 0.018) among stable cases. Further univariate and multivariate analysis determined treatment delays as the most important independent risk factor for disease progression and recurrence, and maintenance therapy (>2 years) as a protective factor against recurrence. This study, for the first time, revealed the independent adverse impact of treatment delays on the progression and recurrence of vitiligo and indicated the significance of continuous treatment for halting progression and long‐term maintenance therapy for preventing recurrence for vitiligo, which should be highly valued in the management of vitiligo during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

We present the results of three novel approaches to the fabrication of kesterite solar cells from scalable, Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) nanoparticle inks. Firstly, CZTS nanoparticles are annealed in a Se-rich atmosphere inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM). This allows observation of the thin film PV absorber formation in real-time and provides the new insight that chalcogen atom exchange and grain growth occur in different temperature regimes. Secondly, we demonstrate an approach to alkali doping Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 PV absorbers on flexible Mo-foil substrates that is compatible with high volume manufacturing. Adding NaF directly to the CZTS nanoparticle ink promotes grain growth and improves the device efficiency to 4.4%. Lastly, In 2 S 3 /CdS dual buffer layers are investigate to reduce the usage of Cd and result in device efficiency of 7.8% on a glass substrate.

Aristolochic acid I is a nephrotoxic compound widely existing in many kinds of traditional Chinese medicines, especially in Aristolochiaceae medicinal plants. In this study, chitosan modified carbon microcoils were designed and prepared for the selective separation of aristolochic acid I from medicinal herbs. Successful modification of carbon microcoils was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transfer infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analyses. The effects of adsorption conditions were investigated and it was determined that the adsorption of aristolochic acid I was controlled by pH. Adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and selectivity tests were performed to evaluate the adsorption capacity and selectivity of the modified carbon microcoils. The chitosan modified carbon microcoils exhibited excellent binding ability (77.72 mg g−1) and satisfactory selectivity. Finally, this material was used in solid phase extraction combined with HPLC to enrich and detect aristolochic acid I from medicinal plants. The detector response for aristolochic acid I was linear from 0.5 to 150 mg L−1, and the recoveries of aristolochic acid I ranged from 73.61 to 77.73% with the relative standard deviations of less than 5%. Thus, chitosan modified carbon microcoils were ideal adsorbents for the selective extraction of aristolochic acid I from Aristolochiaceae plants.

Bromelain, a cysteine endopeptidase enzyme of great commercial value, has been widely used in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Conventional methods for purification of bromelain are still limited by a low binding efficiency, time-consuming process, and expensive equipment. Therefore, for selective absorption of bromelain, we developed a facile and effective method to fabricate magnetic mesoporous molecularly imprinted polymers using pericarpium granati-derived carbon as the carrier for the first time. The characterizations of the imprinted polymers indicated that a polydopamine layer was coated on the surface of the carrier and the crystallinity of the carrier did not change. The obtained imprinted polymers exhibited favourable saturation magnetization, a high adsorption capacity of 135.96 mg g-1, a fast equilibrium time, and satisfactory reusability. The imprinted polymers were prepared by an eco-friendly method and exhibited rapid separation and good adsorption performance, thus making the method applicable to biomacromolecular separation, proteomic analysis, and biomedical research.

Background The deposition of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is accelerated in photoaged skin, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Intracellular degradation has been recently considered to play an important role in AGEs removal. Although lysosomal cathepsin D (CatD), B (CatB), L(CatL) and proteasomes are found to degrade internalized AGEs, it remains unknown which protease degrades internalized AGEs in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs), and whether a decrease in intracellular degradation contributes to enhanced AGEs deposition in photoaged skin. Objective This study aims to investigate the specific proteases that contribute to intracellular AGEs degradation in HDFs and regulate AGEs accumulation in photoaged skin. Methods Repetitive UVA irradiation was used to induce primary HDF photoaging in vitro. Uptake and degradation of AGE-BSA were verified and compared between photoaged and non-photoaged fibroblasts with flow cytometry, ELISA and confocal microscopy. Proteasomal and lysosomal activity, expression of CatD, CatB and CatL were also investigated between photoaged and non-photoaged fibroblasts. Further, the effect of protease inhibitors and CatD overexpression via lentiviral transduction on AGE-BSA degradation was analyzed. Finally, the correlation between CatD expression and AGEs accumulation in sun-exposed and sun-protected skin of people from different age was studied with immunohistochemistry. Results Fibroblasts underwent photoaging in vitro after repetitive UVA irradiation. AGE-BSA was taken up by both photoaged and non-photoaged fibroblasts, but its degradation was significantly decreased in photoaged cells than that of non-photoaged cells. Although the activity of proteasome, CatB, Cat L and Cat D was significantly reduced in photoaged fibroblasts compared to that of non-photoaged cells, and the expression of CatB, CatL and CatD was profoundly attenuated in photoaged fibroblasts, inhibiting proteasome, CatB and CatL did not affect AGE-BSA degradation in HDFs. In contrast, inhibiting CatD activity dose-dependently decreased AGE-BSA degradation; whereas CatD overexpression significantly increased AGE-BSA degradation. Importantly, AGEs accumulation in photo-damaged skin in vivo was inversely correlated with CatD expression. Conclusion CatD plays a major role in intracellular AGEs degradation. Decreased CatD expression and activity impairs intracellular AGEs degradation in photoaged fibroblasts, which may contribute to accelerated AGEs deposition in photoaged skin. The present study provides a potentially novel molecular basis for antiphotoaging therapy.

The bis-benzodioxole-fibrate hybrids were designed by structural simplification and bioisostere principle. Lipids lowering activity was preliminarily screened by Triton WR 1339 induced hyperlipidemia mice model, in which T3 showed the best hypolipidemia, decreasing plasma triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC), which were better than sesamin and fenofibrate (FF). T3 was also found to significantly reduce TG, TC and low density lipoprotein cholesterin (LDL-C) both in plasma and liver tissue of high fat diet (HFD) induced hyperlipidemic mice. In addition, T3 showed hepatoprotective activity, which the noteworthy amelioration in liver aminotransferases (AST and ALT) was evaluated and the histopathological observation exhibited that T3 inhibited lipids accumulation in the hepatic and alleviated liver damage. The expression of PPAR-α receptor involved lipids metabolism in liver tissue significantly increased after T3 supplementation. Other potent activity, such as antioxidation and anti-inflammation, was also observed. The molecular docking study revealed that T3 has good affinity activity toward to the active site of PPAR-α receptor. Based on these findings, T3 may serve as an effective hypolipidemic agent with hepatoprotection.

Bacterial quorum sensing (QS) molecules are involved in the coordination of certain behaviors such as biofilm formation, virulence and antibiotic resistance. QS molecules (autoinducers) and their corresponding receptors have been recognized as important therapeutic targets for drug-resistant infections and biofilm-associated infections (BAI). This study assessed the multiple biological effects of homogentisic acid γ-lactone (HgAL), a furanone derivative. The anti-QS and anti-biofilm effects of HgAL against PAO1 strain were evaluated using CLSM, SEM, HPLC and other biochemical methods The results showed that HgAL could effectively inhibit the production of pyocyanin and extracellular matrix, as well as reduce the adherence ability and biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Inhibition of virulence is attributed to the suppressive effect of HgAL on biosynthesis of 3-oxo-C12-HSL and C4-HSL (two kinds of QS signaling molecules in P. aeruginosa). Our results support HgAL as a potential agent for prevention of BAI in the healthcare settings.

In this study, surface molecularly imprinted polymers were prepared as the selective sorbents for separation of aristolochic acid I in herbal medicine extracts by a facile approach. A less toxic dummy-template, ofloxacin, was used to create specific molecule recognition sites for aristolochic acid I in the synthesized polymers. The polymers were characterized by Fourier-transfer infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, elemental analysis and nitrogen adsorption-desorption test. The adsorption capacity was calculated using adsorption kinetics, selectivity and recycling experiments. The obtained polymers exhibited high thermostability, fast equilibrium time and excellent binding ability. Subsequently, the polymers applied as the solid-phase extraction absorbent was proposed and used for the enrichment and analysis of aristolochic acid I in herbal plants. The result showed that the aristolochic acid I was enriched up to 16 times after analyzing via HPLC. The good linearity for aristolochic acid I was obtained in the range of 0.1–200 μg/mL (R2 = 0.9987). The recovery and precision values were obtained (64.94%–77.73%, RSDs% ≤ 0.8%, n = 3) at three spiked concentration levels. This work provided a promising method for selective enrichment, extraction and purification of aristolochic acid I from complex herbal plants. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

An effective and simple method was established for the separation and enrichment of steroidal saponins from Trillium tschonoskii Maxim. The adsorption and desorption properties of seven macroporous resins were investigated. Among the tested resins, AB-8 resin showed the best adsorption and desorption capacities. The adsorption of steroidal saponins on AB-8 at 25°C was quite consistent with both the Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. By optimizing the dynamic adsorption and desorption parameters, the content of steroidal saponins increased from 5.20% in the crude extracts to 51.93% in the final product, with a recovery yield of 86.67%. Furthermore, by scale-up separation, the concentration and recovery of total steroidal saponins were 43.8 and 85.5%, respectively, which suggested that AB-8 resin had great industrial and pharmaceutical potential because of its high efficiency and cost-effectiveness. In addition, a high-performance liquid chromatography method for the simultaneous determination of eight steroidal saponins was established for the first time, which was employed to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the final product. Based on the methodological validation results, the high-performance liquid chromatography method can be widely applied to the quality control of steroidal saponins from Trillium tschonoskii Maxim due to its excellent accuracy, stability, and repeatability.

Sodium is a key dopant in thin film photovoltaic cells with reported benefits including promotion of grain growth, passivation of grain boundaries and increased carrier concentration in chalcopyrite and kesterite based solar cells. Research-grade devices fabricated in substrate configuration often rely on diffusion of Na from a soda lime glass substrate into the photovoltaic absorber layer during high temperature processing. However, for samples on flexible substrates such as foils and plastics, this is not available and requires alternative approaches. In this work, we fabricate Earth-abundant $$\hbox {Cu}_2\mathrm{ZnSn(S,Se)}_4$$ thin film solar cells from nanoparticle inks on flexible molybdenum substrates and demonstrate a simple, low-cost route to incorporating Na in solution thereby making it compatible with large area, high volume manufacturing. The technique is verified to improve the device efficiency relative to a reference flexible device built on molybdenum foil.

Nowadays, the research on the recognition and separation of proteins has attracted extensive attention in the fields of materials science, bioengineering and life science. Protein imprinted polymers are ideal recognition materials, due to its high selectivity, good stability, easy preparation, and low cost. Herein, novel surface imprinting biowaste-derived molecularly imprinted polymers (BD-MIPs) were synthesized for specific recognition and purification of lysozyme (Lyz). This is the first time that magnetic pomegranate rind-derived carbon was used as a carrier to immobilize Lyz. Then, with the self-polymerization of dopamine, a large number of biocompatible recognition sites were generated under mild conditions. The physical/chemical properties and surface morphologies of the synthetic BD-MIPs were characterized, indicating that the imprinted film was successfully synthesized, and the BD-MIPs had good thermal stability and magnetic property. To investigate the recognition performance of BD-MIPs, four adsorption experiments were performed. The results show that BD-MIPs had a high adsorption capacity of 301.87 mg g−1, fast equilibrium time within 40 min, satisfactory selectivity and good reusability for Lyz. Furthermore, the practicability of BD-MIPs was confirmed by the isolation of Lyz from a biological sample. The good adsorption capacity and gentle one-step preparation make the BD-MIPs attractive for Lyz recognition, which shows potential values in basic biomedical research, industrial protein purification and clinical diagnostics.

Oxidative stress and inflammation have been considered the main factors in the liver injury of clofibrate (CF). To obtain a novel antihyperlipidemic agent with antioxidant, anti-inflammation and hepatoprotection, the combination of sesamol and clofibric acid moieties was performed and achieved sesamol-clofibrate (CF-Sesamol). CF-Sesamol showed significant hypolipidemia effects in hyperlipidemia mice induced by Triton WR 1339, reducing TG by 38.8% (P 0.01) and TC by 35.1% (P 0.01). CF-Sesamol also displayed an alleviating effect on hepatotoxicity. The hepatic weight and hepatic coefficient were decreased. The amelioration of liver function was observed, such as aspartate and lactate transaminases (AST and ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total proteins (TP) levels. Liver histopathological examination showed that hepatocyte necrosis, cytoplasmic loosening, nuclear degeneration and inflammatory cell infiltration reduced obviously by treatment with CF-Sesamol. Related molecular mechanisms on hepatoprotection showed that CF-Sesamol up-regulated Nrf2 and HO-1 expression and down-regulated p-NF-κB p65 expression in hepatic tissues. CF-Sesamol has significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Plasma antioxidant enzymes such as SOD and CAT increased, anti-lipid peroxidation product MDA decreased. The expression of TNF-α and IL-6 inflammatory cytokines in liver was significantly lower than that in the CF group. The results indicated that CF-Sesamol exerted more potent antihyperlipidemic effects and definite hepatoprotective activity partly through the Nrf2/NF-κB-mediated signaling pathway.

A series of target compounds 1,3-benzodioxole-based fibrate derivatives were designed and synthesized. All the target compounds were preliminarily evaluated by hyperlipidemia mice induced by Triton WR-1339, in which compound 12 displayed a greater anti-hyperlipidemia activity than other compounds as well as positive drug fenofibrate (FF). 12 showed a significant reduction of plasma lipids, such as triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterin (LDL-C), in high fat diet (HFD) induced hyperlipidemic mice. In addition, hepatic transaminases (AST and ALT) were ameliorated after administration of 12, in particular the AST, and the histopathological examination showed that 12 improved the hepatic lipid accumulation. The expression of PPAR-α involved in lipids metabolism was up-regulated in the liver tissues of 12-treated group. Other significant activity such as antioxidant, and anti-inflammation was confirmed and reinforced the effects of 12 as a potential hypolipidemia and hepatoprotective agent.

The extensive use of nanomaterials in commercial products will lead to environmental contamination, which may cause serious health issues in the future. To date, limited scavengers have been available for the capture of these emerging nanopollutants from water. The aim of this work was to synthesize hybrid ternary co-polymer membrane-coated micrometer-sized carbon fiber aerogels (MCFAs) to remove emerging nanopollutants from water and to investigate the mechanisms involved. The MCFAs were fabricated by direct pyrolysis of cotton in an inert atmosphere. Post-modification with chitosan (CS) and dopamine–polyethylenimine (PEI) complex generated amine-coated MCFAs with porous textures, followed by protonation using diluted acid solution. The surface functional groups and morphologies of the ternary CS and dopamine–PEI co-coated MCFAs were systematically characterized. The as-obtained hybrid composite was successfully used for the removal of citrate-capped gold and silver nanoparticles from water. The equilibrium data were well fitted to the Langmuir isotherm model, with maximal adsorption capacities of 31.2 mg g−1 (Au NPs) and 41.8 mg g−1 (Ag NPs) at ambient temperature. The highest adsorption capacities reached 30.2 mg g−1 (Au NPs) and 34.9 mg g−1 (Ag NPs) at the equilibrium concentrations; these were very close to the maximum adsorption capacities of the monolayers. In addition, the adsorption of both nanoparticles on the as-prepared composite followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. Therefore, this work may pave the way for enhancing the properties of MCFAs for removal of nanopollutants from medical and/or industrial wastewaters.

In this work, a series of facile and efficient molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the selective recognition and separation of lysozyme were synthesized by combining self-polymerization and nanosized matrix. The imprinted materials containing recognition sites for the lysozyme were formed via using both carboxyl-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-COOH) as a support and dopamine (DA) with excellent biocompatibility as a functional monomer. The obtained polymers were characterized and evaluated by using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), field-emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM), nitrogen physisorption experiments, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The optimum reaction conditions and adsorption performance of the resultant nanomaterials were also investigated. MIPs synthesized by this method exhibited excellent imprinting factor (4.1) and high binding capacity (418 mg g−1) for lysozyme. After six adsorption–desorption cycles, the adsorption capacity of the MIPs was only reduced by 7.4%. In addition, the prepared MIPs were used to separate and condense lysozyme from chicken egg white successfully, which showed potential values in industrial protein purification, basic biomedical research and clinical diagnostics.

Background: Cathepsin L (CatL) is a cysteine protease with strong matrix degradation activity that contributes to photoaging. Mannose phosphate-independent sorting pathways mediate ultraviolet A (UVA)-induced alternate trafficking of CatL. Little is known about signaling pathways involved in the regulation of UVA-induced CatL expression and activity. This study aims to investigate whether a single UVA irradiation affects CatL expression and activity and whether mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/activator protein-1 (AP-1) pathway is involved in the regulation of UVA-induced CatL expression and activity in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). Methods: Primary HDFs were exposed to UVA. Cell proliferation was determined by a cell counting kit. UVA-induced CatL production and activity were studied with quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blotting, and fluorimetric assay in cell lysates collected on three consecutive days after irradiation. Time courses of UVA-activated JNK and p38MAPK signaling were examined by Western blotting. Effects of MAPK inhibitors and knockdown of Jun and Fos on UVA-induced CatL expression and activity were investigated by RT-PCR, Western blotting, and fluorimetric assay. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance. Results: UVA significantly increased CatL gene expression, protein abundance, and enzymatic activity for three consecutive days after irradiation (F= 83.11, 56.14, and 71.19, respectively; all P < 0.05). Further investigation demonstrated phosphorylation of JNK and p38MAPK activated by UVA. Importantly, inactivation of JNK pathway significantly decreased UVA-induced CatL expression and activity, which were not affected by p38MAPK inhibition. Moreover, knockdown of Jun and Fos significantly attenuated basal and UVA-induced CatL expression and activity. Conclusions: UVA enhances CatL production and activity in HDFs, probably by activating JNK and downstreaming AP-1. These findings provide a new possible molecular approach for antiphotoaging therapy. Key words: Cathepsin L; JNK Pathway; Photoaging; Ultraviolet A

Nowadays, the illegal use of estradiol in cosmetics has caused a series of events which endangering public health seriously. Therefore, it is imperative to establish a simple, fast and specific method for monitoring the illegal use of estradiol in cosmetics. In current study, we developed a molecular imprinted monolithic column two dimensional liquid chromatography method (MIMC-2D-LC) for rapid and selective determination of estradiol in various cosmetic samples. The best polymerization, morphology, structure property, surface groups, and the adsorption performance of the prepared material were investigated. The MIMC-2D-LC was validated and successfully used for detecting estradiol in cosmetic samples with good selectivity, sensitivity, efficiency and reproducibility. The linear range of the MIMC-2D-LC for estradiol was 0.5-50μgg-1 with the limit of detection of 0.08μgg-1. Finally, six batches of cosmetic samples obtained from local markets were tested by the proposed method. The test results showed that the illegal use of estradiol still existed in the commercially available samples.

6,7-dimethoxy-3-(4-(4-fluorobenzyloxy)-3-methoxyphenylmethyl) quinazolin-4(3H)-one (DFMQ-19), a novel analogue of 3-benzylquinazolin-4(3H)-ones, may be considered as a drug candidate for the treatment of hypertension. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography to determine the DFMQ-19 in plasma and demonstrate its application in pharmacokinetic study. Separation of DFMQ-19 and I.S (structural analog of DFMQ-19) was performed using Shim-Pack VP-ODS column and a mixture of acetonitrile and water as mobile phase. The HPLC method was validated according to the ICH guidelines. The limit of detection and lower limit of quantitation were 0.05 µg/ml and 0.1 µg/ml respectively. The recovery rate of DFMQ-19 from blood samples was >81% of the spiked amount. The RSD of the intra- and inter-day precisions was within 7.5%, and RE of accuracy was between -14.4% and 4.5%. This method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study after administration of DFMQ-19. The pharmacokinetic parameters, such as half-life (t1/2 ), mean residence time (MRT), maximum concentration (Cmax ) were determined. Based on these pharmacokinetic parameters, the oral bioavailability of DFMQ-19 was calculated to be 13.42% in rat. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. HIGHLIGHTS HPLC method was validated to quantify DFMQ-19 in rat plasma I.S is one of the structural analogs of the analyte The HPLC method was validated according to the ICH guidelines The oral bioavailability of DFMQ-19 was 13.42% in rat.

Penicillenol A2 (isolated from deep-sea fungus Penicillium biourgeianum DFFSCS023) has good antibacterial activity against methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus and in combination with beta-lactam antibiotics it could significantly decrease methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) survival, which provided a novel treatment consideration for MRSA-caused infections.

Penicillenol A2 (isolated from deep-sea fungus Penicillium biourgeianum DFFSCS023) has good antibacterial activity against methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus and in combination with beta-lactam antibiotics it could significantly decrease methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) survival, which provides a novel treatment consideration for MRSA-caused infections.