Hypoxia preconditioning protects neuronal cells against traumatic brain injury through stimulation of glucose transport mediated by HIF-1α/GLUTs signaling pathway in rat.

Hypoxia preconditioning (HPC), a well-established preconditioning model, has been shown to protect the brain against severe hypoxia or ischemia caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI), but the mechanism has not been well elucidated. Anaerobic glycolysis is the major way for neurons to produce energy under cerebral ischemia and hypoxia after TBI, and it requires large amounts of glucose. We hypothesized that glucose transport, as a rate-limiting step of glucose metabolism, may play key roles in the neuroprotective effects of HPC on cerebral cortex tissue against TBI. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of HPC on glucose transport activity of rat cerebral cortex tissue after TBI through examining the gene expression of two major glucose transporters (GLUT1 and GLUT3) and their upstream target gene hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with HPC (50.47 kPa, 3 h/d, 3d). Twenty-four hours after the last treatment, the rats were injured using the Feeney free falling model. Cortex tissues of injured rats were removed at 1 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, 1 day, 3 days, 7 d, and 14 days post-injury for histological analysis. Compared with TBI alone, HPC before TBI resulted in the expression of HIF-1α, GLUT1, and GLUT3 to increase at 1 h; they were markedly increased at 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, 1 day, and 3 days and decreased thereafter (p < 0.05). HPC before TBI could improve neuronal survival in rats by examining NeuN staining and observing reduced apoptosis by examining TUNEL staining. The result showed that HPC before TBI could increase the expression of GLUT1 and GLUT3. And through double immunofluorescence staining for GLUT3 and NeuN, the results strongly suggest that HPC improved glucose transport activity of neurons in rats with TBI. In summary, our results further support that HPC can improve hypoxia tolerance and attenuate neuronal loss of cerebral cortex in rats after TBI. The mechanism is mainly related to the increase of glucose transport activity through inducing GLUT1 and GLUT3 expression through upregulating HIF-1α expression.

Linear Dichroism and Nondestructive Crystalline Identification of Anisotropic Semimetal Few-Layer MoTe2.

Semimetal 1T' MoTe2 crystals have attracted tremendous attention owing to their anisotropic optical properties, Weyl semimetal, phase transition, and so on. However, the complex refractive indices (n-ik) of the anisotropic semimetal 1T' MoTe2 still are not revealed yet, which is important to applications such as polarized wide spectrum detectors, polarized surface plasmonics, and nonlinear optics. Here, the linear dichroism of as-grown trilayer 1T' MoTe2 single crystals is investigated. Trilayer 1T' MoTe2 shows obvious anisotropic optical absorption due to the intraband transition of dz 2 orbits for Mo atoms and px orbits for Te atoms. The anisotropic complex refractive indices of few-layer 1T' MoTe2 are experimentally obtained for the first time by using the Pinier equation analysis. Based on the linear dichroism of 1T' MoTe2 , angle-resolved polarized optical microscopy is developed to visualize the grain boundary and identify the crystal orientation of 1T' MoTe2 crystals, which is also an excellent tool toward the investigation of the optical absorption properties in the visible range for anisotropic 2D transition metal chalcogenides. This work provides a universal and nondestructive method to identify the crystal orientation of anisotropic 2D materials, which opens up an opportunity to investigate the optical application of anisotropic semimetal 2D materials.

Chemical vapor deposition growth of sub-centimeter single crystal WSe2 monolayer by NaCl-assistant.

Monolayer WSe2 exhibits unique optical and electronic properties, showing great potential applications in functional integrated devices, such as electronic devices and optoelectronics. Understanding the growth behavior and process are the key points for the salt-assisted growth of large domain WSe2 monolayers, it is also very important for its further application in on-chip laser and opto-devices. Here, we report a NaCl-assistant method for controlled growth of single crystal monolayer WSe2 with a domain size up to 0.57 mm on SiO2/Si substrate. Atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals that the Se1 and Se2 vacancy point defects are the main defect type of those materials. The growth behavior of the salt-assisted method have been systemly investigated. The loading mass of NaCl powder prefers to be less with the controllable vapor process. The flow of hydrogen gas was also preferred to be suitable with a weak etching effect. The morphology of monolayer WSe2 shows a sensitive temperature dependence evolution with the growth temperature increasing. A screw dislocation growth behavior with 15° angle is also observed with the NaCl-assistant method. The results provide a deep understanding of the mechanism for the NaCl-assistant growth of large size monolayer WSe2.

Angle-Resolved Optical Imaging of Interlayer Rotations in Twisted Bilayer Graphene.

Twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) is a prototypical layered material whose properties are strongly correlated to interlayer coupling. The two stacked graphene layers with distinct orientations are investigated to generate peculiar optical and electronic phenomena. Thus, the rapid, reliable, and nondestructive twist angle identification technique is of essential importance. Here, we integrated the white light reflection spectra (WLRS), the Raman spectroscopy, and the transmission electron microscope (TEM) to propose a facile RGB optical imaging technique that identified the twist angle of the TBG in a large area intuitively with high efficiency. The RGB technique established a robust correlation between the interlayer rotation angle and the contrast difference in the RGB color channels of a standard optical image. The angle-resolved optical behavior is attributed to the absorption resonance matching with the separation of van Hove singularities in the density of states of the TBG. Our study thus developed a route to identify the rotation angle of stacked bilayer graphene by means of a straightforward optical method, which can be further applied in other stacked van der Waals layered materials.

Low-Temperature Synthesis of Boron Nitride as a Large-Scale Passivation and Protection Layer for Two-Dimensional Materials and High-Performance Devices.

Two-dimensional materials (2DMs) with extraordinary electronic and optical properties have attracted great interest in optoelectronic applications. Due to their atomically thin feature, 2DM-based devices are generally sensitive to oxygen and moisture in ambient air, and thus, practical application of durable 2DM-based devices remains challenging. Here, we report a novel strategy to directly synthesize amorphous BN film on various 2DMs and field-effect transistor (FET) devices at low temperatures by conventional chemical vapor deposition. The wafer-scale BN film with controllable thickness serves as a passivation and heat dissipation layer, further improving the long-term stability, the resistance to laser irradiation, and the antioxidation performance of the underneath 2DMs. In particular, the BN capping layer could be deposited directly on a WSe2 FET at low temperature to achieve a clean and conformal interface. The high performance of the BN-capped WSe2 device is realized with suppressed current fluctuations and 10-fold enhanced carrier mobility. The transfer-free amorphous BN synthesis technique is simple and applicable to various 2DMs grown on arbitrary substrates, which shows great potential for applications in future two-dimensional electronics.

Enhanced Structural Stability and Electrochemical Performance of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 Cathode Materials by Ga Doping.

Structural instability during cycling is an important factor affecting the electrochemical performance of nickel-rich ternary cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. In this work, enhanced structural stability and electrochemical performance of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode materials are achieved by Ga doping. Compared with the pristine electrode, Li[Ni0.6Co0.2Mn0.2]0.98Ga0.02O2 electrode exhibits remarkably improved electrochemical performance and thermal safety. At 0.5C rate, the discharge capacity increases from 169.3 mAh g-1 to 177 mAh g-1, and the capacity retention also rises from 82.8% to 89.8% after 50 cycles. In the charged state of 4.3 V, its exothermic temperature increases from 245.13 °C to more than 271.24 °C, and the total exothermic heat decreases from 561.7 to 225.6 J·g-1. Both AC impedance spectroscopy and in situ XRD analysis confirmed that Ga doping can improve the stability of the electrode/electrolyte interface structure and bulk structure during cycling, which helps to improve the electrochemical performance of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode material.

Preparation and Electrochemical Properties of LiNi2/3Co1/6Mn1/6O2 Cathode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

The cathode material LiNi2/3Co1/6Mn1/6O2 with excellent electrochemical performance was prepared successfully by a rheological phase method. The materials obtained were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and charge-discharge tests. The results showed that both calcination temperatures and atmosphere are very important factors affecting the structure and electrochemical performance of LiNi2/3Co1/6Mn1/6O2 material. The sample calcinated at 800 °C under O2 atmosphere displayed well-crystallized particle morphology, a highly ordered layered structure with low defects, and excellent electrochemical performance. In the voltage range of 2.8-4.3 V, it delivered capacity of 188.9 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C and 130.4 mAh g-1 at 5 C, respectively. The capacity retention also reached 93.9% after 50 cycles at 0.5 C. All the results suggest that LiNi2/3Co1/6Mn1/6O2 is a promising cathode material for lithium-ion batteries.

Peptide late-stage C(sp3)-H arylation by native asparagine assistance without exogenous directing groups.

There is a strong demand for novel native peptide motifs for post-synthetic modifications of peptides without pre-installation and subsequent removal of directing groups. Herein, we report an efficient method for peptide late-stage C(sp3)-H arylations assisted by the unmodified side chain of asparagine (Asn) without any exogenous directing group. Thereby, site-selective arylations of C(sp3)-H bonds at the N-terminus of di-, tri-, and tetrapeptides have been achieved. Likewise, we have constructed a key building block for accessing agouti-related protein (AGRP) active loop analogues in a concise manner.

Controlled growth of large-scale uniform 1T' MoTe2 crystals with tunable thickness and their photodetector applications.

The monoclinic-phase 1T' MoTe2 crystal exhibits inversion symmetry as an anisotropic semi-metal, dictating its interesting quantum transport phenomenon and other novel physical properties. However, large-scale controllable growth of uniform MoTe2 crystals still remains a great challenge, hindering its further fundamental research and applications for novel devices. Herein, we report a modified growth method for synthesizing few-layer 1T' MoTe2 crystals with large-scale uniformity with the assistance of molecular sieves. The theoretical simulations demonstrated that due to the temperature-dependent formation energies of different edges, the edge of (010) orientation shows a higher thermodynamic stability than that of (100) orientation, and results in the anisotropic growth behavior of 1T' MoTe2 crystals while the temperature changes. The photoresponse of tri-layer 1T' MoTe2-based devices shows a broad-spectrum response from 532 nm to 1550 nm. The photo-response time of 1T' MoTe2 crystals demonstrates that it supposes to be the synergistic mechanism of photo-conductive and photo-radiation effects. Our findings not only provide a method for the controllable growth of anisotropic two-dimensional materials at a wafer scale, but also explore a broad-spectrum photodetector with the MoTe2-based device.

Electrochemical sensor for the discrimination of bilirubin in real human blood based on Au nanoparticles/ tetrathiafulvalene -carboxylate functionalized reduced graphene oxide 0D-2D heterojunction.

In clinical practice, the excess concentration of bilirubin can trigger diseases such as neonatal jaundice, hepatic failure, septicemia, and so on. The concentration of bilirubin is one of important clinical indexes to evaluate patients with hepatic function disease in clinical practice. Therefore, it is very necessary to develop a rapid detection technique detecting the bilirubin in body fluids. Here, a new electrochemical sensor based on Au nanoparticles/tetrathiafulvalene-carboxylate functionalized reduced grapheneoxide 0D-2D heterojunction(AuNPs/TTF-COOH/RGO) was fabricated for the discrimination of bilirubin in real human blood. The TTF-COOH could effectively repair electron conductivity of RGO nanosheets, decrease interface resistance, and also enhance the dispersity of TTF-COOH/RGO nanosheets in water. What's more, the S atoms of TTF-COOH can bonding the gold nano-particles (AuNPs) to fabricate a 0D-2D heterojunction with excellent biocompatibility and enhanced specific surface area. After bilirubin oxidases were self-assembled on the surface of AuNPs, a specific recognition interface was formed as a sensor for the detection of bilirubin. The heterojunction showed enhanced interface electron transfer rate, excellent biocompatibility, and also prominent electrocatalytic activity for the high efficiency catalysis of bilirubin. The sensor shows a linear response for bilirubin from 2.66 to 83  µmol L-1 and a low detection limit of 0.74 µmol L-1 at 3σ. This work provides one novel approach to detection of bilirubin by functional RGO nanosheets, and broadens the application area of RGO nanosheets in selective catalysis and detection of biomolecule in biological specimens, such as blood, urine.

Electrostatic Functionalization and Passivation of Water-Exfoliated Few-Layer Black Phosphorus by Poly Dimethyldiallyl Ammonium Chloride and Its Ultrafast Laser Application.

Few-layer black phosphorus (BP) which exhibits excellent optical and electronic properties, has great potential applications in nanodevices. However, BP inevitably suffers from the rapid degradation in ambient air because of the high reactivity of P atoms with oxygen and water, which greatly hinders its wide applications. Herein, we demonstrate the electrostatic functionalization as an effective way to simultaneously enhance the stability and dispersity of aqueous phase exfoliated few-layer BP. The poly dimethyldiallyl ammonium chloride (PDDA) is selected to spontaneously and uniformly adsorb on the surface of few-layer BP via electrostatic interaction. The positive charge-center of the N atom of PDDA, which passivates the lone-pair electrons of P, plays a critical role in stabilizing the BP. Meanwhile, the PDDA could serve as hydrophilic ligands to improve the dispersity of exfoliated BP in water. The thinner PDDA-BP nanosheets can stabilize in both air and water even after 15 days of exposure. Finally, the uniform PDDA-BP-polymer film was used as a saturable absorber to realize passive mode-locking operations in a fiber laser, delivering a train of ultrafast pulses with the duration of 1.2 ps at 1557.8 nm. This work provides a new way to obtain highly stable few-layer BP, which shows great promise in ultrafast optics application.

[Endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery versus microsurgery for the resection of pituitary adenomas: a systematic review].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety between endoscopic and microscopic surgery for transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma. METHODS: Randomized or semi-random controlled trials comparing endoscopic with microscopic surgery for transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma and published between January 2000 and July 2013 were recruited. This meta-analysis (RevMan 5.1 software) was conducted to estimate short-term and long-term complications. Fixed random effect model or semi-random effect model was established to analyse the data. RESULTS: Twelve randomized or semi-random controlled trials were included in this study. Among 848 patients studied, 380 of them were treated with endoscopic and 468 were treated with microscopic. The analysis of the basic characteristics of these patients included in these studies showed that: compared with microscopic, the follow-up of patients in endoscopic group was shorter [OR = -2.29, 95%CI (-4.18, -0.39), P = 0.02], while there were no significant difference in gender proportion and the age of patients between the two groups (P > 0.05) . Also, compared with endoscopic, there was a significant addition in the incidence of diabetes insipidus [OR = 0.45, 95%CI(0.30,0.66), P < 0.0001] and other complications [OR = 0.26, 95%CI ( 0.12, 0.57), P = 0.0008] in the microscopic group, the blood loss during surgery was more [OR = -0.62, 95%CI(-1.19, 0.05), P = 0.03], the rate of complete tumor resection lower [OR = 0.61, 95%CI(0.39, 0.96), P = 0.03], and the hospitalization [OR = -1.53, 95%CI(-2.18, -0.88), P < 0.00001] was also significantly longer, there was no significant difference in the incidence of cerebrospinal fluid leakage, operation time and vision improvement rate (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: For patients with pituitary tumors, endoscopic surgery may be more suitable compared with microscopic.