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The lack of the vertical piezoelectricity and the corresponding internal physical mechanism of diamanes limit their applications in the piezoelectric field. The vertical piezoelectricity of the diamane doped with Si/Ge atoms is studied systematically by the first principles calculation. These monolayer diamanes can be regarded as the vertical piezoelectric nano-switches with a moderate barrier. Based on the 25 kinds of monolayers' data, the super-dipole-moment effect is found as the internal mechanism of larger vertical piezoelectricity based on the ordered phase of Born effective charges. It may deepen the understanding of the internal physical mechanism about the piezoelectricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) piezoelectric materials are widely studied, and the vertical piezoelectric properties of 2D materials are highly required to be known in the related theory research works and experiments, so it becomes very important to explore the intrinsic mechanism of piezoelectricity in the 2D materials. Herein, we systematically study the piezoelectricity of Janus C3HFX (X = Si and Ge) monolayers with semiconductor property, which are carbon-based 2D materials, using the first-principles calculation. The remarkable enhancements on the absolute values of the vertical piezoelectric coefficient of C3HFSi-1 (e33 = 11.27 × 10−10 C/m) and C3HFGe-4 (e33 = −12.78 × 10−10 C/m) are larger than that of C4HF (e33 = −2.28 × 10−10 C/m) by 5 and 6 times, respectively. It indicates that the atom replacement at appropriate positions in the multiatomic monolayer can significantly enhance the vertical piezoelectric properties based on the appropriate distribution of polarization charge. We define the concepts, the Born effective charges center (BECs-center) and the BECs-dipole-moment in this work, to explain these large vertical piezoelectric coefficients' variation. The larger BECs-dipole-moment will enhance the vertical piezoelectricity for these C3HFX monolayers than that of the C4HF monolayer. These concepts defined in this work will deepen the understanding of the internal physical mechanism about the piezoelectricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The above-threshold ionization process of ammonia molecules induced by a femtosecond laser field at 800 nm is studied in the intensity range from 1.6 Ă— 1013 to 5.7 Ă— 1013 W/cm2. Channel switching under different laser intensities is observed and identified in the photoelectron kinetic energy spectra of ammonia. Based on the photoelectron kinetic energy distributions and the photoelectron angular distributions, the characteristic peaks observed are exclusively assigned to the multiphoton resonance through certain intermediate states, followed by multiphoton above-threshold ionization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ionization processes of NH3 molecule are studied by photoelectron velocity map imaging technique in a linearly polarized 400-nm femtosecond laser field. The two-dimensional photoelectron images from ammonia molecules under different laser intensities are obtained. In the slow electron region, the values of kinetic energy of photoelectrons corresponding to peaks 1, 2, 3, and 4 are 0.27, 0.86, 1.16, and 1.6 eV, respectively. With both the kinetic energy and angular distribution of photoelectrons from NH3 molecules, we can confirm that the two-photon excited intermediate Rydberg state is A∼1 () state for photoelectron peaks 2, 3, 4, and the three peaks are marked as 1223 (2 + 2), 1123 (2 + 2), and 1023 (2 + 2) multi-photon processes, respectively. Then, peak 1 is found by adding a hexapole between the source chamber and the detection chamber to realize the rotational state selection and beam focusing. Peak 1 is labeled as the 1323 (3 + 1) multi-photon process through the intermediate Rydberg state. The phenomena of channel switching are found in the slow electron kinetic energy distributions. Our calculations and experimental results indicate that the stretching vibrational mode of ammonia molecules varies with channels, while the umbrella vibration does not. In addition, we consider and discuss the ac-Stark effect in a strong laser field. Peaks 5 and 6 are marked as (2 + 2 + 1) and (2 + 2 + 2) above threshold ionization processes in the fast electron region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that excessive hepatocellular apoptosis is a typical characteristic of hepatic disease, and is regulated by the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. As the main active component of Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) roots, which is frequently used to treat hepatic diseases, Puerarin (Pue) has been reported to alleviate and protect against hepatic injury. However, it is unclear whether Pue can inhibit mTOR signaling to prevent excessive apoptosis in the treatment of hepatic diseases. In the present study, Pue effectively ameliorated pathological injury of the liver, decreased serum enzyme (ALT, AST, γ-GT, AKP, DBIL, and TBIL) levels, regulated the balance between pro-inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, and TGF-β1) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10), restored the cell cycle and inhibited hepatocellular apoptosis and caspase-3 expression in rats with liver injury induced by 2-AAF/PH. Pue inhibited p-mTOR, p-AKT and Raptor activity, and increased Rictor expression in the liver tissues of rats with experimental liver injury. These results indicated that Pue effectively regulated the activation of mTOR signaling pathway in the therapeutic and prophylactic process of Pue on experimental liver injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the molecule dissociation and separation roles of graphene membranes with different functionalized monovacancies using first-principles density functional theory calculations. We have found that the boron-functionalized graphene vacancy can effectively dissociate one H2 molecular into two hydrogen atoms through a novel nano-pulling effect; at the same time it can separate the two hydrogen atoms on different sides of the graphene monolayer, with about 0.21 eV net adsorption energy. The boron-functionalized monovacancy acts like a pair of nanoscissors in this process. The binding energies of the two separated hydrogen atoms with the boron-functionalized monovacancy are 2.82 eV and 1.54 eV, respectively, in the two releasing steps. The boron-functionalized graphene monovacancy as a molecular dissociator can remarkably decrease the potential barrier of H2 dissociation compared to that of 4.58 eV for free H2 molecules. This method may open up new avenues for the development of safe hydrogen storage and biomimic photosynthesizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sishen Wan (SSW) is a commercial and frequently used Chinese patent medicine listed in the Chinese Pharmacopeia, which is usually used to treat chronic colitis. We explored the pharmacological mechanism of Sishen Wan attenuated experimental chronic colitis by inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Experimental chronic colitis was induced by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). The therapeutic effect of SSW were analyzed by index of colonic weight, colonic length, pathological score. Cytokines expression were analyzed by ELISA, while the apoptosis level was checked by TUNEL staining. These proteins of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway was analyzed by Western blot assay. Rats with TNBS-induced chronic colitis were treated by SSW for 10 days. The efficacy of SSW was demonstrated by improved macroscopic and microscopic colonic damage. SSW increased the level of ATP in colonic mucosa, while SSW inhibited β-catenin, ubiquitination of Nemo-like-kinase-associated ring finger protein and T-cell factor, and expression of Wnt/β-catenin downstream proteins (including c-Myc, cyclo-oxygenase-2, cyclin D1, survivin, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and zipper-interacting protein kinase), and improved lymphoid enhancer factor ubiquitination and β-TrCP activity, followed by excessive apoptosis of colonic epithelial cells. SSW effectively attenuated experimental chronic colitis induced by TNBS, which was realized by inhibition of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a new method to fabricate multilayer films, which uses prepared thin films as modular blocks and transfer as operation mode to build up multilayer structures. In order to distinguish it from the in situ fabrication manner, this method is called modular assembly in this study. On the basis of such concept, we have fabricated a multilayer film using the silver mirror film as the modular block and poly(lactic acid) as the transfer tool. Due to the special double-layer structure of the silver mirror film, the resulting multilayer film had a well-defined stratified architecture with alternate porous/compact layers. As a consequence of the distinct structure, the interaction between the adjacent layers was so weak that the multilayer film could be layer-by-layer stripped. In addition, the top layer in the film could provide an effective protection on the morphology and surface property of the underlying layers. This suggests that if the surface of the film was deteriorated, the top layer could be peeled off and the freshly exposed surface would still maintain the original function. The successful preparation of the layer-by-layer strippable silver multilayer demonstrates that modular assembly is a feasible and effective method to build up multilayer films capable of creating novel and attractive micro/nanostructures, having great potential in the fabrication of nanodevices and coatings.