Spectrally Stable Blue Light-Emitting Diodes Based on All-Inorganic Halide Perovskite Films.

Substantial progress has been made in perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs), but the fabrication of high-performance blue PeLEDs still remains a challenge due to its low efficiency, spectral instability and short operational lifetime. How to produce an efficient and stable blue PeLED is the key to realizing the application of PeLEDs in full-color displays. We herein report a blue PeLED usint the ligand-assisted reprecipitation method, in which phenylethylammonium bromide (PEABr) was used as ligands, and chloroform was used as anti-solvent to prepare blue perovskite nanocrystal films. By increasing the PEABr content from 40% to 100% (The ratio of x% PEABr refers to the molar ratio between PEABr and PbBr2), the film quality is highly improved, and the emission exhibits a blue shift. Introducing a poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) hole transport layer into the device, the PVK layer can not only achieve efficient hole injection, but can also isolate the PEDOT: PSS layer to inhibit the non-radiative recombination of metal halide luminescence layer, reduce surface ion defects and successfully inhibit halide atom migration. Finally, the PeLED presents a stable electroluminescence under different driving voltages without any red shift.

Research on the influence of polar solvents on CsPbBr3 perovskite QDs.

All-inorganic CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) perovskite quantum dots (QDs) have become a kind of optoelectronic material with huge application prospects due to their excellent physical and optical properties. However, their poor structural stability to the external environment, especially polar solvents, seriously hinder further development in practical applications. Considering whether polar solvents have the same effects on perovskites QDs, few studies have been investigated in this area presently. In order to find out the effect of different polar solvents on all-inorganic perovskite QDs, in this work, we select 12 kinds of polar solvents of methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1-octanol, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA), ethyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, dibutyl phthalate and acetone for a specific analysis. The characterization of their morphology, optical and physicochemical properties shows that different polar solvents have different effects on all-inorganic perovskite QDs, but their effects are regular. Polar solvents act on the ligands preferentially, and the effects can be divided into: reducing the concentration of ligands; substituting ligands partially; completely destroying the surface ligands; polar solvents with the same functional group, as the polarity of the solvent increases, the impact on all-inorganic perovskite QDs is greater. We believe that this discovery has important implications for improving the stability of all-inorganic perovskite QDs.

Up-regulation of miR-106a targets LIMK1 and contributes to cognitive impairment induced by isoflurane anesthesia in mice.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) had a great relationship with anesthesia during surgery, and miRNAs have been found involved in anesthesia-induced cognitive impairment. OBJECTIVE: To explore the role and potential mechanism of miR-106a in isoflurane anesthesia-induced cognitive impairment. METHODS: Adult male mice were treated with isoflurane anesthesia; Morris water maze tests and fear conditioning tests were performed; and expression levels of miR-106a and LIMK1 were determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot. Dual luciferase reporter assay was used to determine the binding of miR-106a and 3'UTR of LIMK1. To verify the role of miR-106a, antagomir of miR-106a were intrahippocampally injected. Finally, expression of BCL2 apoptosis regulator (Bcl-2), LIM domain kinase 1 (LIMK1), BCL2-associated X, apoptosis regulator (Bax) and cleaved caspase3 was determined by western blot. RESULTS: In isoflurane anesthesia-treated group (IS), the percentage of target quadrant dwell time was significantly lower and the escape latency was significantly higher than in the control group (sham), and the freezing behavior of IS was significantly less in contextual fear conditioning tests. Expression levels of miR-106a were increased and those of LIMK1 were decreased in response to IS. Dual luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-106a could bind with the 3'UTR of LIMK1. Decreased expression levels of miR-106a improved the cognitive impairment of the mice treated with isoflurane. Intrahippocampally injected antagomir of miR-106a also increased LIMK1 and Bcl-2 levels, decreased the BAX and cleaved caspase3 expression levels in the mice treated with isoflurane. CONCLUSION: Decrease of LIMK1 expression by miR-106a played an important role in isoflurane anesthesia-induced cognitive impairment.

Protective effects of oxymatrine against arsenic trioxide-induced liver injury.

Oxymatrine, a quinolizidine natural drug extracted from Sophora japonica, has been reported to have neuroprotective effect and cardioprotective effect. However, the protective effect of oxymatrine on arsenic trioxide (As2O3)-induced liver injury has not been reported. In the present study, we investigated the protective effects of oxymatrine on As2O3-induced liver injury in rats. Male Wistar rats were administrated 3mg/kg As2O3 intravenous injection on alternate days for 4 days. Oxymatrine was given 1 h before As2O3 treatment. The results showed that oxymatrine inhibited As2O3-induced hepatic pathological damage, liver ROS level and MDA level in a dose-dependent manner. As2O3 decreased the antioxidant enzymes SOD, GPX, and CAT activity and the decrease was inhibited by treatment of oxymatrine. Furthermore, oxymatrine attenuated the retention of arsenic in liver tissues and improved the expression of Nrf2 and HO-1. In conclusion, our results suggested that oxymatrine protected against As2O3-induced oxidative damage by activating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Aqueous extract of pomegranate seed attenuates glucocorticoid-induced bone loss and hypercalciuria in mice: A comparative study with alendronate.

The present study was performed in order to examine bone loss and calcium homeostasis in mice with glucocorticoid (GC)-induced osteoporosis (GIOP) following treatment with the aqueous extract of pomegranate seed (AE-PS). In addition, a comparative study with alendronate was performed. Biomarkers in the serum and the urine were measured. The tibias, kidney and duodenum were removed in order to measure the levels of bone calcium, protein expression as well as to perform histomorphological analysis of the bone. GC treatment facilitated the induction of hypercalciuria in the mice, and the AE-PS­treated mice exhibited a greater increase in serum calcium and a decrease in urine calcium. The AE-PS reversed the deleterious effects on the trabecular bone induced by DXM and stimulated bone remodeling, including an increase in bone calcium and alkaline phosphatase­b (ALP-b) and a decrease in a the critical bone resorption markers C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) and tartrate­resistant acid phosphatase-5b (TRAP-5b). Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining revealed the increased disconnections and separation between the growth plate and the trabecular bone network as well as the reduction in the trabecular bone mass of the primary and secondary spongiosa throughout the proximal metaphysis of the tibia in the DXM group. Moreover, the decreased protein expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV)5, TRPV6 and calbindin­D9k (CaBP­9k) was reversed by the AE-PS or alendronate supplementation in the kidneys and the duodenum as well as plasma membrane Ca2+­ATPase1 (PMCA1) expression in the kidneys of mice with GIOP. There was no marked difference in pharmacological effectiveness between alendronate and the AE-PS. Taken together, these findings suggest that the AE-PS may be an alternative therapy suitable for use in the management of secondary osteoporosis.

High-quality sandwiched black phosphorus heterostructure and its quantum oscillations.

Two-dimensional materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides have attracted great attention because of their rich physics and potential applications in next-generation nanoelectronic devices. The family of two-dimensional materials was recently joined by atomically thin black phosphorus which possesses high theoretical mobility and tunable bandgap structure. However, degradation of properties under atmospheric conditions and high-density charge traps in black phosphorus have largely limited its actual mobility thus hindering its future applications. Here, we report the fabrication of stable sandwiched heterostructures by encapsulating atomically thin black phosphorus between hexagonal boron nitride layers to realize ultra-clean interfaces that allow a high field-effect mobility of ∼1,350 cm(2)V(-1) s(-1) at room temperature and on-off ratios exceeding 10(5). At low temperatures, the mobility even reaches ∼2,700 cm(2)V(-1) s(-1) and quantum oscillations in black phosphorus two-dimensional hole gas are observed at low magnetic fields. Importantly, the sandwiched heterostructures ensure that the quality of black phosphorus remains high under ambient conditions.

van der Waals epitaxial growth of atomically thin Bi2Se3 and thickness-dependent topological phase transition.

Two-dimensional (2D) atomic-layered heterostructures stacked by van der Waals interactions recently introduced new research fields, which revealed novel phenomena and provided promising applications for electronic, optical, and optoelectronic devices. In this study, we report the van der Waals epitaxial growth of high-quality atomically thin Bi2Se3 on single crystalline hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) by chemical vapor deposition. Although the in-plane lattice mismatch between Bi2Se3 and h-BN is approximately 65%, our transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that Bi2Se3 single crystals epitaxially grew on h-BN with two commensurate states; that is, the (1̅21̅0) plane of Bi2Se3 was preferably parallel to the (1̅100) or (1̅21̅0) plane of h-BN. In the case of the Bi2Se3 (2̅110) ∥ h-BN (11̅00) state, the Moiré pattern wavelength in the Bi2Se3/h-BN superlattice can reach 5.47 nm. These naturally formed thin crystals facilitated the direct assembly of h-BN/Bi2Se3/h-BN sandwiched heterostructures without introducing any impurity at the interfaces for electronic property characterization. Our quantum capacitance (QC) measurements showed a compelling phenomenon of thickness-dependent topological phase transition, which was attributed to the coupling effects of two surface states from Dirac Fermions at/or above six quintuple layers (QLs) to gapped Dirac Fermions below six QLs. Moreover, in ultrathin Bi2Se3 (e.g., 3 QLs), we observed the midgap states induced by intrinsic defects at cryogenic temperatures. Our results demonstrated that QC measurements based on h-BN/Bi2Se3/h-BN sandwiched structures provided rich information regarding the density of states of Bi2Se3, such as quantum well states and Landau quantization. Our approach in fabricating h-BN/Bi2Se3/h-BN sandwiched device structures through the combination of bottom-up growth and top-down dry transferring techniques can be extended to other two-dimensional layered heterostructures.

Probing the electron states and metal-insulator transition mechanisms in molybdenum disulphide vertical heterostructures.

The metal-insulator transition is one of the remarkable electrical properties of atomically thin molybdenum disulphide. Although the theory of electron-electron interactions has been used in modelling the metal-insulator transition in molybdenum disulphide, the underlying mechanism and detailed transition process still remain largely unexplored. Here we demonstrate that the vertical metal-insulator-semiconductor heterostructures built from atomically thin molybdenum disulphide are ideal capacitor structures for probing the electron states. The vertical configuration offers the added advantage of eliminating the influence of large impedance at the band tails and allows the observation of fully excited electron states near the surface of molybdenum disulphide over a wide excitation frequency and temperature range. By combining capacitance and transport measurements, we have observed a percolation-type metal-insulator transition, driven by density inhomogeneities of electron states, in monolayer and multilayer molybdenum disulphide. In addition, the valence band of thin molybdenum disulphide layers and their intrinsic properties are accessed.

Growth differentiation factor 11 is a protective factor for osteoblastogenesis by targeting PPARgamma.

Growth and differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) is a TGF-ß family member that is expressed widely and plays multiple roles, including regulating axial skeletal patterning during development. However, the function of GDF11 in the bone is barely understood. Here we identify GDF11 as a potent regulator of bone homeostasis. GDF11 level is significantly decreased in the plasma and bone marrow of aging mice and mice with osteoporosis. Pharmacologic GDF11 gain of function leads to a striking increase in osteoblastogenesis and inhibits adipogenesis from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by altering the gene expression pattern. GDF11 inhibits the activity of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR-γ) by promoting its SUMOylation. Therefore, GDF11 is a critical rheostat for bone turnover and a key integrator of bone homeostasis. These results reveal that skeletal fragility may be reduced by chronic GDF11 administration.

Inhibitation of cellular toxicity of gold nanoparticles by surface encapsulation of silica shell for hepatocarcinoma cell application.

Nanotechnology, as a double-edged sword, endows gold nanoparticles (GNPs) more "power" in bioimaging and theragnostics, whereas an outstanding issue associated with the biocompatibility of GNPs should also be addressed. Especially for the silica-coated gold nanospheres (GNSs) and gold nanorods (GNRs), there is increasing attention to explore the application, because the surface silica encapsulation has been proved to be an alternative strategy for other organic surface coatings. However, among those reports there are very limited publications to focus on the toxicity of silica-coated GNSs and GNRs. Besides, the existing detoxification methods via surface chemistry on GNPs greatly improve the biocompatibility but still undergo challenges for high dose (>100 pM) demand and long-term stability. Here, we demonstrated a straightforward, low-cost, universal strategy for the surface chemistry on GNPs via silica encapsulating. Different size, shape, dose, and surface capping of GNPs for the nanotoxicity test have been carefully discussed. After silica encapsulating, the detoxification for all GNPs presents significantly from HepG2 cell proliferation results, especially for the GNRs. This new straightforward strategy will definitely rationalize the biocompatibility issue of GNPs and also provide potential for other surface chemistry methodology in biomedical fields.