Hinokione: an abietene diterpene with pancreatic ß cells regeneration and hypoglycemic activity, and other derivatives with novel structures from the woods of Agathis dammara.

In this study, 14 abietene and pimarene diterpenoids were isolated from the woods of Agathis dammara. Among them, 4 new compounds, dammarone A-C and dammaric acid A (1-4), were firstly reported, respectively. The structure of the new compounds was determined by HR ESI-MS and 1D/2D NMR spectroscopy, and their absolute configuration was determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) exciton chirality method. The hypoglycemic effect of all compounds was evaluated by transgenic zebrafish model, and the structure-activity relationship was discussed. Hinokione (7, HO) has low toxicity and significant hypoglycemic effects on zebrafish, the mechanism is mainly by promoting the differentiation of zebrafish pancreatic endocrine precursor cells (PEP cells) into ß cells, thereby promoting the regeneration of pancreatic ß cells.

Metabolic landscape of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma informs a novel kynurenine/Siglec-15 axis in immune escape.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic reprograming and immune escape are two hallmarks of cancer. However, how metabolic disorders drive immune escape in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the metabolic landscape of HNSCC and its mechanism of driving immune escape. METHODS: Analysis of paired tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues from 69 HNSCC patients was performed using liquid/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and RNA-sequencing. The tumor-promoting function of kynurenine (Kyn) was explored in vitro and in vivo. The downstream target of Kyn was investigated in CD8+ T cells. The regulation of CD8+ T cells was investigated after Siglec-15 overexpression in vivo. An engineering nanoparticle was established to deliver Siglec-15 small interfering RNA (siS15), and its association with immunotherapy response were investigated. The association between Siglec-15 and CD8+ programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)+ T cells was analyzed in a HNSCC patient cohort. RESULTS: A total of 178 metabolites showed significant dysregulation in HNSCC, including carbohydrates, lipids and lipid-like molecules, and amino acids. Among these, amino acid metabolism was the most significantly altered, especially Kyn, which promoted tumor proliferation and metastasis. In addition, most immune checkpoint molecules were upregulated in Kyn-high patients based on RNA-sequencing. Furthermore, tumor-derived Kyn was transferred into CD8+ T cells and induced T cell functional exhaustion, and blocking Kyn transporters restored its killing activity. Accroding to the results, mechanistically, Kyn transcriptionally regulated the expression of Siglec-15 via aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), and overexpression of Siglec-15 promoted immune escape by suppressing T cell infiltration and activation. Targeting AhR in vivo reduced Kyn-mediated Siglec-15 expression and promoted intratumoral CD8+ T cell infiltration and killing capacity. Finally, a NH2-modified mesoporous silica nanoparticle was designed to deliver siS15, which restored CD8+ T cell function status and enhanced anti-PD-1 efficacy in tumor-bearing immunocompetent mice. Clinically, Siglec-15 was positively correlated with AhR expression and CD8+PD-1+ T cell infiltration in HNSCC tissues. CONCLUSIONS: The findings describe the metabolic landscape of HNSCC comprehensively and reveal that the Kyn/Siglec-15 axis may be a novel potential immunometabolism mechanism, providing a promising therapeutic strategy for cancers.

Effective Charge Collection of Electron Transport Layers for High-Performance Quantum Dot Infrared Solar Cells.

Infrared (IR) solar cells, capable of converting low-energy IR photons to electron-hole pairs, are promising optoelectronic devices by broadening the utilization range of the solar spectrum to the short-wavelength IR region. The emerging PbS colloidal quantum dot (QD) IR solar cells attract much attention due to their tunable band gaps in the IR region, potential multiple exciton generation, and facile solution processing. In PbS QD solar cells, ZnO is commonly utilized as an electron transport layer (ETL) to establish a depleted heterostructure with a QD photoactive layer. However, band gap shrinkage of large PbS QDs makes it necessary to tailor the behaviors of the ZnO ETL for efficient carrier extraction in the devices. Herein, the characteristics of ZnO ETL are efficiently and flexibly tailored to match the QD layer by handily adjusting the postannealing process of ZnO ETL. With a suitable temperature, the well-matched energy level alignment and suppressed trap states are simultaneously achieved in the ZnO ETL, effectively reducing the nonradiative recombination and accelerating the electron injection from the QD layer to ETL. As a consequence, a high-performance PbS QD photovoltaic device with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 10.09% and 1.37% is obtained under AM 1.5 and 1100 nm filtered solar illumination, demonstrating a simple and effective approach for achieving high-performance IR photoelectric devices.

Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity Evaluation of Pyridine Derivatives Containing Imidazo[2,1-b][1,3,4]Thiadiazole Moiety.

Four series of novel pyridine derivatives (17 a-i, 18 a-i, 19 a-e, and 20 a-e) were synthesized and their antimicrobial activities were evaluated. Of all the target compounds, almost half target compounds showed moderate or high antibacterial activity. The 4-F substituted compound 17 d (MIC=0.5 µg/mL) showed the highest antibacterial activity, its activity was twice the positive control compound gatifloxacin (MIC=1.0 µg/mL). For fungus ATCC 9763, the activities of compounds 17 a and 17 d are equivalent to the positive control compound fluconazole (MIC=8 µg/mL). Furthermore, compounds 17 a and 17 d showed little cytotoxicity to human LO2 cells, and did not show hemolysis even at ultra-high concentration (200 µM). The results indicate that these compounds are valuable for further development as antibacterial and antifungal agents.

[Intervention effect of narrative therapy on non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents with depressive disorder: a prospective randomized controlled study]. / å™äº‹æ²»ç–—å¯¹é’å°‘å¹´æŠ‘éƒç—‡æ‚£è€ éžè‡ªæ€æ€§è‡ªä¼¤çš„å¹²é¢„æ•ˆæžœï¼šä¸€é¡¹å‰çž»æ€§éšæœºå¯¹ç §ç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To study the intervention effect of narrative therapy on non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), as well as anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents with depressive disorder. METHODS: Sixty adolescents with depressive disorder and NSSI were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group using coin flipping. The control group received conventional psychological support, while the intervention group received individual narrative therapy in addition to the conventional psychological support (twice a week, 60 minutes per session, for a total of 3 weeks). Assessment of treatment efficacy was conducted using the Adolescent Self-Harm Questionnaire, Children's Depression Inventory, and Children's Anxiety and Mood Scale before the intervention, at the end of the intervention, and one month after the intervention for both groups. RESULTS: A total of 26 adolescents in the intervention group and 29 adolescents in the control group completed the entire study. At the end of the intervention and one month after the intervention, the intervention group showed a significant reduction in the NSSI frequency score, NSSI level, anxiety score, and depression score compared to before the intervention (P<0.017). Moreover, at the end of the intervention and one month after the intervention, the intervention group exhibited significantly lower NSSI frequency score, NSSI severity score, NSSI level, anxiety score and depression score compared to the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Narrative therapy is effective in reducing NSSI frequency and alleviating NSSI severity, as well as anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents with depressive disorder.

Compounds from Agathis dammara exert hypoglycaemic activity by enhancing glucose uptake: lignans, terpenes and others.

In this study, two new kaurane diterpenes (16, 17), together with 12 lignans (1-12), a triterpene (15), and two other compounds (13, 14) were isolated from the woods of Agathis dammara. The structure of the new compound was determined by HR ESIMS and 1D/2D NMR spectroscopy, and its absolute configuration was determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) exciton chirality method. Compounds 5, 11, 14 exhibit significant hypoglycaemic activity in zebrafish, and their mechanism of action is to enhance glucose uptake in zebrafish.

A Novel Strategy for the Synthesis of High Stability of Luminescent Zero Dimensional-Two Dimensional CsPbBr3 Quantum Dot/1,4-bis(4-methylstyryl)benzene Nanoplate Heterostructures at an Atmospheric Condition.

Perovskite quantum dots (QDs), emerging with excellent bright-green photoluminescence (PL) and a large absorption coefficient, are of great potential for the fabrication of light sources in underwater optical wireless communication systems. However, the instability caused by low formation energy and abundant surface traps is still a major concern for perovskite-based light sources in underwater conditions. Herein, we propose ultra-stable zero dimensional-two dimensional (0D-2D) CsPbBr3 QD/1,4-bis(4-methylstyryl)benzene (p-MSB) nanoplate (NP) heterostructures synthesized via a facile approach at room temperature in air. CsPbBr3 QDs can naturally nucleate on the p-MSB NP toluene solution, and the radiative combination is drastically intensified owing to the electron transfer within the typical type-II heterostructures, leading to a sharply increased PLQY of the heterostructure thin films up to 200% compared with the pristine sample. The passivation of defects within CsPbBr3 QDs can be effectively realized with the existence of p-MSB NPs, and thus the obviously improved PL is steadily witnessed in an ambient atmosphere and thermal environment. Meanwhile, the enhanced humidity stability and a peak EQE of 9.67% suggests a synergetic strategy for concurrently addressing the knotty problems on unsatisfied luminous efficiency and stability of perovskites for high-performance green-emitting optoelectronic devices in underwater applications.

Sensitivity Enhancement of 2D Material-Based Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor with an Al-Ni Bimetallic Structure.

In this paper, a variety of 2D materials on the surface plasmon resonance sensor based on Al-Ni bimetallic layer are compared. Simulation results indicate that lateral position shift, which is calculated according to the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index of material, can be used as an effective parameter to optimize the sensitivity. By using the parameters for optimizing the SPR structures, the results show that the multiple layer models of Al(40 nm)-Ni(22 nm)-black phosphorus (BP)(1 L) and Al(40 nm)-Ni(22 nm)-blue phosphorus (BlueP)/WS2(1 L) exhibit average angular sensitivities of 507.0 °/RIU and 466 °/RIU in the refractive index range of 1.330-1.335, and maximum sensitivity of 542 °/RIU and 489 °/RIU at the refractive index of 1.333, respectively. We expect more applications can be explored based on the highly sensitive SPR sensor in different fields of optical sensing.

Region, vintage, and grape maturity co-shaped the ionomic signatures of the Cabernet Sauvignon wines.

The ionic elements in wine and in vineyards are gaining attention due to characterization of the wine traits, wine origin tracing, and vine nutrient judging. In this experiment, 19 elements were detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in 69 wine samples from 4 regions, 3 vintages, and 3 grape maturity levels. Furthermore, the elements related to vine development, such as N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Zn and Cu in the vineyard soil and petioles were determined. Two orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (O2PLS-DA) showed that K, Mn, Co, Sr, B, Si, Pb, Ni, Cu, and Zn were important elements in distinguishing the regions. High-temperature vintages can bring wines with high levels of Sr in wine. Na, Ca, K, Mg, Rb, Al, Rb, Pb and Fe can be used as signature elements to distinguish wines made from 2 grape maturities. And Cu, Zn, and Mn were the key elements used to differentiate the petioles in the 4 regions. Partial square regression (PLSR) analysis showed that soil pH was positively correlated with Al, B, Ba, K, Pb, Mn, Sr and Rb in wine, and K in wine was significantly positively correlated with element K in the soil. In conclusion, the elemental contents in wine are shaped by the combination of origin, vintage and grape maturity, while some key elements can be used as indicators of origin traceability.

Hybrid UV Photodetector Design Incorporating AuPt Alloy Hybrid Nanoparticles, ZnO Quantum Dots, and Graphene Quantum Dots.

A hybrid device scheme is an attractive strategy in the construction of advanced UV photodetectors due to the flexibility in selecting the components and correspondingly improved optoelectronic properties by the cooperation of various components, which cannot be achieved by a single component device. In this work, a novel hybrid UV photodetector (PD) is demonstrated by adapting AuPt alloy hybrid nanoparticles (AHNPs), ZnO quantum dots (QDs), and graphene quantum dots (GQDs), namely, GQD/ZnO/AHNP PD. The optimized device achieves high-end figure-of-merit performance with a responsivity of 2299 mA/W, detectivity of 7.04 × 1010 jones, and external quantum efficiency of 741%. Enhanced photocurrent can be associated with the hot electron generation around the AuPt AHNPs and swift transfer to the conduction band of ZnO QDs. At the same time, the added carrier injection is achieved by a thin layer of GQDs. High density of hotspots and electromagnetic fields are generated by the strong localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) by the uniquely designed AuPt AHNPs with the fully alloyed AuPt NPs and adjacent small background Au NPs. The e-field distribution of various NP configurations is systematically investigated with finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations.

Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials: Selected Papers from CCMR.

Nanomaterial technology for the synthesis, processing, and fabrication of low-dimensional materials is where disciplines merge into a remarkable range of applications, from optoelectronics to health care (contribution 1-7), which affect the lives of millions [...].

Modal interference discrepancy and its application to a modified fiber Mach-Zehnder Vernier interferometer.

In this paper, modal interference discrepancy in an all-fiber MZI is theoretically analyzed and experimentally verified. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that ambient refractive index (RI) response of core-cladding modal interference in an all-fiber MZI is blue-shift, while that of cladding-cladding modal interference is red-shift. Temperature response trends of the two kinds of modal interference are uniformly red-shift. The discrepancy is used to fabricate an improved Vernier sensor which is cascaded by two unit MZIs. One MZI is slightly core-offset fused to obtain core-cladding modal interference, and the other is obviously offset fused to get cladding-cladding modal interference. Ambient RI sensitivity of the cascaded sensor is improved with temperature cross-talk restrained. Ambient RI responses of the two unit MZIs are measured to be opposite, which are -54.009 nm/RIU (within RI range of 1.3362∼1.3811) for the slight and 142.581 nm/RIU for the obvious offset unit MZI. While, temperature response trends of them are consistent, which are 0.042 nm/°C for the slight and 0.025 nm/°C for the obvious offset unit MZI, respectively. For the cascaded Vernier sensor ambient RI sensitivity reaches -1788.160 nm/RIU, which is 33.1 and 12.5 folds improved over the two unit MZIs, respectively. Temperature sensitivity of the cascaded sensor is as low as 0.167 nm/°C and only causes a slight RI error of 9.339 × 10-5 RIU/°C. Due to the simple structure, ease of fabrication, and low temperature cross-talk, the modal interference discrepancy-based Vernier sensor is believed to have potential application prospects in biochemical sensing fields.

High Performance 0D ZnO Quantum Dot/2D (PEA)2PbI4 Nanosheet Hybrid Photodetectors Fabricated via a Facile Antisolvent Method.

Two-dimensional (2D) organic-inorganic perovskites have great potential for the fabrication of next-generation photodetectors owing to their outstanding optoelectronic features, but their utilization has encountered a bottleneck in anisotropic carrier transportation induced by the unfavorable continuity of the thin films. We propose a facile approach for the fabrication of 0D ZnO quantum dot (QD)/2D (PEA)2PbI4 nanosheet hybrid photodetectors under the atmospheric conditions associated with the ZnO QD chloroform antisolvent. Profiting from the antisolvent, the uniform morphology of the perovskite thin films is obtained owing to the significantly accelerated nucleation site formation and grain growth rates, and ZnO QDs homogeneously decorate the surface of (PEA)2PbI4 nanosheets, which spontaneously passivate the defects on perovskites and enhance the carrier separation by the well-matched band structure. By varying the ZnO QD concentration, the Ion/Ioff ratio of the photodetectors radically elevates from 78.3 to 1040, and a 12-fold increase in the normalized detectivity is simultaneously observed. In addition, the agglomeration of perovskite grains is governed by the annealing temperature, and the photodetector fabricated at a relatively low temperature of 120 °C exhibits excellent stability after a 50-cycle test in the air condition without any encapsulation.

[Effect of electroacupuncture of "Zusanli"(ST36) and "Guanyuan" (CV4) on apoptosis and expression of apoptosis-related proteins of synoviocytes in adjuvant-induced arthritis rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) of "Zusanli"(ST36) and "Guanyuan"(CV4) on the apoptosis rate of synoviocytes and protein expression of Fas, FasL and Caspase-3 in synovial tissue of adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rats, so as to explore its mechanisms underlying improvement of rheumatoid arthritis （RA）. METHODS: A total of 24 rats were randomly divided into normal, model, medication and EA groups, with 6 rats in each group. The AIA model was established by injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA, 0.1 mL) into the left hindlimb paw. The rats in the medication group received intraperitoneal injection of 0.35 mg/kg of methotrexate, twice a week for 4 weeks. The rats in the EA group received EA stimulation of ST36 and CV4 (20 Hz/50 Hz, 1 mA) for 20 min, 6 times a week for 4 weeks. The left hind paw volume was measured using a paw volume meter, and histopathological changes of synovial tissue were observed by light microscope after H.E. staining. The serum contents of tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） and interleukin-1 （IL-1） were measured by ELISA. The apoptosis of synoviocytes was detected by terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL), and the expression of apoptosis-associated proteins Fas, FasL and Caspase-3 in synovium were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with the normal group, the left hind paw volume from day 3 to 24 after administration of CFA, serum IL-1 and TNF-α contents were significantly increased (P<0.01), while the expressions of Fas, FasL and Caspase-3 proteins and apoptotic rate of synoviocytes were significantly decreased in the model group (P<0.01). In comparison with the model group, the paw volume from day 17 to 24 after modeling, the serum IL-1 and TNF-α contents were significantly reduced (P<0.01), while the apoptotic rate of synoviocytes, expressions of Fas protein in both medication and EA groups, Caspase-3 protein in the acupuncture group and FasL protein in the medication group were increased (P<0.01, P<0.05). Compared with the medication group, the expression of FasL protein was decreased in EA group (P<0.05). H.E. stain showed obvious hyperplasia of the synovial lining layer, and disordered arrangement of synovial cells, with edema and enlargement in some cells in the model group, which was relatively milder in both medication and EA groups. CONCLUSION: EA of ST36 and CV4 can promote the apoptosis of synoviocytes and the expressions of Fas and FasL proteins in AIA rats, which may contribute to its role in relieving synovitis through activating Fas/FasL signaling.

Pan-KRAS inhibitors suppress proliferation through feedback regulation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is currently one of the most lethal cancers worldwide. Several basic studies have confirmed that Kirsten rat sarcoma virus (KRAS) is a key driver gene for the occurrence of PDAC, and KRAS mutations have also been found in most patients in clinical studies. In this study, two pan-KRAS inhibitors, BI-2852 and BAY-293, were chosen as chemical probes to investigate their antitumor potency in PDAC. Their inhibitory effects on KRAS activation were validated in vitro and their antiproliferative potency in PDAC cell lines were profiled, with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of approximately 1 µM, demonstrating the therapeutic potential of pan-KRAS inhibitors in the treatment of PDAC. However, feedback regulation in the KRAS pathway weakened inhibitor activity, which was observed by a 50 times difference in BAY-293 from in vitro activity. Furthermore, pan-KRAS inhibitors effectively inhibited cell proliferation in 3D organoids cultured from PDAC patient samples; however, there were some variations between individuals. These results provide a sufficient theoretical foundation for KRAS as a clinical therapeutic target and for the application of pan-KRAS inhibitors in the treatment of PDAC, with important scientific significance in translational medicine.

New Sorbicillinoids with Tea Pathogenic Fungus Inhibitory Effect from Marine-Derived Fungus Hypocrea jecorina H8.

Four new dimeric sorbicillinoids (1-3 and 5) and a new monomeric sorbicillinoid (4) as well as six known analogs (6-11) were purified from the fungal strain Hypocrea jecorina H8, which was obtained from mangrove sediment, and showed potent inhibitory activity against the tea pathogenic fungus Pestalotiopsis theae (P. theae). The planar structures of 1-5 were assigned by analyses of their UV, IR, HR-ESI-MS, and NMR spectroscopic data. All the compounds were evaluated for growth inhibition of tea pathogenic fungus P. theae. Compounds 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 exhibited more potent inhibitory activities compared with the positive control hexaconazole with an ED50 of 24.25 ± 1.57 µg/mL. The ED50 values of compounds 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 were 9.13 ± 1.25, 2.04 ± 1.24, 18.22 ± 1.29, 1.83 ± 1.37, and 4.68 ± 1.44 µg/mL, respectively. Additionally, the effects of these compounds on zebrafish embryo development were also evaluated. Except for compounds 5 and 8, which imparted toxic effects on zebrafish even at 0.625 µM, the other isolated compounds did not exhibit significant toxicity to zebrafish eggs, embryos, or larvae. Taken together, sorbicillinoid derivatives (6, 9, and 10) from H. jecorina H8 displayed low toxicity and high anti-tea pathogenic fungus potential.

Two new compounds from a mangrove sediment-derived fungus Penicillium polonicum H175.

Two new compounds, 6-acetyl-4-methoxy-3,5-dimethyl-2H-pyran-2-one (1) and (2E,4E)-5-((2S,3S,4R,5R)-3,4-dihydroxy-2,4,5-trimethyltetrahydrofuran-2-yl)-2,4-dimethylpenta-2,4-dienal (2), and 22 known compounds were identified from the mangrove-forest-derived fungus Penicillium polonicum H175. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by analysis of the high-resolution electrospray ionisation mass spectroscopy (HR-ESI-MS), 1 D and 2 D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data. The hypoglycaemic effect of compounds was evaluated by the Tg (Ins: htBidTE-ON; LR) zebrafish model. Compound 3 (aspterric acid) exhibited a significant hypoglycaemic effect equivalent to the positive drug rosiglitazone (RSG) at 10 µmol/L.

[Effect of electroacupuncture on autophagy in synovial tissues of rheumatoid arthritis rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on autophagosomes, unc-51-like autophage activating kinase 1 (ULK1), Beclin1, and microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) expression, and synoviocyte ultrastructure in the synovial tissues of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats, and to explore the mechanism of EA in regulating the proliferation of synoviocytes via the autophagy pathway. METHODS: The SD rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group, a methotrexate (MTX) group, and an EA group, with 6 rats in each group. Following RA modeling with Freund's complete adjuvant, rats in the MTX group were treated with intragastric administration of 0.35 mg/kg MTX, twice a week, for 4 weeks, while those in the EA group received 20-min EA stimulation at "Zusanli" (ST36) and "Guanyuan" (CV4), once per day, for 4 weeks, with an interval of one day between weeks. The rat left hind toe volume was measured using the toe volume measuring instrument. HE staining was conducted for detecting the morphology of rat synovial tissues, followed by the observation of autophagosomes under the transmission electron microscope. The levels of serum interleukin (IL)-1 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were assayed by ELISA, and the protein expression levels of ULK1, Beclin1, and LC3 were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with the normal group, the left hind toe volume of the model group increased significantly (P<0.01), while serum IL-1 and TNF-α (P<0.01), synovial ULK1, Beclin1, and LC3 protein expression (P<0.01, P<0.05) up-regulated. HE stain and electron microscope showed obvious synovial hyperplasia, and doublemembrane autophagosomes scattering in the synoviocytes. The comparison with the model group showed that MTX and EA remarkably decreased the left hind toe volume (P<0.01), serum IL-1 and TNF-α (P<0.01), down-regulated the protein expression levels of ULK1 and LC3 in synovial tissues (P<0.05, P<0.01), and inhibited the synovial hyperplasia, with no obvious autophagosomes observed in the synoviocytes. The protein expression of ULK1 in the EA group was significantly lower than that in the MTX group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: EA alleviates the joint swelling and synoviocyte injury of RA rats possibly by regulating the expression of ULK1, LC3, and Beclin1 and inhibiting the synoviocyte autophagy and proliferation.

Facile Fabrication of Ultrasensitive Honeycomb Nano-Mesh Ultraviolet Photodetectors Based on Self-Assembled Plasmonic Architectures.

The dilemma of harvesting fugacious photons by photoactive nanomaterials of limited absorption volume fundamentally hinders the photodetection at relatively lower light intensities. To address the insufficient light utilization efficiency, spatial light confinement becomes an effective and promising approach. High-performance ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors based on the self-assembled Au nanoparticle/ZnO honeycomb nano-mesh (Au NP/ZnO HN) are demonstrated through a facile solution-processed method on anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes. The congregated geometry of the self-assembled ZnO HNs is well-defined by the AAO matrixes, which also effectively collects the transmitted light beams back to the photoactive layers. Benefiting from surface plasmon resonance, the enhanced absorption of the ZnO HNs is eventually obtained via the recursive light utilization between Au NPs and AAO matrixes as a function of AAO pore diameters (DAAO). With a systematic control of the photodetector configurations, an optimal performance is obtained with growth duration of the ZnO HNs for 40 min on the AAO substrates (DAAO = 100 nm), and an excellent responsivity of 23.4 A/W is witnessed even under a relatively low light intensity of 0.4 mW/cm2, providing a novel route to realize high-performance UV photodetection under low-power illumination.