Diterpenoid Alkaloids from Delphinium ajacis and Their Anti-inflammatory Activity.

Three novel diterpenoid alkaloids, comprising two C19 -diterpenoid alkaloids (1 and 2) and one C20 -diterpenoid alkaloid (3), were isolated from Delphinium ajacis, alongside the six known compounds (4-9). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods (MS, UV, IR, 1D and 2D NMR) and chemical properties. Simultaneously, the anti-inflammatory properties of all compounds (1-9) was conducted, focusing on nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-induced BV-2 cells. The results indicated compounds 1-3, 7, and 8 have potential anti-inflammatory activity.

Polarity-Tunable Field Effect Phototransistors.

Field-effect phototransistors feature gate voltage modulation, allowing dynamic performance control and significant signal amplification. A field-effect phototransistor can be designed to be inherently either unipolar or ambipolar in its response. However, conventionally, once a field-effect phototransistor has been fabricated, its polarity cannot be changed. Herein, a polarity-tunable field-effect phototransistor based on a graphene/ultrathin Al2O3/Si structure is demonstrated. Light can modulate the gating effect of the device and change the transfer characteristic curve from unipolar to ambipolar. This photoswitching in turn produces a significantly improved photocurrent signal. The introduction of an ultrathin Al2O3 interlayer also enables the phototransistor to achieve a responsivity in excess of 105 A/W, a 3 dB bandwidth of 100 kHz, a gain-bandwidth product of 9.14 × 1010 s-1, and a specific detectivity of 1.91 × 1013 Jones. This device architecture enables the gain-bandwidth trade-off in current field-effect phototransistors to be overcome, demonstrating the feasibility of simultaneous high-gain and fast-response photodetection.

Effects of doping graphene on the performance of graphene-silicon hybrid photoconductive detectors.

The photoconductive detector based on a graphene-silicon heterostructure retains excellent optoelectrical properties, in which the graphene plays an indispensable role, acting as the carrier transporting channel. Herein, we systematically investigate by simulation and experiment how doping graphene will affect the performance of graphene-silicon hybrid photoconductors. Compared with lightly p-doped graphene devices, the responsivity can be made nine times better through increasing the p-type doping level. In addition, the net photocurrent can also be enhanced by about four times through increasing the n-type doping level of graphene. We attribute this improvement to the barrier height change adjusted by doping graphene, which can optimize the lifetime and transport of photocarriers. Such a graphene-doping method, that manipulates the junction region, could offer useful guidance for achieving high-performance graphene photodetectors.

Autophagy and Heart Failure.

Pressure overload can lead to cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. Autophagic activity could be detected in heart failure patients and animal models. However, the role of autophagy in heart failure is not clear. In this chapter, we will outline the role of macroautophagy and mitophagy in heart failure and the mechanisms underlying regulation.

Autophagy, Myocarditis, and Cardiomyopathy.

Direct damage and immune responses after viral infection lead to myocarditis. Autophagy is involved in both viral clearance and replication. In this chapter, we will briefly describe the role of autophagy in viral myocarditis. In addition, we will discuss the role of autophagy in dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and diabetic cardiomyopathy.

[Efficacies of tricuspid valve replacement versus repair for moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation with right heart failure].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacies of tricuspid valve replacement versus plasty for moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation with right heart failure. METHODS: From January 2003 to June 2008, a total of 228 patients with right heart failure undergoing tricuspid valve operations were selected. And the procedures included tricuspid valve plasty (n=127) and tricuspid valve replacement (n=101). During a follow-up period of 65 months, their perioperative data were collected to evaluate the surgical outcomes. RESULTS: The abnormal liver function rate and average pulmonary artery systolic pressure in tricuspid valve plasty group were lower than those in tricuspid valve replacement group (P=0.023, 0.033). In replacement group, average aortic cross-clamping time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, ventilation time and stay length of intensive care unit (ICU), the usage of inotropic drug was significantly higher than repair group (P<0.01). The early complication rate (15.8%) and case fatality rate (6.3%) of repair group were much lower than those of replacement group (27.3%, 16.8%) (P=0.042, 0.011). Long-term follow-ups revealed that the tricuspid valve thrombosis rate in replacement group was higher than that in repair group (P=0.036). And the recurrence rate of moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation in repair group was higher than that in replacement group (28.7% vs 8.8%) (P=0.011). The survival rate of patients in repair group was much higher than that of replacement group at 3 months, 1, 3, 5 years post-operation. However, the differences were not statistically significant (P=0.231, 0.089, 0.133, 0.078). CONCLUSION: For moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation leading to right heart failure, the early efficacy of tricuspid valve plasty is much better than that of tricuspid valve replacement. The mid-term recurrence rate after tricuspid valve repair is higher than that of replacement.

Bionic visual-audio photodetectors with in-sensor perception and preprocessing.

Serving as the "eyes" and "ears" of the Internet of Things, optical and acoustic sensors are the fundamental components in hardware systems. Nowadays, mainstream hardware systems, often comprising numerous discrete sensors, conversion modules, and processing units, tend to result in complex architectures that are less efficient compared to human sensory pathways. Here, a visual-audio photodetector inspired by the human perception system is proposed to enable all-in-one visual and acoustic signal detection with computing capability. This device not only captures light but also optically records sound waves, thus achieving "watching" and "listening" within a single unit. The gate-tunable positive, negative, and zero photoresponses lead to highly programmable responsivities. This programmability enables the execution of diverse functions, including visual feature extraction, object classification, and sound wave manipulation. These results showcase the potential of expanding perception approaches in neuromorphic devices, opening up new possibilities to craft intelligent and compact hardware systems.

Uncooled Broadband Photodetection via Light Trapping in Conformal PtTe2-Silicon Nanopillar Heterostructures.

Dirac semimetals have demonstrated significant attraction in the field of optoelectronics due to their unique bandgap structure and high carrier mobility. Combining them with classical semiconductor materials to form heterojunctions enables broadband optoelectronic conversion at room temperature. However, the low light absorption of layered Dirac semimetals substantially limits the device's responsivity in the infrared band. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) heterostructure, composed of silicon nanopillars (SiNPs) and a conformal PtTe2 film, is proposed and demonstrated to enhance the photoresponsivity for uncooled broadband detection. The light trapping effect in the 3D heterostructure efficiently promotes the interaction between light and PtTe2, while also enhancing the light absorption efficiency of silicon, which enables the enhancement of the device responsivity across a broadband spectrum. Experimentally, the PtTe2-SiNPs heterojunction device demonstrates excellent photoelectric conversion behavior across the visible, near-infrared, and long-wave infrared (LWIR) bands, with its responsivity demonstrating an order-of-magnitude improvement compared to the counterparts with planar silicon heterojunctions. Under 11 µm laser irradiation, the noise equivalent power (NEP) can reach 1.76 nW·Hz-1/2 (@1 kHz). These findings offer a strategic approach to the design and fabrication of high-performance broadband photodetectors based on Dirac semimetals.

Schottky infrared detectors with optically tunable barriers beyond the internal photoemission limit.

Internal photoemission is a prominent branch of the photoelectric effect and has emerged as a viable method for detecting photons with energies below the semiconductor bandgap. This breakthrough has played a significant role in accelerating the development of infrared imaging in one chip with state-of-the-art silicon techniques. However, the performance of these Schottky infrared detectors is currently hindered by the limit of internal photoemission; specifically, a low Schottky barrier height is inevitable for the detection of low-energy infrared photons. Herein, a distinct paradigm of Schottky infrared detectors is proposed to overcome the internal photoemission limit by introducing an optically tunable barrier. This device uses an infrared absorbing material-sensitized Schottky diode, assisted by the highly adjustable Fermi level of graphene, which subtly decouples the photon energy from the Schottky barrier height. Correspondingly, a broadband photoresponse spanning from ultraviolet to mid-wave infrared is achieved, with a high specific detectivity of 9.83 × 1010 cm Hz1/2 W-1 at 2,700 nm and an excellent specific detectivity of 7.2 × 109 cm Hz1/2 W-1 at room temperature under blackbody radiation. These results address a key challenge in internal photoemission and hold great promise for the development of the Schottky infrared detector with high sensitivity and room temperature operation.

Ultralow-Noise MoS2/Type II Superlattice Mixed-Dimensional van der Waals Barrier Long-Wave Infrared Detector.

Low-noise, high-performance long-wave infrared detectors play a crucial role in diverse applications, including in the industrial, security, and medical fields. However, the current performance of long-wave detectors is constrained by the noise associated with narrow bandgaps. Therefore, exploring novel heterostructures for long-wavelength infrared detection is advantageous for the development of compact and high-performance infrared sensing. In this investigation, we present a MoS2/type II superlattice mixed-dimensional van der Waals barrier long-wave infrared detector (Mixed-vdWH). Through the design of the valence band barrier, substantial suppression of device dark noise is achieved, resulting in 2 orders of magnitude reduction in dark current. The device exhibits outstanding performance, with D* reaching 4 × 1010 Jones. This integration approach synergizes the distinctive properties of two-dimensional layered materials (2DLM) with the well-established processing techniques of traditional three-dimensional semiconductor materials, offering a compelling avenue for the large-scale integration of 2DLM.

Lysidrhodosides A-I, acylphloroglucinol glucosides with anti-inflammatory activities from the leaves of Lysidice rhodostegia.

Lysidrhodosides A-I (1-9), nine acylphloroglucinol glucoside derivatives along with three known analogues (10-12) were isolated from the leaves of Lysidice rhodostegia. Their structures and absolute configuration were elucidated by spectroscopic data analysis (NMR, UV, IR, HR-ESI-MS), single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and acid hydrolysis with HPLC analysis. Notably, compounds 7-9 represent the first examples of 3-methylbutyryl phloroglucinol glucoside dimers isolated from this plant. Additionally, compounds 1-12 were assessed for their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) in the LPS-induced BV-2 cells. The results showed that compounds 6 and 12 significantly inhibited the production of the inflammatory mediator NO, with an inhibitory rate of 95.96 and 91.13% at a concentration of 50 µM, respectively.

"All-in-one" metal polyphenol network nanocapsules integrated microneedle patches for lipophagy fueled ferroptosis-mediated multimodal therapy.

Ferroptosis-mediated multimodal therapy has emerged as a promising strategy for tumor elimination, with lipid peroxide (LPO) playing a pivotal role. However, the therapeutic efficiency is limited due to insufficient intracellular levels of free fatty acids (FFA), which severely hinder the production of LPO. To address this limitation, we proposed a lipophagy strategy aimed at degrading lipid droplets (LDs) to release FFA, serving as the essential "fuel" for LPO production. In this study, the lipophagy inducer epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was self-assembled with reactive oxygen species (ROS)-producer phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) mediated by Fe2+ to form EFP nanocapsules, which were further integrated into microneedle patches to form a "all-in-one" EFP@MNs. The metal-polyphenol network structure of EFP endow it with photothermal therapy capacity. Upon insertion into tumors, the released EFP nanocapsules were demonstrated to induce lipophagy through metabolic disturbance, thereby promoting LPO production and facilitating ferroptosis. When combined with photothermal therapy, this approach significantly remolded the tumor immune microenvironment by driving tumor-associated macrophages toward M1 phenotype and enhancing dendritic cell maturation. Encouragingly, in conjunction with αPD-L1 treatment, the proposed EFP@MNs exhibited remarkable efficacy in tumor ablation. Our study presents a versatile framework for utilizing microneedle patches to power ferroptosis-mediated multimodal therapy.

Synergistic-potential engineering enables high-efficiency graphene photodetectors for near- to mid-infrared light.

High quantum efficiency and wide-band detection capability are the major thrusts of infrared sensing technology. However, bulk materials with high efficiency have consistently encountered challenges in integration and operational complexity. Meanwhile, two-dimensional (2D) semimetal materials with unique zero-bandgap structures are constrained by the bottleneck of intrinsic quantum efficiency. Here, we report a near-mid infrared ultra-miniaturized graphene photodetector with configurable 2D potential well. The 2D potential well constructed by dielectric structures can spatially (laterally and vertically) produce a strong trapping force on the photogenerated carriers in graphene and inhibit their recombination, thereby improving the external quantum efficiency (EQE) and photogain of the device with wavelength-immunity, which enable a high responsivity of 0.2 A/W-38 A/W across a broad infrared detection band from 1.55 to 11 µm. Thereafter, a room-temperature detectivity approaching 1 × 109 cm Hz1/2 W-1 is obtained under blackbody radiation. Furthermore, a synergistic effect of electric and light field in the 2D potential well enables high-efficiency polarization-sensitive detection at tunable wavelengths. Our strategy opens up alternative possibilities for easy fabrication, high-performance and multifunctional infrared photodetectors.

Graphene/Ge Photoconductive Position-Sensitive Detectors Based on the Charge Injection Effect.

Position-sensitive detectors (PSDs) are of great significance to optical communication, automatic alignment, and dislocation detection domains, by precisely obtaining the position information of infrared light spots which are invisible to human eyes. Herein, a kind of PSD based on graphene/germanium (Ge) heterojunction architecture is proposed and demonstrated, which exhibits amplified signals by unitizing the charge injection effect. Driven by the graphene/Ge heterojunction, a large number of photogenerated carriers diffuse from the incident position of the light spot and subsequently inject into graphene, which ultimately generates a photoresponse with high efficiency. The experimental results show that the device can exhibit a fast response speed of 3 µs, a high responsivity of ~40 A/W, and a detection distance of 3000 µm at the 1550 nm band, which hints that the graphene/Ge heterojunction can be used as an efficient platform for near-infrared light spot position sensing.

Effects of drip irrigation on yield, soil fertility and soil enzyme activity of different potato varieties in Northwest China.

The effects of different irrigation and fertilization on potato yield, soil fertility and soil enzyme activity of different varieties under drip irrigation fertilization mode were studied, which could provide support for selecting the best varieties in Northwest China. Three factors and three levels orthogonal experimental design method, a total of nine treatments. The three irrigation levels were W1 (100% crop evapotranspiration (ETC)), W2 (80% ETC) and W3 (60% ETC). The three fertilization levels were F1 (N-P2O5-K2O, 240-120-300 kg ha-1), F2 (180-90-225 kg ha-1) and F3 (120-60-150 kg ha-1). The three varieties were V1 (Feiuritar), V2 (Longshu7) and V3 (Qingshu 9). The results showed that different irrigation and fertilization had significant effects on potato yield, soil fertility and soil enzyme activity in root zone. The highest yield of T5 (80%ETC, 180-90-225 kg ha-1, Qingshu 9) was 49,222.3 kg ha-1. With the increase of fertilizer application rate, potato yield and soil enzyme activity in root zone increased first and then decreased, but soil electrical conductivity (SEC), soil nitrate-N content (SNNC), soil alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen content (SAHC), soil available potassium (AK), soil available phosphorus (AP), soil ammonium-N content (SANC) and soil organic matter (SOM) in root zone increased continuously. The yield, soil catalase activity, soil urease activity and soil sucrase activity at W2 were 2.81% and 22.2%, 1.84% and 7.04%, 8.26% and 9.62%, 5.34% and 13.36% higher than those at W1 and W3, respectively. The overall trend of soil water content, soil nutrient content and enzyme activity in root zone was 0-20 cm >20-40 cm >40-60 cm soil layer. There were many soil factors affecting tuber yield, among which soil enzyme activity, pH value and root zone conductivity were the key factors. The results showed that T5 (80%ETC, 180-90-225 kg ha-1, Qingshu 9) was the best treatment to improve soil enzyme activity and yield.

Sub-100 mA/cm2 CO2-to-CO Reduction Current Densities in Hierarchical Porous Gold Electrocatalysts Made by Direct Ink Writing and Dealloying.

While most research efforts on CO2-to-CO reduction electrocatalysts focus on boosting their selectivity, the reduction rate, directly proportional to the reduction current density, is another critical parameter to be considered in practical applications. This is because mass transport associated with the diffusion of reactant/product species becomes a major concern at a high reduction rate. Nanostructured Au is a promising CO2-to-CO reduction electrocatalyst for its very high selectivity. However, the CO2-to-CO reduction current density commonly achieved in conventional nanostructured Au electrocatalysts is relatively low (in the range of 1-10 mA/cm2) for practical applications. In this work, we combine direct ink writing-based additive manufacturing and dealloying to design a robust hierarchical porous Au electrocatalyst to improve the mass transport and achieve high CO2-to-CO reduction current densities on the order of 64.9 mA/cm2 with CO partial current density of 33.8 mA/cm2 at 0.55 V overpotential using an H-cell configuration. Although the current density achieved in our robust hierarchical porous Au electrocatalyst is one order of magnitude higher than the one achieved in conventional nanostructured electrocatalysts, we found that the selectivity of our system is relatively low, namely 52%, which suggests that mass transport remains a critical issue despite the hierarchical porous architecture. We further show that the bulk dimension of our electrocatalyst is a critical parameter governing the interplay between selectivity and reduction rate. The insights gained in this work shed new light on the design of electrocatalysts toward scale-up CO2 reduction and beyond.

Prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome combined with transient abnormal myelopoiesis in foetuses with a GATA1 gene variant: two case reports.

BACKGROUND: Down syndrome myeloid hyperplasia includes transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM) and the myeloid leukemia associated with Down syndrome (ML-DS). The mutation of GATA1 gene is essential in the development of Down syndrome combined with TAM or ML-DS. Some patients with TAM are asymptomatic and may also present with severe manifestations such as hepatosplenomegaly and hydrops. CASE PRESENTATION: We report two cases of prenatally diagnosed TAM. One case was a rare placental low percentage 21 trisomy mosiacism, resulting in the occurrence of a false negative NIPT. The final diagnosis was made at 36 weeks of gestation when ultrasound revealed significant enlargement of the foetal liver and spleen and an enlarged heart; the foetus eventually died in utero. We detected a placenta with a low percentage (5-8%) of trisomy 21 mosiacism by Copy Number Variation Sequencing (CNV-seq) and Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). In another case, foetal oedema was detected by ultrasound at 31 weeks of gestation. Two foetuses were diagnosed with Down syndrome by chromosomal microarray analysis via umbilical vein puncture and had significantly elevated cord blood leucocyte counts with large numbers of blasts. The GATA1 Sanger sequencing results suggested the presence of a [NM_002049.4(GATA1):c.220G > A (p. Val74Ile)] hemizygous variant and a [NM_002049.4(GATA1):c.49dupC(p. Gln17ProfsTer23)] hemizygous variant of the GATA1 gene in two cases. CONCLUSION: It seems highly likely that these two identified mutations are the genetic cause of prenatal TAM in foetuses with Down syndrome.

Microneedle-assisted vaccination combined with autophagy regulation for antitumor immunotherapy.

Despite vaccination having the potency to revolutionize disease treatments, some critical issues including lack of safe and effective delivery system, insufficient internalization and ineffective antigen cross-presentation by dendritic cells (DCs) severely hamper its extensive clinical applications. Herein, we developed a whole cell-encapsulated antitumor vaccine microneedle patch (TCV-DMNs) potentiated with transdermal co-delivery of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and autophagy promoter (Tat-beclin 1). After transdermal vaccination with TCV-DMNs, GM-CSF released from DMNs serves as a potent adjuvant to recruit and promote the phagocytosis of antigens by DCs. Subsequently, Tat-beclin 1 promoted DCs maturation and MHC-I-mediated cross-presentation via up-regulated autophagy of DCs. We found that vaccination with TCV-DMNs could not only effectively suppress melanoma challenge, but also lead to regression of established malignancies, followed by a relapse-free survival of >40 days. Collectively, whole cell-encapsulated microneedle-assisted transdermal vaccination TCV-DMNs in combination with autophagy regulation could induce a robust antitumor immune response via enhancing transdermal delivery efficiency, promoting antigen internalization and cross-presentation, together with boosting T cell activities.

Correlative increasing expressions of KIF5b and Nav1.7 in DRG neurons of rats under neuropathic pain conditions.

Nav1.7, one of tetrodotoxin-sensitive voltage-gated sodium channels, mainly expressed in the small diameter dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. The expression and accumulation on neuronal membrane of Nav1.7 increased following peripheral tissue inflammation or nerve injury. However, the mechanisms for membrane accumulation of Nav1.7 remained unclear. We report that KIF5b, a highly expressed member of the kinesin-1 family in DRGs, promoted the translocation of Nav1.7 to the plasma membrane in DRG neurons of the rat. Following nociceptive behaviors in rats induced by peripheral spared nerve injury (SNI), synchronously increased KIF5b and Nav1.7 expressions were observed in DRGs. Immunohistochemistry staining demonstrated the co-expressions of KIF5b and Nav1.7 in the same DRG neurons. Immunoprecipitation experiments further confirmed the interactions between KIF5b and Nav1.7. Moreover, intrathecal injections of KIF5b shRNA moderated the SNI-induced both mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia. The rescued analgesic effects also alleviated SNI-induced anxiety-like behaviors. In sum, KIF5b was required for the membrane localizations of Nav1.7, which suggests a novel mechanism for the trafficking of Nav1.7 involved in neuropathic pain.

Enhancing and Broadening the Photoresponse of Monolayer MoS2 Based on Au Nanoslit Array.

Two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), featuring unique optoelectronic properties, has attracted tremendous interest in developing novel photodetection devices. However, the limited light absorption and small carrier transport rate of the monolayer MoS2 result in low photoresponse, and the large band gap limits its detection range in the visible region. In this study, we propose a nanoslit array-MoS2 hybrid device architecture with enhanced and broadened photoresponse. The nanoslit array can localize free-space light to achieve strong interactions with MoS2, and acts as the channel to improve charge transport. As a result, the Au nanoslit array-MoS2 hybrid detector exhibits a nearly 100-fold increase in photocurrent compared to the pure MoS2 device. More importantly, the hybrid device can broaden the photoresponse to the optical communication band of 1550 nm which is lower than the band gap of MoS2, by efficiently utilizing the hot carriers generated by the Au nanoslits. The experimental results are supported by both theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Since our demonstration leverages the engineering of the hybrid photodetectors with metal nanostructures rather than semiconductor materials, it should be universal and applicable to other devices for broadband, high-efficiency photoelectric conversion.