Listeria monocytogenes: possible mechanism of infection of goat uterus and its effects on uterine autophagy and cell apoptosis.

Listeriosis is highly prevalent in the animal farming industry, with Listeria monocytogenes as the causative pathogen. To identify potential therapeutic targets for LM infection, we investigated the mechanisms of LM infection in goat uteri. We inoculated a group of goats with LM via jugular vein injection, isolated and raised them, and subsequently collected sterile samples of their uterine tissue after they exhibited clinical symptoms of LM infection. We used Giemsa staining, immunohistochemical staining, real-time qPCR, and Western blotting as experimental methods.First, we investigated the mechanism of Listeria monocytogenes (LM) infection in the goat uterus by examining the expression levels of listeriolysin O, E-cadherin, and tyrosine kinase c-Met in the uterus.Furthermore, we investigated the impact of LM infection on uterine autophagy and cell apoptosis. The results indicate that the injection of LM into the goats' jugular veins leads to LM infection in the goats' uteri. During LM survival inside the goat uterine cells, there is a significant increase in the expression levels of LLO, E-cadherin, and c-Met in the host uterine tissue. This suggests that LM may potentially infect goat uteri through the InlA/E-cadherin and InlB/c-Met pathways. Furthermore, LM infection increases the levels of apoptosis and autophagy in goat uteri. Apoptosis genes Bcl-2 and Bax, as well as autophagy-related genes LC3B, PINK1, and Parkin, exhibit varying degrees of changes in localization and expression in goat uteri, mediating the occurrence of apoptotic and autophagic responses.

Fresnel Diffraction Model for Laser Dazzling Spots of Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Cameras.

Laser dazzling on complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors is an effective method in optoelectronic countermeasures. However, previous research mainly focused on the laser dazzling under far fields, with limited studies on situations that the far-field conditions were not satisfied. In this paper, we established a Fresnel diffraction model of laser dazzling on a CMOS by combining experiments and simulations. We calculated that the laser power density and the area of saturated pixels on the detector exhibit a linear relationship with a slope of 0.64 in a log-log plot. In the experiment, we found that the back side illumination (BSI-CMOS) matched the simulations, with an error margin of 3%, while the front side illumination (FSI-CMOS) slightly mismatched the simulations, with an error margin of 14%. We also found that the full-screen saturation threshold for the BSI-CMOS was 25% higher than the FSI-CMOS. Our work demonstrates the applicability of the Fresnel diffraction model for BSI-CMOS, which provides a valuable reference for studying laser dazzling.

Two colistin resistance-producing Aeromonas strains, isolated from coastal waters in Zhejiang, China: characteristics, multi-drug resistance and pathogenicity.

Introduction: Aeromonas spp. are ubiquitous inhabitants of ecosystems, and many species are opportunistically pathogenic to humans and animals. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Aeromonas species have been widely detected in hospitals, urban rivers, livestock, and aquatic animals. Results: In this study, we identified two Aeromonas isolates, namely Aeromonas veronii 0728Q8Av and Aeromonas caviae 1029Y16Ac, from coastal waters in Zhejiang, China. Both isolates exhibited typical biochemical characteristics and conferred MDR to 11 kinds of antibiotics, remaining susceptible to ceftazidime. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that both isolates harbored multiple antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and several mobile genetic elements (MGEs) on the chromosomes, each containing a resistance genomic island (GI), a typical class 1 integron, a transposon, and various insertion sequences (ISs). Most ARGs were situated within the multiple resistance GI, which contained a class 1 integron and a transposon in both Aeromonas isolates. Furthermore, a chromosomal mcr-3.16 gene was identified in A. veronii 0728Q8Av, while a chromosomal mcr-3.3 was found in A. caviae 1029Y16Ac. Both mcr-3 variants were not located within but were distanced from the multidrug resistance GI on the chromosome, flanking by multiple ISs. In addition, a mcr-3-like was found adjacent to mcr-3.16 to form a tandem mcr-3.16-mcr-3-like-dgkA structure; yet, Escherichia coli carrying the recombinants of mcr-3-like did not exhibit resistance to colistin. And an incomplete mcr-3-like was found adjacent to mcr-3.3 in A. caviae 1029Y16Ac, suggesting the possibility that mcr-3 variants originated from Aeromonas species. In vivo bacterial pathogenicity test indicated that A. veronii 0728Q8Av exhibited moderate pathogenicity towards infected ayu, while A. caviae 1029Y16Ac was non-virulent. Discussion: Thus, both Aeromonas species deserve further attention regarding their antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity.

Overcoming High-Quality Limitations in Plasmonic Metasurfaces for Ultrasensitive Terahertz Applications.

In photonics, achieving high-quality (Q) resonance is crucial for high-sensitivity devices used in applications, such as switching, sensing, and lasing. However, high-Q resonances are highly susceptible to internal losses of plasmonic devices, impeding their integration into broader systems across terahertz and visible light bands. Here, we overcome this challenge by proposing a low-Q plasmonic metasurface for ultrasensitive terahertz (THz) switching and sensing. Theoretically, we reveal an approach to constructing a low-Q resonator possessing high sensitivity to nonradiative losses. Leveraging this mechanism, we design a highly sensitive plasmonic metasurface induced by strong coupling between a quasi-bound state in the continuum and a dipole mode. By hybridizing with the germanium layer, the metadevice exhibits an ultralow pump threshold of 192 µJ/cm2 and an ultrafast switching cycle time of 7 ps. Furthermore, it also shows a high sensitivity of 224 GHz/RIU in refractive index sensing. The proposed paradigm of constructing low-Q and high-sensitivity photonic devices can be applied to biosensing, wide-band filters, and sensitive modulators.

In Vitro Cultivation for Glugea plecoglossi (Microsporidia) Isolated from Ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis).

Glugea plecoglossi is an obligate intracellular microsporidium, which poses a significant threat to ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis). In vitro cultivation models are invaluable tools for investigating intracellular microorganisms, including G. plecoglossil. In this study, we attempted to in vitro cultivate G. plecoglossi using primary cultures derived from ayu monocytes/macrophages (MO/MΦ), a murine-derived macrophage cell line RAW264.7, and the epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cell line. The results demonstrated that MO/MΦ infected with spores exhibited a pronounced immune response which was presented by rapidly high expression levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as PaIL-1ß, PaTNF-α, PaIL-10, and PaTGF-ß, and detached within 96 h post-infection (hpi). Infected RAW264.7 cells remained capable of stable passage yet exhibited cellular deformation with a decrease in intracellular spores occurring around 8 days post-infection (dpi). In contrast, EPC cells promised a substantial parasite population, and the cytokine expression levels returned to normal by 8 dpi. In addition, G. plecoglossi spores recovered from EPC cells could infect young ayu, suggesting that EPC cells might be used as an in vitro cultivation system for G. plecoglossi.

High-order exciton complexes induced by an interlayer carrier transfer in 2D van der Waals heterostructures.

High-order correlated excitonic states, such as biexciton, charged biexciton, and polaron, hold a promising platform in contemporary quantum and nonlinear optics due to their large Bohr radii and thus strong nonlinear interactions. The recently found 2D TMDs further give such excitonic states additional valley properties, with bound state of excitons in opposite valleys in momentum spaces. Despite great efforts that have been made on emission properties of excitonic states, their absorption features, especially the ultrafast absorption dynamics, are rarely reported. Here, we reported the enhanced optical absorption of the high-order charged-excitonic states in monolayer WS2, including singlet, triplet, and semidark trions (3-particle state), and charged biexcitons (5-particle state), by utilizing the interlayer charge transfer-induced photo-doping effect in the graphene-WS2 heterostructure. Depending on recombination rates of doping electrons, absorption intensities of charged complexes exhibit ultrafast decay dynamics, with lifetimes of several picoseconds. Due to many-body interaction, both increasing pump intensity and lattice temperature can broaden these fine excitonic absorption peaks and even reverse the shape of the transient absorption spectrum.

Parallel detection of multiple zoonotic parasites using a real-time fluorogenic loop-mediated isothermal amplification-based quadruple-sample microfluidic chip.

Zoonotic parasites pose significant health risks globally. In the present study, we combined a microfluidic chip with loop-mediated isothermal amplification (on-chip LAMP) to detect five zoonotic parasites: Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium parvum, Cryptosporidium hominis, Clonorchis sinensis, and Taenia solium. This method enabled the simultaneous parallel analysis of five genetic markers from a maximum of four samples per chip. The on-chip LAMP assay was conducted in a highly automated format via the addition (by pipetting) of each sample in a single operation. The reaction was performed in volumes as low as 5 µL at a temperature of 65°C for 60 min, achieving limits of detection ranging from 10-2 to 10-3 pg./µL of recombinant plasmid DNA. All the time-to-positive values were less than 40 min, and almost all the coefficients of variation were less than 10%, even when using limit of detection concentrations for multiple pathogens, indicating robust reproducibility among replicates. The clinical sensitivity and specificity for detecting 135 field samples were 98.08 and 97.59%, respectively, compared with traditional biological methods, indicating good applicability in the detection of field samples. This on-chip LAMP assay allows for low reagent consumption, ease of operation, and multiple analyses of samples and genetic targets, and is applicable for on-site detection and the routine monitoring of multiple zoonotic parasites.

Charged biexciton polaritons sustaining strong nonlinearity in 2D semiconductor-based nanocavities.

Controlling the interaction between light and matter at micro- and nano-scale can provide new opportunities for modern optics and optoelectronics. An archetypical example is polariton, a half-light-half-matter quasi particle inheriting simultaneously the robust coherence of light and the strong interaction of matter, which plays an important role in many exotic phenomena. Here, we open up a new kind of cooperative coupling between plasmon and different excitonic complexes in WS2-silver nanocavities, namely plasmon-exciton-trion-charged biexciton four coupling states. Thanks to the large Bohr radius of up to 5 nm, the charged biexciton polariton exhibits strong saturation nonlinearity, ~30 times higher than the neutral exciton polariton. Transient absorption dynamics further reveal the ultrafast many-body interaction nature, with a timescale of <100 fs. The demonstration of biexciton polariton here combines high nonlinearity, simple processing and strong scalability, permitting access for future energy-efficient optical switching and information processing.

Theoretical and experimental investigations of dispersion-managed, polarization-maintaining 1-GHz mode-locked fiber lasers.

High-repetition-rate (up to GHz) femtosecond mode-locked lasers have attracted significant attention in many applications, such as broadband spectroscopy, high-speed optical sampling, and so on. In this paper, the characteristics of dispersion-managed, polarization-maintaining (PM) 1-GHz mode-locked fiber lasers were investigated both experimentally and numerically. Three compact and robust 1-GHz fiber lasers operating at anomalous, normal, and near-zero dispersion regimes were demonstrated, respectively. The net dispersion of the linear cavity is adjusted by changing types of PM erbium-doped fibers (EDFs) and semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) in the cavity. Moreover, the long-term stability of the three mode-locked fiber lasers is proved without external control. In order to better understand the mode-locking dynamics of lasers, a numerical model was constructed for analysis of the 1-GHz fiber laser. Pulse evolution simulations have been carried out for soliton, dissipative-soliton, and stretched-pulse mode-locking regimes under different net dispersion conditions. Experimental results are basically in agreement with the numerical simulations.

Influence of surface roughness on nanosecond laser-induced shock wave enhancement effects.

In this paper, an effective method is proposed for improving the energy of the shock waves that are generated by plasma expanding outward and colliding with another gas. Silicon targets are used as the response medium with roughness of 2.3 nm, 457.8 nm, 1.1 µm, and 37.1 µm, respectively. A 532-nm-laser with a pulse duration of 8 ns and a repetition rate of 10 Hz is used as the irradiation source. An intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) is used to photograph the morphology of the shock waves. The time-resolved emission images of silicon plasma plumes are observed between 20-200 ns. As the surface roughness of the target increases, the intensity of the shock wave gradually increases, and the energy of the shock wave reaches up to 39.45 mJ at a roughness of 37.1 µm.

Visualizing Hot-Carrier Expansion and Cascaded Transport in WS2 by Ultrafast Transient Absorption Microscopy.

The competition between different spatiotemporal carrier relaxation determines the carrier harvesting in optoelectronic semiconductors, which can be greatly optimized by utilizing the ultrafast spatial expansion of highly energetic carriers before their energy dissipation via carrier-phonon interactions. Here, the excited-state dynamics in layered tungsten disulfide (WS2 ) are primarily imaged in the temporal, spatial, and spectral domains by transient absorption microscopy. Ultrafast hot carrier expansion is captured in the first 1.4 ps immediately after photoexcitation, with a mean diffusivity up to 980 cm2 s-1 . This carrier diffusivity then rapidly weakens, reaching a conventional linear spread of 10.5 cm2 s-1 after 2 ps after the hot carriers cool down to the band edge and form bound excitons. The novel carrier diffusion can be well characterized by a cascaded transport model including 3D thermal transport and thermo-optical conversion, in which the carrier temperature gradient and lattice thermal transport govern the initial hot carrier expansion and long-term exciton diffusion rates, respectively. The ultrafast hot carrier expansion breaks the limit of slow exciton diffusion in 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, providing potential guidance for high-performance applications and thermal management of optoelectronic technology.

Neuromorphology in-sensor computing architecture based on an optical Fourier transform.

We propose an object recognition architecture relying on a neural network algorithm in optical sensors. Precisely, by applying the high-speed and low-power Fourier transform operation in the optical domain, we can transfer the high-cost part of the traditional convolutional neural network algorithm to the sensor side to achieve faster computing speed. An optical neuron unit (ONU) consisting of transition metal sulfide (TMD) material is fabricated for a vivid validation of this architecture. Using the embedded gate pair structure inside our ONU, TMD materials can be electrically doped at different levels, forming an in-plane PN junction, which allows for effective manipulation of light response to imitate biological nerve synapses. The results demonstrate that our ONU could reach the ability of optic neurons, providing experimental support for future in-sensor computing architecture.

Giant Photoluminescence Enhancement and Carrier Dynamics in MoS2 Bilayers with Anomalous Interlayer Coupling.

Fundamental researches and explorations based on transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) mainly focus on their monolayer counterparts, where optical densities are limited owing to the atomic monolayer thickness. Photoluminescence (PL) yield in bilayer TMDCs is much suppressed owing to indirect-bandgap properties. Here, optical properties are explored in artificially twisted bilayers of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). Anomalous interlayer coupling and resultant giant PL enhancement are firstly observed in MoS2 bilayers, related to the suspension of the top layer material and independent of twisted angle. Moreover, carrier dynamics in MoS2 bilayers with anomalous interlayer coupling are revealed with pump-probe measurements, and the secondary rising behavior in pump-probe signal of B-exciton resonance, originating from valley depolarization of A-exciton, is firstly reported and discussed in this work. These results lay the groundwork for future advancement and applications beyond TMDCs monolayers.

An efficient and general method for the synthesis of stable isotope deuterium labeled phthalate esters.

An efficient and general synthetic route of deuterium-labeled phthalate esters is described with high isotopic enrichment and excellent chemical purities using inexpensive and readily available o-xylene-D10 as labeled starting material. The structures and isotope-abundance were confirmed via 1 H NMR and mass spectrometry. These deuterium labeled phthalate esters can be used as analytical reference standards for the detection of plasticizer residues in soil, water, food, plastic products, etc.

The Synthesis and Antitumor Activity of 1,8-Naphthalimide Derivatives Linked 1,2,3-Triazole.

In this study, acenaphthylene was used as the raw material, and a series of novel 1,8-naphthalimide-1,2,3-triazole derivatives was obtained through oxidation, acylation, alkylation, and click reactions, and subsequently, their anti-tumor activities were tested. After screening, we found that Compound 5e showed good activity against H1975 lung cancer cells, with the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) reaching 16.56 µM.

Bifunctional Spatiotemporal Metasurfaces for Incident Angle-Tunable and Ultrafast Optically Switchable Electromagnetically Induced Transparency.

Advances in tunable metamaterials/metasurfaces facilitates their utilization in novel optical components, and lead to many breakthroughs in light tailoring by giving birth to diverse spatiotemporal dynamics. In the ascendant field of terahertz (THz) photonics, the ultrafast modulation is the fundamental process of technological advancements in high-speed wireless communications, sensing, and imaging. However, the current research efforts have been mainly devoted to studies of single functionality under the control of one stimulus, which has plateaued in terms of innovative new features. Here, building on the incident angle-induced C2 symmetry breaking of split ring pairs, we experimentally demonstrate extremely versatile, ultrafast THz switching behaviors at continuously alterable resonant states. The direction-controlled resonance hybridization provides another excellent degree of routing freedom, owing to its robustness, simplicity, and wide tunability. By leveraging such virtues, single LC mode and EIT-like resonance under normal and oblique incidence conditions are both effectively switched-off by means of photon injection. Considering the ultrashort lifetime of free carriers in MoSe2 crystal, the corresponding transient dynamics show an ultrafast recovery time within 700 ps. The strategy proposed here is a viable pathway for multidimensional THz wave manipulation, which gears up a crucial step for diversified functionalities in deployable metaphotonic devices.

Trends in LDL-C and Non-HDL-C Levels with Age.

Understanding how blood lipid levels change with age in the general population is a precondition to defining dyslipidemia. To explore age-related trends in LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels in the general population, a large-scale cross-sectional study with 49,201 males and 35,084 females was adopted. Trends of non-HDL-C and LDL-C levels were plotted against each age (18 to 85 years old, one-year increments); the trends, as well as the influence of confounding factors on the trends, were validated and adjusted by linear regression modeling. The trajectory of LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels by age displayed a nonlinear correlation trend. Further multivariate linear regression modeling that incorporated sex-specific age phases showed that age was positively associated with LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels, with coefficients of 0.018 and 0.031, respectively, in females aged ≥18 to ≤56 years and negatively associated with LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels, with coefficients of -0·013 and -0.015, respectively, in females aged ≥57 years. The LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels increased with age in males ≥18 to ≤33 years of age, with coefficients of 0.025 and 0.053, respectively; the lipid levels plateaued at ≥34 to ≤56 years of age and subsequently decreased in those ≥57 years of age, with coefficients of -0.008 and -0.018, respectively. In contrast, pooled analyses without age stratification concealed these details. In conclusion, fluctuating increasing and decreasing lipid levels occurred with phases of aging in both sexes. Well-grounded age stratification is necessary to improve lipid-related pathophysiological studies.

Acoustic phonon recycling for photocarrier generation in graphene-WS2 heterostructures.

Electron-phonon scattering is the key process limiting the efficiency of modern nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices, in which most of the incident energy is converted to lattice heat and finally dissipates into the environment. Here, we report an acoustic phonon recycling process in graphene-WS2 heterostructures, which couples the heat generated in graphene back into the carrier distribution in WS2. This recycling process is experimentally recorded by spectrally resolved transient absorption microscopy under a wide range of pumping energies from 1.77 to 0.48 eV and is also theoretically described using an interfacial thermal transport model. The acoustic phonon recycling process has a relatively slow characteristic time (>100 ps), which is beneficial for carrier extraction and distinct from the commonly found ultrafast hot carrier transfer (~1 ps) in graphene-WS2 heterostructures. The combination of phonon recycling and carrier transfer makes graphene-based heterostructures highly attractive for broadband high-efficiency electronic and optoelectronic applications.

Tunable anisotropic plasmon response of monolayer GeSe nanoribbon arrays.

Recently, emerging two-dimensional (2D) germanium selenide (GeSe) has drawn lots of attention due to its in-plane anisotropic properties and great potential for optoelectronic applications such as in solar cells. However, methods are still sought to enhance its interaction with light to enable practical applications. Herein, we numerically investigate the localized plasmon response of monolayer GeSe nanoribbon arrays systematically, and the results show that localized surface plasmon polaritons in the far-infrared range with anisotropic behavior can be efficiently excited to enhance the light-matter interaction. We further show that the plasmon response of monolayer GeSe nanoribbons could be tuned effectively through the nanoribbon width, local refractive index, substrate thickness and carrier concentration, pointing out the ways for controlling the localized plasmon response. In the case of monolayer GeSe nanoribbons on a substrate of finite thickness, a Fabry-Pérot-like (FP-like) quantitative model has been proposed to explain the overall spectral response originating from overlapped FP and plasmon modes, and it matches well with the simulation results. All in all, we investigate the plasmon response of the novel 2D GeSe nanoribbons thoroughly for the first time, bringing opportunities for potential applications of novel polarization-dependent optoelectronic devices.

The vicious cycle between ferritinophagy and ROS production triggered EMT inhibition of gastric cancer cells was through p53/AKT/mTor pathway.

Cancer metastasis and resistance for chemotherapeutic agent correlate with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), while ROS production also involves in the EMT process, However, how autophagy mediated ROS production affects EMT remains unclear. Previous study showed that DpdtC (2,2'-di-pyridylketone hydrazone dithiocarbamate) could induce ferritinophagy in HepG2 cell. To insight into more details that how ferritinophagy affects cellular feature, the SGC-7901and BGC-823 gastric cancer cell lines were used. Interestingly DpdtC treatment resulted in EMT inhibition and was ROS dependent. Similar situation occurred in TGF-ß1 induced EMT model, supporting that DpdtC was able to inhibit EMT. Next the ability of DpdtC in ferritinophagy induction was further evaluated. As expected, DpdtC induced ferritinophagy in the absence and presence of TGF-ß1. The correlation analysis revealed that an enhanced ferritinophagic flux contributed to the EMT inhibition. In addition, ferritinophagy triggers Fenton reaction, resulting in ROS production which give rise of p53 response, thus the role of p53 was further investigated. DpdtC treatment resulted in upregulation of p53, but, the addition of p53 inhibitor, PFT-α could significantly neutralize the action of DpdtC on ferritinophagy induction and EMT inhibition. Furthermore, autophagy inhibitors or NAC could counteract the action of DpdtC, indicating that ferrtinophagy-mediated ROS played an important role in the cellular events. In addition to upregulation of p53, its down-stream targets, AKT/mTor were also downregulated, supporting that DpdtC induced EMT inhibition was achieved through ferritinophagy-ROS vicious cycle mediated p53/AKT/mTor pathway. And the activation of ferritinophagic flux was the dominant driving force in action of DpdtC in gastric cancer cells.