Infrared Interlayer Excitons in Twist-Free MoTe2/MoS2 Heterobilayers.

Excitonic devices based on interlayer excitons in van der Waals heterobilayers are a promising platform for advancing photoelectric interconnection telecommunications. However, the absence of exciton emission in the crucial telecom C-band has constrained their practical applications. Here, this limitation is addressed by reporting exciton emission at 0.8 eV (1550 nm) in a chemically vapor-deposited, strictly aligned MoTe2/MoS2 heterobilayer, resulting from the direct bandgap transitions of interlayer excitons as identified by momentum-space imaging of their electrons and holes. The decay mechanisms dominated by direct radiative recombination ensure constant emission quantum yields, a basic demand for efficient excitonic devices. The atomically sharp interface enables the resolution of two narrowly-splitter transitions induced by spin-orbit coupling, further distinguished through the distinct Landé g-factors as the fingerprint of spin configurations. By electrical control, the double transitions coupling into opposite circularly-polarized photon modes, preserve or reverse the helicities of the incident light with a degree of polarization up to 90%. The Stark effect tuning extends the emission energy range by over 150 meV (270 nm), covering the telecom C-band. The findings provide a material platform for studying the excitonic complexes and significantly boost the application prospects of excitonic devices in silicon photonics and all-optical telecommunications.

Successful treatment of granulomatosis with polyangiitis using tocilizumab combined with glucocorticoids: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Tocilizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor that is commonly used to treat large vessel vasculitis and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-related small vessel vasculitis. However, tocilizumab in combination with glucocorticoids for successfully treating granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) has rarely been reported. CASE SUMMARY: Here, we report a 40-year-old male patient who suffered GPA for 4 years. He was treated with multiple rounds of drugs, including cyclophosphamide, Tripterygium wilfordii, mycophenolate mofetil, and belimumab, with no improvement. In addition, he exhibited persistently high IL-6 levels. After tocilizumab treatment, his symptoms improved, and his inflammatory marker levels returned to normal. CONCLUSION: Tocilizumab may be effective for treating GPA.

The Controllable Synthesis of High-Quality Two-Dimensional Iron Sulfide with Specific Phases.

2D Fe-chalcogenides have drawn significant attention due to their unique structural phases and distinct properties in exploring magnetism and superconductivity. However, it remains a significant challenge to synthesize 2D Fe-chalcogenides with specific phases in a controllable manner since Fe-chalcogenides have multiple phases. Herein, a molecular sieve-assisted strategy is reported for synthesizing ultrathin 2D iron sulfide on substrates via the chemical vapor deposition method. Using a molecular sieve and tuning growth temperatures to control the partial pressures of precursor concentrations, hexagonal FeS, tetragonal FeS, and non-stoichiometric Fe7 S8 nanoflakes can be precisely synthesized. The 2D h-FeS, t-FeS, and Fe7 S8 have high conductivities of 5.4 × 105 S m-1 , 5.8 × 105 S m-1 , and 1.9 × 106 S m-1 . 2D tetragonal FeS shows a superconducting transition at 4 K. The spin reorientation at ≈30 K on the non-stoichiometric Fe7 S8 nanoflakes with ferrimagnetism up to room temperature has also been observed. The controllable synthesis of various phases of 2D iron sulfide may provide a route for synthesizing other 2D compounds with various phases.

Synthesis of Ultrathin Topological Insulator ß-Ag2 Te and Ag2 Te/WSe2 -Based High-Performance Photodetector.

ß-Ag2 Te has attracted considerable attention in the application of electronics and optoelectronics due to its narrow bandgap, high mobility, and topological insulator properties. However, it remains a significant challenge to synthesize 2D Ag2 Te because of the non-layered structure of Ag2 Te. Herein, the synthesis of large-size, ultrathin single crystal topological insulator 2D Ag2 Te via the van der Waals epitaxial method for the first time is reported. The 2D Ag2 Te crystal exhibits p-type conduction behavior with high carrier mobility of 3336 cm2 V-1 s-1 at room temperature. Taking advantage of the high mobility and perfect electron structure of Ag2 Te, the Ag2 Te/WSe2 heterojunctions are fabricated via mechanical stacking and show an ultrahigh rectification ratio of 2 × 105 . Ag2 Te/WSe2 photodetector also exhibits self-driven properties with a fast response speed (40 µs/60 µs) in the near-infrared region. High responsivity (219 mA W-1 ) and light ON/OFF ratio of 6 × 105 are obtained under the photovoltaic mode. The overall performance of the Ag2 Te/WSe2 photodetector is significantly competitive among all reported 2D photodetectors. These results indicate that 2D Ag2 Te is a promising candidate for future electronic and optoelectronic applications.

Cholesterol sulfate alleviates ulcerative colitis by promoting cholesterol biosynthesis in colonic epithelial cells.

Cholesterol sulfate, produced by hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase 2B1 (SULT2B1), is highly abundant in the intestine. Herein, we study the functional role and underlying intestinal epithelial repair mechanisms of cholesterol sulfate in ulcerative colitis. The levels of cholesterol and cholesterol sulfate, as well as the expression of Sult2b1 and genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis, are significantly higher in inflamed tissues from patients with ulcerative colitis than in intestinal mucosa from healthy controls. Cholesterol sulfate in the gut and circulation is mainly catalyzed by intestinal epithelial SULT2B1. Specific deletion of the Sult2b1 gene in the intestinal epithelial cells aggravates dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis; however, dietary supplementation with cholesterol sulfate ameliorates this effect in acute and chronic ulcerative colitis in mice. Cholesterol sulfate promotes cholesterol biosynthesis by binding to Niemann-Pick type C2 protein and activating sterol regulatory element binding protein 2 in colonic epithelial cells, thereby alleviates ulcerative colitis. In conclusion, cholesterol sulfate contributes to the healing of the mucosal barrier and exhibits therapeutic efficacy against ulcerative colitis in mice.

Directional Construction of a 1T0.63-MoSe2@MoP Multiphase-Interface Catalyst for Highly Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution.

Alkaline water electrolysis is the most widely used technology for industrial hydrogen production. However, transition-metal dichalcogenides as inert alkaline hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts suffer from sluggish water adsorption and dissociation dynamics originating from the inappropriate intrinsic electronic structure. To address this issue, we report the synthesis of a type of multiphase-interface catalyst (MPIC), 1T0.63-MoSe2@MoP (1T = octahedral phase; MoSe2 = molybdenum selenide; MoP = molybdenum phosphide), that tunes the intrinsic interfacial electronic structure by multiphase synergy, promoting the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Consequently, the self-standing 1T0.63-MoSe2@MoP MPIC requires a small overpotential of 358 mV to reach a large current density of 1000 mA cm-2 in an alkaline freshwater electrolyte, along with impressive HER activity and stability at large current densities in an artificial alkaline seawater electrolyte. This work unravels the potential of Mo-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution at high current densities, owing to the simple and mature synthesis process, which offers a vision to enable large-scale commercial hydrogen generation by seawater electrolysis. Meanwhile, density functional theory studies consistently confirm that the combination of metallic phase and intrinsic HER-active MoP in MoSe2 could successfully tune its electronic structure to improve the HER catalytic activity.

Water assisted growth of two-dimensional MoS2/MoSe2 vertical heterostructures on molten glass.

Herein, we demonstrate a chemical vapor deposition route to the controlled growth of large scale MoS2/MoSe2 vertical van der Waals heterostructures on a molten glass substrate using water as the oxidizing chemical to guarantee a sufficient and uniform delivery of the metal precursor. This work offers an efficient way for developing other layered heterostructures for integrated electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Vitamin A and retinoic acid accelerate the attenuation of intestinal adaptability upon feeding induced by high-fat diet in mice.

With its unique cellular plasticity, the small intestinal mucosa exhibits efficient adaptability upon feeding. However, little is known about the effect of high-fat diet (HFD) feeding on this adaption and its underlying mechanism. Herein, we demonstrated that the cell proliferation ability, mitochondrial morphology, and global transcriptomic profile of the small intestine exhibited a prominent discrepancy between the fasted and refed state in mice, which were markedly attenuated by long-term HFD feeding. The retinol (Vitamin A, VA) metabolism pathway was dramatically affected by HFD feeding in the small intestine. Both VA and its active metabolite retinoic acid (RA), with the administration of lipid micelles, promoted the expression of genes involved in lipid absorption and suppressed the expression of genes involved in the cell proliferation of intestinal organoids. Via chip-qPCR and RT-qPCR, genes involved in lipid metabolism and cell proliferation were target genes of RARα/RXRα in small intestinal organoids treated with RA and lipid micelles. The role of VA in the in vivo attenuation of intestinal adaptability, in response to HFD, was evaluated. Mice were fed a normal chow diet, HFD, or HFD diet supplemented with additional 1.5-fold VA for 12 weeks. VA supplementation in HFD accelerated the attenuation of intestinal adaptability upon feeding induced by HFD, promoted lipid absorption gene expression, and increased body weight and serum cholesterol levels. In conclusion, the discrepancy of the small intestine between the fasted and refed state was dramatically attenuated by HFD feeding, in which VA and RA might play important roles.

Nonlayered 2D ultrathin molybdenum nitride synthesized through the ammonolysis of 2D molybdenum dioxide.

We report a new scalable strategy for the synthesis of nonlayered ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum nitride (MoN) on a SiO2/Si substrate by converting 2D molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) through an ammonolysis process. The edge of MoN shows higher performance than that of the basal plane in both acidic and alkaline solutions.

A high-performance silicon photoanode enabled by oxygen vacancy modulation on NiOOH electrocatalyst for water oxidation.

Silicon (Si) is an attractive photoanode material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, Si photoanode towards the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is highly challenged due to its poor stability and catalytic inactivity. The integration of highly active electrocatalysts with Si photoanodes has been considered to be an effective strategy to improve their OER performance by accelerating the reaction kinetics and inhibiting Si photocorrosion. In this work, ultra-small NiFe nanoparticles are deposited onto the n-Si/Ni/NiOOH surface to improve the activity and stability of Si photoanodes by engineering the electrocatalyst and Si interface. Ultra-small NiFe nanoparticles can introduce oxygen vacancies via modulating the local electronic structure of Ni hosts in NiOOH electrocatalysts for fast charge separation and transfer. Besides, NiFe nanoparticles can also serve as a co-catalyst exposing more active sites and as a protection layer preventing Si photocorrosion. The as-prepared n-Si/Ni/NiOOH/NiFe photoanode exhibits excellent OER activity with an onset potential of 1.0 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a photocurrent density of ∼25.2 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V versus RHE. This work provides a promising approach to design high-performance Si photoanodes by surface electrocatalyst engineering.

HIC-5 in cancer-associated fibroblasts contributes to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains one of the most common malignancies in China and has a high metastasis rate and poor prognosis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), a prominent component of the tumor microenvironment, can affect tumor progression and metastasis, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. There are no studies that explore the role of hydrogen peroxide-inducible clone 5 (HIC-5) in ESCC or compare the role of HIC-5 in CAFs and adjacent noncancerous normal fibroblasts (NFs). In this study, we isolated primary CAFs and NFs from ESCC patients. HIC-5 was highly expressed in CAFs from the tumor stroma of human ESCC patients. HIC-5 knockdown in CAFs inhibited the migration and invasion of ESCC cells in vitro. Supernatant CCL2 levels of CAFs were significantly higher after TGF-ß stimulation and lower after knocking down HIC-5 expression, independent of TGF-ß treatment. HIC-5 knockdown in CAFs led xenograft tumors derived from ESCC cells mixed with CAFs to present more regular morphology, express higher CDH1, and lower CCL2. Further RNA-seq data showed that HIC-5 has distinct biological functions in CAFs vs. NFs, especially in cell movement and the Rho GTPase signaling kinase pathway, which was verified by wound-healing assays and western blotting. An ESCC tissue microarray revealed that increased HIC-5 expression in the tumor stroma was associated with positive lymph node metastasis and a higher TNM stage. In summary, we identified that stromal HIC-5 was a predictive risk factor for lymph node metastasis in human ESCC and that CAF-derived HIC-5 regulated ESCC cell migration and invasion by regulating cytokines and modifying the ECM.

Hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase 2B1 affects gastric epithelial function and carcinogenesis induced by a carcinogenic agent.

BACKGROUND: A healthy gastric mucosal epithelium exhibits tumor-suppressive properties. Gastric epithelial cell dysfunction contributes to gastric cancer development. Oxysterols provided from food or cholesterol oxidation in the gastric epithelium may be further sulfated by hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase 2B1 (SULT2B1), which is highly abundant in the gastric epithelium. However, the effects of SULT2B1 on gastric epithelial function and gastric carcinogenesis are unclear. METHODS: A mouse gastric tumor model was established using carcinogenic agent 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MCA). A SULT2B1 deletion (SULT2B1-/-) human gastric epithelial line GES-1 was constructed by CRISPR/CAS9 genome editing system. RESULTS: The gastric tumor incidence was higher in the SULT2B1-/- mice than in the wild-type (WT) mice. In gastric epithelial cells, adenovirus-mediated SULT2B1b overexpression reduced the levels of oxysterols, such as 24(R/S),25-epoxycholesterol (24(R/S),25-EC) and 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC). This condition also increased PI3K/AKT signaling to promote gastric epithelial cell proliferation, epithelization, and epithelial development. However, SULT2B1 deletion or SULT2B1 knockdown suppressed PI3K/AKT signaling, epithelial cell epithelization, and wound healing and induced gastric epithelial cell malignant transition upon 3-MCA induction. CONCLUSIONS: The abundant SULT2B1 expression in normal gastric epithelium might maintain epithelial function via the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and suppress gastric carcinogenesis induced by a carcinogenic agent.

Upregulation of 24(R/S),25-epoxycholesterol and 27-hydroxycholesterol suppresses the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers and is the second-leading cause of cancer-associated morbidity worldwide. Oxysterols are oxidized derivatives of cholesterol that may be important in many biological processes, but the levels and roles of oxysterols in gastric tumours remain to be elucidated. The levels of cholesterol, oxysterols and sulfated oxysterols in human gastric tumour tissues, adjacent normal mucosal tissues, cancerous gastric juice and gastric juice obtained from healthy subjects were detected by LC-MS. It was found that the levels of 24(R/S),25-EC and 27HC in human gastric tumour tissues and cancerous gastric juice were significantly increased compared with those of adjacent normal mucosal tissues and gastric juice from healthy subjects. Compared with normal gastric mucosal tissue, the levels of sulfated 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC3S) and the ratio of 25HC3S/25HC were decreased in human gastric tumour tissues, which might be related to the dramatically decreased SULT2A1 expression in gastric tumour tissue. Both 24(R/S),25-EC and 27HC suppressed gastric cancer proliferation, which was not altered by LXRα-siRNA treatment. The suppression of cell proliferation induced by 27HC was attenuated by LXRß-siRNA, but the suppression of cell proliferation induced by 24(R/S),25-EC was intensified by LXRß-siRNA. Both 24(R/S),25-EC and 27HC dramatically inhibited HGC-27 cell migration, which was attenuated by the co-transfection of cells with LXRα-siRNA and LXRß-siRNA, but not LXRα-siRNA or LXRß-siRNA alone. In conclusion, the accumulated 24(R/S),25-EC and 27HC in human gastric tumour tissues might play important roles in gastric cancer development.

High-Performance Silicon Photoanode Enhanced by Gold Nanoparticles for Efficient Water Oxidation.

Ni catalyst is a low-cost catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on silicon metal-insulator-semiconductor photoanode. We found that Au nanoparticles incorporated with Ni nanoparticles can enhance the OER activity and stability of Ni nanoparticles due to the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of the Au nanoparticles. The efficiency of NiAu/TiO2/n-Si photoanode can be boosted at least three times under the illumination (100 mW/cm2) by LSPR effect of the Au nanoparticles. A small onset potential of 1.03 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (overpotential, η0 = -0.20 V) and a current density of 18.80 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode can be obtained. The NiAu/TiO2/n-Si photoanode exhibits a high saturation current density of 35 mA/cm2, which is greater than that of most of the state-of-the-art silicon photoanodes.

Edge-Riched MoSe2 /MoO2 Hybrid Electrocatalyst for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

Molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2 ) is widely considered as one of the most promising catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the absence of active sites and poor conductivity of MoSe2 severely restrict its HER performance. By introducing a layer of MoO2 on Mo foil, MoSe2 /MoO2 hybrid nanosheets with an abundant edge and high electrical conductivity can be synthesized on the surface of Mo foil. Metallic MoO2 can improve the charge transport efficiency of MoSe2 /MoO2 , thereby enhancing the overall HER performance. MoSe2 /MoO2 exhibits fast hydrogen evolution kinetics with a small overpotential of 142 mV versus RHE at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and Tafel slope of 48.9 mV dec-1 .

Comparison of hepatic transcriptome profiling between acute liver injury and acute liver failure induced by acetaminophen in mice.

Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose is a leading cause of drug-induced acute liver failure in many countries. In the present study, we developed stable mouse models of acute drug-induced hepatic injury (DILI) and acute drug-induced hepatic failure (DILF) by sub-lethal and lethal APAP injection respectively. The differences in hepatic transcriptome profiling between these two models were compared by RNA sequencing, which were validated by qPCR, western-blot and ELISA. In results, serum IL-6, TNF-a and IL-10 levels are higher in DILF than in DILI. The upregulated genes in DILF compared with DILI were mostly enriched in the areas of "cellular development process", "cell division", "multicellular organism development," etc. The downregulated genes in DILF compared with DILI were mostly enriched in the areas of "cellular response to chemical stimulus", "cellular response to stress", "cell activation," etc. Sub-lethal doses of APAP increased Myc, Bag3 and Btc expression in mouse liver, but lethal doses of APAP did not, which suggested that these three genes might play important roles in adaptive protection reactions in DILI. The serum Btc level might be a potential biomarker of drug induced liver injury with good prognosis. Our data can help us better understand the mechanisms of hepatotoxicity that influence prognosis and seek novel prognostic indicators of DILI.

[Research progress on techniques for artificial propagation of corals].

The natural coral reef resources degrade rapidly because of climate change, environmental pollution and exploitation of aquarium species. Artificial propagation is an effective way to facilitate the reduction of wild harvesting, reef restoration, preservation of biodiversity. This paper reviewed the technique and research progresses focused on coral artificial propagation. We compared the advantages and disadvantages of sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction as well as in situ and ex situ propagation. Moreover, we summarized the important roles of irradiation, flow rate, nutrients, feed and other factors in coral propagation within recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). Irradiation is the key to successful ex situ coral culture and different species show different needs of radiation intensity and light spectrum. Therefore, artificial lighting in RAS, as well as. power and maintenance costs, are very important for ex situ coral aquaculture. In addition, corals are very sensitive to NH4+, NO3-, NO2- as well as phosphate in RAS, and many physical, chemical and biological methods are acquired to maintain low nutrients condition. Although RAS has progressed a lot in terms of irradiation, flow rate and nutrient control, future studies also should focus on sexual reproduction, genetic modification and disease control.