Research progress on the mechanism of acute hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis.

ABSTRACT: The incidence rate of hypertriglyceridemia pancreatitis (HTGP) has experienced a notable increase in recent years, with eclipsing alcohol as the second leading cause of acute pancreatitis (AP). HTGP is often associated with more severe local and systemic complications. Recognized as a metabolic disorder hypertriglyceridemia (HTG), holds significant relevance in the pathogenesis of HTGP, yet its mechanisms are not fully understood. Both primary (genetic) and secondary (acquired) factors contribute to elevated triglyceride (TG) levels, which concurrently influence the progression of HTGP. This article presents a comprehensive review of the evolving research on HTGP pathogenesis, encompassing lipid synthesis and metabolism, calcium signal transduction, inflammatory mediators, endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy, mitochondrial injury by fatty acids, oxidative stress response, genetic factors, and gene mutations. By unraveling the intricate mechanisms underlying HTGP, this article aims to enhance physicians' understanding of the disease and facilitate the development of potential targeted pharmacological interventions for patients.

Cellular senescence imaging and senolysis monitoring in cancer therapy based on a ß-galactosidase-activated aggregation-induced emission luminogen.

Cellular senescence is a permanent state of cell cycle arrest characterized by increased activity of senescence associated ß-galactosidase (SA-ß-gal). Notably, cancer cells have been also observed to exhibit the senescence response and are being considered for sequential treatment with pro-senescence therapy followed by senolytic therapy. However, there is currently no effective agent targeting ß-galactosidase (ß-Gal) for imaging cellular senescence and monitoring senolysis in cancer therapy. Aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen) demonstrates strong fluorescence, good photostability, and biocompatibility, making it a potential candidate for imaging cellular senescence and monitoring senolysis in cancer therapy when endowed with ß-Gal-responsive capabilities. In this study, we introduced a ß-Gal-activated AIEgen named QM-ß-gal for cellular senescence imaging and senolysis monitoring in cancer therapy. QM-ß-gal exhibited good amphiphilic properties and formed aggregates that emitted a fluorescence signal upon ß-Gal activation. It showed high specificity towards the activity of ß-Gal in lysosomes and successfully visualized DOX-induced senescent cancer cells with intense fluorescence both in vitro and in vivo. Encouragingly, QM-ß-gal could image senescent cancer cells in vivo for over 14 days with excellent biocompatibility. Moreover, it allowed for the monitoring of senescent cancer cell clearance during senolytic therapy with ABT263. This investigation indicated the potential of the ß-Gal-activated AIEgen, QM-ß-gal, as an in vivo approach for imaging cellular senescence and monitoring senolysis in cancer therapy via highly specific and long-term fluorescence imaging. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: This work reported a ß-galactosidase-activated AIEgen called QM-ß-gal, which effectively imaged DOX-induced senescent cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. QM-ß-gal specifically targeted the increased expression and activity of ß-galactosidase in senescent cancer cells, localized within lysosomes. It was cleared rapidly before activation but maintained stability after activation in the DOX-induced senescent tumor. The AIEgen exhibited a remarkable long-term imaging capability for senescent cancer cells, lasting over 14 days and enabled monitoring of senescent cancer cell clearance through ABT263-induced apoptosis. This approach held promise for researchers seeking to achieve prolonged imaging of senescent cells in vivo.

Acceleration or retardation by a magnetic field of the anodic processes of iron in molybdate-bearing chloride solutions.

The modulation by a horizontal magnetic field of the anodic processes of iron in molybdate-bearing chloride solutions is determined. The magnetic field can accelerate or retard the anodic reaction depending on the rate-controlling steps at specified electrode potentials. The anodic current density arising from uniform dissolution from open or semi-open pits is increased by the magnetic field. The current density originating from occluded pits can be decreased by the magnetic field, where autocatalysis has a dominant effect on the pitting rate. The effect of the magnetic field on the pitting corrosion is a combination of the influence on electrochemical reactions at the interfaces of the pits and the disturbance of the autocatalysis process inside the pit enclave through the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effect. Micro-MHD effects for specific locations and macro-MHD effects for pitting systems are recommended to illustrate the magnetic effect on localized corrosion phenomena at various combinations of potentials and solution compositions.

Electrically and mechanically driven rotation of polar spirals in a relaxor ferroelectric polymer.

Topology created by quasi-continuous spatial variations of a local polarization direction represents an exotic state of matter, but field-driven manipulation has been hitherto limited to creation and destruction. Here we report that relatively small electric or mechanical fields can drive the non-volatile rotation of polar spirals in discretized microregions of the relaxor ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-ran-trifluoroethylene). These polar spirals arise from the asymmetric Coulomb interaction between vertically aligned helical polymer chains, and can be rotated in-plane through various angles with robust retention. Given also that our manipulation of topological order can be detected via infrared absorption, our work suggests a new direction for the application of complex materials.

Field-free spin-orbit switching of perpendicular magnetization enabled by dislocation-induced in-plane symmetry breaking.

Current induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) holds great promise for next generation magnetic-memory technology. Field-free SOT switching of perpendicular magnetization requires the breaking of in-plane symmetry, which can be artificially introduced by external magnetic field, exchange coupling or device asymmetry. Recently it has been shown that the exploitation of inherent crystal symmetry offers a simple and potentially efficient route towards field-free switching. However, applying this approach to the benchmark SOT materials such as ferromagnets and heavy metals is challenging. Here, we present a strategy to break the in-plane symmetry of Pt/Co heterostructures by designing the orientation of Burgers vectors of dislocations. We show that the lattice of Pt/Co is tilted by about 1.2° when the Burgers vector has an out-of-plane component. Consequently, a tilted magnetic easy axis is induced and can be tuned from nearly in-plane to out-of-plane, enabling the field-free SOT switching of perpendicular magnetization components at room temperature with a relatively low current density (~1011 A/m2) and excellent stability (> 104 cycles). This strategy is expected to be applicable to engineer a wide range of symmetry-related functionalities for future electronic and magnetic devices.

Significant Unconventional Anomalous Hall Effect in Heavy Metal/Antiferromagnetic Insulator Heterostructures.

The anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is a quantum coherent transport phenomenon that conventionally vanishes at elevated temperatures because of thermal dephasing. Therefore, it is puzzling that the AHE can survive in heavy metal (HM)/antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulator (AFMI) heterostructures at high temperatures yet disappears at low temperatures. In this paper, an unconventional high-temperature AHE in HM/AFMI is observed only around the Néel temperature of AFM, with large anomalous Hall resistivity up to 40 nΩ cm is reported. This mechanism is attributed to the emergence of a noncollinear AFM spin texture with a non-zero net topological charge. Atomistic spin dynamics simulation shows that such a unique spin texture can be stabilized by the subtle interplay among the collinear AFM exchange coupling, interfacial Dyzaloshinski-Moriya interaction, thermal fluctuation, and bias magnetic field.

Effects of Molecular Weight on the Electrochemical Properties of Poly(vinylidene difluoride)-Based Polymer Electrolytes.

Polymer-based electrolytes have attracted ever-increasing attention for solid-state batteries due to their excellent flexibility and processability. Among them, poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF)-based electrolytes with high ionic conductivity, wide electrochemical stability window, and good mechanical properties show great potential and have been widely investigated by using different Li salts, solvents, and inorganic fillers. Here, we report the influence of the molecular weight of PVDF itself on the electrochemical properties of the electrolytes by using two kinds of common PVDF polymers, i.e., PVDF 761 and 5130. Our results demonstrate that the electrolyte with a larger molecular weight (PVDF 5130) has a denser structure and lower crystallinity, and thus much better electrochemical performance, than one with a smaller molecular weight (PVDF 761). With PVDF 5130, the LiFePO4-based solid-state cells present a steady cycling performance with a capacity retention of 85% after 1000 cycles at 1 C and 30 °C. The cycle life of the LiCoO2-based solid-state cells is also extended by using PVDF 5130.

Defect-Enhanced CO2 Reduction Catalytic Performance in O-Terminated MXenes.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2 RR) represents a promising way to generate fuels and chemical feedstock sustainably. Recently, studies have shown that two-dimensional metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) can be promising CO2 RR electrocatalysts due to the alternating -C and -H coordination with intermediates that decouples scaling relations seen on transition metal catalysts. However, further by tuning the electronic and surface structure of MXenes it should still be possible to reach higher turnover number and selectivities. To this end, defect engineering of MXenes for electrochemical CO2 RR has not been investigated to date. In this work, first-principles modelling simulations are employed to systematically investigate CO2 RR on M2 XO2 -type MXenes with transition metal and carbon/nitrogen vacancies. We found that the -C-coordinated intermediates take the form of fragments (e. g., *COOH, *CHO) whereas the -H-coordinated intermediates form a complete molecule (e. g., *HCOOH, *H2 CO). Interestingly, the fragment-type intermediates become more strongly bound when transition-metal vacancies are present on most MXenes, while the molecule-type intermediates are largely unaffected, allowing the CO2 RR overpotential to be tuned. The most promising defective MXene is Hf2 NO2 containing Hf vacancies, with a low overpotential of 0.45 V. More importantly, through electronic structure analysis it could be observed that the Fermi level of the MXene changes significantly in the presence of vacancies, indicating that the Fermi level shift can be used as an ideal descriptor to rapidly predict the catalytic performance of defective MXenes. Such an evaluation strategy is applicable to other catalysts beyond MXenes, which could enhance high throughput screening efforts for accelerated catalyst discovery.

Two-Dimensional Titanium and Molybdenum Carbide MXenes as Electrocatalysts for CO2 Reduction.

Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is an attractive way to produce renewable fuel and chemical feedstock, especially when coupled with efficient CO2 capture and clean energy sources. On the fundamental side, research on improving CO2RR activity still revolves around late transition metal-based catalysts, which are limited by unfavorable scaling relations despite intense investigation. Here, we report a combined experimental and theoretical investigation into electrocatalytic CO2RR on Ti- and Mo-based MXene catalysts. Formic acid is found as the main product on Ti2CTx and Mo2CTx MXenes, with peak Faradaic efficiency of over 56% on Ti2CTx and partial current density of up to -2.5 mA cm-2 on Mo2CTx. Furthermore, simulations reveal the critical role of the Tx group: a smaller overpotential is found to occur at lower amounts of -F termination. This work represents an important step toward experimental demonstration of MXenes for more complex electrocatalytic reactions in the future.

Catalytic Effect on CO2 Electroreduction by Hydroxyl-Terminated Two-Dimensional MXenes.

Electrocatalysis represents a promising method to generate renewable fuels and chemical feedstock from the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, traditional electrocatalysts based on transition metals are not efficient enough because of the high overpotential and slow turnover. MXenes, a family of two-dimensional metal carbides and nitrides, have been predicted to be effective in catalyzing CO2RR, but a systematic investigation into their catalytic performance is lacking, especially on hydroxyl (-OH)-terminated MXenes relevant in aqueous reaction conditions. In this work, we utilized first-principles simulations to systematically screen and explore the properties of MXenes in catalyzing CO2RR to CH4 from both aspects of thermodynamics and kinetics. Sc2C(OH)2 was found to be the most promising catalyst with the least negative limiting potential of -0.53 V vs RHE. This was achieved through an alternative reaction pathway, where the adsorbed species are stabilized by capturing H atoms from the MXene's OH termination group. New scaling relations, based on the shared H interaction between intermediates and MXenes, were established. Bader charge analyses reveal that catalysts with less electron migration in the *(H)COOH → *CO elementary step exhibit better CO2RR performance. This study provides new insights regarding the effect of surface functionalization on the catalytic performance of MXenes to guide future materials design.

Altering polythiophene derivative substrates to control the electrodeposition morphology of Au particles toward ultrafine nanoparticles.

A novel strategy for controlling the morphology of AuNPs by altering polythiophene derivative substrates was developed, and the nucleation mechanism of AuNPs on PTs was further explored theoretically. It is found that PTs with longer side chains can induce the electrodeposition of AuNPs with different morphologies and smaller particle sizes.

Elaboration of Aggregated Polysulfide Phases: From Molecules to Large Clusters and Solid Phases.

With the increasing strategies aimed at repressing shuttle problems in the lithium-sulfur battery, dissolved contents of polysulfides are significantly reduced. Except for solid-state Li2S2 and Li2S, aggregated phases of polysulfides remain unexplored, especially in well confined cathode material systems. Here, we report a series of nanosize polysulfide clusters and solid phases from an atomic perspective. The calculated phase diagram and formation energy evolution process demonstrate their stabilities and cohesive tendency. It is interesting to find that Li2S6 can stay in the solid state and contains short S3 chains, further leading to the unique stability and dense structure. Simulated electronic properties indicate reduced band gaps when polysulfides are aggregated, especially for solid phase Li2S6 with a band gap as low as 0.47 eV. Their dissolution behavior and conversion process are also investigated, which provides a more realistic model and gives further suggestions on the future design of the lithium-sulfur battery.