EphB2-dependent prefrontal cortex activation promotes long-range social approach and partner responsiveness.

Social behavior starts with dynamic approach prior to the final consummation. The flexible processes ensure mutual feedback across social brains to transmit signals. However, how the brain responds to the initial social stimuli precisely to elicit timed behaviors remains elusive. Here, by using real-time calcium recording, we identify the abnormalities of EphB2 mutant with autism-associated Q858X mutation in processing long-range approach and accurate activity of prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). The EphB2-dependent dmPFC activation precedes the behavioral onset and is actively associated with subsequent social action with the partner. Furthermore, we find that partner dmPFC activity is responsive coordinately to the approaching WT mouse rather than Q858X mutant mouse, and the social defects caused by the mutation are rescued by synchro-optogenetic activation in dmPFC of paired social partners. These results thus reveal that EphB2 sustains neuronal activation in the dmPFC that is essential for the proactive modulation of social approach to initial social interaction.

Origin of the Efficiency Roll-off in Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes: An Electrically Excited Transient Absorption Spectroscopy Study.

In situ characterizations of charge injection dynamics, equilibrated concentration, and electric field distributions shed light on the critical mechanisms of quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs). In this work, we developed electrically excited transient absorption spectroscopy, which can provide the above key information, to investigate the efficiency roll-off of QD-LEDs. We found that the average electron populations per QD are low when QD-LEDs exhibit efficiency roll-off, excluding Auger recombination as the main cause. We also revealed that the weak electrical field inside the QD layer under forward biases has a negligible impact on the efficiency. Interestingly, we found that as the voltage increases the electron concentration in the QD layer saturates at very low levels. When combined with the concomitant efficiency roll-off, we propose electron leakage is the main loss at elevated driving voltages. We further demonstrate that increasing the electron confinement potential with the ZnS shell enables us to efficiently mitigate the efficiency roll-off.

A 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase converts dihydrofuran to furan in Salvia diterpenoids.

Tanshinone ⅡA (TⅡA), a diterpene quinone with a furan ring, is a bioactive compound found in the medicinal herb redroot sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge), in which both furan and dihydrofuran analogs are present in abundance. Progress has been made recently in elucidating the tanshinone biosynthetic pathway, including heterocyclization of the dihydrofuran D-ring by cytochrome P450s; however, dehydrogenation of dihydrofuran to furan, a key step of furan ring formation, remains uncharacterized. Here, by differential transcriptome mining, we identified six 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase (2-ODD) genes whose expressions corresponded to tanshinone biosynthesis. We showed that Sm2-ODD14 acts as a dehydrogenase catalyzing the furan ring aromatization. In vitro Sm2-ODD14 converted cryptotanshinone to TⅡA and thus was designated TⅡA synthase (SmTⅡAS). Furthermore, SmTⅡAS showed a strict substrate specificity, and repression of SmTⅡAS expression in hairy root by RNAi led to increased accumulation of total dihydrofuran-tanshinones and decreased production of furan-tanshinones. We conclude that SmTⅡAS controls the metabolite flux from dihydrofuran- to furan-tanshinones, which influences medicinal properties of S. miltiorrhiza.

Distribution and pollution characteristics of organophosphate esters: reflected by tree rings of arbor species.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are emerging pollutants. Currently, research on OPEs in tree rings is still limited. In this study, tree rings of five arbor species from Sichuan Province, China, were sampled to study the occurrence and distribution of six OPEs, which were quantitatively analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The total concentrations of OPEs in all samples ranged from 189.79 (Fir species) to 341.23 ng/g (Toona sinensis), with average concentration of 284.77 ± 46.66 ng/g. So, arbor could be used as good passive samplers for OPEs. The levels of OPEs among five arbor species showed no significant difference (p = 0.668 > 0.05), suggesting that the pollution status of OPEs in a region or country could be roughly assessed by any arbor tree species. In this study area, tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP) was the dominant OPEs followed by tri(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). Tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) and tri-n-butyl phosphate (TnBP) showed relatively stable concentrations in each arbor species, while the other four OPEs including TBEP, triphenyl phosphate (TPhP), tri(chloropropyl) phosphate (TCPP) and TCEP had significantly different concentrations. Interestingly, the absorption and accumulation of OPEs by tree rings of arbor species were quite different from that of inorganic elements reported by other studies.

Boosting the Activity of Single-Atom Pt1/CeO2 via Co Doping for Low-Temperature Catalytic Oxidation of CO.

The properties of supports have a significant effect on the activity of noble metal single atoms. In this work, Co-doped CeO2-supported single-atom Pt catalysts (Pt1/Co-CeO2) have been acquired by a synchronous pyrolysis/deposition route and demonstrated to promote low-temperature oxidation of CO. Revealed by a model reaction of 1% CO + 1% O2 + 98% He at a space velocity of 12,000 mL/gcat/h, CO conversion (100 °C) acquired on a (0.5% Pt)/(10% Co-CeO2) catalyst (36.6%) was 3.6 and 4.9 times those of 0.5% Pt/CeO2 (10.0%) and 10% Co-CeO2 (7.4%) catalysts and 2.1 times that of their conversion sum (17.4%), confirming the positive role of the Co dopant in boosting the low-temperature oxidation of CO. The consistent results are also verified in the comparison of Pt1/Co-ZnO with Pt1/ZnO and Pt1/Co-Al2O3 with Pt1/Al2O3. In addition, the activity of single-atom Pt1/Co-CeO2 catalysts can be facilely modified by changing the loading of Pt and/or doping amount of Co. These reasonable data will provide a methodology to access more applicable catalysts for CO oxidation at low temperature.

Levels and Distribution of Organophosphate Esters (OPEs) in Typical Megacity Wetland Park Landscape Water Bodies in Southwest China.

Human activities have led to the release of organophosphate esters (OPEs) into the environment. This study aims to investigate the levels and partitioning of OPEs in surface water, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments of landscape waters across eleven parks in the city of Chengdu, a megacity in Southwest China. The average concentration of Σ6OPEs in the SPM samples (median: 2.94 × 103 ng/L, 6.88 × 104 ng/g dry weight) was 1-3 orders of magnitude higher than that in the surface water (median: 359 ng/L) and sediment (median: 82.8 ng/g) samples. Tri-n-butyl phosphate (TnBP), tris-(2-chloroethyl)-phosphate (TCEP) and trichloropropyl phosphate (TCIPP) were the primary OPE pollutants in the surface water and SPM samples, while TnBP, tris-(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP) and tris-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) predominated the sediment samples. The higher log Koc values of OPEs in park landscape water bodies estimated in the present study relative to previous studies could be explained by the environmental conditions, such as the sources of the inputs and the hydraulic retention times in these surface waters.

Engineering high coenzyme Q10 tomato.

Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is vital for energy metabolism in living organisms. In humans, CoQ10 deficiency causes diseases and must be replenished via diet; however, CoQ content in plant foods is primarily low. Here, we report the breeding of high CoQ10 tomato lines by expressing four enzymes with a fruit-specific promoter, which modifies the chloroplast chorismate pathway, enhances cytosolic isoprenoid biosynthesis, and up-regulates the first two reactions in mitochondrion that construct the CoQ10 polyisoprenoid tail. We show that, while the level of the aromatic precursor could be markedly elevated, head group prenylation is the key to increasing the final CoQ10 yield. In the HUCD lines expressing all four transgenes, the highest CoQ10 content (0.15 mg/g dry weight) shows a seven-fold increase from the wild-type level and reaches an extraordinarily rich CoQ10 food grade. Overviewing the changes in other terpenoids by transcriptome and metabolic analyses reveals variable contents of carotenoids and α-tocopherol in the HUCD lines. In addition to the enigmatic relations among different terpenoid pathways, high CoQ10 plants maintaining substantial levels of either vitamin can be selected. Our investigation paves the way for the development of CoQ10-enriched crops as dietary supplements.

Effect of prior receipt of antibiotics on the pathogen distribution: a retrospective observational cohort study on 27,792 patients.

BACKGROUND: There have been no systematic studies of microbiological differences before and after antibiotics treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of prior receipt of antibiotics on the microorganism distribution. METHODS: A retrospective, observational cohort study was conducted in a 3200-bed tertiary, referral, teaching hospital in eastern China. During a 2-year period, all hospitalized patients treated with antimicrobial agents were enrolled in this study. Among 48,692 patients evaluated, the 27,792 (57.1%) who were sampled within 2 days before or after administration of the first dose of antimicrobial agents were included. Distribution of clinical specimens and the microorganism were compared between before and after antibiotic drug treatment groups. RESULTS: Compared to specimens taken after antibiotics exposure, specimens taken before antibiotics exposure had a higher proportion of blood and urine specimens and a higher culture positive rate (all P < 0.001). Higher percentages of Staphylococcus aureus (9.9% vs. 8.5%, P = 0.041), non-fermenting bacteria (27.7% vs. 19.9%, P < 0.001), and fungi (8.4% vs. 4.0%, P < 0.001) were isolated from the group after antibiotics exposure, while the percentages of Streptococcus spp. (4.8% vs. 2.7%, P < 0.001), Haemophilus influenzae (2.3% vs. 0.8%, P < 0.001), and Moraxella catarrhalis (0.7% vs. 0.1%, P < 0.001) were higher in the group before antibiotics exposure. Further analysis found significant differences of microbes derived from respiratory secretions, blood or urine samples. We found, after antibiotics exposure, the separation rate of non-fermenting bacteria was significantly increased (all P < 0.05), and the separation rate of Candida spp. was higher, with statistical significance in airway secretion and urine samples (both P < 0.05), but the separation rate of Staphylococcus aureus among the three groups was not affected by antibiotics. In addition, the isolation rate of Streptococcus spp. in blood and urine samples decreased significantly (both P < 0.05) after antibiotics exposure. Interestingly, no statistical difference was found for microbes isolated from body fluid specimens between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The outcome revealed that antibiotic-insensitive organisms such as non-fermentative bacteria and fungi were more frequently isolated after antibiotics exposure. However, this trend might be specimen dependent and was not obvious in body fluid specimens.

Antihyperlipidaemic effect of microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum LIP-1 on hyperlipidaemic rats.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that Lactobacillus plantarum LIP-1 (hereafter LIP-1) has an obvious hypolipidemic effect, and microencapsulated probiotics can ensure the strains live through the gastrointestinal tract. Although there has been much research on both preparation and assessment methods for probiotics microcapsules, most assessments were made in vitro and few were validated in vivo. In this study, the protective effect of microencapsulation and the possible hypolipidemic mechanisms of probiotic LIP-1 were evaluated in rats. Treatments included rats fed on a normal diet, a high-fat diet, and a high-fat diet with an intragastric supplement of either non-microencapsulated LIP-1 cells (NME LIP-1) or microencapsulated LIP-1 (ME LIP-1). Lipid metabolism indicators were measured during the experiment and following euthanasia. RESULTS: Microencapsulation increased survival and colonization of LIP-1 in the colon. ME LIP-1 was superior to NME LIP-1 in reducing cholesterol. The mechanisms behind the hypolipidemic effect exerted by LIP-1 are possibly due to promoting the excretion of cholesterol, improving antioxygenic potentials, enhancing recovery from the injury in the liver, cardiovascular intima and intestinal mucosa, promoting the generation of short-chain fatty acids, and improving lipid metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that microencapsulation provides effective protection of LIP-1 in the digestive system and the role of LIP-1 in the prevention and cure of hyperlipidaemia, providing theoretical support for probiotics to enter clinical applications. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Memory retrieval in addiction: a role for miR-105-mediated regulation of D1 receptors in mPFC neurons projecting to the basolateral amygdala.

BACKGROUND: Drug addiction is a chronic brain disorder characterized by the compulsive use of drugs. The study of chronic morphine-induced adaptation in the brain and its functional significance is of importance to understand the mechanism of morphine addiction. Previous studies have found a number of chronic morphine-induced adaptive changes at molecular levels in the brain. A study from our lab showed that chronic morphine-induced increases in the expression of D1 receptors at presynaptic terminals coming from other structures to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) played an important role in environmental cue-induced retrieval of morphine withdrawal memory. However, the neurocircuitry where the increased D1 receptors are located and how chronic morphine increases D1 receptor expression in specific neurocircuits remain to be elucidated. RESULTS: Our results show that chronic morphine induces a persistent increase in D1 receptor expression in glutamatergic terminals of projection neurons from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to the BLA, but has no influence on D1 receptor expression in projection neurons from the hippocampus or the thalamus to the BLA. This adaptation to chronic morphine is mediated by reduced expression of miR-105 in the mPFC, which results in enhanced D1 receptor expression in glutamatergic terminals of projection neurons from the mPFC to the BLA. Ex vivo optogenetic experiments show that a chronic morphine-induced increase in D1 receptor expression in glutamatergic terminals of projection neurons from the mPFC to the BLA results in sensitization of the effect of D1 receptor agonist on presynaptic glutamate release. mPFC to BLA projection neurons are activated by withdrawal-associated environmental cues in morphine-withdrawal rats, and overexpression of miR-105 in the mPFC leads to reduced D1 receptor induction in response to chronic morphine in glutamatergic terminals of the projection neurons from the mPFC to the BLA, and a reduction in place aversion conditioned by morphine withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that chronic morphine use induces a persistent increase in D1 receptors in glutamatergic terminals of projection neurons from the mPFC to the BLA via downregulation of miR-105 in the mPFC, and that these adaptive changes contribute to environmental cue-induced retrieval of morphine withdrawal memory.

Morphine treatment enhances glutamatergic input onto neurons of the nucleus accumbens via both disinhibitory and stimulating effect.

Drug addiction is a chronic brain disorder characterized by the compulsive repeated use of drugs. The reinforcing effect of repeated use of drugs on reward plays an important role in morphine-induced addictive behaviors. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is an important site where morphine treatment produces its reinforcing effect on reward. However, how morphine treatment produces its reinforcing effect on reward in the NAc remains to be clarified. In the present study, we studied the influence of morphine treatment on the effects of DA and observed whether morphine treatment could directly change glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the NAc. We also explored the functional significance of morphine-induced potentiation of glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the NAc at behavioral level. Our results show that (1) morphine treatment removes the inhibitory effect of DA on glutamatergic input onto NAc neurons; (2) morphine treatment potentiates glutamatergic input onto NAc neurons, especially the one from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) to the NAc; (3) blockade of glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the NAc or ablation of projection neurons from BLA to NAc significantly decreases morphine treatment-induced increase in locomotor activity. These results suggest that morphine treatment enhances glutamatergic input onto neurons of the NAc via both disinhibitory and stimulating effect and therefore increases locomotor activity.

Kribbella mirabilis sp. nov., isolated from rhizosphere soil of a herbaceous plant, Mirabilis jalapa L.

Strain XMU 706(T), isolated from the rhizosphere soil of a herbaceous plant, Mirabilis jalapa L., collected from Xiamen City, China, was characterized using a polyphasic approach to clarify its taxonomic position. Strain XMU 706(T) shared the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Kribbella antibiotica YIM 31530(T) (97.2%), and formed a distinct branch in the subclade of the genus Kribbella in the 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic tree. The genetic distances of gyrase subunit B gene (gyrB) sequence between strain XMU 706(T) and other species of the genus Kribbella ranged from 0.045 to 0.116, greater than the threshold value of 0.014 for species delineation of this genus. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments gave a DNA-DNA relatedness value of 34.82 ± 6.31% between strain XMU 706(T) and K. antibiotica YIM 31530(T). The chemotaxonomic properties further supported the assignment of strain XMU 706(T) to the genus Kribbella. ll-Diaminopimelic acid was the diagnostic amino acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan and cell hydrolysates contained ribose and glucose. The major menaquinone was MK-9(H4). The polar lipids comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and other unidentified phospholipids and lipids. The major fatty acids of the strain were anteiso-C15 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0, and the G+C content of the genomic DNA was 67.3 mol%. Based on the results of phylogenetic analysis, phenotypic and genotypic characterization, strain XMU 706(T) represents a novel species of the genus Kribbella, for which the name Kribbella mirabilis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is XMU 706(T) ( = KCTC 29676(T) = MCCC 1K00429(T)).

Fully dispersed cobalt diatomic site with significantly improved Fenton-like catalysis performance for organic pollutant degradation.

A novel strategy for better catalytic performance in terms of precisely tuning the metal atom number of active centers is gradually getting attention. In this paper, the Co atom pair sites on N-doped porous carbon was engineered. The binuclear Co2 site structure was identified by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. As expected, the Co2NC display an outstanding Fenton-like catalysis activity in tetracycline degradation with turnover frequency exceeding 0.91 min-1 that is approximately 4 times higher than the conventional CoN4 site. The EPR tests indicated that the ROS strength stimulated by the binuclear site was much stronger than that of single site. Theoretical density functional theory calculations reveal that the optimized adsorption configuration is the O1 of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) interacting with two Co atoms, leading to stronger interaction effect and electron transfer for PMS comparing to single atom sites.

Altered immune pathways in patients of temporal lobe epilepsy with and without hippocampal sclerosis.

Over the past decades, the immune responses have been suspected of participating in the mechanisms for epilepsy. To assess the immune related pathway in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), we explored the altered immune pathways in TLE patients with and without hippocampal sclerosis (HS). We analyzed RNA-seq data from 3 TLE-HS and 3 TLE-nonHS patients, including identification of differentially expressed RNA, function pathway enrichment, the protein-protein interaction network and construction of ceRNA regulatory network. We illustrated the immune related landscape of molecules and pathways on human TLE-HS. Also, we identified several differential immune related genes like HSP90AA1 and SOD1 in TLE-HS patients. Further ceRNA regulatory network analysis found SOX2-OT connected to miR-671-5p and upregulated the target gene SPP1 in TLE-HS patients. Also, we identified both SOX2-OT and SPP1 were significantly upregulated in five different databases including TLE-HS patients and animal models. Our findings established the first immune related genes and possible regulatory pathways in TLE-HS patients and animal models, which provided a novel insight into disease pathogenesis in both patients and animal models. The immune related SOX2-OT/miR-671-5p/SPP1 axis may be the potential therapeutic target for TLE-HS.

Strong high-energy exciton electroluminescence from the light holes of polytypic quantum dots.

High-energy exciton emission could allow single-component multi-colour display or white light-emitting diodes. However, the thermal relaxation of high-energy excitons is much faster than the photon emission of them, making them non-emissive. Here, we report quantum dots with light hole-heavy hole splitting exhibiting strong high-energy exciton electroluminescence from high-lying light holes, opening a gate for high-performance multi-colour light sources. The high-energy electroluminescence can reach 44.5% of the band-edge heavy-hole exciton emission at an electron flux density Φe of 0.71 × 1019 s-1 cm-2 - 600 times lower than the photon flux density Φp (4.3 × 1021 s-1 cm-2) required for the similar ratio. Our simulation and experimental results suggest that the oscillator strength of heavy holes reduces more than that of light holes under electric fields. We attribute this as the main reason for strong light-hole electroluminescence. We observe this phenomenon in both CdxZn1-xSe-ZnS and CdSe-CdS core-shell quantum dots exhibiting large light hole-heavy hole splittings.

A rapid aureochrome opto-switch enables diatom acclimation to dynamic light.

Diatoms often outnumber other eukaryotic algae in the oceans, especially in coastal environments characterized by frequent fluctuations in light intensity. The identities and operational mechanisms of regulatory factors governing diatom acclimation to high light stress remain largely elusive. Here, we identified the AUREO1c protein from the coastal diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum as a crucial regulator of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), a photoprotective mechanism that dissipates excess energy as heat. AUREO1c detects light stress using a light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domain and directly activates the expression of target genes, including LI818 genes that encode NPQ effector proteins, via its bZIP DNA-binding domain. In comparison to a kinase-mediated pathway reported in the freshwater green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the AUREO1c pathway exhibits a faster response and enables accumulation of LI818 transcript and protein levels to comparable degrees between continuous high-light and fluctuating-light treatments. We propose that the AUREO1c-LI818 pathway contributes to the resilience of diatoms under dynamic light conditions.

Preparation of CdTe/CdS/SiO2 core/multishell structured composite nanoparticles.

Novel CdTe/CdS/SiO2 core/multishell fluorescent composite nanoparticles were prepared by reverse microemulsion method in this paper. Water-soluble CdTe/CdS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized with 3-mercaptopropionic acid as the stabilizers and thiourea as the sulphur source in aqueous solution. CdTe/CdS/SiO2 fluorescent nanoparticles were obtained by hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) at room temperature in cyclohexane solution when polyethylene glycol tert-octylphenyl ether (Triton X-100) as the surfactant and n-hexanol as the co-surfactant. The resultant core/multishell fluorescent composite nanoparticles were inert and chemically stable in harsh environments because of the silica layer. In this paper, the diameter of these particles was about 64 nm, and the maximum emission was about 678 nm. The coating of silica could provide a great convenience for the biological functionalization of the surface of luminescent QDs and be useful to label biological molecules in vitro and vivo in the biological analyses.

Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy combined with sorafenib versus sorafenib alone for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The clinical benefits and safety of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) combined with sorafenib versus sorafenib alone for advanced HCC are inconsistent in clinical studies. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of HAIC combined with sorafenib versus sorafenib alone for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We searched the database up to March 1, 2023, for studies evaluating the effectiveness and safety of HAIC combined with sorafenib versus sorafenib alone for advanced HCC. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022323712). Outcomes included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), diseases control rate (DCR), and adverse effects (AEs). The hazard ratio (HR) and odd ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to measure the pooled effect. Six studies with 318 patients in the combination group and 338 patients in the control group were included. Meta-analysis showed that HAIC combined with sorafenib significantly improves OS compared with sorafenib alone (HR = 9.70, 95% CI 4.52-20.82] and HAIC combined with sorafenib significantly improves PFS compared with sorafenib alone (HR = 9.48, 95% CI 4.47-20.13). Besides, HAIC combined with sorafenib did not show significantly advantage of DCR rate (OR = 1.85, 95% CI 0.93-3.69), but associated with higher rates of ORR compared with sorafenib alone (OR = 9.85, 95% CI 3.05-31.85). HAIC combined with sorafenib can achieve a better effect and survival benefits than sorafenib alone in patients with advanced HCC, but the limitation should be treated with cautions.

Improving the performance of quantum dot light-emitting diodes by tailoring QD emitters.

As the emitters of quantum dots (QDs) light-emitting diodes (QLEDs), QDs, which are responsible for the charge injection, charge transportation, and especially exciton recombination, play a significant role in QLEDs. With the crucial advances made in QDs, such as the advancement of synthetic methods and the understanding of luminescence mechanisms, QLEDs also demonstrate a dramatic improvement. Until now, efficiencies of 30.9%, 28.7% and 21.9% have been achieved in red, green and blue devices, respectively. However, in QLEDs, some issues are still to be solved, such as the imbalance of charge injection and exciton quenching processes (defect-assisted recombination, Auger recombination, energy transfer and exciton dissociation under a high electric field). In this review, we will provide an overview of recent advances in the study and understanding of the working mechanism of QLEDs and the exciton quenching mechanism of QDs in devices. Particular emphasis is placed on improving charge injection and suppressing exciton quenching. An in-depth understanding of this progress may help develop guidelines to direct QLED development.

Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy versus transarterial chemoembolization for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the safety and effectiveness of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) compared with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). METHODS: Eligible studies were searched by MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science from January 1995 to January 2022, investigating eligible literature comparing HAIC and TACE for patients with HCC. The main outcome measures included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), adverse events (AEs), objective response rate (ORR), and diseases control rate (DCR). RESULTS: Eight literature and 1028 patients were enrolled in this meta-analysis. The pooled PFS, OS, ORR, and DCR were HR = 0.89 (95% CI, 0.81-0.98), HR = 0.84 (95% CI, 0.75-0.93), OR = 2.77 (95% CI, 2.01-3.80), and OR = 4.64 (95% CI, 2.40-8.99), respectively. The adverse events of HAIC were lower than TACE. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis revealed that HAIC can achieve a better effect and survival benefits than TACE in patients with uHCC.