Organic dye-loaded reduced titanium dioxide as a broadband saturable absorber for ultrafast fiber lasers.

As a rising star among metal oxide nanomaterials, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been widely investigated and employed in optical applications because of its excellent optical properties. In this work, we demonstrate the efficient and broadband nonlinear photonic properties of methylene blue (MB)-loaded reduced TiO2 (TiO2-x-MB) and explore the performance of a TiO2-x-MB-microfiber photonic device in broadband ultrafast photonics. Within an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) system, utilizing the TiO2-x-MB-microfiber photonic device as a saturable absorber (SA), steady mode-locked pulses together with chaotic pulses were successfully achieved at the wavelength of 1.55 µm. Furthermore, by incorporating the TiO2-x-MB SA into a thulium-doped fiber laser (TDFL) system, an ultrashort single pulse and multiple pulses were obtained at 2.0 µm. These results indicate that TiO2-x-MB is an excellent nanomaterial for use in mode-locked lasers, being an alternative candidate for ultrafast fiber lasers via exploiting the chemical and physical properties of oxide nanomaterials.

Immunomodulatory effects of curcumin on macrophage polarization in rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by synovial inflammation, cartilage destruction, pannus formation and bone erosion. Various immune cells, including macrophages, are involved in RA pathogenesis. The heterogeneity and plasticity of macrophages render them pivotal regulators of both the induction and resolution of the inflammatory response. Predominantly, two different phenotypes of macrophages have been identified: classically activated M1 macrophages exacerbate inflammation via the production of cytokines, chemokines and other inflammatory mediators, while alternatively activated M2 macrophages inhibit inflammation and facilitate tissue repair. An imbalance in the M1/M2 macrophage ratio is critical during the initiation and progression of RA. Macrophage polarization is modulated by various transcription factors, epigenetic elements and metabolic reprogramming. Curcumin, an active component of turmeric, exhibits potent immunomodulatory effects and is administered in the treatment of multiple autoimmune diseases, including RA. The regulation of macrophage polarization and subsequent cytokine production as well as macrophage migration is involved in the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of curcumin on RA. In this review, we summarize the underlying mechanisms by which curcumin modulates macrophage function and polarization in the context of RA to provide evidence for the clinical application of curcumin in RA treatment.

Improved Immune Response for Colorectal Cancer Therapy Triggered by Multifunctional Nanocomposites with Self-Amplifying Antitumor Ferroptosis.

Ferroptosis, as a type of regulated cell death, can trigger the release of damage-associated molecular patterns from cancer cells and lead to the enhancement of immune recognition. Fenton reaction-mediated chemodynamic therapy could initiate ferroptosis by generating lipid peroxides, but its efficiency would be greatly restricted by the insufficient H2O2 and antioxidant system within the tumor. Herein, this work reports the successful preparation of H2O2 self-supplied and glutathione (GSH)-depletion therapeutic nanocomposites (Cu2O@Au) through in situ growth of Au nanoparticles on the surface of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanospheres. Upon delivery into cancer cells, the released Cu2O could consume endogenous H2S within colorectal cancer cells to form Cu31S16 nanoparticles, while the released Au NPs could catalyze glucose to generate H2O2 and gluconic acid. The self-supplying endogenous H2O2 and lower acidity could amplify the Cu ion-induced Fenton-like reaction. Meanwhile, the consumption of glucose would reduce GSH generation by disrupting the pentose phosphate pathway. Additionally, the Cu2+/Cu+ catalytic cycle promotes the depletion of GSH, leading to lipid peroxide accumulation and ferroptosis. It was found that the onset of ferroptosis triggered by Cu2O@Au could initiate immunologic cell death, promote dendritic cell maturation and T-cell infiltration, and finally enhance the antitumor efficacy of the PD-L1 antibody. In summary, this collaborative action produces a remarkable antitumor effect, which provides a promising treatment strategy for colorectal cancer.

A Bibliometric and Visual Analysis of the Current Status and Trends of Forensic Mixed Stain Research.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the context and hotspot changes of forensic mixed stain research through bibliometric approach. METHODS: The literature of forensic mixed stain included in the core collection of Web of Science database from 2011 to 2022 were collected as the study object, and the annual publication number, countrie (region), institution, journal, keywords, etc. were bibliometrically and visually analyzed using the R-based Bibliometrix 1.1.6 package and VOSviewer 1.6.18 software. RESULTS: A total of 732 articles on forensic mixed stain were included from 2011 to 2022, with the annual number of articles published and the annual citation frequency showing a steady increase year by year. Among the 59 countries (regions) with the most published articles, the United States ranked first with 246 articles, followed by China with 153 articles. The literature came from 104 journals, and the total number of articles published in the top 10 journals was 633. FORENSIC SCI INT GENET ranked first with 307 articles. Visual analysis using VOSviewer software showed that keywords could be divided into four research clusters, namely the genetic marker development group (blue), the mixed stain typing analysis theory group (red), the sequencing analysis group (yellow), and the case sample research group (green). It can be divided into four development stages in terms of different time periods: early development (2011-2013), middle development (2014-2016), rapid development (2017-2020) and latest development (2021-2022). CONCLUSIONS: The number of publications by domestic and foreign scholars in the study of mixed stain in forensic science is showing a relatively stable trend. Machine learning, next generation sequencing and other research have been the hottest topics that have attracted the most attention in recent years, which is expected to further develop the theory of mixed stain typing and sequencing analysis in forensic mixed stain research.

Dihydroartemisinin alleviates erosive bone destruction by modifying local Treg cells in inflamed joints: A novel role in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Treg cell-based therapy has exhibited promising efficacy in combatting rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) exerts broad immunomodulatory effects across various diseases, with its recent spotlight on T-cell regulation in autoimmune conditions. The modulation of DHA on Treg cells and its therapeutic role in RA has yet to be fully elucidated. This study seeks to unveil the influence of DHA on Treg cells in RA and furnish innovative substantiation for the potential of DHA to ameliorate RA. To this end, we initially scrutinized the impact of DHA-modulated Treg cells on osteoclast (OC) formation in vitro using Treg cell-bone marrow-derived monocyte (BMM) coculture systems. Subsequently, employing the collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rat model, we validated the efficacy of DHA and probed its influence on Treg cells in the spleen and popliteal lymph nodes (PLN). Finally, leveraging deep proteomic analysis with data-independent acquisition (DIA) and parallel accumulation-serial fragmentation (PASEF) technology, we found the alterations in the Treg cell proteome in PLN by proteomic analysis. Our findings indicate that DHA augmented suppressive Treg cells, thereby impeding OC formation in vitro. Consistently, DHA mitigated erosive joint destruction and osteoclastogenesis by replenishing splenic and joint-draining lymph node Treg cells in CIA rats. Notably, DHA induced alterations in the Treg cell proteome in PLN, manifesting distinct upregulation of alloantigen Col2a1 (Type II collagen alfa 1 chain) and CD8a (T-cell surface glycoprotein CD8 alpha chain) in Treg cells, signifying DHA's targeted modulation of Treg cells, rendering them more adept at sustaining immune tolerance and impeding bone erosion. These results unveil a novel facet of DHA in the treatment of RA.

Development and validation of an interpretable model integrating multimodal information for improving ovarian cancer diagnosis.

Ovarian cancer, a group of heterogeneous diseases, presents with extensive characteristics with the highest mortality among gynecological malignancies. Accurate and early diagnosis of ovarian cancer is of great significance. Here, we present OvcaFinder, an interpretable model constructed from ultrasound images-based deep learning (DL) predictions, Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data System scores from radiologists, and routine clinical variables. OvcaFinder outperforms the clinical model and the DL model with area under the curves (AUCs) of 0.978, and 0.947 in the internal and external test datasets, respectively. OvcaFinder assistance led to improved AUCs of radiologists and inter-reader agreement. The average AUCs were improved from 0.927 to 0.977 and from 0.904 to 0.941, and the false positive rates were decreased by 13.4% and 8.3% in the internal and external test datasets, respectively. This highlights the potential of OvcaFinder to improve the diagnostic accuracy, and consistency of radiologists in identifying ovarian cancer.

Development and validation of ultrasound-based radiomics model to predict germline BRCA mutations in patients with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Identifying breast cancer (BC) patients with germline breast cancer susceptibility gene (gBRCA) mutation is important. The current criteria for germline testing for BC remain controversial. This study aimed to develop a nomogram incorporating ultrasound radiomic features and clinicopathological factors to predict gBRCA mutations in patients with BC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, 497 women with BC who underwent gBRCA genetic testing from March 2013 to May 2022 were included, including 348 for training (84 with and 264 without a gBRCA mutation) and 149 for validation(36 patients with and 113 without a gBRCA mutation). Factors associated with gBRCA mutations were identified to establish a clinicopathological model. Radiomics features were extracted from the intratumoral and peritumoral regions (3 mm and 5 mm) of each image. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression algorithm was used to select the features and logistic regression analysis was used to construct three imaging models. Finally, a nomogram that combined clinicopathological and radiomics features was developed. The models were evaluated based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), calibration, and clinical usefulness. RESULTS: Age at diagnosis, family history of BC, personal history of other BRCA-related cancers, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status were independent predictors of the clinicopathological model. The AUC of the imaging radiomics model combining intratumoral and peritumoral 3 mm areas in the validation set was 0.783 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.702-0.862), which showed the best performance among three imaging models. The nomogram yielded better performance than the clinicopathological model in validation sets (AUC: 0.824 [0.755-0.894] versus 0.659 [0.563-0.755], p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: The nomogram based on ultrasound images and clinicopathological factors performs well in predicting gBRCA mutations in BC patients and may help to improve clinical decisions about genetic testing.

Clinical observation on inverted T-shaped herb-separated moxibustion for chronic pelvic pain in sequelae of pelvic inflammatory diseases. / 倒Tå­—å½¢éš”è¯ç¸æ²»ç–—ç›†è ”ç‚Žæ€§ç–¾ç— åŽé—ç—‡æ ¢æ€§ç›†è ”ç—›ç–—æ•ˆè§‚å¯Ÿ.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the clinical effect between inverted T-shaped herb-separated moxibustion combined with western medication and simple western medication on chronic pelvic pain(CPP)in sequelae of pelvic inflammatory diseases. METHODS: A total of 60 patients with CPP in sequelae of pelvic inflammatory diseases were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each group. The control group was given ibuprofen tablets 10 days before menstruation, 0.2 g each time, once a day for 10 days. After menstruation, the medication was stopped, and the treatment was given for 3 menstrual cycles.On the basis of the treatment in the control group, the observation group was treated with inverted T-shaped herb-separated moxibustion at the connection between Zhongwan(CV 12)and Zhongji(CV 3), and the connection between Zigong(EX-CA 1)on both sides.The treatment was performed once a week, with an interval of 6 days. The moxibustion was stopped during the menstrual period, the treatment was given for 3 menstrual cycles.Before and after treatment, the visual analogue scale(VAS)score of lower abdominal and lumbosacral pain, local symptom (uterine tenderness, adnexal tenderness and uterosacral ligament tenderness) score and quality of life assessment (QOL) score of the two groups were observed. RESULTS: After treatment, the lower abdominal and lumbosacral pain VAS scores, the local symptom scores of uterine tenderness, adnexal tenderness, uterosacral ligament tenderness and total scores in the two groups were lower than those before treatment(P<0.01).The lower abdominal and lumbosacral pain VAS score in the observation group was lower than that in the control group(P<0.01),and the changes of local symptom scores of uterine tenderness, adnexal tenderness and uterosacral ligament tenderness and total score in the observation group were greater than those in the control group(P<0.01). After treatment, the QOL scores of the two groups were higher than those before treatment(P<0.01), and the score in the observation group was higher than that in the control group(P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Inverted T-shaped herb-separated moxibustion combined with western medication can effectively reduce the pain in patients with CPP in sequelae of pelvic inflammatory diseases, relieve the local symptoms, improve the quality of life, and the curative effect is better than western medication alone.

Pharmacological and mechanistic aspects of quercetin in osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis (OP) is a bone disease associated with increasing age. Currently, the most common medications used to treat OP are anabolic agents, anti-resorptive agents, and medications with other mechanisms of action. However, many of these medications have unfavorable adverse effects or are not intended for long-term use, potentially exerting a severe negative impact on a patient's life and career and placing a heavy burden on families and society. There is an urgent need to find new drugs that can replace these and have fewer adverse effects. Quercetin (Que) is a common flavonol in nature. Numerous studies have examined the therapeutic applications of Que. However, a comprehensive review of the anti-osteoporotic effects of Que has not yet been conducted. This review aimed to describe the recent studies on the anti-osteoporotic effects of Que, including its biological, pharmacological, pharmacokinetic, and toxicological properties. The outcomes demonstrated that Que could enhance OP by increasing osteoblast differentiation and activity and reducing osteoclast differentiation and activity via the pathways of Wnt/ß-catenin, BMP/SMAD/RUNX2, OPG/RANKL/RANK, ERK/JNK, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and transcription factors. Thus, Que is a promising novel drug for the treatment of OP.

Hypoxia-induced ALKBH5 aggravates synovial aggression and inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis by regulating the m6A modification of CH25H.

Previous studies have shown that epigenetic factors are involved in the occurrence and development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the role of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation in RA has not been determined. The aim of this study was to investigate the role and regulatory mechanisms of hypoxia-induced expression of the m6A demethylase alkB homolog 5 (ALKBH5) in RA fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs). Synovial tissues were collected from RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients, and RA FLSs were obtained. ALKBH5 expression in RA FLSs and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model rats was determined using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR), western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Using ALKBH5 overexpression and knockdown, we determined the role of ALKBH5 in RA FLS aggression and inflammation. The role of ALKBH5 in RA FLS regulation was explored using m6A-methylated RNA sequencing and methylated RNA immunoprecipitation coupled with quantitative real-time PCR. The expression of ALKBH5 was increased in RA synovial tissues, CIA model rats and RA FLSs, and a hypoxic environment increased the expression of ALKBH5 in FLSs. Increased expression of ALKBH5 promoted the proliferation and migration of RA-FLSs and inflammation. Conversely, decreased ALKBH5 expression inhibited the migration of RA-FLSs and inflammation. Mechanistically, hypoxia-induced ALKBH5 expression promoted FLS aggression and inflammation by regulating CH25H mRNA stability. Our study elucidated the functional roles of ALKBH5 and mRNA m6A methylation in RA and revealed that the HIF1α/2α-ALKBH5-CH25H pathway may be key for FLS aggression and inflammation. This study provides a novel approach for the treatment of RA by targeting the HIF1α/2α-ALKBH5-CH25H pathway.

Major Depressive Disorder Prediction Based on Sleep-Wake Disorders Symptoms in US Adolescents: A Machine Learning Approach from National Sleep Research Resource.

Background: There is substantial evidence from previous studies that abnormalities in sleep parameters associated with depression are demonstrated in almost all stages of sleep architecture. Patients with symptoms of sleep-wake disorders have a much higher risk of developing major depressive disorders (MDD) compared to those without. Objective: The aim of the present study is to establish and compare the performance of different machine learning models based on sleep-wake disorder symptoms data and to select the optimal model to interpret the importance of sleep-wake disorder symptoms to predict MDD occurrence in adolescents. Methods: We derived data for this work from 2020 to 2021 Assessing Nocturnal Sleep/Wake Effects on Risk of Suicide Phase I Study from National Sleep Research Resource. Using demographic and sleep-wake disorder symptoms data as predictors and the occurrence of MDD measured base on the center for epidemiologic studies depression scale as an outcome, the following six machine learning predictive models were developed: eXtreme Gradient Boosting model (XGBoost), Light Gradient Boosting mode, AdaBoost, Gaussian Naïve Bayes, Complement Naïve Bayes, and multilayer perceptron. The models' performance was assessed using the AUC and other metrics, and the final model's predictor importance ranking was explained. Results: XGBoost is the optimal predictive model in comprehensive performance with the AUC of 0.804 in the test set. All sleep-wake disorder symptoms were significantly positively correlated with the occurrence of adolescent MDD. The insomnia severity was the most important predictor compared with the other predictors in this study. Conclusion: This machine learning predictive model based on sleep-wake disorder symptoms can help to raise the awareness of risk of symptoms between sleep-wake disorders and MDD in adolescents and improve primary care and prevention.

High-Throughput Strategies in the Discovery of Thermoelectric Materials.

Searching for new high-performance thermoelectric (TE) materials that are economical and environmentally friendly is an urgent task for TE society, but the advancements are greatly limited by the time-consuming and high cost of the traditional trial-and-error method. The significant progress achieved in the computing hardware, efficient computing methods, advance artificial intelligence algorithms, and rapidly growing material data have brought a paradigm shift in the investigation of TE materials. Many electrical and thermal performance descriptors are proposed and efficient high-throughput (HTP) calculation methods are developed with the purpose to quickly screen new potential TE materials from the material databases. Some HTP experiment methods are also developed which can increase the density of information obtained in a single experiment with less time and lower cost. In addition, machine learning (ML) methods are also introduced in thermoelectrics. In this review, the HTP strategies in the discovery of TE materials are systematically summarized. The applications of performance descriptor, HTP calculation, HTP experiment, and ML in the discovery of new TE materials are reviewed. In addition, the challenges and possible directions in future research are also discussed.

Modeling critical thermoelectric transports driven by band broadening and phonon softening.

Critical phenomena are one of the most captivating areas of modern physics, whereas the relevant experimental and theoretical studies are still very challenging. Particularly, the underlying mechanism behind the anomalous thermoelectric properties during critical phase transitions remains elusive, i.e., the current theoretical models for critical electrical transports are either qualitative or solely focused on a specific transport parameter. Herein, we develop a quantitative theory to model the electrical transports during critical phase transitions by incorporating both the band broadening effect and carrier-soft TO phonon interactions. It is found that the band-broadening effect contributes an additional term to Seebeck coefficient, while the carrier-soft TO phonon interactions greatly affects both electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient. The universality and validity of our model are well confirmed by experimental data. Furthermore, the features of critical phase transitions are effectively tuned. For example, alloying S in Cu2Se can reduce the phase transition temperature but increase the phase transition parameter b. The maximum thermoelectric figure of merit zT is pushed to a high value of 1.3 at the critical point (377 K), which is at least twice as large as those of normal static phases. This work not only provides a clear picture of the critical electrical transports but also presents new guidelines for future studies in this exciting area.

The underlying mechanisms of DNA methylation in high salt memory in hypertensive vascular disease.

This study demonstrates the effect and DNA methylation-related mechanisms of a high-salt diet and salt memory-induced hypertension and vasculopathy. Thirty Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control (CON) group (n = 6) and a modeling group (n = 24). A 12% NaCl solution (1 mL/100 g) was intragastrically administered for 60 consecutive days for modeling. An increase in blood pressure up to 140 mmHg was considered successful modeling. Twelve of fifteen successfully modeled rats were randomly selected and divided into a High Salt Diet (HSD) group and a High Salt Memory (HSM) group (n = 6). Rats in HSD group were intragastrically administered a 12% NaCl solution, while rats in HSM group were administered a 3% NaCl solution twice a day for 30 days. At the end of the intervention, blood pressure and the serum levels of ET-1, NO, TNF-α and IL-1ß were measured. RRBS-heavy sulfite sequencing technology was selected for DNA methylation analysis. The systolic blood pressure of rats in the HSD group and HSM group was significantly higher than that in the CON group. Compared with those in the CON group, the serum levels of ET-1 in the HSM group and the serum levels of NO in the HSD group and HSM group were significantly increased. The methylation level of the CON group was lower than that of the HSD group and the HSM group, and there was no significant difference between the HSD group and the HSM group. The methylation level of Myoz3 was downregulated in the HSD group and HSM group. The methylation level of Fgd3 were upregulated in HSD group and downregulated in the HSM group. The methylation levels of AC095693.1, Adamts3, PDGFA and PDGFRα were downregulated in the HSD group and upregulated in the HSM group. According to the GO database, the differentially methylated genes were significantly enriched in the coordination of cell function, genetic development, and RNA transcription. There were three main metabolic pathways that were enriched in the differentially expressed genes between the groups: the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and Hippo signaling pathway. Excessive salt intake may cause hypertension and vascular damage, and this damage may continue after the reduction of salt intake. Therefore, salt memory phenomenon exists, and this memory effect may be correlated with the levels of DNA methylation.

Bibliometric and visual analysis of intestinal flora and immunity.

BACKGROUND: The gut microbiota and its stability have important relationships with immunity. However, bibliometric analysis in this field is underdeveloped. This study aims to visualize publications related to the gut microbiota and immunity to identify research frontiers and hotspots, providing references and guidance for further research. METHODS: Gut microbiota and immunity data were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database, and Microsoft Excel, Scimago Graphica and VOSviewer software were used to analyze publication output trends, the most productive countries/regions, journals, authors, co-cited references, and keywords. RESULTS: This study analyzed 16,611 publications, including 10,865 articles and 5746 reviews, and found a continuous increase in publications related to gut microbiota and immunity since 2013. We identified 62,872 authors contributing to this field from 2144 journals and 9965 organizations/institutions in 145 countries/regions. The top publisher with the highest output is University of California System with 525 papers. Among these journals, the top 3 most prolific journals are Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Microbiology, and PLOS ONE. The literature with the highest citation frequency is published in Science and has been cited 3006 times by Patrick M. Smith and others.Gut microbiota research hotspots include gut microbiota inflammation, immune response, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), and microbiota tumors. The gut microbiota and its microbial homeostasis play critical roles in immune reactions, inflammation, and even tumors and IBDs.Current research on gut microbiota and immunity is a popular field. Previous studies have shown that the gut microbiota and its microbial species have important effects on maintaining human health, immune function, inflammation, tumorigenesis, and IBDs. Understanding the roles of microbial communities and specific bacterial species as well as their interactions with humans has led to numerous discoveries that provide unique opportunities for exploring human health and future research. CONCLUSION: This study used bibliometric and visualization analysis to identify the development trends and hotspots of publications related to the gut microbiota and immunity. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the emerging trends and future directions in this field.

Causal associations between digital device use and suicide risk: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: The popularity of digital devices seems to provide a new observational variable for early identification and prevention of suicide with the development of the information technology era. Nevertheless, whether it is the use of digital devices that alters suicide risk or suicide risk manifests itself through change digital device use needs to be further explored. METHODS: Bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was used to explore potential causal relationships in the perspective of genetic prediction. We collected publicly available digital device use and suicide risk summary statistics genome-wide association data from UK Biobank, Neale Lab and FinnGen genetic databases. We used inverse variance weighting methods to assess MR estimates. For robustness of the results, we performed further tests of heterogeneity and pleiotropy. RESULTS: In the Phase 1 results, we did not observe any effect of the length of digital device use on the suicide risk, while the results of Phase 2 suggested a significant positive association between suicide risk and the length of mobile phone use (IVW OR, 1.04; 95%CI, 1.01-1.06; P = 0.002), but this significance disappeared after adjusting for confounders of mental and affective disorders. CONCLUSIONS: In this bidirectional MR analysis, we observed that People at high risk of suicide may be more addicted to digital device use, but more detailed GWAS data and research methods to validate this finding are required.

Mn4+/Eu3+ co-doped fluoride toward a blue light-excited optical fiber thermometer.

The ongoing development of ratiometric optical thermometry is mainly trapped in thermally coupled levels of rare-earth ions and inefficient ultraviolet excitation. Herein, a new-type multiple sharp line emitting, blue light-excited K2NaInF6:Mn4+, Eu3+ fluoride phosphor has been reported as a ratiometric thermometer. The f-f transition of Eu3+ paves a steady reference to a highly temperature sensitive Mn4+d-d transition and enables high relative sensitivity of 1.65% K-1 at 573 K. An optical fiber thermometry on a household oven with a relative standard deviation of 0.11% surpasses the standard of precision measurement, showing great potential in practical application. This discovery offers a highly sensitive neotype blue light-excitable ratiometric temperature sensor, that is Mn4+-doped fluoride, promoting practical applications of optical thermometry.

Two antibodies show broad, synergistic neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 variants by inducing conformational change within the RBD.

Continual evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) virus has allowed for its gradual evasion of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) produced in response to natural infection or vaccination. The rapid nature of these changes has incited a need for the development of superior broad nAbs (bnAbs) and/or the rational design of an antibody cocktail that can protect against the mutated virus strain. Here, we report two angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 competing nAbs-8H12 and 3E2-with synergistic neutralization but evaded by some Omicron subvariants. Cryo-electron microscopy reveals the two nAbs synergistic neutralizing virus through a rigorous pairing permitted by rearrangement of the 472-489 loop in the receptor-binding domain to avoid steric clashing. Bispecific antibodies based on these two nAbs tremendously extend the neutralizing breadth and restore neutralization against recent variants including currently dominant XBB.1.5. Together, these findings expand our understanding of the potential strategies for the neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants toward the design of broad-acting antibody therapeutics and vaccines.

High Thermoelectric Power Factors in Plastic/Ductile Bulk SnSe2 -Based Crystals.

The recently discovered plastic/ductile inorganic thermoelectric (TE) materials open a new avenue for the fabrication of high-efficiently flexible TE devices, which can utilize the small temperature difference between human body and environment to generate electricity. However, the maximum power factor (PF) of current plastic/ductile TE materials is usually around or less than 10 µW cm-1 K-2 , much lower than the classic brittle TE materials. In this work, a record-high PF of 18.0 µW cm-1 K-2 at 375 K in plastic/ductile bulk SnSe2 -based crystals is reported, superior to all the plastic inorganic TE materials and flexible organic TE materials reported before. The origin of such high PF is from the modulation of material's stacking forms and polymorph crystal structures via simultaneously doping Cl/Br at Se-site and intercalating Cu inside the van der Waals gap, leading to the significantly enhanced carrier concentrations and mobilities. An in-plane fully flexible TE device made of the plastic/ductile SnSe2 -based crystals is successfully developed to show a record-high normalized maximum power density to 0.18 W m-1 under a temperature difference of 30 K. This work indicates that the plastic/ductile material can realize high TE power factor to achieve large output electric power density in flexible TE technology.

Antidepressant effect of licorice total flavonoids and liquiritin: A review.

With the development of society and changes in lifestyle, major depressive disorder (MDD) has become a significant disease that plagues many people. Licorice, an excellent natural medicine with a long history of cultivation and application, is found in classical antidepressant prescriptions such as Chaihu Shugan Powder, Ganmai Dazao Decoction, Suanzaoren Decoction, etc. Licorice mainly contains triterpenoids and flavonoids, among which licorice total flavonoids (LF) and liquiritin are the main active components with good antidepressant effects. The pharmacological effects of licorice have been extensively investigated in current studies. However, a review of the antidepressant effects of LF and liquiritin has not been conducted. This article reviews the antidepressant effects of LF and liquiritin, including the biological characteristics of licorice and the pharmacological mechanism of LF and liquiritin in treating MDD. Studies have shown that LF and liquiritin can exert their antidepressant effects by improving depressive behavior, regulating endocrine and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function, affecting the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) signaling pathway, enhancing synaptic plasticity, increasing monoamine neurotransmitter levels, protecting nerve cells, reducing inflammation, preventing apoptosis, reducing oxidation and other ways. This lays a theoretical foundation for the development of antidepressant drugs.