For patients with nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) without manifesting visual acuity impairment or visual field defect (VFD), more sensitive and objective assessment methods will allow earlier ...detection before irreversible damage to the visual system. This study aimed to evaluate retinal vessel densities (VDs) alterations in these patients using optical coherence tomography angiography and to determine its diagnostic abilities.
Between patients with NFPA without VFDs and age-matched, sex-matched healthy control individuals, comparisons of visual field metrics, retinal structural thickness, and microcirculation were conducted after adjusting for axial length (AL) and signal index of scans. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were further depicted to assess the diagnostic performance of significant parameters. To explore the impact of symptom duration, tumor size, and axial length on the significant parameters, multivariate regression analysis was conducted.
This cross-sectional study reviewed 107 patients with NFPA. Twenty-seven eyes of patients with NFPA without VFDs and 27 eyes of healthy controls were enrolled. Compared with healthy controls, patients with NFPA without VFDs had similar foveal avascular zone areas and perimeters, macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thicknesses, and macular VDs. Only the VD in the radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) segment of the inferior temporal (IT) sector was much lower in the patient group. The 2 largest area under the ROC curves were the focal loss volume (FLV) of the mGCC and the VD in the RPC of the IT sector, both of which were significantly related to symptom duration and tumor size.
At the early stage of NFPA before VFD and retinal thickness thinning, fundus microcirculation impairments may occur initially in the microvascular density of the RPC segment of the IT sector. The FLV and the VD of RPC at the IT sector may provide a basis for the early diagnosis of NFPA without VFD in clinical practice.
•Synthesize defect-rich LDH nanosheets as inorganic photosensitizers for NIR III PDT.•The high concentration of H2O2 in TME acted as the initial “key” to unlock the outer “doors” of hybrid CM-TK ...membrane shell.•The low pH would be the second “key” to trigger re-exposed pHLIP mediated GSDMD-N dependent pyroptosis.•Evoked pyroptosis together with anti-PD-L1 blockade therapy activated adaptive immunity in HCC.
Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is limited due to its immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Proinflammatory pyroptosis as a new schedule can induce immunogenic cell death (ICD), thereby reversing immunosuppressive TME and improving ICB efficiency. Herein, we report an acid-etched layered double hydroxides nanosheets (E-LDH)-based smart nanoplatforms armed with H2O2/pH dual “doorkeepers” (denoted as CTEP) targeting HCC to realize membrane-anchored photodynamic therapy (PDT) and evoke potent pyroptosis to effectively improve anti-tumor immunity. The hybrid Hepa1-6 cancer cell membrane (CM) and thylakoid (TK) membrane is cloaked on the surface of pH-(low)-insertion peptide (pHLIP) modified E-LDH to obtain CTEP. Once CTEP nanoplatforms arrive at tumor regions, the dual “doorkeepers” will orderly open to perform PDT precisely. Given the fact that TK membranes have the catalase mimetic function, CTEP is able to respond to high concentrations of H2O2 in TME and rupture the hybrid CM-TK membrane to expose pH-sensitive peptide pHLIP. Membrane-localized PDT can induce gasdermin-D (GSDMD) mediated pyroptosis, effectively stimulating tumor immunogenicity. Pyroptotic cell death releases damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and consequently robust IaCB ability. CTEP-evoked pyroptosis together with anti-PD-L1 blockade therapy activates adaptive immunity in HCC, successfully inhibiting the progression of primary and distant HCC tumors with mitigation of the side effects. This research has demonstrated that CTEP with excellent biocompatibility and homologous targeting ability can act as a potent pyroptosis inducer to improve immune efficacy. The combination of PDT and immunotherapy via a photo-pyroptosis pathway can be a smart strategy for HCC treatment.
Developing cost-effective and controllable technologies beyond traditional overall N2 electrocatalysis is critical for the large-scale production of NH3 through electrochemical N2 reduction reaction ...(NRR) under ambient conditions. Herein, the aqueous rechargeable Zn–N2 battery, assembled by coupling the bifunctional cobalt phosphate nanocrystals-loaded heteroatoms-doped carbon nanosheets (CoPi/NPCS) as cathode electrocatalyst and the commercial Zn plate as anode with KOH electrolyte, was fabricated for the sustainable reduction of N2 to NH3 and power generation during discharge process. Benefiting from the desirable active components of cobalt phosphate nanocrystals and the synergistic effect between nanocrystals and carbon substrates, the CoPi/NPCS catalyst exhibits the enhanced NRR and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance in alkaline electrolyte. And the cobalt phosphates are confirmed as active components through the associative pathway toward NRR. When measured in the flow battery configuration with gas diffusion electrode by flowing N2 during discharge, this CoPi/NPCS-catalyzed Zn–N2 battery enables the high N2-to-NH3 yield rate of 14.7 μg h–1 mgcat. –1 and Faradaic efficiency of 16.35% at 0.6 V vs Zn2+/Zn, which can be able to maintain stable in discharge processes during cycling tests. Moreover, the impressive power output of the peak power density of 0.49 mW cm–2 and the energy density of 147.6 mWh gzn –1 are still achieved by this Zn–N2 battery, which are both higher than those of previously reported Zn–N2 batteries. This work not only provides the guideline for the rational design of robust and active bifunctional NRR-OER catalysts but also develops a reasonable and promising technology for efficient electrochemical N2-to-NH3 and power generation.
Developing cost-effective and controllable technologies beyond traditional overall N
electrocatalysis is critical for the large-scale production of NH
through electrochemical N
reduction reaction ...(NRR) under ambient conditions. Herein, the aqueous rechargeable Zn-N
battery, assembled by coupling the bifunctional cobalt phosphate nanocrystals-loaded heteroatoms-doped carbon nanosheets (CoPi/NPCS) as cathode electrocatalyst and the commercial Zn plate as anode with KOH electrolyte, was fabricated for the sustainable reduction of N
to NH
and power generation during discharge process. Benefiting from the desirable active components of cobalt phosphate nanocrystals and the synergistic effect between nanocrystals and carbon substrates, the CoPi/NPCS catalyst exhibits the enhanced NRR and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance in alkaline electrolyte. And the cobalt phosphates are confirmed as active components through the associative pathway toward NRR. When measured in the flow battery configuration with gas diffusion electrode by flowing N
during discharge, this CoPi/NPCS-catalyzed Zn-N
battery enables the high N
-to-NH
yield rate of 14.7 μg h
mg
and Faradaic efficiency of 16.35% at 0.6 V vs Zn
/Zn, which can be able to maintain stable in discharge processes during cycling tests. Moreover, the impressive power output of the peak power density of 0.49 mW cm
and the energy density of 147.6 mWh g
are still achieved by this Zn-N
battery, which are both higher than those of previously reported Zn-N
batteries. This work not only provides the guideline for the rational design of robust and active bifunctional NRR-OER catalysts but also develops a reasonable and promising technology for efficient electrochemical N
-to-NH
and power generation.
Identifying the essence of doped Mott insulators is one of the major outstanding problems in condensed matter physics and the key to understanding the high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates. ...We report real space visualization of Mott insulator-metal transition in Sr1−x Lax CuO2+y cuprate films that cover both the electron- and hole-doped regimes. Tunneling conductance measurements directly on the copper-oxide (CuO2) planes reveal a systematic shift in the Fermi level, while the fundamental Mott-Hubbard band structure remains unchanged. This is further demonstrated by exploring the atomic-scale electronic response of CuOb to substitutional dopants and intrinsic defects in a sister compound Sr0.92 Nd0.08CuO2. The results may be better explained in the framework of self-modulation doping, similar to that in semiconductor heterostructures, and form a basis for developing any microscopic theories for cuprate superconductivity.
In this study, a bio-inspired crawling robot with multi-surface locomotion capability is developed. The robot is driven by Dielectric Elastomer Minimum Energy Structures (DEMES) and utilizes a ...three-dimensional scissor mechanism and electrostatic adhesion technology to achieve multi-surface crawling function. The output torque of the actuator was measured, and a dynamic model of the scissor mechanism was established to estimate the theoretical speed of the robot under specific signal input. Additionally, a comparison between two electrostatic adhesion methods of the robot was conducted to validate its multi-surface locomotion capability, and the experiments demonstrated that this design reduces the requirements for robot deployment. The proposed design in this paper provides new insights for the development of biomimetic crawling robots.
A method was developed for the determination of tetrodotoxin in marine organisms by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with immunoaffinity column. The samples were extracted ...with 1% acetic acid methanol solution and diluted with phosphate buffer at pH 7-8. After cleaned up by immunoaffinity column, the samples were analyzed by LC-MS/MS and quantitatively determined by external standard method. The chromatographic separation was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH Amide column with gradient elution by using acetonitrile and 5 mol/L ammonium acetate solution containing 0.1% formic acid as mobile phase. Detection was carried out by electrospray positive ionization mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. Linear ranges of TTX was in the range of 0.3 - 20.0 mu g/L with correlation coefficient more than 0.997. The quantification limit of the method was 0.3 mu g/kg. The recoveries of standard addition for tetrodotoxin were 88.7%-102.3%, and the relative standard deviation was 2.0%-6.4%. The method could be used to identify and quantify tetrodotoxin in marine organisms with satisfactory reproducibility and sensitivity.
The experiment's aim was to optimize the processing technology of Xanthii Fructus which through comparing the difference of UPLC fingerprint and contents of toxicity ingredient in water extract of 16 ...batches of processed sample. The determination condition of UPLC chromatographic and contents of toxicity ingredient were as follows. UPLC chromatographic: ACQUITY BEH C18 column (2.1 mm x 100 mm, 1.7 microm) eluted with the mobile phases of acetonitrile and 0.1% phosphoric acidwater in gradient mode, the flow rate was 0.25 mL x min(-1) and the detection wavelength was set at 327 nm. Contents of toxicity ingredient: Agilent TC-C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm), mobile phase was methanol-0.01 mol x L(-1) sodium dihydrogen phosphate (35: 65), flow rate was 1.0 mL x min(-1), and detection wavelength was 203 nm. The chromatographic fingerprints 16 batches of samples were analyzed in using the similarity evaluation system of chromatographic, fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine, SPSS16.0 and SIMCA13.0 software, respectively. The similarity degrees of the 16 batches samples were more than 0.97, all the samples were classified into four categories, and the PCA showed that the peak area of chlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and caffeic acid were significantly effect index in fingerprint of processed Xanthii Fructus sample. The outcome of determination showed that the toxicity ingredient contents of all samples reduced significantly after processing. This method can be used in optimizing the processing technology of Xanthii Fructus.
Based on variation of Pinus massoniana families, heritablility and correlation analysis, the contents of shikimic acid and procyanidine (heritability 0.90, 0.70), dry weight of single branch ...(heritability 0.60) and and leaf length (heritability 0.46) were screened out as quality, yield and harvest cost traits of Folium Pini, respectively. For the different medicinal application of Folium Pini, varied methods were chosen to estimate weight and construct index equation. Weight adjustment based.on equal emphasis were used as economic weight determining method to select the best families, and the index (accuracy 0. 936 4 and heritability 0. 881 6) obtained was a little better than that obtained by equal emphasis, and much better than that by restricted index. The superior families selected with adjustment weight and equal emphasis were No. 46, 43 and 28. Partial regression were used as economic weight determining method to select the best families,and the index obtained had the highest accuracy (0.941 5) , index heritability (0. 889 9) and the genetic gain of shikimic acid content. The superior families selected with this method were No. 46, 27 and 47. No. 46 was the best families with maximal economic benefit. Our study indicated that suitable method for estimate weight and construct index equation can be applied for better accuracy of superior families selection of P. massoniana.
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