Changes in Serum Irisin Levels and Their Significance in Carotid Atherosclerosis Associated with Obesity.

Objective: This study aims to comprehensively examine and assess the changes and significance of irisin levels in individuals with carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) who are concurrently dealing with obesity. Method: A total of 156 CAS patients admitted between March 2020 and March 2022 were categorized into CAS normal weight (C1), CAS overweight (C2), and CAS obesity (C3) groups based on BMI. Simultaneously, 80 healthy adults from the same period comprised the control group (C0). The study conducted a comparative analysis of biochemical indexes, serum irisin levels, and carotid artery ultrasounds across all groups. Correlation analyses and diagnostic assessments for serum irisin in obesity with carotid atherosclerosis were executed using ROC curves. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed in cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), serum homocysteine (Hcy), and irisin levels among all groups (P < .05). Obese CAS patients exhibited higher levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, and Hcy, with notably lower levels of HDL-C and irisin compared to other groups (P < .05). Significant variations in carotid artery ultrasound intima-media thickness (IMT) and Crouse scores were also evident among all groups (P < .05). Specifically, IMT and Crouse scores were higher in obese CAS patients compared to other groups (P < .05). Correlation analysis results indicated a significant negative correlation between irisin and TC, TG, LDL-C, Hcy, IMT, and Crouse score (P < .05). Conversely, irisin exhibited a significant positive correlation with HDL-C levels (P < .05). The ROC curve analysis for the diagnostic value of irisin in obesity with CAS revealed an area under the curve of 0.957. Conclusions: Serum irisin levels are significantly reduced in CAS patients, particularly those with overweight and obese. Additionally, irisin levels are closely associated with patients' blood lipids, homocysteine levels, and the severity of atherosclerosis.

Efficient Hot Electron Capture in CuPc/MoSe2 Heterostructure Assisted by Intersystem Crossing.

Efficient hot electron extraction is a promising approach to develop photovoltaic devices that exceed the Shockley-Queisser limit. However, experimental evidence of hot electron harvesting employing an organic-inorganic interface is still elusive. Here, we reveal the hot electron dynamics at a CuPc/MoSe2 interface using steady-state spectroscopy and transient absorption spectroscopy. A hot electron transfer efficiency of greater than 78% from MoSe2 to CuPc is observed, comparable to that achieved in quantum dot hybrid systems. The mechanism is proposed as follows: the photogenerated hot electrons in MoSe2 transfer to CuPc and form singlet charge transfer states, which subsequently transform into triplet charge transfer states assisted by the rapid intersystem crossing, inhibiting back-donation of electrons and facilitating exciton dissociation into CuPc polarons with a nanosecond lifetime. Our results demonstrate that the intersystem crossing of the hybrid electronic state at organic-inorganic interfaces may serve as a scheme to enable efficient hot electron extraction in photovoltaic devices.

Charge Transfer Properties of Heterostructures Formed by Bi2 O2 Se and Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers.

Atomically thin bismuth oxyselenide (Bi2 O2 Se) exhibits attractive properties for electronic and optoelectronic applications, such as high charge-carrier mobility and good air stability. Recently, the development of Bi2 O2 Se-based heterostructures have attracted enormous interests with promising prospects for diverse device applications. Although the electrical properties of Bi2 O2 Se-based heterostructures have been widely studied, the interlayer charge transfer in these heterostructures remains elusive, despite its importance in harnessing their emergent functionalities. Here, a comprehensive experimental investigation on the interlayer charge transfer properties of two heterostructures formed by Bi2 O2 Se and representative transition metal dichalcogenides (namely, WS2 /Bi2 O2 Se and MoS2 /Bi2 O2 Se) is reported. Kelvin probe force microscopy is used to measure the work functions of the samples, which are further employed to establish type-II band alignment of both heterostructures. Photoluminescence quenching is observed in each heterostructure, suggesting high charge transfer efficiency. Time-resolved and layer-selective pump-probe measurements further prove the ultrafast interlayer charge transfer processes and formation of long-lived interlayer excitons. These results establish the feasibility of integrating 2D Bi2 O2 Se with other 2D semiconductors to fabricate heterostructures with novel charge transfer properties and provide insight for understanding the performance of optoelectronic devices based on such 2D heterostructures.

Robust Interlayer Exciton in WS2/MoSe2 van der Waals Heterostructure under High Pressure.

The van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures have rich functions and intriguing physical properties, which has attracted wide attention. Effective control of excitons in vdW heterostructures is still urgent for fundamental research and realistic applications. Here, we successfully achieved quantitative tuning of the intralayer exciton of monolayers and observed the transition from intralayer excitons to interlayer excitons in WS2/MoSe2 heterostructures, via hydrostatic pressure. The energy of interlayer excitons is in a "locked" or "superstable" state, which is not sensitive to pressure. The first-principles calculation reveals the stronger interlayer interaction which leads to enhanced interlayer exciton behavior in WS2/MoSe2 heterostructures under external pressure and reveals the robust peak of interlayer excitons. This work provides an effective strategy to study the interlayer interaction in vdW heterostructures and reveals the enhanced interlayer excitons in WS2/MoSe2, which could be of great importance for the material and device design in various similar quantum systems.

Optimization of hydrogen-ion storage performance of tungsten trioxide nanowires by niobium doping.

The transport and storage of ions within solid state structures is a fundamental limitation for fabricate more advanced electrochemical energy storage, memristor, and electrochromic devices. Crystallographic shear structure can be induced in the tungsten bronze structures composed of corner-sharing WO6octahedra by the addition of edge-sharing NbO6octahedra, which might provide more storage sites and more convenient transport channels for external ions such as hydrogen ions and alkali metal ions. Here, we show that Nb2O5·15WO3nanowires (Nb/W = 0.008) with long length-diameter ratio, smooth surface, and uniform diameter have been successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. The Nb2O5·15WO3nanowires do exhibit more advantages over h-WO3nanowires in electrochemical hydrogen ion storage such as smaller polarization, larger capacity (71 mAh g-1, at 10C, 1C = 100 mA g-1), better cycle performance (remain at 99% of the initial capacity after 200 cycles at 100C) and faster H+ions diffusion kinetics. It might be the crystallographic shear structure induced by Nb doping that does result in the marked improvement in the hydrogen-ion storage performance of WO3. Therefore, complex niobium tungsten oxide nanowires might offer great promise for the next generation of electrochemical energy and information storage devices.

[Subchronic toxicity test of songaria cynomorium herb aqueous extract in rat].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the sub-chronic toxicity of songaria cynomorium herb aqueous extract in rat at different oral dose levels. METHODS: The study was conducted according to the protocol of sub-chronic toxicity study in rat in Procedures and Method for Toxicolohical Assessment on Food Safety(GB 15193. 13-2015). Total 80 SPF grade Wistar rats, weighing 60-80 g, were randomized into 4 groups of 10/sex/group based on their body weight. The animals from groups 1 to 4 were orally dosed once daily with songaria cynomorium herb aqueous-soluble extract at 0, 2. 83, 5. 66 and 8. 49 g/kg BW respectively for continuous 90 days. And the dose volume was 13 mL/kg. The clinical signs, body weight, food consumption, food utilization rate, hematology, serum chemistry and histopathology were monitored or tested. RESULTS: No obvious toxic signs were observed and no animals were found dead during the whole study. There were no significant differences between the control and test article groups in the body weight, food consumption, food utilization rate. Although some hematology and serum chemistry parameters in a single dose group changed significantly, their values were still in the normal ranges of our laboratory. Therefore, all the above changes were not considered as adverse effects. However, the prothrombin time(PT) at male middle and high dose group prolonged significantly(P<0. 05). In addition, Compared with that of control, significantly increased testes index was observed in the mid-dose group, while increased spleen index, testes index, epididymis index were observed in high-dose group. no obvious histopathology changes were detected in all test article groups. CONCLUSION: Under the condition of this experiment, the No-observed-adverse-effect-level(NOAEL) was 2. 83 g/kg BW and the lowest-observed-adverse-effect-level(LOAEL) was 5. 66 g/kg BW for songaria cynomorium herb aqueous-soluble extract in the rat sub-chronic toxicity study.

Separated Electron-Phonon and Phonon-Phonon Scatterings Across Interface in Thin Film LaCoO3 /SrTiO3.

Electron-phonon coupling (EPC) and phonon-phonon scattering (PPS) are at the core of the microscopic physics mechanisms of vast quantum materials. However, to date, there are rarely reports that these two processes can be spatially separated, although they are usually temporally detached with different characteristic lifetimes. Here, by employing ultrafast spectroscopy to investigate the photo-carrier ultrafast dynamics in a LaCoO3 thin film on a (100) SrTiO3 substrate, intriguing evidence is found that the two interactions are indeed spatially separated. The EPC mainly occurs in the thin film, whereas PPS is largely in the substrate, especially at the several atomic layers near the interface. Across-interface penetration and decay of optical phonons into acoustic phonons thus naturally occur. An EPC strength λEg  = 0.30 is also obtained and an acoustic phonon mode at 45.3 GHz is observed. The finding lays out a cornerstone for future quantum nano device designs.

Acute and subchronic oral toxicity study of Camelina sativa oil in Wistar rats.

Objective: The aim of these studies was to ascertain if Camelina sativa oil is harmful in both the acute and subchronic states. Methods: Wistar rats of both sexes were used in an acute toxicity test, and the fatal dosage (LD50) of oral Camelina sativa oil was greater than 27.6 g/kg bw. Rats were gavaged with Camelina sativa oil at dosages of 0.00, 0.92, 1.84, and 3.68 g/kg bw per day for 90 days. In addition, satellite groups were established in the control and high-dose groups for a 28-day recovery period. The following factors were assessed: mortality, clinical anomalies, body weight, food intake, hematological, serum biochemistry, urine, gross necropsy, and histology. Results: There were no observable toxicity-related changes in any of the three dosage groups. There is no toxicological relevance to the change in the high-dose hematological indicator PLT at the conclusion of the recovery period because it was within the usual range for this strain in our laboratory. The test material did not result in any pathological alterations, according to a pathological examination. Conclusion: Since the results of the current study, the no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) for Camelina sativa oil in rats has been determined to be greater than 3.68 g/kg bw.

Single-Atom Site SERS Chip for Rapid, Ultrasensitive, and Reproducible Direct-Monitoring of RNA Binding.

Ribonucleic acids (RNA) play active roles within cells or viruses by catalyzing biological reactions, controlling gene expression, and communicating responses to cellular signals. Rapid monitoring RNA variation has become extremely important for appropriate clinical decisions and frontier biological research. However, the most widely used method for RNA detection, nucleic acid amplification, is restricted by a mandatory temperature cycling period of ≈1 h required to reach target detection criteria. Herein, a direct detection approach via single-atom site integrated surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) monitoring nucleic acid pairing reaction, can be completed within 3 min and reaches high sensitivity and extreme reproducibility for COVID-19 and two other influenza viruses' detection. The mechanism is that a single-atom site on SERS chip, enabled by positioning a single-atom oxide coordinated with a specific complementary RNA probe on chip nanostructure hotspots, can effectively bind target RNA analytes to enrich them at designed sites so that the binding reaction can be detected through Raman signal variation. This ultrafast, sensitive, and reproducible single-atom site SERS chip approach paves the route for an alternative technique of immediate RNA detection. Moreover, single-atom site SERS is a novel surface enrichment strategy for SERS active sites for other analytes at ultralow concentrations.

Relationship between chemical industrial environment and allergic skin diseases.

OBJECTIVE: This study is an exploration of the relationship between chemical industrial environment and allergic skin diseases. METHODS: In this retrospective analysis, 200 patients with allergic skin diseases who worked or lived in a chemical industrial zone and were admitted in our hospital between January 2018 and January 2020 were enrolled as Group A. Besides, 500 patients with allergic skin disease who lived in Zhenhai New District, five kilometers away from the chemical radiation zone, were selected as Group B. The specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels were determined by Western blotting. The allergen positivity, as well as allergen positivity between different age, sex and body mass index (BMI) were compared between the two groups. The positive food-specific allergen IgE antibody (sIgE) and positive inhalational sIgE were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The positive rate of total IgE and inhalational sIgE in Group A was higher than that in Group B (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in positive rate in food sIgE between the two groups (P>0.05). In Group A, the differences in positive rates of total IgE, food-induced sIgE and inhalational sIgE were not significant between patients with different ages, sexes and BMI (P>0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in sIgE positive rates of wheat, mango, soybean/peanut/cashew nut combination, limb/beef combination, crab/shrimp/fish combination, milk and egg white (P>0.05). The positive rates of inhalational sIgE in tree combination and dust mites/household dust mites combination in Group A were higher than those in Group B (P<0.05), but had no significant difference between the two groups in the positive rates of inhalational sIgE in Humulus japonicus, mold combination 1, cockroach, cat/dog hair combination, and ragweed/artemisia combination (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Chemical industrial environment is closely associated with allergic dermatosis, and the positive rate of total IgE and inhalational sIgE increases significantly in patients living there.