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Researchers have paid great attention to pursuing metal‐free nanostructures as alternatives to metallic counterparts in the field of surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for label‐free sensing. However, these metal‐free investigations are hindered by the tiny enhancement factor of the local near field. Here, the design of all‐dielectric SERS metasurfaces is proposed with quasi‐bound states in the continuum (Q‐BIC), inspired by transformer‐based deep learning. By manipulating the incident angle, the mechanism of strong coupling Q‐BIC is introduced with a large Rabi splitting of ≈105 meV, which opens a bandgap and forms an anti‐crossing behavior. Compared to conventional approaches, the strong coupling Q‐BIC scheme not only boosts an extraordinary SERS enhancement factor of ≈107 but also extends the field‐enhancing scale up to ten‐fold. The theoretical optimization implies overwhelming dominance versus the conventional metallic nanostructure design for SERS. The study denotes an approach to utilize the strong coupling effects of Q‐BIC in all‐dielectric SERS metasurfaces and will provide essential design guides for more powerful sensing applications based on SERS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research of metamaterial shows great potential in the field of solar energy harvesting. In the past decade, the design of broadband solar metamaterial absorber (SMA) has attracted a surge of interest. The conventional design typically requires brute‐force optimizations with a huge sampling space of structure parameters. Very recently, deep learning (DL) has provided a promising way in metamaterial design, but its application on SMA development is barely reported due to the complicated features of broadband spectrum. Here, this work develops the DL model based on metamaterial spectrum transformer (MST) for the powerful design of high‐performance SMAs. The MST divides the optical spectrum of metamaterial into N patches, which overcomes the severe problem of overfitting in traditional DL and boosts the learning capability significantly. A flexible design tool based on free customer definition is developed to facilitate the real‐time on‐demand design of metamaterials with various optical functions. The scheme is applied to the design and fabrication of SMAs with graded‐refractive‐index nanostructures. They demonstrate the high average absorptance of 94% in a broad solar spectrum and exhibit exceptional advantages over many state‐of‐the‐art counterparts. The outdoor testing implies the high‐efficiency energy collection of about 1061 kW h m−2 from solar radiation annually. This work paves a way for the rapid smart design of SMA, and will also provide a real‐time developing tool for many other metamaterials and metadevices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondrial RNA (mtRNA) plays a critical role in synthesis of mitochondrial proteins. Interfering mtRNA is a highly effective way to induce cell apoptosis. Herein, we report a near‐infrared (NIR) light‐mediated mitochondrial RNA modification approach for long‐term imaging and effective suppression of tumors. A tumor‐targetable NIR fluorescent probe f‐CRI consisting of a cyclic RGD peptide, a NIR fluorophore IR780, and a singlet oxygen (1O2)‐labile furan group for RNA modification was rationally designed and synthesized. This probe was demonstrated to dominantly accumulate in cellular mitochondria and could be covalently conjugated onto mtRNA upon 808 nm irradiation resulting in prolonged retention in tumors. More notably, this covalent modification of mtRNA by f‐CRI could perturb the function of mitochondria leading to remarkable tumor suppression. We thus envision that our current approach would offer a potential approach for cancer RNA interference therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of plasmonic stack metamaterials (PSMs) is critical due to their promising potentials in the fields of optical absorbers, sensors, and thermal irradiation. Compared with the classical circuit‐based optimization, the design by deep learning (DL) has attracted greater attention, since it is not essential to obtain their equivalent circuit parameters. Currently, a DL model for their higher‐precision design, especially with complicated spectral features, is still quite in demand. Here, a divide‐and‐conquer DL model based on a bidirectional artificial neural network is proposed. As proof‐of‐concept examples, the PSMs consisting of two metal/dielectric/metal/dielectric subwavelength stacks are adopted to demonstrate the validity of the paradigm. It demonstrates a significant prediction error reduction of 37.5% with the 47.8% decrease of training parameters than the conventional method in the forward network, which supports a powerful inverse design from spectra to PSM structures. Furthermore, a flexible tool based on the free customer definition, which facilitates the real‐time design of PSMs with various circuit‐analog functions, is developed. The fabrication and measurement experiments verify the design performance of the method. The study enhances the precision and convenience of on‐demand circuit‐analog PSMs and will provide a guide for fast high‐performance inverse design of many other metamaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative stress response is closely related to neurodegenerative diseases. This study aimed to investigate the cytoprotective effects of luteolin on glutamate‐induced oxidative stress injury in PC12 cells. GC–MS combined with multivariate statistical approaches was used to perform metabolomics studies to assess the possible mechanisms. Our results identified 23 metabolites as differential expressed metabolites in the glutamate group, including cysteine content in cells that decreased drastically. This suggests that glutathione synthesis, which balances the redox state of cells, was affected. Luteolin inhibits the reduction in viability in glutamate‐induced PC12 cells and regulates 13 differential expressed metabolites in glutamate‐induced cell damage. These metabolites associated with luteolin included glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism; glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism; aminoacyl‐tRNA biosynthesis; cysteine and methionine metabolism; inositol phosphate metabolism; and starch and sucrose metabolism. In summary, the systemic antioxidant capacity of luteolin in PC12 cells is related to its regulation of amino acid, glucose, and nucleotide metabolism pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The immune checkpoint programmed death receptor 1 (PD‐1) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD‐L1) are biologically important immunosuppressive molecules, and the PD‐L1/PD‐1‐mediated signalling pathway is currently considered one of the main mechanisms of tumour escape immune surveillance. PD‐L1 is highly expressed on the cytomembrane of tumour cell and binds to PD‐1 receptor of activated T cells. This interaction activates PD‐L1/PD‐1 downstream signal transduction, inhibiting T cells anti‐tumour activity. Therefore, inhibitors of PD‐L1/PD‐1 activation, showing significant efficacy in some types of tumours, have been widely approved in clinical tumour therapy. Recent research on PD‐L1/PD‐1 signalling pathway regulation has shown post‐translational modifications (PTMs) form of PD‐L1 or PD‐1, including glycosylation, ubiquitination, phosphorylation, and acetylation, which may play an important role in PD‐L1/PD‐1 signalling pathway regulation and anti‐tumour function of T cells. In this review, we focused on PTMs of PD‐L1/PD‐1 research and potential applications in tumour immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metasurfaces are planar or 2D forms of metamaterials made up of arrays of antennas with a subwavelength thickness. They have been rapidly developed in the recent years due to their ability to manipulate light–matter interaction in both linear and non‐linear regimes at the nanoscale. Various metasurfaces display remarkable optical features, such as acute resonance, significant near‐field enhancement, and suitable capacity to support electric and magnetic modes, on account of the strong light–matter interaction and the low optical loss. Due to these important properties, they can be used in several advanced optoelectronic applications, like surface‐enhanced spectroscopy, photocatalysis, and sensing. This review reports on the recent progress of metamaterials and metasurfaces in molecular optical sensors. The principles that govern plasmonic and dielectric metasurfaces along with their features are outlined, supported by numerous examples. Then, the factors that result in a high Q‐factor are presented in order to show that metamaterials and metasurfaces can be used for label‐free sensing in a variety of detection mechanisms, including surface‐enhanced spectroscopy, refractometric sensing, and surface‐enhanced thermal emission spectroscopy via infrared absorption and Raman scattering, as well as chiral sensing. Finally, the challenges for future development are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to explore the digestion properties of oil embedded in the soybean protein–phospholipid (PC) nanocomposite aggregate particles through gastrointestinal digestion model. Soybean protein isolate (SPI), before and after enzymatically hydrolyzed, was combined with PC to form SPI‐PC and enzymatically hydrolyzed SPI‐PC (EHSPI‐PC) nanocomposite aggregate particles. In the process of stomach dynamic digestion, the zeta potential of SPI‐PC changed from −23.50 to 0.40 mV and the Z‐average particle size reached 1,452.00 nm at 70 min while the zeta potential of EHSPI‐PC changed from −45.63 to 6.13 mV and the Z‐average particle size was 594.77 nm. EHSPI‐PC had larger zeta‐potential absolute value and smaller particle size compared with SPI‐PC. It indicated EHSPI‐PC nanocomposite aggregate particles were good gastrointestinal protective carriers. After adding soybean oil, EHSPI‐PC showed denser and smaller droplet morphologies and more surface charge during the digestion process. Compared with SPI‐PC, it also had better emulsification activity and emulsification stability. In conclusion, EHSPI‐PC is more suitable for embedding soybean oil to release in the small intestine. Practical Applications: Nano‐aggregate particles are widely used in food, medicine, and chemical industries due to their unique physical and chemical properties and functional properties. However, nano‐aggregate particles have unsatisfactory packaging of emulsifiers and leakage of embedded materials. Enzymatically hydrolyzed soybean protein isolate–phospholipid (EHSPI‐PC) nanocomposite aggregate particles have good emulsification and long‐lasting stability. The results showed that it is feasible for EHSPI‐PC nanocomposite aggregate particles to embed oily substances to ensure that the substances perform their functions in the intestinal tract. Therefore, the delivery system based on the EHSPI‐PC nanocomposite aggregate particles has good development potential in the food and pharmaceutical industries for encapsulation, protection, and release of nonpolar substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC) extremely affects the prognosis of CRC patients. Recently, the genetic methylation has been shown to associate with tumor metastasis. This research aimed to explore the Syk gene, which is frequently hypermethylated in different cancers, and its impact on the metastasis of CRC cells. Methods: We employed the UALCAN database for the detection of the methylation levels of Syk in different cancers. CIBERSORT, TIMER and TISIDB tools were employed to analyze the association of Syk expression with immune features of CRC. Treatment with decitabine has been noted to restore the expression of Syk in CRC cells. The invasion and migration abilities of CRC cell lines were determined using transwell and wound healing assays. The correlation between Syk and c‐Myc was established using the GEPIA2 database and Western blot assays. ​Results: Our results, based on UALCAN, revealed that the methylation level of Syk was altered in diverse cancers including colon adenocarcinoma. We found that expression profile and methylation level of Syk was correlated with immune features of colon adenocarcinoma. Decitabine can restore the expression of Syk in HCT116 and SW480 cells, hence affecting their migration and invasion. Results from GEPIA2 showed that Syk expression was correlated with c‐Myc, while Western blotting analysis revealed a negative association between the expression level of Syk and c‐Myc. ​Conclusions:​ ​This study demonstrates that the expression of Syk could be restored by decitabine in colorectal cancer, thus affecting the migration and invasion abilities of CRC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common tumor with high morbidity and mortality. Current specific diagnosis regarding CRC remains complicated and costly, and specific diagnostic biomarkers are lacking. Methods: To find potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for CRC, we screened and analyzed many CRC sequencing data by The Cancer Genome Atlas Program and Gene Expression Omnibus, and validated that CEP55 may be a potential diagnostic biomarker for CRC by molecular cytological experiments and immunohistochemistry, among others. Results: We found that CEP55 is upregulated in CRC tissues and tumor cells and can promote CRC proliferation and metastasis by activating the p53/p21 axis and that CEP55 mutations in tumor patients result in worse overall survival and disease‐free survival time. Besides, we also found that genes, such as CDK1, CCNB1, NEK2, KIF14, CDCA5, and RFC3 were upregulated in tumors, and their mutations would affect the prognosis of CRC patients, but these results await for more experimental evidence. Conclusion: Our study validates CEP55 as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for CRC, and we also provide multiple genes and potential molecular mechanisms that may serve as diagnostic and prognostic markers for CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In current work, by an ordinary one‐step hydrothermal strategy, the covalently bonded graphitic carbon nitride/molybdenum disulfide (g‐C3N4/MoS2) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized. SEM, TEM analyses evidenced the well distribution of MoS2 nanoparticles on g‐C3N4. The covalent bond (C−S bond) between two‐dimensional (2D) g‐C3N4 and zero‐dimensional (0D) MoS2 were confirmed by FTIR and XRD. Furthermore, the average friction coefficient and wear rate of g‐C3N4/MoS2 nanocomposites at 0.20 wt % concentration could separately reach up to 27.86 % and 70.87 % reduction by comparing pure oil, benefiting from synergistic lubrication of g‐C3N4 nanosheets plus spherical MoS2. In the work, novel guidance will be provided for the potential application of multi‐dimensional g‐C3N4‐based nanocomposites in lubricating field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasmonic metamaterials are receiving increasing attentions due to their great ability to confine light energy at the nanoscale for perfect absorption and various applications in the near infrared and visible region. However, the common practices to achieve the tunable absorption are to adjust the morphology of plasmonic metamaterials. This strategy has a low fabrication efficiency, which limits the applications of plasmonic metamaterials. Here, the absorption efficiency and peak position of the plasmonic metamaterial consisting of Au nanohole array/SiO2 spacer/Au film are tuned by simply controlling the thicknesses of the hexagonal Au nanohole array and the spacer layer, respectively. An ultrahigh absorption of ≈99% and a high surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect (with an average surface enhancement factor of 106) are achieved at the desired laser wavelength. The substrate can be as large as 10 mm in diameter and shows a high uniformity for SERS detection. This work provides a simple way to flexibly tune the optical properties of plasmonic metamaterials for various promising applications such as plasmon‐mediated chemical reactions and biosensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wet chemical reduction method was used to modify polydopamine (PDA) functionalized oxygenated carbon nitride (O‐g‐C3N4) nanosheets to prepare in situ growth of Cu nanoparticles (Cu NPs) decorated on nanosheets. The PDA attached to the surface of O‐g‐C3N4 provided a uniformly distributed platform for copper nanoparticles. It also provided rich functional groups and provided good conditions for the dispersion of Cu/PDA/O‐g‐C3N4 in pure oil. Through TEM testing, Cu NPs with a diameter of 5–10 nm were evenly distributed on the PDA/O‐g‐C3N4 nanosheets. Through the sliding test on the steel surface, it was obvious that adding 0.2 wt % Cu/PDA/O‐g‐C3N4 to pure oil had a lowest coefficient of friction. In addition, the wear marks on the surface of Cu/PDA/O‐g‐C3N4 steel discs were studied with an optical microscope and a three‐dimensional profiler and its wear resistance was better than Cu NPs, O‐g‐C3N4 and Cu/O‐g‐C3N4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Manipulation of optical transmission using plasmonic nanostructures is a significant issue in applications related to ultra-compact optoelectronic devices. In this paper, we present a type of plasmonic frequency selective surface constructed with an ultrathin gold film (∼20 nm) with arrays of subwavelength holes. By means of modified nanosphere lithography, we fabricate the nanostructured gold films with scalable sizes and tunable transmission in the visible and near-infrared range. Moreover, electromagnetic simulations are performed and demonstrate good agreement with experimental results and further reveal the evolution of optical properties from the optically thick film to the ultrathin film. The research achievements will provide significant design guidance of ultrathin plasmonic frequency selective surface for future nanophotonic devices. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:2171-2176, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 3-methyl-4-nitrophenol (4-nitro-m-cresol; PNMC) exists in diesel exhaust particles (DEP), and is also one of the degradation products of insecticide fenitrothion. To assess potential nephrotoxicity of PNMC, male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were subcutaneously dosed with PNMC at 1, 10, and 100 mg/kg/day for five consecutive days. No significant changes were detected in body weights and relative weights of kidneys by the treatment of PNMC. However, the extent of cellular necrosis was found to be severe in renal tubular epithelial cells of PNMC-treated rats. In addition, PNMC exposure significantly increased the number of terminal deoxynucleotidyle transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL)-positive cells compared to the control in renal tubule of PNMC-treated rats. Moreover, immunohistochemical results indicated that significant decrease in the B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) expressions andincrease in the Bcl-2 associated × protein (Bax) expression were detected in PNMC-treated rats. The ratio of Bcl-2/Bax was also reduced significantly at PNMC-treated rats dosed at 10 or 100 mg kg−1. Furthermore, the significant increase of FAS (CD95/APO-1) expression was found in the groups dosed at 10 or 100 mg kg−1 of PNMC. The expression of Caspase-3 was higher in PNMC-treated rats, compared to the control group. Our results indicated that activation of mitochondria and Caspase-3 protease may contribute to the PNMC-induced apoptosis, suggesting that PNMC could cause both necrosis and apoptosis resulting in cell death of renal epithelium cells and could induce renal toxicity. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metamaterial of twisted metallic foil pairs is proposed. Resonances are illustrated in both transmission and reflection. Negative refraction index can be realized by chiral configuration of this metamaterial. Parallel and antiparallel surface currents form magnetic and electric dipoles. The cross coupling between electric and magnetic field presents chirality. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:163-166, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25645 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim/Introduction Materials and Methods Results Conclusions The recent adverse reactions associated with semaglutide have led the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a “black box warning”, and it is necessary to analyze all reports of adverse reactions to improve the safety of its clinical use.Statistical analyses and signal mining were performed by obtaining the adverse event reports related to semaglutide in the FAERS database from the first quarter of 2018 to the fourth quarter of 2023. We used disproportionality and Bayesian analysis to examine clinical and demographic attributes, trends reported quarterly, and contrasts between two distinct indications (obesity and type 2 diabetes).We found 10 unexpected adverse signals related to “pancreatic cancer”, “intestinal obstruction”, “cholecystitis”, and “polycystic ovary” and both the two different indications had the same serious adverse reaction events occurring.This study identified many unexpected signals of serious adverse reactions, suggesting the importance of continuous post‐marketing surveillance of semaglutide to understand its potential risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the concept of introducing disorder into ordered metasurfaces or periodic metastructures has shown great potential in improving their performance for light extraction, scattering, reflection, and radiation. However, its use in optical biosensing enhancement is still barely reported. Here, a kind of plasmonic biosensors based on disorder‐enhanced nanograin metasurfaces (DENMs) are proposed, and utilized for high‐sensitivity detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 Omicron variant and vaccine‐induced total antibodies. With the aim to elucidate the physics of short‐range‐disordered meta‐elements in long‐range‐ordered metastructures, the meta‐atom evolution is deduced from periodic nanohole metasurfaces to DENMs and totally disordered nanograin metasurfaces. It is found that the disorder of nanograin plays a critical role in elevating the DENM surface sensitivity of biomolecules. The DENM‐based biosensing demonstrates an extremely high diagnostic specificity with the probability P < 0.0001 on distinguishing the Omicron variant from other respiratory viruses. Moreover, these biosensors are used as a convenient tool to monitor vaccine efficacy for inoculators with the third booster injections. This study implies the promise of disorder‐enhanced metasurfaces on biomedical detection and will guide their applications on virus early discovery and prevention for future mobile healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]