RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is a chronic bone disease characterized by bone loss and decreased bone strength. However, current anti-resorptive drugs carry a risk of various complications. The deep learning-based efficacy prediction system (DLEPS) is a forecasting tool that can effectively compete in drug screening and prediction based on gene expression changes. This study aimed to explore the protective effect and potential mechanisms of cinobufotalin (CB), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), on bone loss. METHODS: DLEPS was employed for screening anti-osteoporotic agents according to gene profile changes in primary osteoporosis. Micro-CT, histological and morphological analysis were applied for the bone protective detection of CB, and the osteogenic differentiation/function in human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMMSCs) were also investigated. The underlying mechanism was verified using qRT-PCR, Western blot (WB), immunofluorescence (IF), etc. RESULTS: A safe concentration (0.25 mg/kg in vivo, 0.05 µM in vitro) of CB could effectively preserve bone mass in estrogen deficiency-induced bone loss and promote osteogenic differentiation/function of hBMMSCs. Both BMPs/SMAD and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathways participated in CB-induced osteogenic differentiation, further regulating the expression of osteogenesis-associated factors, and ultimately promoting osteogenesis. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that CB could significantly reverse estrogen deficiency-induced bone loss, further promoting osteogenic differentiation/function of hBMMSCs, with BMPs/SMAD and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathways involved.
RESUMEN
Broadband absorbers with high absorption, ultrathin thickness, and lithography-free planar structure have a wide range of potential applications, such as clocking and solar energy harvesting. For plasmonic metal materials, achieving perfect ultra-broadband absorption remains a challenge owing to the intrinsically narrow bandwidth. In this study, wafer-scale Al-SiO2 stack metasurfaces were experimentally fabricated to realize perfect ultra-broadband absorption. The experimental results show that the absorption for Al-SiO2 stack metasurfaces can reach up to 98% for the wavelength range from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared (350-1400 nm). It was experimentally verified that the absorption performance of Al-SiO2 stack metasurfaces is dependent on the layer number and is superior to that of other metal-based stack metasurfaces. This study will pave the way for development of plasmonic metal-based ultra-broadband absorbers as in low cost and high performance robust solar energy devices.
RESUMEN
Catenary optics has attracted much interest due to its unique properties in wave-front manipulation, field enhancement, and dispersion engineering. In this paper, the applications of catenary optics in the near-field lithography are studied. The catenary shaped nanostructures and tip-insulator-metal (TIM) structures are simultaneously utilized to increase the contrast ratio of the focal plane and to give rise to a sharp focusing focal spot with high intensity. Moreover, the full width at half-maximum of the focal spot maintains well below the diffraction limit. The proposed catenary TIM structure may improve the quality of near-field lithography and find applications in super-resolution near-field direct writing nano-lithography.
