Plasmon enhanced luminescence of Tb/Eu co-doped film by Au NRs-PVA nanocomposite film.

Plasmonic nanostructures have great potential for improving the radiation properties of emitters. Here, the plasmonic Au nanorods-PVA nanocomposite films are used to uniformly improve the photoluminescence of Tb/Eu co-doped PMMA film within the local micro-region. Under the excitation of 292 nm, the maximum enhancement factor is 37.2-fold for emission at 612 nm and 21.6-fold for emission at 545 nm. Moreover, the finite different time domain simulations are developed to further explain the experimental results. It is indicated that the modulation of luminescence can be attributed to the increase of the local density of optical states through the Purcell effect and the improvement of the energy transfer efficiency between Tb and Eu. Under the excitation of 360 nm, the maximum enhancement factor is about 71.5-fold. In this case, the Au nanorods are mainly used for modulating the emission process at 612 nm, which deduced a greater enhancement factor at 612 nm. This study provides a deep understanding of the interactions between rare earth ions co-doped materials and plasmonic nanostructures, building a bridge to fabricate a useful platform for several applications, such as thin film-based detectors and sensors.

Regulatory T Cells Overexpressing Peli1 Show Better Efficacy in Repairing Ovarian Endocrine Function in Autoimmune Premature Ovarian Insufficiency.

Regulatory T (Treg) cell dysfunction is involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune premature ovarian insufficiency (POI). Adoptive transfer of Treg cells has been shown to be effective in the treatment of autoimmune POI in mice. However, the therapeutic effect of Treg cell therapy is limited because the phenotype and function of Treg cells is not properly maintained when they are reinfused in an inflammatory environment. Therefore, enhancing the function of Treg cells using genetic engineering is of great significance for improving the efficacy of Treg cells in the treatment of immune diseases. In this study, we investigated the role of the E3 ubiquitinated ligase Pellino 1 (Peli1) in the proliferation and immunosuppressive function of Treg cells and the therapeutic effect of Treg cells overexpressing Peli1 on autoimmune POI. The results showed that the overexpression of Peli1 promoted cell proliferation and enhanced the immunosuppressive function of Treg cells in vitro. After the adoptive transfer of Treg cells overexpressing Peli1 in autoimmune POI mice, the apoptosis rate of ovarian granulosa cells declined. The levels of the inflammatory inhibitors interleukin 10 and transforming growth factor-ß as well as the ovarian hormone estradiol were elevated. The number of primordial, primary, secondary, and mature follicles was restored to a certain extent compared with those in control subjects. These results revealed that the adoptive transfer of Treg cells overexpressing Peli1 promoted its efficacy against zona pellucida protein 3 peptide-induced POI, which provides new insights into the treatment of autoimmune POI.

Enhanced performance of organic light-emitting diodes by integrating quasi-periodic micro-nano structures.

To integrate a quasi-periodic micro-nano structure (PMS) to the organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) is an efficient way to enhance the performance of OLEDs. In this paper, the PMS prepared by the phase separation of Polystyrene and Poly (methyl methacrylate) was integrated to the OLEDs with the structures of Glass/PMS/Ag (30 nm)/MoO3 (5 nm)/(NPB) (40 nm)/(Alq3) (60 nm)/LiF (0.5 nm)/Al (150 nm). The maximum luminance intensity and external quantum efficiency increased to 10700 cd/m2 and 1.11 %, which is 48 % and 44 % higher than that of 7209 cd/m2 and 0.77 % of the planar reference device. The enhanced performance of OLEDs was ascribed to the attenuation of surface plasmon polariton loss caused by the PMS, which was testified by the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) simulation. The PMS was also transferred to the hole transfer layer (PEDOT: PSS) of OLEDs by nano-imprinting lithography with the structure of Glass/(ITO) (100 nm)/PEDOT: PSS (100 nm) (with PMS)/NPB (10 nm)/Alq3 (50 nm)/LiF (0.5 nm)/Al (100 nm). The performance was also improved by the optimized PMS and the light out-coupling efficiency increased to about 49.5 %, which is much higher than that of 28.8 % in the OLEDs with PMS Ag anode and 20 % in the planar reference devices. This suggests that the PMS can improve the OLED device performance regardless of the functional layer in which the PMS is integrated.

Dual-mode optical thermometer based on fluorescence intensity ratio of Eu3+/Mn4+ co-doping zinc titanate phosphors.

Zinc titanate phosphors containing Eu3+/ Mn4+ as active ions were synthesized by using the solid-state method. XRD patterns of the powders confirmed that the samples were a mixture of cubic Zn2TiO4 and hexagonal ZnTiO3 phases. The luminous intensity of ZTO: Eu3+phosphors and ZTO: Mn4+ phosphors both increased with the increase of doping concentration, reaching the maximum at 2 mol% Eu3+ and 0.3 mol% Mn4+, respectively. In the photoluminescence spectra of ZTO: Eu3+(2 mol%) phosphors with different Mn4+ doping amounts excited at 465 nm, the emission spectra revealed the characteristic peaks of Eu3+ with low Mn4+ content, and with the Mn4+ content increasing, the emission spectra contained both Mn4+ and Eu3+ luminescence peaks. In the variable temperature spectra, the relative sensitivity of the samples was improved with the concentration of Mn4+ increasing and achieved the maximum value of 3.2 %/K.

Large-area fluorescence enhancement of R6G based on a uniform PVA-Au plasmonic substrate.

With the development of surface enhanced fluorescence (SEF) spectroscopy technology, uniform and low-cost SEF substrate is urgently needed. In this paper, the nanocomposite films of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) embedded with in-situ Au particles, their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) bands locate at different wavelengths from 525 nm to 569 nm, were used as substrates to enhance the fluorescence of rhodamine 6 G (R6G). The results shows that the uniform light emission in large area can be measured, and the maximum enhancement factor (EF) is about 13 folds. With increasing concentration of R6G films, the EF first increases and then slowly decreases. It is demonstrated that the EF greatly depends on the matching degree of the emission/excitation of R6G and the LSPR band of PVA-Au substrate. All the results further suggests that the PVA-Au substrate not only realize the fluorescence enhancement but also attenuates the fluorescence quenching at higher concentration. In addition, the local electric distribution of the substrate is simulated by using three-dimensional finite different time-domain (FDTD) to further demonstrate the mechanism of the SEF. This substrate has good development prospects in the fields of fluorescent probes and fluorescence imaging, which can be beneficial to the development of uniform and low-cost SEF substrate.

Gene expression analysis in endometriosis: Immunopathology insights, transcription factors and therapeutic targets.

Background: Endometriosis is recognized as an estrogen-dependent inflammation disorder, estimated to affect 8%-15% of women of childbearing age. Currently, the etiology and pathogenesis of endometriosis are not completely clear. Underlying mechanism for endometriosis is still under debate and needs further exploration. The involvement of transcription factors and immune mediations may be involved in the pathophysiological process of endometriosis, but the specific mechanism remains to be explored. This study aims to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms in endometriosis. Methods: The gene expression profile of endometriosis was obtained from the gene expression omnibus (GEO) database. Gene set variation analysis (GSVA) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were applied to the endometriosis GSE7305 datasets. Cibersort and MCP-counter were used to explore the immune response gene sets, immune response pathway, and immune environment. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and screened. Common biological pathways were being investigated using the kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Transcription factors were from The Human Transcription Factors. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) model identified four differential expressions of transcription factors (AEBP1, HOXB6, KLF2, and RORB). Their diagnostic value was calculated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and validated in the validation cohort (GSE11691, GSE23339). By constructing the interaction network of crucial transcription factors, weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to search for key module genes. Metascape was used for enrichment analysis of essential module genes and obtained HOXB6, KLF2. The HOXB6 and KLF2 were further verified as the only two intersection genes according to Support Vector Machine Recursive Feature Elimination (SVM-RFE) and random forest models. We constructed ceRNA (lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA) networks with four potential transcription factors. Finally, we performed molecular docking for goserelin and dienogest with four transcription factors (AEBP1, HOXB6, KLF2, and RORB) to screen potential drug targets. Results: Immune and metabolic pathways were enriched in GSVA and GSEA. In single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), most immune infiltrating cells, immune response gene sets, and immune response pathways are differentially expressed between endometriosis and non-endometriosis. Twenty-seven transcription factors were screened from differentially expressed genes. Most of the twenty-seven transcription factors were correlated with immune infiltrating cells, immune response gene sets and immune response pathways. Furthermore, Adipocyte enhancer binding protein 1 (AEBP1), Homeobox B6 (HOXB6), Kruppel Like Factor 2 (KLF2) and RAR Related Orphan Receptor B (RORB) were selected out from twenty-seven transcription factors. ROC analysis showed that the four genes had a high diagnostic value for endometriosis. In addition, KLF2 and HOXB6 were found to play particularly important roles in multiple modules (String, WGCNA, SVM-RFE, random forest) on the gene interaction network. Using the ceRNA network, we found that NEAT1 may regulate the expressions of AEBP1, HOXB6 and RORB, while X Inactive Specific Transcript (XIST) may control the expressions of HOXB6, RORB and KLF2. Finally, we found that goserelin and dienogest may be potential drugs to regulate AEBP1, HOXB6, KLF2 and RORB through molecular docking. Conclusions: AEBP1, HOXB6, KLF2, and RORB may be potential biomarkers for endometriosis. Two of them, KLF2 and HOXB6, are critical molecules in the gene interaction network of endometriosis. Discovered by molecular docking, AEBP1, HOXB6, KLF2, and RORB are targets for goserelin and dienogest.

Photoluminescence and Electrical Properties of n-Ce-Doped ZnO Nanoleaf/p-Diamond Heterojunction.

The n-type Ce:ZnO (NL) grown using a hydrothermal method was deposited on a p-type boron-doped nanoleaf diamond (BDD) film to fabricate an n-Ce:ZnO NL/p-BDD heterojunction. It shows a significant enhancement in photoluminescence (PL) intensity and a more pronounced blue shift of the UV emission peak (from 385 nm to 365 nm) compared with the undoped heterojunction (n-ZnO/p-BDD). The prepared heterojunction devices demonstrate good thermal stability and excellent rectification characteristics at different temperatures. As the temperature increases, the turn-on voltage and ideal factor (n) of the device gradually decrease. The electronic transport behaviors depending on temperature of the heterojunction at different bias voltages are discussed using an equilibrium band diagram and semiconductor theoretical model.

Ag NPs/PMMA nanocomposite as an efficient platform for fluorescence regulation of riboflavin.

The fluorescence detection platform has broad application in many fields. In this paper, we report a simple and efficient fluorescence detection platform based on the synergistic effects of Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Ag NPs were introduced to realize the plasmon enhancement fluorescence and a thin PMMA layer was used to adjust the distance between Ag NPs and riboflavin. The thin PMMA layer not only enhances the fluorescence by enhancing adhesion of substrate, but also optimizes the plasmon enhancement fluorescence effect by serving as the spacer. The fluorescence enhancement factor based on this platform shows a trend of increasing with the decrease of the concentration of riboflavin, and the detection of riboflavin is realized based on this feature, the lowest detectable concentration is as low as 0.27 µM. In addition to the detection based on plasmon enhancement fluorescence, the detection of riboflavin at low concentrations can also be realized by the shift and broadening of the fluorescence peak due to the Ag NPs. The combination of the two ways of plasmon enhancement fluorescence and shift of the fluorescence spectra is used for the detection of riboflavin. These results show that the platform has great potential applications in the field of detection and sensing.

Moderate addition of B-type starch granules improves the rheological properties of wheat dough.

The quality traits of wheat grain ultimately determine the performance of wheat flour and dough, which is crucial to end-products. However, to combine high yield and good grain quality has been a great challenge in wheat breeding. In this study, the different sized A- and B-type starch granules were fractioned to investigate their effects on the physicochemical properties of wheat flour and rheological properties of wheat dough using three substitution levels (5, 10, and 15%). Results showed that 5% B-type starch granules addition increased the percentage of SDS-unextractable polymeric protein, optimized the dough network, and increased the bond water content, and thus improved the dough rheological properties. The addition of A-type starch granules or excessive B-type starch granules diluted and destroyed the structure of gluten, and reduced the dough strength. Therefore, a possible strategy for combining wheat quality and yield was proposed, that is, replacing protein content with B-type starch granules at a proper level, which has profound implications for wheat breeders to look at and address trade-offs between the quality and yield of wheat in future.

Identification of a novel LATS1 variant associated with familial cerebral cavernous malformations in a Chinese family.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are common sporadic or hereditary vascular malformations in the central nervous system. CCM1-3 variants have been identified that are associated with the majority of familial cerebral cavernous malformations (FCCMs). However, there are still a few CCM1-3 wild-type FCCMs. The aim of the present study was to identify an additional pathogenic variant of FCCMs. METHODS: In this study, a large five-generation Chinese Han family affected by CCMs was recruited. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was done for the detection of CCMs. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed, and the identified variants were co-segregation analyzed by Sanger sequencing. The function of candidate variants was predicted in silico and experimental validated by angiogenesis assay in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro. RESULTS: Twenty-four family members and one healthy spouse were enrolled. We found that CCMs were exhibited on MRI in nine family members. Overall, twenty-seven candidate variants were identified using WES, and no CCM1-3 variants were detected. The missense variant in LATS1 (c.821C > T, p.Thr274Ile) was verified to be associated with the clinical and pathological phenotype of FCCMs. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that the LATS1 variant could be a potential pathogenic factor for FCCMs in this Chinese family.

Association of Maternal Mild Hypothyroidism With Offspring Neurodevelopment in TPOAb-Negative Women: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: Adequate maternal thyroid hormone availability is crucial for fetal neurodevelopment, but the role of maternal mild hypothyroidism is not clear. We aim to investigate the association of maternal mild hypothyroidism with neurodevelopment in infants at 1 year of age among TPOAb-negative women. Methods: The present study was conducted within the Jiangsu Birth Cohort. A total of 793 mother-infant pairs were eligible for the present study. Maternal thyroid function was assessed by measuring serum thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, and thyroid peroxidase antibodies. Neurodevelopment of infants was assessed by using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development third edition screening test (Bayley-III screening test). Results: In the multivariate adjusted linear regression analyses, infants of women with subclinical hypothyroidism and isolated hypothyroxinemia were associated with decreased receptive communication scores (ß = -0.68, p = 0.034) and decreased gross motor scores (ß = -0.83, p = 0.008), respectively. Moreover, infants of women with high-normal TSH concentrations (3.0-4.0 mIU/L) and low FT4 concentrations were significantly associated with lower gross motor scores (ß = -1.19, p = 0.032), while no differences were observed in infants when the mothers had a high-normal TSH concentration and normal FT4 levels. Conclusions: Maternal subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with decreased receptive communication scores in infants at 1 year of age. In addition, maternal TSH concentration greater than 4.0 mIU/L and maternal isolated hypothyroxinemia are associated with impaired gross motor ability of infants, especially in infants of women with high-normal TSH concentrations (3.0-4.0 mIU/L).

Enhanced Photoluminescence and Electrical Properties of n-Al-Doped ZnO Nanorods/p-B-Doped Diamond Heterojunction.

The hydrothermal approach has been used to fabricate a heterojunction of n-aluminum-doped ZnO nanorods/p-B-doped diamond (n-Al:ZnO NRs/p-BDD). It exhibits a significant increase in photoluminescence (PL) intensity and a blue shift of the UV emission peak when compared to the n-ZnO NRs/p-BDD heterojunction. The current voltage (I-V) characteristics exhibit excellent rectifying behavior with a high rectification ratio of 838 at 5 V. The n-Al:ZnO NRs/p-BDD heterojunction shows a minimum turn-on voltage (0.27 V) and reverse leakage current (0.077 µA). The forward current of the n-Al:ZnO NRs/p-BDD heterojunction is more than 1300 times than that of the n-ZnO NRs/p-BDD heterojunction at 5 V. The ideality factor and the barrier height of the Al-doped device were found to decrease. The electrical transport behavior and carrier injection process of the n-Al:ZnO NRs/p-BDD heterojunction were analyzed through the equilibrium energy band diagrams and semiconductor theoretical models.

A high sensitivity dual-mode optical thermometry based on charge compensation in ZnTiO3:M (M = Eu3+, Mn4+) hexagonal prisms.

Optical thermometer based on dual-mode fluorescence intensity ratiometric thermometry has been attracted more attention due to its higher sensitivity. In order to obtain optical thermal probe with high sensitivity, ZnTiO3 hexagonal prisms with hexagonal perovskite structure were fabricated by using self-assembly method, and Al3+ ions were introduced into the crystal lattices of ZnTiO3 doped with Eu3+/Mn4+ to improve the optical properties. The emission intensity assigned to Eu3+ was enhanced about twice with the charge compensation of Al3+ between Eu3+ and Ti3+. While the luminescence ratio between the thermal coupled level of Eu3+ revealed poor temperature dependence property. The emission assigned to 2Eg→4A2g (713 nm) transition of Mn4+ revealed an huge thermal quenching. Using the luminescence ratio between 5D0→7F2 (5D0→7F1) transition of Eu3+ to 2Eg→4A2g of Mn4+, the higher relative sensitivity of 2.7 %K-1was obtained. The charge compensation of Al3+ improved the coordination and reduced the relative sensitivity, Sr =1.85 %K-1. The results suggested the potential application in optical temperature probes for ZnTiO3: Mn4+,Eu3+ phosphor.

Association of Maternal Dietary Patterns during Gestation and Offspring Neurodevelopment.

The health effects of diet are long term and persistent. Few cohort studies have investigated the influence of maternal dietary patterns during different gestational periods on offspring's health outcomes. This study investigated the associations between maternal dietary patterns in the mid- and late-gestation and infant's neurodevelopment at 1 year of age in the Jiangsu Birth Cohort (JBC) Study. A total of 1178 mother-child pairs were available for analysis. A semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to investigate dietary intake at 22-26 and 30-34 gestational weeks (GWs). Neurodevelopment of children aged 1 year old was assessed using Bayley-Ⅲ Screening Test. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Poisson regression were used to extract dietary patterns and to investigate the association between dietary patterns and infant neurodevelopment. After adjusting for potential confounders, the maternal 'Aquatic products, Fresh vegetables and Homonemeae' pattern in the second trimester was associated with a lower risk of being non-competent in cognitive and gross motor development, respectively (cognition: aRR = 0.84; 95% CI 0.74-0.94; gross motor: aRR = 0.80; 95% CI 0.71-0.91), and the similar pattern, 'Aquatic products and Homonemeae', in the third trimester also showed significant association with decreased risk of failing age-appreciate cognitive and receptive communication development (cognition: aRR = 0.89; 95% CI 0.80-0.98; receptive communication: aRR = 0.91; 95% CI 0.84-0.99). Notably, adherence to the dietary pattern with relatively high aquatic and homonemeae products in both trimesters demonstrated remarkable protective effects on child neurodevelopment with the risk of being non-competent in cognitive and gross motor development decreasing by 59% (95% CI 0.21-0.79) and 63% (95% CI 0.18-0.77), respectively. Our findings suggested that adherence to the 'Aquatic products and Homonemeae' dietary pattern during pregnancy may have optimal effects on offspring's neurodevelopment.

Enhanced performance of solution-processed OLEDs by altering the molecular transition dipole moment orientation of emission layers.

Transition dipole moment orientation is one of the crucial factors, which can enhance the performance of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In this work, the transition dipole moment orientation of the host-guest emission layers (EMLs) prepared by solution method annealed at different temperatures were systematically studied by analyzing the angle-dependent PL spectrum. When the EMLs of 2DPAc-MPM (20 wt%): DPEPO was annealed at the temperature of 115 °C, the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) was enhanced to 78%±3.5%, and the vertical dipole ratio was reduced to 0.34. The lower vertical orientation of transition dipoles is conducted to improve the electron and hole mobility, which was testified by the hole and electron only devices. The lower vertical dipole ratio, higher PLQY and carrier mobility together enhanced the performance of solution processed OLEDs.

Mn2+ ions substitution inducing improvement of optical performances in ZnAl2O4: Cr3+ phosphors: Energy transfer and ratiometric optical thermometry.

Zn1-xMnxAl2O4:0.1 mol% Cr3+ (0.04≤x≤0.16) phosphors with single spinel phase were synthesized by using sol-gel method and the structure, optical and temperature sensing performances were reported herein. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectra indicate that the inversion defects related to octahedral Zn are reduced and the crystal field surrounding Al changes with Mn2+ doping in ZnAl2O4 lattices. Mn2+/Cr3+ co-doped ZnAl2O4 nanophosphors reveal a green emission band assigned to Mn2+ and a series of red emission peaks assigned to Cr3+, respectively. With the concentration of Mn2+ increasing, the intensity of zero phonon line (R line) assigned to Cr3+ increases, reaching the maximum at the optimal Mn2+ concentration of x=0.14. The energy transfer from Mn2+ to Cr3+ is confirmed with the energy transfer efficiency of 83%. The separation between 2E(eg) and 2E(tg) of Cr3+ is enlarged due to Mn2+ dopants giving rise to a change of crystal field. The luminous intensity ratio between two separated emission peaks at 685 nm (R3) and 689 nm (R2) reveals an obvious temperature dependence. The relative sensitivity changes from 3.7 %K-1 to 0.25 %K-1 with the temperature increasing from 80 K to 310 K, which is much larger than that of ZnAl2O4:Cr3+ nanophosphors without Mn2+, indicating its good application prospect in optical thermometry.

Exploration of yellow-emitting phosphors for white LEDs from natural resources.

White light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are widely used in various lighting fields as a part of energy-efficient technology. However, some shortcomings of luminescent materials for white LEDs, such as complexity of synthesis, high cost, and harmful impact on the environment, limit their practical applications to a large extent. In this respect, the present work aims to study the ability of using Berberine (BBR) chloride extracted from Rhizoma coptidis and Phellodendron Chinese herbs as yellow phosphor for white LEDs. For this, white LEDs were successfully fabricated by applying 0.006 g of BBR chloride onto the blue LED chips (450 nm). The produced LEDs exhibited good luminescence properties at a voltage of 2.4 V along with eco-friendly characteristics and low cost. The Commission International de l'Eclairage chromaticity, the correlated color temperature, and the color rendering index were determined to be (${x} = {0.32}$, ${y} = {0.33}$), 5934 K, and 74, respectively. Therefore, BBR chloride is a suitable environmentally friendly and easily accessible yellow phosphor for white LEDs.

Modulated Luminescence of Lanthanide Materials by Local Surface Plasmon Resonance Effect.

Lanthanide materials have great applications in optical communication, biological fluorescence imaging, laser, and so on, due to their narrow emission bandwidths, large Stokes' shifts, long emission lifetimes, and excellent photo-stability. However, the photon absorption cross-section of lanthanide ions is generally small, and the luminescence efficiency is relatively low. The effective improvement of the lanthanide-doped materials has been a challenge in the implementation of many applications. The local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) can improve the luminescence in different aspects: excitation enhancement induced by enhanced local field, emission enhancement induced by increased radiative decay, and quenching induced by increased non-radiative decay. In addition, plasmonic NPs can also regulate the energy transfer between two close lanthanide ions. In this review, the properties of the nanocomposite systems of lanthanide material and plasmonic NPs are presented, respectively. The mechanism of lanthanide materials regulated by plasmonic NPs and the scientific and technological discoveries of the luminescence technology are elaborated. Due to the large gap between the reported enhancement and the theoretical enhancement, some new strategies applied in lanthanide materials and related development in the plasmonic enhancing luminescence are presented.

miR-21 and Pellino-1 Expression Profiling in Autoimmune Premature Ovarian Insufficiency.

BACKGROUND: Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) represents the hypergonadotropic hypoestrogenic symptoms that result in the loss of ovarian follicles. 5-30% POI cases are suggested to be involved in autoimmune etiology. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) plays a vital role in ovarian folliculogenesis via regulating and interacting with multiple target genes. Here, we conduct the target prediction of miR-21, identify the expression and correlation of miR-21 and its putative target Pellino-1 (Peli1), and confirm their relationship with clinical characteristics in autoimmune POI. METHODS: Bioinformatic analysis was conducted to screen the miR-21 putative target gene. Autoimmune POI mouse models were established by ZP3 immunization. Serum miR-21, Peli1 mRNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs), general status, spleen Tregs ratio, inflammatory factors, ovarian endocrine function, and ovarian structure were evaluated. For autoimmune POI patients, serum miR-21, PBMCs Peli1 mRNA levels, general data, immune parameters, hormone levels, and ultrasound examinations were obtained. The correlations of miR-21 with Peli1 and clinical characteristics in patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Peli1 was selected based on four microRNA prediction databases and literature retrieval. In mouse models, serum miR-21 level, PBMCs and Tregs Peli1 mRNA, and spleen Tregs ratio were 0.61 ± 0.09, 0.12 ± 0.12, 0.27±0.23 and 4.82 ± 0.58, respectively, lower than those in the control group. In patients, miR-21 level (0.60 ± 0.14) and Peli1 mRNA (0.30 ± 0.14) were lower than those in the control group (1.01 ± 0.07 and 1.63 ± 0.54); miR-21 was positively related with Peli1, AMH, E2, the size of the uterus, and ovarian volume and negatively related with FSH, LH, and the number of positive immune parameters (AOAb, EMAb, ACL, ANA, ds-DNA, ACA, IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE, C3, and C4). CONCLUSIONS: Low expressions of miR-21 and Peli1 were detected in autoimmune POI mice and patients. Positive correlation between miR-21 and Peli1 was observed in autoimmune POI patients, suggesting that miR-21 and Peli1 might be associated with the pathogenesis of autoimmune POI.

White light emission from a single plant source extract with tunable photoluminescence.

Blue, yellow and red emissions from the extract of a single plant source (pomegranate), under NUV light excitation have been reported. The blue emission (450 nm) was attributed to baicalin and protein, whereas the yellow (550 nm) and red (665 nm) emissions were due to two kinds of anthocyanin components (A1 and A2, respectively). Both the green-to-white and yellow-to-white photoluminescences were tuned by variation of excitation wavelengths (350-400 nm). This change in photoluminescence was due to the occurrence of Forster resonance energy transfer from baicalin to A1. White light emission with good CIE color coordinates (0.34, 0.33) was obtained from the pomegranate pulp extract solution (12% w/v) at excitation of 350 nm. The results demonstrated that white light emission could be achieved from a single plant source, which would provide a new method for the design and fabrication of WLE with simple, green, and low-cost materials.