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Abstract The use of light as a catalytic prompt for the synthesis of industrial relevant compounds is widely explored in the past years, with a special consideration over the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, semiconductors for heterogeneous photocatalysis suffer from fast charge recombination and, consequently, low solar‐to‐hydrogen efficiency. These drawbacks can be mitigated by coupling photocatalysts with an external circuit that can physically separate the photogenerated charge carriers (electrons and holes). For this reason, photoelectrochemical (PEC) production of hydrogen is under the spotlight as promising green and sustainable technique and widely investigated in numerous publications. However, considering that a significant fraction of the hydrogen produced is used for reduction processes, the development of PEC devices for direct in situ hydrogenation can address the challenges associated with hydrogen storage and distribution. This Perspective aims at highlighting the fundamental aspects of HER from PEC systems, and how these can be harnessed toward the implementation of suitable settings for the hydrogenation of organic compounds of industrial value.

The photocatalytic and electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 has the potential to provide valuable products, such as chemicals or fuels of interest, at low cost while maintaining a circular carbon cycle. In this context, carbon dots possess optical and electrochemical properties that make them suitable candidates to participate in the reaction, either as a single component or forming part of more elaborate catalytic systems. In this review, we describe several strategies where the carbon dots participate, both with amorphous and graphitic structures, in the photocatalysis or electrochemical catalysis of CO2 to provide different carbon-containing products of interest. The role of the carbon dots is analyzed as a function of their redox and light absorption characteristics and their complementarity with other known catalytic systems. Moreover, detailed information about synthetic procedures is also reviewed.

Objective: To define the synovial characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in clinical and ultrasound remission achieved by combination therapy with methotrexate (MTX) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blockers.Methods: Patients with RA in remission (n=25) (disease activity score (DAS)<1.6 for at least 6 months), patients with RA in low disease activity (LDA) (n=10) (1.6Results: PDUS-negative patients with RA in remission showed lower histological scores for synovial CD68+, CD20+, CD3+ cells and CD31+ vessels and collagen deposition (p<0.05 for both lining and sublining) compared with PDUS-positive patients with RA with high/moderate disease. In addition, there was no significant difference in terms of lining and sublining CD68+, CD20+, CD3+, CD31+ cells and collagen comparing PDUS-negative patients with RA in remission and in LDA, respectively. On the contrary, PDUS-negative patients with PsA in remission showed higher histological scores for sublining CD68+ (p=0.02) and CD3+ cells (p=0.04) as well as CD31+ vessels (p<0.001) than PDUS-negative patients with RA in remission.Conclusions: PDUS-negative patients with RA in remission have comparable synovial histological features than PDUS-negative patients with RA in LDA. However, patients with PsA in remission are characterised by a higher degree of residual synovial inflammation than patients with RA in remission, despite PDUS negativity under TNF inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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BACKGROUND Hypertension and diabetes are significantly associated with insulin resistance (IR), which could affect the vasodilatory capacity and microcirculation. The aim of the study was to verify whether IR is associated with a reduced microvascular blood flow in normoglycemic mild hypertensives. METHODS Eighty-four untreated grade-1 hypertensives were equally divided, according to the IR homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index, into three groups: IR-Low = 2.16 ± 0.09 vs. IR-Medium = 3.77 ± 0.09 vs. IR-High = 7.08 ± 0.68 (P < 0.001) with similar sex distribution, office systolic blood pressure (SBP)/diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and history of hypertension. They underwent ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and a laboratory stress session, during which blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and skin blood flow (Laser Doppler) were taken on the forehead (LDF) and the hand (LDH), where the neuroadrenergic control of the microvascular blood flow is higher. Reactivity was calculated as "area-under-the-curve" (AUC) during arithmetic and cold pressor tests. Postischemic LDH served as the index of endothelial microcirculatory damage. RESULTS ABPM confirmed the diagnosis of hypertension, but IR-High patients showed a reduced nighttime BP fall. They also demonstrated reduced LDH-AUC and LDF-AUC although BP-AUC and HR-AUC reactivity were similar. Postischemic LDH was lower in the IR-High group (P < 0.05), and the postischemic LDH change was progressively impaired in both IR-Medium and IR-High patients (P < 0.001). LDH-AUC (-0.305, P = 0.007) and postischemic LDH at 30 s (-0.217, P = 0.059) and 60 s (-0.248, P = 0.030) during hyperemia were associated with HOMA. Multiple regression analysis, with HOMA as the dependent variable, showed that BMI (β = 0.336, P < 0.001) and LDH (β = -0.239, P < 0.001), LDH-AUC (β = -0.296, P < 0.01) and postischemic LDH change (β = -0.321, P < 0.001) entered the equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]