Paeoniflorin alleviates hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in HK-2 cells by inhibiting apoptosis and repressing oxidative damage via Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious disorder associated with significant morbidity and mortality. AKI and ischemia/reperfusion (hypoxia/reoxygenation, H/R) injury can be induced due to several reasons. Paeoniflorin (PF) is a traditional herbal medicine derived from Paeonia lactiflora Pall. It exerts diverse therapeutic effects, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, antiapoptotic, and immunomodulatory properties; thus, it is considered valuable for treating several diseases. However, the effects of PF on H/R injury-induced AKI remain unknown. In this study, we established an in vitro H/R model using COCL2 and investigated the functions and underlying mechanisms of PF on H/R injury in HK-2 cells. The cell vitality was evaluated using the cell count kit-8 assay. The DCFH-DA fluorescence probe was used to measure the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Oxidative damage was detected using superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) assay kits. Apoptotic relative protein and Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling were evaluated by Western blotting. Our results indicated that PF increased cell viability and SOD activity and decreased the ROS and MDA levels in HK-2 cells with H/R injury. PF inhibits apoptosis by increasing Bcl-2 and decreasing Bax. Furthermore, PF significantly upregulated the expression of HO-1 and Nrf2, but downregulated the expression of HIF-1α and Keap1. PF considerably increased Nrf2 nuclear translocation and unregulated the HO-1 expression. The Nrf2 inhibitor (ML385) could reverse the abovementioned protective effects of PF, suggesting that Nrf2 can be a critical target of PF. To conclude, we found that PF attenuates H/R injury-induced AKI by decreasing the oxidative damage via the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway and inhibiting apoptosis.

High-Q lasing via all-dielectric Bloch-surface-wave platform.

Controlling the propagation and emission of light via Bloch surface waves (BSWs) has held promise in the field of on-chip nanophotonics. BSW-based optical devices are being widely investigated to develop on-chip integration systems. However, a coherent light source that is based on the stimulated emission of a BSW mode has yet to be developed. Here, we demonstrate lasers based on a guided BSW mode sustained by a gain-medium guiding structure microfabricated on the top of a BSW platform. A long-range propagation length of the BSW mode and a high-quality lasing emission of the BSW mode are achieved. The BSW lasers possess a lasing threshold of 6.7 µJ/mm2 and a very narrow linewidth reaching a full width at half maximum as small as 0.019 nm. Moreover, the proposed lasing scheme exhibits high sensitivity to environmental changes suggesting the applicability of the proposed BSW lasers in ultra-sensitive devices.

Fluorofenidone Attenuates Renal Interstitial Fibrosis by Enhancing Autophagy and Retaining Mitochondrial Function.

BACKGROUND: Fluorofenidone (AKF-PD) is a novel pyridone agent and has potent anti-NLRP3 inflammasome and anti-fibrotic activities. However, the mechanisms underlying its pharmacological actions are not fully understood. METHODS: A renal fibrosis rat model was established by the unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) procedure and the rats were randomized and treated with, or without, AKF-PD for 3 and 7 days. The levels of renal fibrosis, NLRP3 inflammasome activation, mitochondrial function, and autophagy were tested in rat kidney tissues. Macrophages following lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) stimulation were examined by Western blot, spectrophotometry, and TEM. RESULTS: Compared with the untreated UUO rats, AKF-PD treatment significantly mitigated the UUO procedure-induced renal fibrosis in rats. AKF-PD treatment decreased mitochondrial dysfunction and IL-Iß and caspase-1 expression in rat kidney tissues and reduced mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production in activated macrophages. Mechanistically, AKF-PD treatment significantly attenuated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling, increased Beclin-1 and LC3 II expression and autophagosome formation, and ameliorated the mitochondrial damage in renal tissues and activated macrophages. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that AKF-PD treatment inhibited renal interstitial fibrosis by regulating the autophagy-mitochondria-NLRP3 inflammasome pathway.

Acute Hepatitis E Induced the First Episode of Immune-Mediated Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: The First Case Report.

Purpose: Hepatitis E virus infection mainly presents with liver-related symptoms, and multiple studies have shown that hepatitis E virus infection can also induce extrahepatic-related symptoms. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura is an uncommon and fatal thrombotic microangiopathy characterized by severe thrombocytopenia, organ damage, and microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia. We report the first case in which acute hepatitis E induced the first episode of immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Patients and Methods: A 53-year-old male was admitted to our emergency department with fever, thrombocytopenia, and abnormal liver function. Laboratory tests revealed significant bilirubin, AST, and ALT elevations, renal impairment, positive anti-HEV IgM and IgG antibody results, schistocytes on the blood smear, 0% ADAMTS-13 activity, and positive ADAMTS13 inhibitor results. He was diagnosed with acute hepatitis E, which induced the first episode of immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Results: After receiving treatment with plasmapheresis, glucocorticoid medication, rituximab, and other supportive medicines, the patient's physiological circumstances and laboratory indicators improved, and a 4-month follow-up revealed no abnormalities. Conclusion: This is a unique case report of an acute hepatitis E-induced immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura initial episode. This case report offers evidence that hepatitis E virus infection can cause thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. In patients with abnormal liver function and thrombocytopenia, we advise screening for hepatitis E or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Ligand Engineering and Recrystallization of Perovskite Quantum-Dot Thin Film for Low-Threshold Plasmonic Lattice Laser.

Solution-process perovskite quantum dots (QDs) are promising materials to be utilized in photovoltaics and photonics with their superior optical properties. Advancements in top-down nanofabrication for perovskite are thus important for practical photonic and plasmonic devices. However, different from the chemically synthesized nano/micro-structures that show high quality and low surface roughness, the perovskite QD thin film prepared by spin-coating or the drop-casting process shows a large roughness and inhomogeneity. Low-roughness and low-optical loss perovskite QD thin film is highly desired for photonic and optoelectronic devices. Here, this work presents a pressure-assisted ligand engineering/recrystallization process for high-quality and well-thickness controlled CsPbBr3 QD film and demonstrates a low-threshold and single-mode plasmonic lattice laser. A recrystallization process is proposed to prepare the QD film with a low roughness (RMS = 1.3 nm) and small thickness (100 nm). Due to the low scattering loss and strong interaction between gain media and plasmonic nanoparticles, a low lasing threshold of 16.9 µJ cm-2 is achieved. It is believed that this work is not only important to the plasmonic laser field but also provides a promising and general nanofabrication method of solution-processed QDs for various photonic and plasmonic devices.

Integration of on-chip perovskite nanocrystal laser and long-range surface plasmon polariton waveguide with etching-free process.

Perovskite materials prepared in the form of solution-processed nanocrystals and used in top-down fabrication techniques are very attractive to develop low-cost and high-quality integrated optoelectronic circuits. Particularly, integrated miniaturized coherent light sources that can be connected to light-guiding structures on a chip are highly desired. To control light propagating on a small footprint with low-loss optical modes, long-range surface plasmon polariton (LRSPP) waveguides are employed. Herein, we demonstrate an on-chip fabricated photonic-plasmonic hybrid system consisting of a perovskite lasing structure coupled to an LRSPP waveguide achieving a low lasing threshold and a propagation length over 100 µm. Preventing perovskite material degradation and the formation of surface roughness of the laser cavity during fabrication is made possible by designing a fabrication technique without any etching step.

Mutually induced soliton polarization instability in a bidirectional ultrafast fiber laser.

The bidirectional ultrafast fiber laser is a promising light source for dual-comb applications. The counter-propagating geometry could lead to soliton interaction through gain sharing, as well as the possible outcome of polarization instability. However, the polarization dynamics hidden behind the soliton interaction process in bidirectional fiber lasers were rarely investigated. Herein, we report on the polarization instability induced by the mutual soliton interactions through fiber gain in a bidirectional mode-locked fiber laser. Depending on the adjustment of the intracavity birefringence, the polarization states of two counter-propagating solitons can exhibit similar periodical polarization switching behaviors with a polarization-rotating transition state. The successive interactions of the bidirectional solitons mediated by the polarization cross-saturation effect of gain fiber could be responsible for the soliton polarization instability. These findings, in addition to the fundamental interest of the soliton nonlinear dynamics in dissipative optical systems, also open up new possibilities for creating dynamical control of the soliton polarization state and performance improvement in bidirectional ultrafast fiber lasers.

Lithographic in-mold patterning for CsPbBr3 nanocrystals distributed Bragg reflector single-mode laser.

Extensive studies on lead halide perovskites have shown that these materials are excellent candidates as gain mediums. Recently, many efforts have been made to incorporate perovskite lasers in integrated optical circuits. Possible solutions would be to utilize standard lithography with an etching/lift-off process or a direct laser etching technique. However, due to the fragile nature of the lead halide perovskites which gives rise to significant material deterioration during the lithography and etching processes, realizing a small-size, low-roughness, and single-mode laser remains a challenge. Here, a lithographic in-mold patterning method realized by nanocrystal concentration control and a multi-step filling-drying process is proposed to demonstrate CsPbBr3 nanocrystals distributed-Bragg-reflector (DBR) waveguide lasers. This method realizes the patterning of the CsPbBr3 nanocrystal laser cavity and DBR grating without lift-off and etching processes, and the smallest fabricated structures are obtained in a few hundred nanometers. The single-mode lasing is demonstrated at room temperature with a threshold of 23.5 µJ cm-2. The smallest full width at half maximum FWHM of the laser output is 0.4 nm. Due to the fabrication process and the DBR laser geometry, the lasers can be fabricated in a compact array, which is important for incorporating perovskite-based lasers in complex optoelectronic circuits.

Identify Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Related Genes Based on Machine Learning.

The patients of Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are increasing worldwide. IBD has the characteristics of recurring and difficult to cure, and it is also one of the high-risk factors for colorectal cancer (CRC). The occurrence of IBD is closely related to genetic factors, which prompted us to identify IBD-related genes. Based on the hypothesis that similar diseases are related to similar genes, we purposed a SVM-based method to identify IBD-related genes by disease similarities and gene interactions. One hundred thirty-five diseases which have similarities with IBD and their related genes were obtained. These genes are considered as the candidates of IBD-related genes. We extracted features of each gene and implemented SVM to identify the probability that it is related to IBD. Ten-cross validation was applied to verify the effectiveness of our method. The AUC is 0.93 and AUPR is 0.97, which are the best among four methods. We prioritized the candidate genes and did case studies on top five genes.

Enhancing Raman signals from bacteria using dielectrophoretic force between conductive lensed fiber and black silicon.

An osmium-coated lensed fiber (OLF) probe combined with a silver-coated black silicon (SBS) substrate was used to generate a dielectrophoretic (DEP) force that traps bacteria and enables Raman signal detection from bacteria. The lensed fiber coated with a 2-nm osmium layer was used as an electrode for the DEP force and also as a lens to excite Raman signals. The black silicon coated with a 150-nm silver layer was used both as the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate and the counter electrode. The enhanced Raman signal was collected by the same OLF probe and further analyzed with a spectrometer. For Raman measurements, a drop of bacterial suspension was placed between the OLF probe and the SBS substrate. By controlling the frequency of an AC voltage on the OLF probe and SBS substrate, a DEP force at 1 MHz concentrated bacteria on the SBS surface and removed the unbound micro-objects in the solution at 1 kHz. A bacteria concentration of 6 × 104 CFU/mL (colony forming units per mL) could be identified in less than 15 min, using a volume of only 1 µL, by recording the variation of the Raman peak at 740 cm-1.

Pontibacter mangrovi sp. nov., isolated from mangrove sediment.

A Gram-stain-negative, short-rod-shaped and pink-pigmented bacterial strain (HB172049T) was isolated from mangrove sediment. Cells grew at 10-45 °C (optimum, 30 °C), pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0) and with 0.5-9.0 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 2-5 %). Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the isolate had highest sequence similarities to Pontibacter mucosus DSM 100162T (96.5 %) and Pontibacter korlensis X14-1T (96.5 %). The values of average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization between the isolate and its close neighbours were, respectively, less than 80.1, 81.7 and 23.2 %. Chemotaxonomic analysis indicated that the sole respiratory quinone was MK-7 and the predominant cellular fatty acids were summed feature 4 and iso-C15 : 0 (42.2 and 24.6 %, respectively). The major polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified glycolipid, one unidentified phospholipid, one unidentified aminophospholipid and two unidentified polar lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 52.6 mol%. Based on polyphasic taxonomic characterization, it is proposed that strain HB172049T belongs to the genus Pontibacter and represents a novel species, for which the name Pontibacter mangrovi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HB172049T (=CGMCC 1.16729T=JCM 33333T).

Defective Circulating Regulatory B Cells in Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Newly identified IL-10-producing regulatory B cells (Bregs) have been shown to play an important role in the suppression of immune responses. Chronic immune activation participates in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) but whether Bregs are involved in its development remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the circulating frequency and function of Bregs in DCM. METHODS: In total, 35 DCM patients (20 men and 15 women) and 44 healthy controls (23 men and 21 women) were included in the experiment, and the frequency of Bregs was detected using flow cytometry. RESULTS: According to our results, the frequency of circulating IL-10-producing Bregs was significantly lower in DCM patients compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, the CD24hiCD27+ B cell subset in which IL-10-producing Bregs were mainly enriched from DCM patients showed impaired IL-10 expression and a decreased ability to suppress the TNF-α production of CD4+CD25- Tconv cells and to maintain Tregs differentiation. Correlation analysis showed that the frequency of IL-10-producing Bregs and the suppressive function of CD24hiCD27+ B cells were positively correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction and negatively correlated with NT-proBNP in DCM patients. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the reduced frequency and impaired functions suggest a potential role of Bregs in the development of DCM.

BMSCs protect against liver injury via suppressing hepatocyte apoptosis and activating TGF-ß1/Bax singling pathway.

Many factors cause liver injury, including chronic consumption of alcohol, irregular use of drugs, excessive levels of arsenic in water. This study aims to investigate role of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in liver injury recovery and to explore mechanism. BMSCs and primary hepatocytes were isolated, cultured and identified. Hepatocyte model and hepatic fibrosis (HF) model were established using carbon tetrachloride (CCL-4). The role of BMSCs were investigated in both in vitro and in vivo levels. Cell proliferation was examined using MTT assay. Transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1), Bcl-2 and Bax expression were detected using western blot and real-time PCR, respectively. Results indicated that BMSCs and primary hepatocytes were successfully isolated and identified, and hepatocyte model was successfully established. BMSCs and HGF treatment enhance viability of normal hepatocytes and hepatocyte injury model. Cell viability in BMSCs treatment and Bax-1 inhibitor treatment group was higher significantly compared to normal hepatocyte control and injury hepatocyte model, respectively (P<0.05). Bax-1 expression was significantly lower and Bcl-2 was significantly higher in Bax-1 inhibitor treatment and BMSCs treatment group compared to normal hepatocyte control (normal rats) and injury hepatocyte model (HF model), respectively (P<0.05). BMSCs significantly decreased ALT and AST levels compared to Saline group (P<0.05). In conclusion, function of BMSCs in liver injury was triggered by inhibiting hepatocyte apoptosis and leading cell proliferation through TGF-ß1/Bax singling pathway. Our study proved protective role of BMSCs against liver injury via TGF-ß1/Bax pathway, which would enrich application of BMSC in clinical.

[Surveillance of schistosomiasis in a national surveillance site of Yangzhong City, 2005-2010].

The surveillance of schistosomiasis in Shicheng Village, a national schistosomiasis surveillance site in Yangzhong City from 2005 to 2010 showed that snail areas were 16.43 hm2, the occurrence rates of frames with living snails and mean densities of living snails exhibited a declining trend year by year, and the infected snails were only found in 2007. The sero-positive rates in residents were 1.81%, 0.98%, 0.29%, 0.28%, 0.47% and 0.51%, respectively from 2005 to 2010. However, no stool-examination -positive persons were detected. During the period, no acute infections occurred, and no advanced cases and infected animals were detected. It is indicated that schistosomiasis has been effectively controlled in the surveillance site. However, snails remain present, so comprehensive control and surveillance of infectious sources should be further strengthened.