Endothelial Notch Signaling Regulates the Function of the Retinal Pigment Epithelial Barrier via EC Angiocrine Signaling.

The outer blood-retina barrier (oBRB), comprises tightly connected retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, Bruch's membrane, and choroid blood vessels, and is essential for retinal health and normal visual function. Disruption of the RPE barrier and its dysfunction can lead to retinal disorders such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In the present study, we investigated the essential role of choroid endothelial cells (ECs) in the RPE barrier formation process and its dysfunction. We discovered that ECs promoted RPE barrier formation through angiocrine signaling. Through blocking or activating endothelial Notch signaling and conducting experiments in vitro and in vivo, we confirmed that endothelial Notch signaling regulated the expression of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (HBEGF) and consequently impacted the expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-9 in RPE cells. This modulation influenced the RPE extracellular matrix deposition, tight junctions and RPE barrier function. In in vivo experiments, the intravitreal administration of recombinant HBEGF (r-HBEGF) alleviated the RPE barrier disruption induced by subretinal injection (SI) or laser treatment and also rescued RPE barrier disruption in endothelial Notch-deficient mice. Our results showed that the endothelial Notch signaling drove HBEGF expression through angiocrine signaling and effectively improved RPE barrier function by regulating the MMP-9 expression in RPE cells. It suggests that the modulation of Notch signaling in the choroidal endothelium may offer a novel therapeutic strategy for retinal degenerative diseases.

Distinct Role of Lycium barbarum L. Polysaccharides in Oxidative Stress-Related Ocular Diseases.

Oxidative stress is an imbalance between the increased production of reactive species and reduced antioxidant activity, which can cause a variety of disturbances including ocular diseases. Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBPs) are complex polysaccharides isolated from the fruit of L. barbarum, showing distinct roles in antioxidants. Moreover, it is relatively safe and non-toxic. In recent years, the antioxidant activities of LBPs have attracted remarkable attention. In order to illustrate its significance and underlying therapeutic value for vision, we comprehensively review the recent progress on the antioxidant mechanisms of LBP and its potential applications in ocular diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, hypertensive neuroretinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury, glaucoma, dry eye syndrome, and diabetic cataract.

Dendrite-free zinc metal anodes enabled by electrolyte additive for high-performing aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

Rechargeable aqueous zinc (Zn)-ion batteries are regarded as a suitable candidate for large-scale energy storage due to their high safety and the natural abundance of Zn. However, the Zn anode in the aqueous electrolyte faces the challenges of corrosion, passivation, hydrogen evolution reaction, and the growth of severe Zn dendrites. These problems severely affect the performance and service life of aqueous Zn ion batteries, making it difficult to achieve their large-scale commercial applications. In this work, the sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) additive was introduced into the zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) electrolyte to inhibit the growth of Zn dendrites by promoting uniform deposition of Zn ions on the (002) crystal surface. This treatment presented a significant increase in the intensity ratio of (002) to (100) from an initial value of 11.14 to 15.31 after 40 cycles of plating/stripping. The Zn//Zn symmetrical cell showed a longer cycle life (over 124 h at 1.0 mA cm-2) than the symmetrical cell without NaHCO3. Additionally, the high capacity retention rate was increased by 20% for Zn//MnO2 full cells. This finding is expected to be beneficial for a range of research studies that use inorganic additives to inhibit Zn dendrites and parasitic reactions in electrochemical and energy storage applications.

The presence of diabetic retinopathy closely associated with the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A meta-analysis of observational studies.

Background and Objective: Although growing evidence indicates that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is related to diabetic retinopathy (DR), research results significantly vary. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the association between the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the onset of DR. Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched until 7 November 2021. Combined odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the association. Results: We identified 18 studies involving 12,757 patients. The pooled effect assessment showed that liver fibrosis was positively correlated with DR (OR = 1.69, 95%CI 1.30-2.20; p < 0.0001); non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was not associated with the risk of DR (OR = 1.15, 95%CI 0.75-1.76; p = 0.51); non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was positively correlated with DR in patients with type 1 diabetes (OR = 2.96, 95%CI 1.48-5.94; p = 0.002). In patients with type 2 diabetes, there was no association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and DR (OR = 0.92, 95%CI 0.59-1.43; p = 0.70). Subgroup analysis showed no correlation in both Asian and Caucasian races. Conclusion: There is a significant correlation between liver fibrosis and DR. This suggests that the ocular examination of DR could be helpful in predicting whether patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease would progress to liver fibrosis.

Certain Dietary Nutrients Reduce the Risk of Eye Affliction/Retinopathy in Individuals with Diabetes: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003-2018.

As the global trend of diabetes intensifies, the burden of vision-threatening retinopathy, particularly diabetic retinopathy (DR), is increasing. There is an urgent need to seek strategies for early prevention and control of DR. This study attempted to comprehensively evaluate the relationship between dietary nutrient intake and the risk of DR to provide assistance for doctors in guiding the diet of diabetic patients. Data from eligible participants with diabetes from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2003-2018 were analyzed. Univariate logistic regression was used to assess the association between 58 dietary nutrient intakes and self-reported eye disease risk. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to further evaluate the relationship between the two groups after adjusting relevant confounding factors. A total of 4595 diabetic patients were included. People with self-reported eye affliction/retinopathy had lower dietary fiber, butanoic, octanoic, vitamin A, alpha-carotene, folate, magnesium, copper and caffeine intake compared to those without self-reported eye affliction/retinopathy. The pooled ORs (95% CIs) were 0.78 (0.62-0.98), 0.79 (0.63-0.99), 0.72 (0.58-0.91), 0.74 (0.59-0.93), 0.70 (0.55-0.88), 075 (0.60-0.95), 0.79 (0.64-0.99), 0.67 (0.54-0.84) and 0.80 (0.64-0.99). Dietary cholesterol and hexadecenoic intake were higher, with the pooled ORs (95% CIs) of 1.26 (1.01-1.58) and 1.27 (1.02-1.59), respectively. Our research found that among dietary nutrients, dietary fiber, butanoic, octanoic, vitamin A, alpha-carotene, folate, magnesium, copper and caffeine intake reduced the occurrence of DR. Cholesterol and hexadecenoic intake promoted the occurrence of DR. This suggests that certain dietary nutrients should be paid more attention in the prevention of DR.

Associations between psycho-behavioral risk factors and diabetic retinopathy: NHANES (2005-2018).

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) increase the global burden. Since their pathogenesis is complex, it is necessary to use the biopsychosocial model to discover the most effective strategies. The study is aimed to investigate the psycho-behavioral factors of DR and confirm the discrepancies from previous studies. Research design and methods: The study comprised seven cycles of cross-sectional data of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2005-2006 to 2017-2018. Samples of DM were selected from this complex multi-stage probability sample and divided into the non-DR and DR groups, where 4,426 samples represented 18,990,825 individuals after weighting. This study comprehensively explored the biological, social, and psychological risk factors of DR, among which the biological factors included blood pressure, blood routine, HbA1c%, blood glucose, the duration of DM, family history, comorbidities, and treatment methods. Social aspects include gender, education, income, insurance, smoking, drinking, sleep habits, and recreational activities. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess the psychological state. Taylor series regression was used to examine the connection between factors and DR. Results: Men accounted for 55.5% of the DR group (P = 0.0174). Lymphocyte count, insulin treatment, heart failure, stroke, liver condition, and renal failure showed significant differences in DR (P < 0.05). The incidence of depression in DR was 40.5%. Mild to moderate depression [odds ratio was associated with DR [(OR) = 1.37, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06-1.79], but there was no statistical difference in severe depression (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 0.83-2.17). Although ≤ 6 h of sleep was associated with DR (OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.01-1.88), we found no statistical differences in alcohol consumption, recreational activities, or sedentary time between the two groups in our current study (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The biological risk factors of DR are significant. It showed that stroke is associated with DR, and retinal exams have the potential value as a screening tool for the brain. Besides, psycho-behavioral risk factors of DR should also be paid attention. Our study highlights that mild and moderate depression and ≤6 h of sleep are distinguishably associated with DM complicated with DR. It indicates that psycho-behavioral risk factors confer a vital influence on diabetic health care and DR.

Multishelled NiO/NiCo2O4 hollow microspheres derived from bimetal-organic frameworks as high-performance sensing material for acetone detection.

Recently, tremendous research interest was stimulated to obtain advanced function materials with hierarchical structure and tailored chemical composition from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based precursors. Herein, Bimetal-organic frameworks of Ni-Co-BTC solid microspheres synthesized through hydrothermal method were acted as template to induce multishelled NiO/NiCo2O4 hollow microspheres by annealing treatment. When evaluated as gas sensing material, the optimal hybrid of NiO/NiCo2O4 (the molar ration of NiCo=1.5) multishelled hollow microspheres endowed a high sensitivity (17.86) to 100 ppm acetone with rapid response/recovery time (11/13 s) under low working temperature (160 °C) and the low detection limit reached 25 ppb. The enhanced mechanism was originated from the following aspects: the multishelled hollow architecture provided efficient diffusion path for gas molecules and sufficient active site for gas sensing reaction; the nanoscale p-p heterojunction created at NiO and NiCo2O4 nanoparticles interface amplified the resistance variation by tuning the potential barrier; the potent combination of the "chemical catalytic" effect of NiO and the "electrical catalytic" effect of NiCo2O4 improved the selective acetone detection.

Beyond the Liver: Liver-Eye Communication in Clinical and Experimental Aspects.

The communication between organs participates in the regulation of body homeostasis under physiological conditions and the progression and adaptation of diseases under pathological conditions. The communication between the liver and the eyes has been received more and more attention. In this review, we summarized some molecular mediators that can reflect the relationship between the liver and the eye, and then extended the metabolic relationship between the liver and the eye. We also summarized some typical diseases and phenotypes that have been able to reflect the liver-eye connection in the clinic, especially non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). The close connection between the liver and the eye is reflected through multiple pathways such as metabolism, oxidative stress, and inflammation. In addition, we presented the connection between the liver and the eye in traditional Chinese medicine, and introduced the fact that artificial intelligence may use the close connection between the liver and the eye to help us solve some practical clinical problems. Paying attention to liver-eye communication will help us have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of certain communication between liver diseases and eyes, and provide new ideas for their potential therapeutic strategy.

Molten Salt Template Synthesis of Hierarchical Porous Nitrogen-Containing Activated Carbon Derived from Chitosan for CO2 Capture.

Here, hierarchical porous nitrogen-containing activated carbons (N-ACs) were prepared with LiCl-ZnCl2 molten salt as a template derived from cheap chitosan via simple one-step carbonization. The obtained N-ACs with the highest specific surface area of 2025 m2 g-1 and a high nitrogen content of 5.1 wt % were obtained using low molten salt/chitosan mass ratio (3/1) and moderate calcination temperature (1000 °C). Importantly, using these N-ACs as CO2 solid-state adsorbents, the maximum CO2 capture capacities could be up to 7.9/5.6 mmol g-1 at 0 °C/25 °C under 1 bar pressure, respectively. These CO2 capture capacities of N-ACs were the highest compared to reported biomass-derived carbon materials, and these values were also comparable to most of porous carbon materials. Moreover, as-made N-ACs also showed good selectivity for CO2/N2 separation and excellent recyclability. The unique hierarchical porous structure of N-ACs thus provided the right combination of adsorbent properties and could enable the design of high-performance CO2 solid adsorbents.

Crystal structure refinement, photoluminescence properties and energy transfer of multicolor tunable Ca2Al2SiO7:Tm3+, Dy3+ for NUV white-light-emitting diodes.

A promising phosphors Ca2Al2SiO7:Tm3+,Dy3+ were synthesized by conventional high temperature sintering. Phase identification, crystal structure refinement, luminescence properties, energy transfer mechanism of Tm3+ â†’ Dy3+, and CIE color coordinates were investigated systematically. The phase structure of prepared phosphors were confirmed by XRD analysis and structure refinement. From the results of photoluminescence, the CASO: Tm3+ phosphors showed intense blue light emission peaks at 454 nm (the transition from 1D2 to 3F4), while CASO:Dy3+ phosphors exhibited predominant yellow light emission peaks at 581 nm (the transition from 4F9/2 to 6H13/2), implying that the Dy3+ were located in the non-inverted symmetric site of the CASO host lattice. Meanwhile, the results exhibited that the optimal doping content of Dy3+ was 0.01, and the mechanism of concentration quenching was the nearest-neighbor ions interaction. The overlapped emission (Tm3+)/excitation (Dy3+) spectra, decay curves and the energy level scheme about CASO:Tm3+,Dy3+ confirmed the energy transfer of Tm3+ â†’ Dy3+. Moreover, by adjusting Tm3+/Dy3+ ions concentration, the intensities of yellow emission for Dy3+ and blue emission for Tm3+ could be adjusted to tune the emitting color of CASO:Tm3+, Dy3+. Excited by the most effective excitation wavelength at 355 nm, the CIE coordinates (0.3422, 0.3262) of phosphor CASO:0.01Tm3+, 0.01Dy3+ was closest to the coordinates of white chromaticity (0.33, 0.33). Results indicate that the potential value of phosphors Ca2Al2SiO7:Tm3+,Dy3+ are used as a single-phase color-adjustable phosphors for NUV pumped white-LEDs.

Filtered Multitone Modulation Underwater Acoustic Communications Using Low-Complexity Channel-Estimation-Based MMSE Turbo Equalization.

Filtered multitone (FMT) modulation divides the communication band into several subbands to shorten the span of symbols affected by multipath in underwater acoustic (UWA) communications. However, there is still intersymbol interference (ISI) in each subband of FMT modulation degrading communication performance. Therefore, ISI suppression techniques must be applied to FMT modulation UWA communications. The suppression performance of traditional adaptive equalization methods often exploited in FMT modulation UWA communications is limited when the effect of ISI spans tens of symbols or large constellation sizes are used. Turbo equalization consisting of adaptive equalization and channel decoding can improve equalization performance through information exchanging and iterative processes. To overcome the shortcoming of traditional minimum mean square error (MMSE) equalization and effectively suppress the ISI with relatively low computation complexity, an FMT modulation UWA communication using low-complexity channel-estimation-based (CE-based) MMSE turbo equalization is proposed in this paper. In the proposed method, turbo equalization is first exploited to suppress the ISI in FMT modulation UWA communications, and the equalizer coefficients of turbo equalization are adjusted using the low-complexity CE-based MMSE algorithm. The proposed method is analyzed in theory and verified by simulation analysis and real data collected in the experiment carried out in a pool with multipath propagation. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve better communication performance with a higher bit rate than the FMT modulation UWA communication using traditional MMSE adaptive equalization.

Enhanced acetone sensor based on Au functionalized In-doped ZnSnO3 nanofibers synthesized by electrospinning method.

Nobel metal modification could be a valuable method for the fabrication of advanced chemiresistive gas sensor. Herein, a series of Au loaded In-doped ZnSnO3 nanofibers were prepared via electrospinning technique. The crystal structure, morphology and chemical composition of the synthesized materials were characterized by field-emission X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), elemental mapping, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Brunauere-Emmette-Teller (BET) analyses. The optimal sensor, which was based on 0.25 mol% Au loaded In-doped ZnSnO3 nanofibers, could detect 50 ppm acetone effectively, it possessed a high response (19.3) and fast response/recovery time (10/13 s) at low operating temperature (200 °C). The enhanced gas sensing performance was mainly derived from proper introduction of Au. Since the electronic catalysis of Au nanoparticles created Schottky barrier-type junctions at Au and ZnSnO3 interfaces which could cause tremendous change of resistance and induce to high sensitivity, meanwhile the chemical catalysis of Au nanoparticles promoted the chemisorption and dissociation of gas molecules which could accelerate the reaction with gas sensing material. Moreover, the Au loaded In-doped ZnSnO3 sensors displayed certain stability under different humidity condition, it meant that the negative influence of water vapor on gas sensing performance could be inhibited by loading Au nanoparticles.

The COX-2 rs20417 polymorphism and risk of coronary artery disease: evidence from 17,621 subjects.

BACKGROUND: The Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) rs20417 polymorphism has been implicated in coronary artery disease (CAD) risk, but individually published studies have shown inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to clarify the effects of COX-2 rs20417 polymorphism on CAD risk. METHODS: A systematic literature search up to October 27, 2013 was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases, and the references of retrieved articles were screened. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were analysed for co-dominant model (CC vs. GG), additive model (C vs. G), dominant model (CC+GC vs. GG), and recessive model (CC vs. GG+GC) to assess the association using fixed- or random-effect model. RESULTS: We identified nine articles (10 case-control studies) that included 3,439 cases and 14,182 controls for the present meta-analysis. Significant association between COX-2 rs20417 polymorphism and risk of CAD was observed in co-dominant model (OR=0.64, 95% CI=0.43-0.95, p=0.026) and recessive model (OR=0.77, 95% CI=0.61-0.97, p=0.025). Moreover, in the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity, significant associations were observed in Asians (OR=0.28, 95% CI=0.13-0.61, p=0.001 for CC vs. GC+GG; OR=0.24, 95% CI=0.11-0.51, p<0.001 for CC vs. GG) but not in Caucasians. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that COX-2 rs20417 polymorphism may contribute to CAD development, especially in Asians.

[Structure and luminescence properties of ZnO films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering].

ZnO thin films with c-axis preferred orientation were prepared on glass substrates by radio frequency co-reactive magnetron sputtering technique, and the effect of the substrate temperature on the microstructure and the luminescence properties of the ZnO thin films was studied by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning probe microscopy(SPM)and fluorescence spectrophotometer. The XRD patterns of the four ZnO samples prepared at different substrate temperatures were measured by XRD. figure which embodied the relation of full wave at half maximum (FWHM) and grain size of the four samples as a function of substrate temperatures was given out, too. It was concluded that the crystallization of the samples was promoted by appropriate substrate temperatures, the results consist with the AFM microscopic photos of the two samples. In addition, the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the four samples were measured at room temperature. Violet peak located at about 400 nm, blue peak located at 446 nm and green peak located at about 502 nm were observed from the PL spectra of the four samples. With the rise of the growth temperature, the intensity of the violet peak and the blue peak increased sharply, and the intensity of green peak increased at the same time. It was concluded that the violet peak may correspond to the exciton emission, the blue peak was mainly attributed to the interstitial Zinc (Zn(i)) and the green emission peak must be related to the deep level defects of oxygen (Vo) in the crystal of ZnO films. Absorption property of the samples were researched by UV spectrophotometer, and the absorption spectrum of the film deposited at 150 degrees C and the (alpha h nu)2 versus h nu of the ZnO thin film were given. From the absorption spectrum, it could be observed that the spectroscopic data in UV region showed split peak and shoulder peak. With analysis of the absorption spectrum of the sample deposited at 150 degrees C, it was proved that our analysis of the photoluminescence mechanism was reasonable.