Directional dipole dice enabled by anisotropic chirality.

Directional radiation and scattering play an essential role in light manipulation for various applications in integrated nanophotonics, antenna and metasurface designs, quantum optics, etc. The most elemental system with this property is the class of directional dipoles, including the circular dipole, Huygens dipole, and Janus dipole. A unified realization of all three dipole types and a mechanism to freely switch among them are previously unreported, yet highly desirable for developing compact and multifunctional directional sources. Here, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that the synergy of chirality and anisotropy can give rise to all three directional dipoles in one structure at the same frequency under linearly polarized plane wave excitations. This mechanism enables a simple helix particle to serve as a directional dipole dice (DDD), achieving selective manipulation of optical directionality via different "faces" of the particle. We employ three "faces" of the DDD to realize face-multiplexed routing of guided waves in three orthogonal directions with the directionality determined by spin, power flow, and reactive power, respectively. This construction of the complete directionality space can enable high-dimensional control of both near-field and far-field directionality with broad applications in photonic integrated circuits, quantum information processing, and subwavelength-resolution imaging.

A Widespread Radical-Mediated Glycolysis Pathway.

Glycyl radical enzymes (GREs) catalyze mechanistically diverse radical-mediated reactions, playing important roles in the metabolism of anaerobic bacteria. The model bacterium Escherichia coli MG1655 contains two GREs of unknown function, YbiW and PflD, which are widespread among human intestinal bacteria. Here, we report that YbiW and PflD catalyze ring-opening C-O cleavage of 1,5-anhydroglucitol-6-phosphate (AG6P) and 1,5-anhydromannitol-6-phosphate (AM6P), respectively. The product of both enzymes, 1-deoxy-fructose-6-phosphate (DF6P), is then cleaved by the aldolases FsaA or FsaB to form glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) and hydroxyacetone (HA), which are then reduced by the NADH-dependent dehydrogenase GldA to form 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO). Crystal structures of YbiW and PflD in complex with their substrates provided insights into the mechanism of radical-mediated C-O cleavage. This "anhydroglycolysis" pathway enables anaerobic growth of E. coli on 1,5-anhydroglucitol (AG) and 1,5-anhydromannitol (AM), and we probe the feasibility of harnessing this pathway for the production of 1,2-PDO, a highly demanded chiral chemical feedstock, from inexpensive starch. Discovery of the anhydroglycolysis pathway expands the known catalytic repertoire of GREs, clarifies the hitherto unknown physiological functions of the well-studied enzymes FsaA, FsaB, and GldA, and demonstrates how enzyme discovery efforts can cast light on prevalent yet overlooked metabolites in the microbiome.

Assessing Postoperative Motor Risk in Insular Low-Grade Gliomas Patients: The Potential Role of Presurgery MRI Corticospinal Tract Shape Measures.

BACKGROUND: Insular low-grade gliomas (LGGs) are surgically challenging due to their proximity to critical structures like the corticospinal tract (CST). PURPOSE: This study aims to determine if preoperative CST shape metrics correlate with postoperative motor complications in insular LGG patients. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective. POPULATION: 42 patients (mean age 40.26 ± 10.21 years, 25 male) with insular LGGs. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: Imaging was performed using 3.0 Tesla MRI, incorporating T1-weighted magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo, T2-weighted space dark-fluid with spin echo (SE), and diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) with gradient echo sequences, all integrated with echo planar imaging. ASSESSMENT: Shape metrics of the CST, including span, irregularity, radius, and irregularity of end regions (RER and IER, respectively), were compared between the affected and healthy hemispheres. Total end region radius (TRER) was determined as the sum of RER 1 and RER 2. The relationships between shape metrics and postoperative short-term (4 weeks) and long-term (>8 weeks) motor disturbances assessing by British Medical Research Council grading system, was analyzed using multivariable regression models. STATISTICAL TESTING: Paired t-tests compared CST metrics between hemispheres. Logistic regression identified associations between these metrics and motor disturbances. The models were developed using all available data and there was no independent validation dataset. Significance was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: Short-term motor disturbance risk was significantly related to TRER (OR = 199.57). Long-term risk significantly correlated with IER 1 (OR = 59.84), confirmed as a significant marker with an AUC of 0.78. Furthermore, the CST on the affected side significantly had the greater irregularity, larger TRER and RER 1, and smaller span compared to the healthy side. DATA CONCLUSION: Preoperative evaluation of TRER and IER 1 metrics in the CST may serve as a tool for assessing the risk of postoperative motor complications in insular LGG patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

Exploring MGMT methylation-driven structural connectivity changes in insular gliomas: a tractography and graph theoretical analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore the relationship between the methylation levels of the O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter and the structural connectivity in insular gliomas across hemispheres. METHODS: We analyzed 32 left and 29 right insular glioma cases and 50 healthy controls, using differential tractography, correlational tractography, and graph theoretical analysis to investigate the correlation between structural connectivity and the methylation level. RESULTS: The differential tractography results revealed that in left insular glioma, the volume of affected inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF, p = 0.019) significantly correlated with methylation levels. Correlational tractography results showed that the quantitative anisotropy (QA) value of peritumoral fiber tracts also exhibited a significant correlation with methylation levels (FDR < 0.05). On the other hand, in right insular glioma, anterior internal part of the reticular tract, IFOF, and thalamic radiation showed a significant correlation with methylation levels but at a different correlation direction from the left side (FDR < 0.05). The graph theoretical analysis showed that in the left insular gliomas, only the radius of graph was significantly lower in methylated MGMT group than unmethylated group (p = 0.047). No significant correlations between global properties and methylation levels were observed in insular gliomas on both sides. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight a significant, hemisphere-specific correlation between MGMT promoter methylation and structural connectivity in insular gliomas. This study provides new insights into the genetic influence on glioma pathology, which could inform targeted therapeutic strategies.

Unveiling the antibacterial potential of anthocyanins - a comprehensive review on this natural plant extract.

With the gradual prohibition of antibiotic fungicides, it is of great significance to develop high-efficient, nontoxic and environmental-friendly antimicrobial agents. Anthocyanin is a natural plant polyphenol pigment which shows antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects through inhibiting the synthesis of bacterial cell wall, interfering bacterial respiratory metabolism, and inducing bacterial autolysis. As a typical antibacterial agent, anthocyanins have been widely used in various fields, including biological pesticides or feed additives in agricultural production, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial wound dressings in medicine, etc. However, the structure of anthocyanins is unstable, which limits its practical application. In this article, the biological activity, antibacterial mechanism and stabilization strategy of anthocyanins as antibacterial agents were reviewed. The safety, application scope and methods of anthocyanins were discussed. In addition, the challenges and development prospects of anthocyanin extract antibacterial technology were also prospected. This will be the direction for researchers to further explore and better apply anthocyanins to practical production and application.

Construction of COFs@MoS2-Pd Hierarchical Tubular Heterostructures for Enhanced Catalytic Performance.

Here, we report ternary COFs@MoS2-Pd hybrids with an innovative self-sacrificial approach. MoO3@Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) microcables were first prepared and then two-dimensional MoS2 nanosheets (NSs) were integrated onto the surface of COFs, as COFs@MoS2, after treatment with hydrothermal reaction. The MoS2 NSs were used as an excellent support to introduce Pd nanoparticles (NPs) thanks to their reducing ability for the formation of the ternary COFs@MoS2-Pd hybrids. While COF microtubes improved the electrical conductivity of the hybrid materials, they also decreased the aggregation of MoS2 NSs, as a contribution to the enhanced catalytic performance. The mild reaction between MoS2 and Pd2+ ions realized the dense distribution of Pd NPs onto COFs@MoS2 for abundant active sites to further improve the catalytic performance. Thus, the hierarchical MoS2-based ternary hybrids were prepared with the enhanced catalytical performance as validated with the enzyme-like catalysis and the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

Co, Fe Dual-Doped MoS2 Nanosheets on Polypyrrole Microtubes as Effective Peroxidase Mimics for Glutathione Sensing.

Heteroatom doping is considered an effective way to enhance the catalytic activity of MoS2 nanosheets (NSs). In the paper, dual-metal doping was proposed to incorporate Fe and Co into hierarchical MoS2 ultrathin NSs, which grew directly on polypyrrole microtubes (Fe, Co-MoS2@PPy), for the enhanced enzyme-like catalytic reaction. The particular hollow tubular structure realized effective electron transfer. The doped Fe and Co tuned the electronic architecture of the MoS2 NSs to enhance the enzyme-like catalytic activity. The abundant exposed void spaces facilitated ion diffusion/penetration between the PPy interlayer and Fe-Co doped MoS2 shell, leading to heterostructured synergistic effects. Therefore, the synthesized Fe and Co-MoS2@PPy composites showed remarkable catalytic activity. The high catalytic efficiency of Fe and Co-MoS2@PPy was confirmed with the reaction of tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and H2O2 for visible detection. The blue color disappeared after adding glutathione (GSH). Thus, this procedure was used as a convenient way to detect GSH with a detection limit of 0.76 µM. The dual-metal-doped strategy was confirmed to improve the performance of MoS2 nanocomposites and could be used as a promising matrix for other applications, such as electrochemical energy conversion, medical diagnosis, and others.

Interfacing Ag2S Nanoparticles and MoS2 Nanosheets on Polypyrrole Nanotubes with Enhanced Catalytic Performance.

The tubular architecture with multiple components can bring synergistic effects to improve the enzyme-like activity of molybdenum-based nanomaterials. Here, a facile polypyrrole (PPy)-protected hydrothermal sulfidation process was implemented to engineer MoS2/Ag2S heterointerfaces encapsulated in one-dimensional (1D) PPy nanotubes with MoO3@Ag nanorods as the self-sacrificing precursor. Notably, the sulfidation treatment led to the generation of MoS2 nanosheets (NSs) and Ag2S nanoparticles (NPs) and the creation of a tubular structure with a "kill three birds with one stone" role. The Ag2S/MoS2@PPy nanotubes showed the synergistic combined effects of Ag2S NPs, MoS2 NSs, and the 1D tube-like nanostructure. Based on the synergistic effects from these multiple components and the tubular structure, Ag2S/MoS2@PPy nanocomposites were used as a colorimetric sensing platform for detecting H2O2. Moreover, the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) revealed excellent catalytic activity in the presence of NaBH4 and Ag2S/MoS2@PPy nanocomposites. This work highlights the effects of MoS2/Ag2S heterointerfaces and the hierarchical tubular structure in catalysis, thereby providing a new avenue for reducing 4-NP and the enzyme-like catalytic field.

Carbon dots with enhanced red emission for ratiometric sensing and encryption applications.

The excitation-dependent emission properties of carbon dots (Cdots) are extensively reported, but their red emission is often weak, limiting their wider application. Here we introduce ethidium bromide, as a functional precursor with red emission, to enhance the red emission for Cdots, with comparable intensity at a broad wavelength range to multi-emission Cdots (M-Cdots). We found that Cdots prepared with ethidium bromide/ethylenediamine exhibited strong blue and red emission at 440 and 615 nm, with optimal excitation at 360 and 470 nm as M-Cdots, respectively, but the Cdots from single ethidium bromide (EB-Cdots) possessed weak red emission. M-Cdots exhibited a broad absorption band at 478 nm, but a band blue-shifted to 425 nm was observed for EB-Cdots, while no absorption was observed at 478-425 nm for the Cdots prepared with citric acid and ethylenediamine. Thus, we proposed that C=O and C=N formed a π-conjugation structure as the absorption band at 478 nm for the red emission of M-Cdots, as also confirmed with the excitation at 470 nm. Moreover, the π-conjugation structure is fragile and sensitive to harsh conditions, so red emission was difficult to observe for the Cdots prepared with citric acid/ethylenediamine or single ethidium bromide. M-Cdots possess two centers for blue and red emission with different structures. The dual emission was therefore used for ratiometric sensing with dichromate (Cr2O72-) and formaldehyde (HCHO) as the targets using the intensity ratio of the emissions at 615 and 440 nm. Due to the comparable intensity at a broad wavelength range, we designed encryption codes with five excitations at 360, 400, 420, 450, and 470 nm as the inputs, and the emission colors were used for information decoding. Thus, we determined why red emission was difficult to realize for Cdots, and our results could motivate the design of red-emission Cdots for extensive applications.

[Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of TCP gene family of Andrographis paniculata under abiotic stress].

Andrographis paniculata is an important medicinal plant in the Lingnan region of China, which has the functions of clearing heat, removing toxins, and resisting bacteria and inflammation. The TCP gene family is a class of transcription factors that regulate plant growth, development, and stress response. In order to analysis the role of the TCP gene family under abiotic stress in A. paniculata, this study identified the TCP gene family of A. paniculata at the genome-wide level and analyzed its expression pattern in response to abiotic stress. The results showed that the A. paniculata TCP gene family had 23 members, with length of amino acid ranging from 136 to 508, the relative molecular mass between 14 854.71 and 55 944.90 kDa, and the isoelectric point between 5.67 and 10.39. All members were located in the nucleus and unevenly distributed on 13 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis classified them into three subfamilies: PCF, CIN and CYC/TB1. Gene structure and conserved motif analysis showed that most members of the TCP gene family contained motif 1, motif 2, motif 3 in the same order and 1-3 CDS. The analysis of promoter cis-acting elements showed that the transcriptional expression of the TCP gene family in A. paniculata might be induced by light, hormones, and adversity stress. In light of the expression pattern analysis and qRT-PCR verification, the expression of ApTCP4, ApTCP5, ApTCP6, and ApTCP11 involved in response by various abiotic stresses such as drought, high temperature, and MeJA. This study lays the foundation for in-depth exploration of the functions of A. paniculata TCP genes in response to abiotic stress.

General Approach to Construct C-C Single Bond-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks.

C-C single bond-linked covalent organic frameworks (CSBL-COFs) are extremely needed because of their excellent stabilities and potential applications in harsh conditions. However, strategies to generate CSBL-COFs are limited to the acetylenic self-homocoupling Glaser-Hay reaction or post-synthetic reduction of vinylene-based COFs. Exploring new strategies to expand the realm of CSBL-COFs is urgently needed but extremely challenging. To address the synthetic challenges, we for the first time developed a general approach via the reaction between aromatic aldehydes and active methyl group-involving monomers with enhanced acidity, which realized the successful construction of a series of CSBL-COFs. As expected, the obtained CSBL-COFs exhibited outstanding chemical stability, which can stabilize in 6 M NaOH, 3 M HCl, boiling water, and 100 mg/mL NaBH4 for at least 3 days. It is important to mention that CSBL-COFs possess a large amount of ionic sites distributed throughout the networks; gentle shaking allowed our COFs to easily self-disperse as nanoparticles and suspend in water for at least 12 h without reprecipitating. As far as we know, such self-dispersed COFs with high water dispersity are rare to date, and few examples are mainly limited to the guanidinium- and pseudorotaxane-based COFs. Our work thus developed a family of self-dispersed COFs for potential applications in different sorts of fields. Our contribution would thus pave a new avenue for constructing a broader class of CSBL-COFs for their wide applications in various fields.

Longitudinal effects of school policies on children's eating behaviors and weight status: findings from the childhood obesity study in China megacities.

OBJECTIVES: To examine longitudinal effects of school policies on children's weight status and eating behaviors, and study how these effects may vary by children's age, sex, and baseline weight status in China. METHODS: Data were collected in 2015, 2016, and 2017 in an open cohort of 3298 children aged 6-17, their parents, and schools in five large cities across China (Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Nanjing, and Chengdu). Children's weight, height, and waist circumference were measured, and their eating behaviors were self-reported. The 1691 children with such repeated measures in ≥ two waves were included in longitudinal data analysis with mixed effects models, testing the associations. RESULTS: Having school vicinity food stall policy was associated with less frequent consumption of fast food (ß = -0.14, p < 0.01) and snack (ß = -0.84, p < 0.01). More significant associations were found between school policies and unhealthy eating behaviors for girls and children aged 6-11 than their counterparts. Among children without overweight or central obesity at baseline, having school cafeteria food policy was associated with lower risks for overweight and obesity (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.17-0.63) and central obesity (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.26-0.85). This existed for girls, but not for boys. School vicinity food stall policy was associated with lower BMI (ß = -0.20, 95% CI: -0.37, -0.03) among all children and in girls (ß = -0.28, 95% CI: -0.50, -0.05) without overweight at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: School policies could reduce children's unhealthy eating behaviors and obesity risk in megacities in China. Children's age, sex, and baseline weight status modify the effects. School policies are important to fight the growing childhood obesity epidemic.

Reactive Template-Engaged Synthesis of NiSx/MoS2 Nanosheets Decorated on Hollow and Porous Carbon Microtubes with Optimal Electronic Modulation toward High-Performance Enzyme-like Performance.

As a promising cost-effective nanozyme, MoS2 nanosheets (NSs) have been considered as a good candidate for the enzyme-like catalysis. However, their catalytic activity is still restricted by the insufficient active sites and poor conductivity, and thus, the comprehensive performances are still unsatisfactory. To address these issues, herein, we design and fabricate an intelligent tubular nanostructure of hierarchical hollow nanotubes, which are assembled by NiSx/MoS2 NSs encapsulated into N-doped carbon microtubes (NiSx/MoS2@NCMTs). The N-doped carbon microtubes (NCMTs) serve as a conductive skeleton, integrating with NiSx/MoS2 NSs and ensuring their well-distribution, thereby maximally exposing more active sites. Additionally, the tube-like structure is favorable for increasing the mass transfusion to ensure their excellent catalytic performance. Profiting from their component and structural advantages, the obtained NiSx/MoS2@NCMTs exhibit a surprisingly enhanced enzyme-like activity. Based on these, a facile colorimetric sensing platform to detect H2O2 and GSH has been developed. This proposed approach can be expected to synthesize a series of tubular heterostructured MoS2-based composites, which will be widely applied in catalysis, energy storage, disease diagnosis, etc.

Parameter-Free State Estimation Based on Kalman Filter with Attention Learning for GPS Tracking in Autonomous Driving System.

GPS-based maneuvering target localization and tracking is a crucial aspect of autonomous driving and is widely used in navigation, transportation, autonomous vehicles, and other fields.The classical tracking approach employs a Kalman filter with precise system parameters to estimate the state. However, it is difficult to model their uncertainty because of the complex motion of maneuvering targets and the unknown sensor characteristics. Furthermore, GPS data often involve unknown color noise, making it challenging to obtain accurate system parameters, which can degrade the performance of the classical methods. To address these issues, we present a state estimation method based on the Kalman filter that does not require predefined parameters but instead uses attention learning. We use a transformer encoder with a long short-term memory (LSTM) network to extract dynamic characteristics, and estimate the system model parameters online using the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm, based on the output of the attention learning module. Finally, the Kalman filter computes the dynamic state estimates using the parameters of the learned system, dynamics, and measurement characteristics. Based on GPS simulation data and the Geolife Beijing vehicle GPS trajectory dataset, the experimental results demonstrated that our method outperformed classical and pure model-free network estimation approaches in estimation accuracy, providing an effective solution for practical maneuvering-target tracking applications.

Cannabinoid Biosynthesis Using Noncanonical Cannabinoid Synthases.

We report enzymes from the berberine bridge enzyme (BBE) superfamily that catalyze the oxidative cyclization of the monoterpene moiety in cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) to form cannabielsoin (CBE). The enzymes are from a variety of organisms and are previously uncharacterized. Out of 232 homologues chosen from the enzyme superfamily, four orthologues were shown to accept CBGA as a substrate and catalyze the biosynthesis of CBE. The four enzymes discovered in this study were recombinantly expressed and purified in Pichia pastoris. These enzymes are the first report of heterologous expression of BBEs that did not originate from the Cannabis plant that catalyze the production of cannabinoids using CBGA as substrate. This study details a new avenue for discovering and producing natural and unnatural cannabinoids.

Impact of percutaneous coronary intervention on renal function in patients with coronary heart disease.

The relationship between cardiac and renal function is complicated. The impact of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on renal function in patients with coronary artery disease is still unclear. The current study sought to assess renal function change, including the time course of renal function, after elective PCI in patients with improved renal function and to identify renal function predictors of major adverse cardiovascular events. We examined data from 1572 CHD patients who had coronary angiography (CAG) or PCI in this retrospective cohort study. Patients receiving elective PCI (n=1240) and CAG (n=332) between January 2013 and December 2018 were included. Pre-PCI and procedural variables associated with post-PCI eGFR, change in renal function after post-PCI follow-up, and post-PCI eGFR association with major adverse cardiovascular events were investigated. Following the procedure, 88.7 percent of PCI group patients had unchanged or improved renal function. The treatment of PCI was found to independently correlate with IRF following coronary angiography in an analysis of patients undergoing PCI [OR 4.561 (95% CI:2 .556-8.139); p<0.001]. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is 0.763 (model with the treatment of PCI). Improved renal function (IRF) and stable renal function were both associated with a lower risk of a major cardiovascular event.

Deep Spatio-Temporal Graph Network with Self-Optimization for Air Quality Prediction.

The environment and development are major issues of general concern. After much suffering from the harm of environmental pollution, human beings began to pay attention to environmental protection and started to carry out pollutant prediction research. A large number of air pollutant predictions have tried to predict pollutants by revealing their evolution patterns, emphasizing the fitting analysis of time series but ignoring the spatial transmission effect of adjacent areas, leading to low prediction accuracy. To solve this problem, we propose a time series prediction network with the self-optimization ability of a spatio-temporal graph neural network (BGGRU) to mine the changing pattern of the time series and the spatial propagation effect. The proposed network includes spatial and temporal modules. The spatial module uses a graph sampling and aggregation network (GraphSAGE) in order to extract the spatial information of the data. The temporal module uses a Bayesian graph gated recurrent unit (BGraphGRU), which applies a graph network to the gated recurrent unit (GRU) so as to fit the data's temporal information. In addition, this study used Bayesian optimization to solve the problem of the model's inaccuracy caused by inappropriate hyperparameters of the model. The high accuracy of the proposed method was verified by the actual PM2.5 data of Beijing, China, which provided an effective method for predicting the PM2.5 concentration.

[Differential expressions of seminal plasma piRNAs in men and its significance].

OBJECTIVE: To study the differential expressions of piRNAs in the seminal plasma of men and the role of piRNAs in spermatogenesis. METHODS: We sequenced the seminal plasma samples collected from 187 male infertility patients and 58 normal healthy men, obtained differentially expressed piRNAs, and detected the relative expressions of piRNAs in different types of sperm by RT-qPCR to explore their significance in the diagnosis of male infertility. Using histopathology, RNA-protein pull-down and Western blot, we investigated the action mechanism of piRNAs in spermatogenesis in the mouse model. RESULTS: RT-qPCR of the seminal plasma samples revealed a high expression of hsa_piR_000478 in teratozoospermia and ROC curve analysis showed an auxiliary significance of hsa_piR_000478 in the diagnosis of the disease (AUC = 0.7549). Transfection of hsa_piR_000478 and its homologous sequence piR_mmu_54800729 into the seminiferous tubules of the mouse model significantly decreased sperm motility, increased the percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm and destroyed the testicular structure. Molecular biological experiments exhibited a close correlation between piRNAs and the energy metabolism-related pathway, which elevated the level of cell glycolysis and interfered with normal spermatogenesis. CONCLUSION: hsa_piR_000478 has an auxiliary significance in the diagnosis of male infertility, and piRNAs may interfere with spermatogenesis by affecting the glycolysis-related pathway in the spermatogenic microenvironment of the testis.

[Liver targeting of compound liposomes mediated by glycyrrhetinic acid derivative receptor and its effect on hepatic stellate cells].

The 3-succinate-30-stearyl glycyrrhetinic acid(18-GA-Suc) was inserted into glycyrrhetinic acid(GA)-tanshinone Ⅱ_A(TSN)-salvianolic acid B(Sal B) liposome(GTS-lip) to prepare liver targeting compound liposome(Suc-GTS-lip) mediated by GA receptors. Next, pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of Suc-GTS-lip and GTS-lip were compared by UPLC, and in vivo imaging tracking of Suc-GTS-lip was conducted. The authors investigated the effect of Suc-GTS-lip on the proliferation inhibition of hepatic stellate cells(HSC) and explored their molecular mechanism of improving liver fibrosis. Pharmacokinetic results showed that the AUC_(Sal B) decreased from(636.06±27.73) µg·h·mL~(-1) to(550.39±12.34) µg·h·mL~(-1), and the AUC_(TSN) decreased from(1.08±0.72) µg·h·mL~(-1) to(0.65±0.04) µg·h·mL~(-1), but the AUC_(GA) increased from(43.64±3.10) µg·h·mL~(-1) to(96.21±3.75) µg·h·mL~(-1). The results of tissue distribution showed that the AUC_(Sal B) and C_(max) of Sal B in the liver of the Suc-GTS-lip group were 10.21 and 4.44 times those of the GTS-lip group, respectively. The liver targeting efficiency of Sal B, TSN, and GA in the Suc-GTS-lip group was 40.66%, 3.06%, and 22.08%, respectively. In vivo imaging studies showed that the modified liposomes tended to accumulate in the liver. MTT results showed that Suc-GTS-lip could significantly inhibit the proliferation of HSC, and RT-PCR results showed that the expression of MMP-1 was significantly increased in all groups, but that of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 was significantly decreased. The mRNA expressions of collagen-I and collagen-Ⅲ were significantly decreased in all groups. The experimental results showed that Suc-GTS-lip had liver targeting, and it could inhibit the proliferation of HSC and induce their apoptosis, which provided the experimental basis for the targeted treatment of liver fibrosis by Suc-GTS-lip.

Organic Electrochemical Transistor Based on Hydrophobic Polymer Tuned by Ionic Gels.

Hydrophobic conjugated polymers have poor ionic transport property, so hydrophilic side chains are often grafted for their application as organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). However, this modification lowers their charge transport ability. Here, an ionic gel interfacial layer is applied to improve the ionic transport while retaining the charge transport ability of the polymers. By using the ionic gels comprising gel matrix and ionic liquids as the interfacial layers, the hydrophobic polymer achieves the OECT feature with high transconductance, low threshold voltage, high current on/off ratio, short switching time, and high operational stability. The working mechanism is also revealed. Moreover, the OECT performance can be tuned by varying the types and ratios of ionic gels. With the proposed ionic gel strategy, OECTs can be effectively realized with hydrophobic conjugated polymers.