Controlled formation of novel supramolecular microbelts or microprisms from aniline and H2PdCl4 driven by coordination and π–π interactions

In this communication, I report the formation of novel supramolecular one-dimensional (1D) structures including microbelts and microprisms by a direct mix of aniline and H₂PdCl₄ aqueous solutions at room temperature. As-formed supramolecular structures were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectra and X-ray diffraction techniques. Both coordination and π–π interactions are expected to be responsible for these 1D microstructures. It suggests that the molar ratio of the reactants is crucial to the formation of such 1D structures.     

Cytosolic escape of mitochondrial DNA triggers cGAS-STING-NLRP3 axis-dependent nucleus pulposus cell pyroptosis

Low back pain (LBP) is a major musculoskeletal disorder and the socioeconomic problem with a high prevalence that mainly involves intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, characterized by progressive nucleus pulposus (NP) cell death and the development of an inflammatory microenvironment in NP tissue. Excessively accumulated cytosolic DNA acts as a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) that is monitored by the cGAS-STING axis to trigger the immune response in many degenerative diseases. NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent pyroptosis is a type of inflammatory programmed death that promotes a chronic inflammatory response and tissue degeneration. However, the relationship between the cGAS-STING axis and NLRP3 inflammasome-induced pyroptosis in the pathogenesis of IVD degeneration remains unclear. Here, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histopathology to demonstrate that cGAS, STING, and NLRP3 are associated with the degree of IVD degeneration. Oxidative stress induced cGAS-STING axis activation and NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis in a STING-dependent manner in human NP cells. Interestingly, the canonical morphological and functional characteristics of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening with the cytosolic escape of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) were observed in human NP cells under oxidative stress. Furthermore, the administration of a specific pharmacological inhibitor of mPTP and self-mtDNA cytosolic leakage effectively reduced NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptotic NP cell death and microenvironmental inflammation in vitro and degenerative progression in a rat disc needle puncture model. Collectively, these data highlight the critical roles of the cGAS-STING-NLRP3 axis and pyroptosis in the progression of IVD degeneration and provide promising therapeutic approaches for discogenic LBP.Subject terms: Cell death, Diseases     

Anthraquinones from the Aerial Parts of Rubia cordifolia with Their NO Inhibitory and Antibacterial Activities

The present study aimed to identify the composition of the aerial parts of Rubia cordifolia L. A chemical investigation on the EtOAc extracts from the aerial parts of Rubia cordifolia resulted in the isolation of four new anthraquinones, namely Cordifoquinone A–D (1–4), along with 16 known anthraquinones. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of NMR and HR-ESIMS data. All isolates were assessed for their inhibitory effects on NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Compounds 1, 3 and 10 exhibited significant inhibitory activities with IC₅₀ values of 14.05, 23.48 and 29.23 μmol·L⁻¹, respectively. Their antibacterial activities of four bacteria, Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus (ATCC 29213), Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica (ATCC 14028) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), were also evaluated. Our results indicated that the antibacterial activity of these compounds is inactive.     

Total Focusing Method Damage Imaging in Frequency Domain Using Laser-Ultrasonic Lamb Wave Based on Time-domain Filtering in Multi-band

A fully non-contact experimental platform for ultrasonic Lamb wave damage detec-tion was constructed,where laser exciting and the scanning laser Doppler vibrome...     

Development of novel flexible black silicon

We report a new type of black silicon: flexible black silicon. A silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer is irradiated by automatically scanning a femtosecond laser and then split by etching out the SOI silica middle layer. Large-area, uniform micro spikes on the surface of a very thin flexible silicon layer are obtained. The black silicon shows good flexibility and optical properties. The absorption spectrum of the flexible black silicon is as high as 97% in the visible and insensitive to the change of the incident angle of the light, which makes it a potential good candidate as an absorber for the solar-thermo generator.     

Thermodynamics of Squeezed State for Mesoscopic RLC Circuits

We present a density matrix of a mesoscopic RLC circuits to make it possible to analyze the connection between the initial condition and the certain temperature. Our results show that the quantum state evolution will be closely related to the initial condition; the system evolves to generalized coherent state if it is in ground state initially, and evolves to squeezed state if it is in excited state initially. In addition, we also obtain squeezed minimum uncertainty state with satisfying certain condition in mesoscopic RLC circuit.     

六角星形MoSe_2双层纳米片的制备及其光致发光性能

采用化学气相沉积法,以三氧化钼作为钼源,硒粉作为硒源,在H_2/Ar气氛下生长出硒化钼纳米片.扫描电镜、X射线衍射表征结果表明,MoSe_2产物呈六角星状,横向尺寸约10μm,具有很好的晶体质量和结构.拉曼光谱表征其结构,确定其为双层纳米片.研究表明,高温反应时间对双层纳米片的生长具有重要的影响.通过对双层纳米片的生长机理的探究,推测其经历了3个生长过程:在高温下,Mo源和Se源被气化成气态分子并发生硒化反应形成晶核;晶核呈三角形外延生长;当反应时间持续增加,在空间位阻效应的影响下,晶体以中心原子岛为核,外延耦合生长出第二层三角形,最终形成六角星状双层纳米片.光致发光光谱结果表明,六角星状MoSe_2双层纳米片在1.53 eV处具有直接带隙和1.78 eV处具有间接带隙,其较宽范围的激发光谱响应预测其在光电探测器件领域具有潜在的应用前景.     

强激光加载下高压液氘材料的电导率

液氘在高压下有丰富的电学光学性质。利用反射率和相对介电函数关系并从广义极化角度出发初步建立了计算低Z材料电导率的简易模型;在神光-Ⅱ装置上利用第九路激光冲击加载液氘材料并测量了其在强激光冲击下的高压状态参数和反射率。结合上述理论模型和实验,研究了高压下液氘的电离度和电导率。结果表明,液氘在约70 GPa时的电导率约为2.87105 (Wm)-1,已呈现出较为明显的金属电导特性。显然,冲击加载下液氘从绝缘分子态开始电离并向金属氘转变发生在更低的压强。     

Stop coannihilation in the CMSSM and SubGUT models

Stop coannihilation may bring the relic density of heavy supersymmetric dark matter particles into the range allowed by cosmology. The efficiency of this process is enhanced by stop-antistop annihilations into the longitudinal (Goldstone) modes of the W and Z bosons, as well as by Sommerfeld enhancement of stop annihilations and the effects of bound states. Since the couplings of the stops to the Goldstone modes are proportional to the trilinear soft supersymmetry-breaking A-terms, these annihilations are enhanced when the A-terms are large. However, the Higgs mass may be reduced below the measured value if the A-terms are too large. Unfortunately, the interpretation of this constraint on the stop coannihilation strip is clouded by differences between the available Higgs mass calculators. For our study, we use as our default calculator FeynHiggs 2.13.0, the most recent publicly available version of this code. Exploring the CMSSM parameter space, we find that along the stop coannihilation strip the masses of the stops are severely split by the large A-terms. This suppresses the Higgs mass drastically for \(\mu \) and \(A_0 > 0\), whilst the extent of the stop coannihilation strip is limited for \(A_0 < 0\) and either sign of \(\mu \). However, in sub-GUT models, reduced renormalization-group running mitigates the effect of the large A-terms, allowing larger LSP masses to be consistent with the Higgs mass calculation. We give examples where the dark matter particle mass may reach \(\gtrsim 8\) TeV.