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Periodontitis is caused by pathogens in the oral cavity. It is a chronic infectious disease that causes symptoms including gingival bleeding and tooth loss resulting from the destruction of periodontal tissues coupled with inflammation. Dendropanax morbiferus H.Lév (DM) is a natural product that exhibits various biological activities with few side effects. In this study, the potential of DM leaf hot-water extracts (DMWE) as a treatment for periodontitis was determined and its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects were evaluated. Compounds in DMWE were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production was measured in RAW 264.7 cells. We measured the gingival index and gingival sulcus depth, and micro-CT was performed in vivo using a ligature-induced periodontitis rat model, which is similar to human periodontitis. The DMWE-treated group exhibited a decrease in cytokine concentration and relieved the gingival index and gingival sulcus depth compared with the periodontitis-induced control group. In addition, micro-CT and histological analysis revealed that DMWE exhibited anti-inflammatory effects and improved alveolar bone loss in periodontitis-induced rats. These findings suggest that DMWE has excellent anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that protect and prevent periodontal tissue damage and tooth loss caused by the inflammatory response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures have good application prospects in solar energy conversion due to their excellent optoelectronic performance. In this work, the electronic structures of Sc2CF2/Sc2CCl2, Sc2CF2/Sc2CBr2, and Sc2CCl2/Sc2CBr2 heterostructures, as well as their properties in photocatalysis and photovoltaics, have been comprehensively studied using the first-principles method. Firstly, both of the three thermodynamically and dynamically stable heterostructures are found to have type-II band alignment with band gap values of 0.58 eV, 0.78 eV, and 1.35 eV. Meanwhile, the photogenerated carriers in Sc2CF2/Sc2CCl2 and Sc2CF2/Sc2CBr2 heterostructures are predicated to follow the direct Z-scheme path, enabling their abilities for water splitting. As for the Sc2CCl2/Sc2CBr2 heterostructure, its photovoltaic conversion efficiency is estimated to be 20.78%. Significantly, the light absorption coefficients of Sc2CF2/Sc2CCl2, Sc2CF2/Sc2CBr2, and Sc2CCl2/Sc2CBr2 heterostructures are enhanced more than those of the corresponding monolayers. Moreover, biaxial strains have been observed to considerably tune the aforementioned properties of heterostructures. All the theoretical results presented in this work demonstrate the application potential of Sc2CX2/Sc2CY2 (X, Y = F, Cl, Br) heterostructures in photocatalysis and photovoltaics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ReS2, as a new member of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), has emerged as a promising substrate for semiconductor surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) due to its unique optoelectronic properties. Nevertheless, the sensitivity of the ReS2 SERS substrate poses a significant challenge to its widespread application in trace detection. In this work, we present a reliable approach for constructing a novel ReS2/AuNPs SERS composite substrate, enabling ultrasensitive detection of trace amounts of organic pesticides. We demonstrate that the porous structures of ReS2 nanoflowers can effectively confine the growth of AuNPs. By precisely controlling the size and distribution of AuNPs, numerous efficient and densely packed "hot spots" were created on the surface of ReS2 nanoflowers. As a result of the synergistic enhancement of the chemical and electromagnetic mechanisms, the ReS2/AuNPs SERS substrate demonstrates high sensitivity, good reproducibility, and superior stability in detecting typical organic dyes such as rhodamine 6G and crystalline violet. The ReS2/AuNPs SERS substrate shows an ultralow detection limit of 10−10 M and a linear detection of organic pesticide molecules within 10−6–10−10 M, which is significantly lower than the EU Environmental Protection Agency regulation standards. The strategy of constructing ReS2/AuNPs composites would contribute to the development of highly sensitive and reliable SERS sensing platforms for food safety monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality fluorescent probes based on carbon dots (CDs) have promising applications in many fields owing to their good stability, low toxicity, high quantum yield, and low raw material price. The fluorine- and nitrogen-doped fluorescent CDs (NFCDs) with blue fluorescence was successfully synthesized using 3-aminophenol and 2,4-difluorobenzoic acid as the raw material by the hydrothermal method. The NFCDs as probe can be used to directly and indirectly detect Fe3+ (detection range: 0.1–150 μM and detection limit: 0.14 μM) and ascorbic acid (AA) (detection range: 10–80 μM and detection limit: 0.11 μM). The NFCDs-based probe shows exceptional selectivity and strong anti-interference for Fe3+ and ascorbic acid (AA). In addition, we examined the response of NFCDs to Fe3+ and AA in living cells, which showed that the timely use of AA can reduce the effects of iron poisoning. This has important biological significance. This means that using NFCDs as fluorescent probes is beneficial for Fe3+ and AA detection and observing their dynamic changes in living cells. Thus, this work may contribute to the study of Fe3+- and AA-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper ions (Cu2+) and sulfur ions (S2−) are important elements widely used in industry. However, these ions have the risk of polluting the water environment. Therefore, rapid and quantitative detection methods for Cu2+ and S2− are urgently required. Using 2,4-difluorobenzoic acid and L-lysine as precursors, nitrogen and fluorine co-doped dots (N, F-CDs) were synthesized in this study via a hydrothermal method. The aqueous N, F-CDs showed excellent stability, exhibited satisfactory selectivity and excellent anti-interference ability for Cu2+ detection. The N, F-CDs, based on the redox reactions for selective and quantitative detection of Cu2+, showed a wide linear range (0–200 μM) with a detection limit (215 nM). By forming the N, F-CDs@Cu2+ sensing platform and based on the high affinity of S2− to Cu2+, the N, F-CDs@Cu2+ can specifically detect S2− over a linear range of 0–200 μM with a detection limit of 347 nM. In addition, these fluorescent probes achieved good results when used for Cu2+ and S2− detection in environmental water samples, implying the good potential for applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controlled synthesis of organometallic supramolecular macrocycles cages remains interesting and challenging work in the field of supramolecular chemistry. Here, two tetranuclear rectangular macrocycles and an octuclear cage were designed and synthesized utilizing a rigid and functionalized pillar linker, 2,6-bis(pyridin-4-yl)-1,7-dihydrobenzo [1,2-d:4,5-d′]diimidazole (BBI4PY) based on three half-sandwich rhodium building blocks bearing different sizes. X-ray crystallography in combination with 1H NMR spectroscopy elucidated that the two building blocks with shorter spacers only result in rectangular macrocycles. However, the building block of bulkier size to avoid the π-π stacking interactions between two ligands BBI4PY led to the formation of an octuclear cage complex. The latter cage contains two types of metal ions, namely Rh3+ and Cu2+, showing significant characteristics of heterogeneous metal-assembling compounds. In addition, the cage accommodates two free isopropyl ether solvent molecules, thus displaying host–guest behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]