Giant Photoluminescence Enhancement of Monolayer WSe2 Using a Plasmonic Nanocavity with On-Demand Resonance.

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are considered promising building blocks for next-generation photonic and optoelectronic devices, owing to their fascinating optical properties. However, their inherent weak light absorption and low quantum yield severely hinder their practical applications. Here, we report up to 18000-fold photoluminescence (PL) enhancement in a monolayer WSe2-coupled plasmonic nanocavity. A spectroscopy-assisted nanomanipulation technique enables the assembly of a nanocavity with customizable resonances to simultaneously enhance the excitation and emission processes. In particular, precise control over the magnetic cavity mode facilitates spectral and spatial overlap with the exciton, resulting in plasmon-exciton intermediate coupling that approaches the maximum emission rate in the hybrid system. Meanwhile, the cavity mode exhibits high radiation directivity, which overwhelmingly directs surface-normal PL emission and leads to a 17-fold increase in the collection efficiency. Our approach opens up a new avenue to enhance the PL intensity of monolayer TMDs, facilitating their implementation in highly efficient optoelectronic devices.

Timing of renal replacement therapy in patients with sepsis-associated acute kidney injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of early and delayed renal replacement therapy (RRT) in patients with sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (AKI). METHODS: We searched three databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane) for randomised controlled trials and cohort studies published up to March 28, 2022, and manually searched for relevant references. We included data from adults older than 18 years of age with sepsis-associated AKI. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool were used for quality assessment. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. Relative risk (RR), mean difference (MD), and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: There were a total of 3648 patients from four randomised controlled trials and eight cohort studies. The pooled results indicated that compared to delayed RRT, early RRT had a lower 28-day mortality (RR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.59-0.88; P = 0.001; I2 = 76%), and this result was robust according to sensitivity analysis, and no significant difference in 90-day mortality (RR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.64-1.00; P = 0.05; I2 = 82%),180-day mortality (RR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.93-1.23; P = 0.36; I2 = 0%), length of intensive care unit stay (MD - 0.94; 95% CI -2.43-0.55; P = 0.22; I2 = 0%), length of hospital stay (MD - 1.02; 95% CI -4.21-2.17; P = 0.53; I2 = 0%), and RRT dependence was found among survivors at 28 days (RR: 1.21; 95% CI: 0.73-2.00; P = 0.47; I2 = 0%). Subgroup analysis of 28-day mortality showed that patients with sepsis-associated AKI who received early RRT at Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes stage 2 or Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score ≤12 had a better chance of survival. CONCLUSIONS: Early RRT may be beneficial to the 28-day short-term survival rate of patients with sepsis-associated AKI in Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes stage 2 and having Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score less than or equal to 12 but has no significant effect on long-term survival, length of intensive care unit stay, the total length of hospital stay, and 28-day RRT dependence of survivors. These results still need to be confirmed by more large-scale randomised controlled studies.

Basic demographic characteristics and prevalence of comorbidities in acute mesenteric ischemia: a systematic review and proportional meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine and assess the basic demographic characteristics and prevalence of comorbidities in acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) and its various subtypes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A literature search was conducted by using the databases PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar (to June 1, 2022). Random-effects or fixed-effects models were selected to pool means and proportions and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI), based on heterogeneity between studies. The results of meta-analyses for basic demographic characteristics and prevalence (proportions) of each specific comorbidities of acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) and its various subtypes were described. RESULTS: Ninety-nine studies were included in the meta-analysis, including 17,103 patients with AMI. Furthermore, 7941 patients with subclass diagnoses of AMI were identified, including 3,239 patients with arterial occlusive mesenteric ischemia (AOMI), 2,977 patients with nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI), and 1,725 patients with mesenteric venous thrombosis (MVT). As a surgical emergency, AMI is associated with older patients and a high likelihood of multisystem comorbidities. Comorbidities of AMI involved multiple systemic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, endocrine and metabolic diseases, kidney diseases, digestive diseases, respiratory diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, vascular diseases, and cancer. CONCLUSION: The basic demographic characteristics and the prevalence of comorbidities of different subtypes of AMI are different. The management of comorbidities should be an essential part of improving the prognosis of AMI patients and may contribute to precise prevention of AMI.

Selective triggering in-plane and out-of-plane dipolar modes of hexagonal Au nanoplate with the polarization of excitation beam.

The dipolar responses of a single hexagonal Au nanoplate are investigated under the illuminations of linearly polarized beam and tightly focused radially polarized beam (RPB). It is found from the scattering spectra that the in-plane and out-of-plane electric dipole modes can be selectively triggered with a linearly polarized beam and tightly focused RPB, respectively. The features of these two dipolar modes are further confirmed in terms of electrical field and charge maps by the finite-difference time-domain simulation. Additionally, using the multipole expansion method, the existence of the out-of-plane dipole mode is further verified by the fact that thez-component of electric dipole response has a dominant contribution to the scattered power. Moreover, by combining the back focal plane imaging technique with the simulation, the appearance of in-plane and out-of-plane dipoles in the scattering pattern are clearly discerned. Our results provide an efficient method for selectively exciting the in-plane and out-of-plane dipolar modes of the nanoplate. We envision that the ease of tuning the dipolar momentum may facilitate the enhancement of the interaction between the plasmon and emitters at single-particle level.

Toward high-performance refractive index sensor using single Au nanoplate-on-mirror nanocavity.

Refractive index sensors based on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) have emerged as powerful tools in various chemosensing and biosensing applications. However, owing to their limited decay length and strong radiation damping, LSPR sensors always suffer from low sensitivity and small figure of merit (FOM). Here, we fabricate a plasmonic nanocavity sensor consisting of a hexagonal Au nanoplate positioned over an ultrasmooth Au film. The strong coupling between the nanoplate and the lower metal film allows for the formation of a plasmonic gap mode that enhances the interaction of the local field with the ambient glycerol solution to increase the sensitivity. Meanwhile, the plasmonic gap mode has a trait of an antiphase charge oscillation in the gap region, imparting a strongly reduced radiative damping and a subsequently promoted FOM. The performance of our proposed refractive index sensor is further boosted by decreasing the gap size of the nanocavity, yielding an outstanding FOM of 11.2 RIU-1 that is the highest yet reported for LSPR sensing in a single nanostructure.

Design of a Single-Material Complex Structure Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand.

In the field of robotic hand design, soft body and anthropomorphic design are two trends with a promising future. Designing soft body anthropomorphic robotic hands with human-like grasping ability, but with a simple and reliable structure, is a challenge that still has not been not fully solved. In this paper, we present an anatomically correct robotic hand 3D model that aims to realize the human hand's functionality using a single type of 3D-printable material. Our robotic hand 3D model is combined with bones, ligaments, tendons, pulley systems, and tissue. We also describe the fabrication method to rapidly produce our robotic hand in 3D printing, wherein all parts are made by elastic 50 A (shore durometer) resin. In the experimental section, we show that our robotic hand has a similar motion range to a human hand with substantial grasping strength and compare it with the latest other designs of anthropomorphic robotic hands. Our new design greatly reduces the fabrication cost and assembly time. Compared with other robotic hand designs, we think our robotic hand may induce a new approach to the design and production of robotic hands as well as other related mechanical structures.

(Z)-4-[4-(Dimethyl-amino)benzyl-idene]-3-methyl-isoxazol-5(4H)-one.

The title compound, C(13)H(14)N(2)O(2), an isoxazol-5-one derivative, was synthesized by a one-pot, three-component condensation reaction of methyl acetoacetate, hydroxy-lamine hydro-chloride and 4-(dimethyl-amino)benzaldehyde. All the non-H atoms are co-planar [r.m.s deviation = 0.0039 Å], with a Z configuration about the C=C bond. The dihedral angle between the phenyl ring and the isoxazole ring is 2.58 (19)°.

Trophic effect of bee pollen on small intestine in broiler chickens.

In this study, the effects of bee pollen on the development of digestive organs were evaluated in broiler chickens. A total of 144 1-day-old AA broiler chickens were randomly and equally divided into two groups, assigned as the control group and the pollen group, respectively. The control group was fed with a basic diet, while the pollen group was fed with a basic diet supplemented with 1.5% bee pollen over a period of 6 weeks. At the end of each week, the digestive organs were obtained for comparison from 12 broilers randomly selected from each group. The results demonstrated that compared to the control group, the small intestine villi from the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were longer and thicker in the pollen group. This difference was more significant during early development, especially through the first 2 weeks. Bee pollen increased the length of the villi by 37.1% and 29.4% in the duodenum, 28.1% and 33.7% in the jejunum, and 18.6% and 16.2% in the ileum in week 1 and 2, respectively. Furthermore, the small intestinal glands were developed at a higher density in the pollen group, and the depth of the glands was significantly increased by bee pollen in the first 2 weeks. These findings suggest that bee pollen could promote the early development of the digestive system and therefore is a potentially beneficial food supplement for certain conditions, such as short bowel syndrome.

Differential distribution of follistatin isoforms: application of a new FS315-specific immunoassay.

Follistatin (FST) is a monomeric activin-binding and neutralization protein that has at least three isoforms in human tissues and fluids. The full-length FS315 protein has an acidic 26-residue C-terminal tail that is not present in the shortest form, FS288, due to alternative splicing. An intermediate form, FS303, was identified in follicular fluid that is presumably derived by proteolytic processing of this tail domain. Interestingly, the biochemistry of each of these three isoforms is distinct, including their ability to bind to cell surface proteoglycans, an activity that ranks in the order FS288 > FS303 > FS315. This would suggest that the soluble, circulating FST isoform is likely to be FS315, a hypothesis supported by previous determinations that the serum and follicular fluid forms of FST are biochemically distinct. To test this hypothesis, we developed an immunoassay that is specific for full-length FS315. This assay was validated for use with human serum and follicular fluid samples and then used to examine FST in these fluid compartments. Our results indicate that FS315 is indeed the major circulating FST isoform but is undetectable in follicular fluid samples aspirated from normal women or women with polycystic ovary syndrome. These observations confirm the compartmentalization of FST isoforms according to their biochemical properties and biological actions so that the most soluble form is found in the circulation, whereas the forms that bind to cell surface proteoglycans are found in tissue compartments such as the ovarian follicle. They also confirm that the source of FST in human serum is not the ovarian follicle.

Studies on the differentiation pathway and growth characteristics of epithelial culture cells of the human prostate.

We established explant primary cultures in order to study the growth and hormone responsiveness, and the differentiation process of prostatic epithelial cells. Cell outgrowth was achieved from explant tissue by using a new DU145-cell-conditioned medium and special plastic coverslips. To define the present model, proliferation assays were tested by [3H]thymidine assay and planimetric analysis. Cells were analyzed using immunocytochemistry, light, phase contrast and electron microscopy, polymerase chain reaction, telomerase ELISA and immunoassay (PSA). Morphology and electron microscopy revealed typical epithelial differentiation. Immunocytochemistry showed the content of basal and secretory epithelial cells, endocrine paracrine cells and a high level of proliferation. With increasing culture time, mature epithelial differentiation (PSA) increases and the initial increase of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) decreases again. After further passaging, alpha-SMA expression is no longer detected and PSA expression decreases. Furthermore, epithelial cells showed both androgen responsiveness and androgen receptor expression. These findings show the presence of epithelial cells in a process of differentiation with endocrine paracrine cells and a high level of proliferation. This model may maintain the cellular and functional properties more closely related to the human prostate and may provide a valuable tool for studying stem cells and differentiation characteristics.