Novel organic pyridinium ylide sensitizers (NO109–111) consisting of various anchoring groups were synthesized and characterized for applications in dye sensitized solar cells. Compared with the ...pyridine-N-oxide dye (NO108), the ylide sensitizers with strong electron-withdrawing acceptors exhibited dominant ultraviolet absorption properties and efficient binding abilities to the TiO2 surface. Among these dyes, the pyridinium ylide NO111 sensitized solar cell showed the highest efficiency (5.15%), which was improved to 7.41% by employing coadsorbent chenodeoxycholic acid.
The novel sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor empagliflozin has recently been reported to improve glycemic control in streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic rats in an ...insulin-independent manner, via an increase in urinary glucose output. We investigated the potential of empagliflozin to recover insulin pathways in type 1 diabetes by improving pancreatic β-cell mass. Blood glucose homeostasis was assessed by an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test. Serum insulin levels and insulin mRNA expression were determined using commercial insulin ELISA kits and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Immunohistochemistry was used to investigate β-cell areas, β-cell proliferation, apoptosis of pancreatic β-cells, and reactive oxygen species production in the pancreatic β-cells. Results showed that glucose tolerance was significantly improved in streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice treated with empagliflozin. Empagliflozin-treated mice also showed an increase in insulin mRNA expression. Higher serum insulin levels were detected in mice treated with empagliflozin compared with the vehicle group. Immunohistochemistry indicated that β-cell area/total pancreatic area and the expression of cell proliferation marker Ki-67 (co-stained with insulin) were significantly enhanced by empagliflozin treatment. These effects were due, probably, to a reduction in apoptosis and reactive oxygen species in the pancreatic β-cells. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that empagliflozin may have a beneficial effect on preserving β-cell regeneration, thus improving blood glucose homeostasis in type 1 diabetes mellitus, probably via the protection of pancreatic β-cell from glucotoxicity-induced oxidative stress.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Ten ionic manganese(II) complexes of EMIm2MnX2Y2 (EMIm=1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium ion; X, Y=Cl, Br or I) and BnMIm2MnX2Y2 (BnMIm=1‐benzyl‐3‐methylimidazolium ion; X, Y=Cl, Br or I) types were ...synthesized and studied in terms of their thermal and photophysical properties. Complexes with BnMIm+ cation were found to exhibit higher crystallinity, owing to the aromatic π‐stacking, and superior photoluminescent quantum yields, promoted by the increased Mn⋅⋅⋅Mn distance. For complexes with chlorine and bromine ligands efficient tunability of photophysical parameters was demonstrated. Out of all complexes, BnMIm2MnBr4 was found to have the highest photoluminescence quantum yield at room temperature (Φ=0.59). To highlight the importance of a large Mn⋅⋅⋅Mn distance for achieving high Φ values, a mixed‐anion analog of complex BnMIm2MnBr4 was prepared, with the suggested formula of BnMIm4MnBr4Br2. The latter have shown a significant improvement in d–d absorption efficiency and a reduction in nonradiative deactivation, which led to an outstanding Φ value of 0.97. Finally, the optical band gap of BnMIm4MnBr4Br2 was estimated to describe its applicability as light‐emitting material.
A family of luminescent tetrahalidomanganate(II) complexes with imidazolium‐based cations were synthesized and characterized in detail. Their good thermal stability and photophysical tunability were demonstrated. In particular, BnMIm4MnBr4Br2, the complex with a novel mixed‐anion structure, showed exceptionally high photoluminescence quantum yield at room temperature, which suggests its future application as light‐emitting material in optoelectronic devices.
Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from natural seawater faces the severe challenges of abundant salts, which adsorb on the active sites and result in undesirable side reactions and photocatalyst ...poisoning. Herein, a series of main‐chain‐engineered discontinuously conjugated polymer (DCP) photocatalysts is presented with bifunctional crown ether (CE) structures for hydrogen evolution from seawater. The hydrophilic CE can significantly inhibit the aggregation of DCPs induced by salts. Meanwhile, cyclic CE can effectively adsorb cations to uncover the active sites to increase their interaction with protons, which can increase the hydrogen evolution rates and significantly reduce the efficiency roll‐off in natural seawater. Through atomistic studies, the formation of hydrogen bonds with bifunctional CE is elucidated and further analysis of the microscale mechanisms is also conducted using molecular dynamics and ab initio techniques. This work suggests that CE‐based polymer has the potential to enhance its ability to produce hydrogen through photocatalysis using seawater.
The first example of incorporating crown ether structure into polymer photocatalysts is demonstrated via a main‐chain‐engineering strategy. The innovative approach significantly reduces ion adsorption on the active sites, resulting in less hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) roll‐off in natural seawater. P‐8CE, in particaular, shows remarkable results with 200% and 258% higher HER than the model photocatalyst, PCzDBTO, in pure water and natural seawater, respectively.
The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is causing serious impacts in the world, and safe and effective vaccines and medicines are the best methods to combat the disease. The receptor-binding domain ...(RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein plays a key role in interacting with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, and is regarded as an important target of vaccines. Herein, we constructed the adjuvant-protein conjugate Pam
3
CSK
4
-RBD as a vaccine candidate, in which the
N
-terminal of the RBD was site-selectively oxidized by transamination and conjugated with the TLR1/2 agonist Pam
3
CSK
4
. This demonstrated that the conjugation of Pam
3
CSK
4
significantly enhanced the anti-RBD antibody response and cellular response. In addition, sera from the Pam
3
CSK
4
-RBD immunized group efficiently inhibited the binding of the RBD to ACE2 and protected cells from SARS-CoV-2 and four variants of concern (alpha, beta, gamma and delta), indicating that this adjuvant strategy could be one of the effective means for protein vaccine development.
An RBD-based subunit vaccine with a built-in TLR1/2 agonist induced potent immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern.
Polymeric photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution by water splitting have drawn tremendous research interest in recent years. However, the relatively low photocatalytic hydrogen evolution efficiency ...still needs to be overcome for further development. Recently, a growing body of literature has shown that the sulfone group can act as an electron-output site owing to its strong electron-withdrawing ability. Therefore, this study reports a sulfide oxidation tuning approach in 4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo1,2-
b
:4,5-
b
′dithiophene (BDTT) for constructing a series of sulfone-based dual acceptor
1-2
(A
1
-A
2
)-type copolymers with different numbers of sulfonyl groups and demonstrates that the A
1
-A
2
-type copolymer possesses the potential to supersede the D-A-type copolymer and A-A-type homopolymer. Moreover, the resulting polymer, PBDTTS-1SO displayed high photocatalytic activities of 97.1 mmol h
−1
g
−1
and 473 μmol h
−1
(6 mg) under visible-light illumination and an apparent quantum yield exceeding 18% at a wavelength of 500 nm, which seems to be the highest value recorded among the reported polymer photocatalysts to date. This study presents an alternative material design strategy to boost photocatalytic efficiency.
A sulfide oxidation tuning approach in BDTT is reported for constructing a series of dual acceptor
1-2
(A
1
-A
2
)-type copolymers. PBDTTS-1SO achieved an outstanding HER, demonstrating that the immense potential of the A
1
-A
2
-type polymer photocatalysts.
The biological function of interleukin‐10 (IL‐10) and the relationship between IL‐10 secretion and the Toll‐like receptor 2 (TLR2) expression levels in the central nervous system following ...hypoxic‐ischemic brain damage (HIBD) are poorly understood. Here, we intend to elucidate the biological function and mechanism of IL‐10 secretion following HIBD. In this study, we used a neonatal rat model of HIBD and found that rats injected with adeno‐associated virus‐IL‐10‐shRNA (short hairpin RNA) exhibited partially impaired learning and memory function compared to rats administered adeno‐associated virus‐control‐shRNA. In vitro oxygen‐glucose deprivation (OGD) induced IL‐10 release from astrocytes but not from neurons. Pretreatment with exogenous recombinant IL‐10 alleviated OGD‐mediated apoptosis of neurons but not astrocytes. In addition, we also observed that hypoxic injury induced a marked increase in IL‐10 expression in astrocytes as a result of activation of the TLR2/phosphorylated nuclear factor kappa B (p‐NFκB) p65 signaling cascade; furthermore, this effect disappeared upon small interfering RNA targeting rat TLR2 gene (siTLR2) treatment. Pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate, an inhibitor of NFκB activation, reduced the IL‐10 expression levels in both OGD‐injured astrocytes in vitro and the hippocampi of HIBD rats in vivo but did not significantly affect TLR2 expression. Furthermore, a luciferase assay revealed that p‐NFκB p65 could bind the −1700/−1000 bp proximal region of the IL‐10 gene promoter to regulate IL‐10 secretion from astrocytes and that this interaction could be controlled by OGD treatment. These data suggest that HIBD induces IL‐10 secretion from astrocytes to exert a paracrine‐induced anti‐apoptotic effect on injured neurons via the TLR2/NFκB signaling pathway, which may improve learning and memory dysfunction after ischemic injury.
We propose the neuroprotective effect of IL‐10 and its mechanism of secretion via the following events. Activation of TLR2 facilitates the increased phosphorylation of NFκB p65, which induces an Program Files/YoudaoDict/7.1.0.0421/resultui/dict/evident release of IL‐10 from astrocytes to suppress neuronal apoptosis. We believe that understanding this novel activity of endogenous IL‐10 could lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches for treating hypoxic‐ischemic brain damage (HIBD).
Many mini-implantable devices have been developed and fabricated for diagnostic and treatment purposes. Wireless implantable biomicrosystems provide a desirable approach for long-term physiological ...signal monitoring. In this study, we implemented a wireless implantable biomicrosystem for bladder-cavity pressure measurements in a freely moving rabbit. To manage the power more effectively, a magnetic reed switch was applied to turn on/off the implantable module using a neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet. The measured bladder pressure signal was wirelessly transmitted from the implantable module to a host unit. Our results indicated that the implantable biomicrosystem exhibited satisfactory performance and safety, as evidenced by an error percentage of less than ±1% for pressure measurements and less than 2 °C of a temperature rise under normal operation. The wireless biomicrosystem was implanted into the bladder cavity of a rabbit. Bladder pressure was simultaneously measured by both the biomicrosystem and conventional cystometry in the animal. The two signals were similar during the voiding phase, with a correlation coefficient of 0.885. Additionally, the biomicrosystem coated with polydimethylsiloxane in this study showed no cytotoxicity, which confirmed its biocompatibility. In conclusion, we demonstrated a good biocompatible wireless biomicrosystem which showed good reproducibility with respect to pressure monitoring by conventional cystometry. Further studies are needed to confirm the results of this preliminary feasibility study for actual clinical applications.
Background
Patients with multimorbidity often experience treatment burden as a result of fragmented, specialist‐driven healthcare. The ‘family doctor team' is an emerging service model in China to ...address the increasing need for high‐quality routine primary care.
Objective
This study aimed to explore the extent to which treatment burden was associated with healthcare needs and patients' experiences.
Methods
Multisite surveys were conducted in primary care facilities in Guangdong province, southern China. Interviewer‐administered questionnaires were used to collect data from patients (N = 2160) who had ≥2 clinically diagnosed long‐term conditions (multimorbidity) and had ≥1 clinical encounter in the past 12 months since enrolment registration with the family doctor team. Patients' experiences and treatment burden were measured using a previously validated Chinese version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) and the Treatment Burden Questionnaire, respectively.
Results
The mean age of the patients was 61.4 years, and slightly over half were females. Patients who had a family doctor team as the primary source of care reported significantly higher PCAT scores (mean difference 7.2 points, p < .001) and lower treatment burden scores (mean difference −6.4 points, p < .001) when compared to those who often bypassed primary care. Greater healthcare needs were significantly correlated with increased treatment burden (β‐coefficient 1.965, p < .001), whilst better patients' experiences were associated with lower treatment burden (β‐coefficient −0.252, p < .001) after adjusting for confounders.
Conclusion
The inverse association between patients' experiences and treatment burden supports the importance of primary care in managing patients with multimorbidity.
Patient Contribution
Primary care service users were involved in the instrument development and data collection.
Adjuvants are important components in vaccines to increase the immunogenicity of proteins and induce optimal immunity. In this study, we designed a novel ternary adjuvant system Alum + c-GAMP + ...poly(I:C) with STING agonist 3,3′-c-GAMP (c-GAMP) and TLR3 agonist poly(I:C) co-adsorbed on the conventional adjuvant aluminum gel (Alum), and further constructed an S1 protein vaccine. Two doses of vaccination with the ternary adjuvant vaccine were sufficient to induce a balanced Th1/Th2 immune response and robust humoral and cellular immunity. Additionally, the ternary adjuvant group had effective neutralizing activity against live virus SARS-CoV-2 and pseudovirus of all variants of concern (alpha, beta, gamma, delta and omicron). These results indicate that the ternary adjuvants have a significant synergistic effect and can rapidly trigger potent immune responses; the combination of the ternary adjuvant system with S1 protein is a promising COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
A protein vaccine with the ternary adjuvant system Alum/c-GAMP/poly(I:C) and S1 protein rapidly boosts immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and all variants of concern.
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