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Background Studies on the anti-wrinkle effects of retinol have been widely reported, but there are few reports on the infraorbital dark circles reducing effects. Objective To evaluate the efficiency and tolerance of one novel formulation containing supramolecular retinol plus acmella oleracea extract in Chinese urban eye skin. Methods Thirty-three women with dark circles and visible fine wrinkles around the eyes, aged 20-45 years, were enrolled and instructed to use the formula for 6 weeks. Instrumental measures and subject assessment were obtained at baseline and at 3-week intervals. Results After 6 weeks, Mexameter MX18 results demonstrated a statistically significant 13.8% decrease in MI (melanin index) value, and Colorimeter CL400 results demonstrated a statistically significant 0.5% increase in L* (lightness) value, which proved the efficacy of reducing dark circles. Primos-Lite data showed that the wrinkles parameters of Ra, the wrinkle area %, and number of the wrinkles under the eyes and crow's feet revealed significant reduction to varying degrees. Cutometer results showed that R2 value increased significantly by 13.0%, indicating the benefits of firmer skin. In addition, subject assessment revealed that at the end of 6 weeks, the eye skin was noticeably improved. Conclusions By clinical evaluation and subject assessment, the novel formulation containing supramolecular retinol plus acmella oleracea extract can effectively diminish the collective signs of stressed urban eye skin for Chinese female in terms of dark circles, fine wrinkles, and sagging skin with good tolerance.

Persister cells are dormant variants of regular cells that are multidrug tolerant and have heterogeneous phenotypes; these cells are a potential threat to hosts because they can escape the immune system or antibiotic treatments and reconstitute infectious. Skin ulcer syndrome (SUS) frequently occurs in the sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus), and Vibrio splendidus is one of the main bacterial pathogens of SUS. This study found that the active cells of V. splendidus became persister cells more readily in the presence of A. japonicus coelomic fluids. We showed that the A. japonicus coelomic fluids plus antibiotics induce 100-fold more persister cells in V. splendidus compared with antibiotics alone via nine sets of experiments including assays for antibiotic resistance, metabolic activity, and single-cell phenotypes. Furthermore, the coelomic fluids-induced persister cells showed similar phenotypes as the antibiotic-induced persister cells. Further investigation showed that guanosine pentaphosphate/tetraphosphate (henceforth ppGpp) and SOS response pathway involved in the formation of persister cells as determined using real-time RT-PCR. In addition, single-cell observations showed that, similar to the antibiotic-induced V. splendidus persister cells, the coelomic fluids-induced persister cells have five resuscitation phenotypes: no growth, expansion, elongation, elongation and then division, and elongation followed by death/disappearance. In addition, dark foci formed in the majority of persister cells for both the antibiotic-induced and coelomic fluids-induced persister cells. Our results highlight that the pathogen V. splendidus might escape from the host immune system by entering the persister state during the process of infection due to exposure to coelomic fluids.

Coated paper with enhanced barrier properties was prepared via a simple layered self-assembly method using hemicellulose and starch as biobased coatings. Effect of the coating on properties of cellulose paper was investigated. Barrier properties of the paper was increasingly strengthened as the coating amount of hemicellulose rose. When the paper was coated with starch (10.7±0.3 g / m 2 \text{g}/{\text{m}^{2}} ) and hemicellulose (6.9±0.2 g / m 2 \text{g}/{\text{m}^{2}} ) successively, the oil resistance of the paper was increased from 0 to grade 7. Air permeability and water vapor transmittance was decreased by 93.8 % and 39.7 %, respectively. The water contact angle of the coated paper reached 91.7° when the amount of hemicellulose was 1.5±0.2 g / m 2 \text{g}/{\text{m}^{2}} . The hydrophobicity of the coated paper was superior to the original paper although it was negatively influenced by the increasing amount of hemicellulose. The improvement of barrier properties of the coated paper was mainly ascribed to the formation of a thin polymer network on paper surface through intermolecular interaction via hydrogen bonds as demonstrated in SEM and FTIR-ATR results. Moreover, tensile strength and rupture resistance of the coated paper was improved. The results offered an environmentally friendly and economical strategy for preparation of food packaging paper with good barrier properties using biobased coating materials.

Adding hydrocolloids into native starch is a secure and effective method of physical modification. In this study, the effect of sodium alginate (AG) on the gelatinization, rheological, and retrogradation properties of rice starch (RS) was investigated by measuring the pasting parameters, melting enthalpy (ΔH), rheological characteristic parameters, intensity ratio of 1047 cm−1 to 1022 cm−1 (R1047/1022), and relative crystallinity (RC) of RS–AG blends. Rapid visco analysis shows that AG could significantly change the gelatinization parameters of RS. Differential scanning calorimetry results show that the ΔH values of RS initially decreased in the low AG concentration range (0.10%–0.30%), but increased in the high AG concentration range (0.30%–0.50%). Dynamic rheological analysis reveals that the modulus (G′, G′′) and the loss tangent (tan δ) increased with the rise of the AG concentration from 0.10% to 0.50%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction patterns collectively prove that the crystallinity of RS decreased with the addition of AG during the retrogradation periods. The interactions between AG and starch molecules in RS–AG blends were hypothesized to correlate with the aforementioned results.

Microbial infection and the limitation of tissue regeneration are main obstacles to chronic wound healing. Herein, a biofunctional hydrogel is prepared to simultaneously kill bacteria efficiently and promote would healing. First, a rose bengal/polypyrrole hybrid poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (RB/PPy PVA HD) is synthesized and its antibacterial property is investigated under coirradiation of 550 nm visible light and 808 near-infrared light. The hydrogel exhibits excellent antibacterial activity within 10 min below 45 °C in vitro due to the synergistic effect of photothermal and photodynamic antibacterial therapy. Next, the recombined human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) is physically absorbed on the surface of the porous hydrogel to form a RB/PPy/rhEGF hybrid PVA HD (rhEGF/RB/PPy PVA HD). The introduction of rhEGF enables the hydrogel to promote fibroblast proliferation and collagen secretion. Furthermore, the in vivo results indicate that the rhEGF/RB/PPy PVA HD can control infection effectively and promote wound healing significantly.

Lithium sulfur batteries with high energy density are thought to be the most potential energy storage technology that can be commercialized. However, the shuttle effect of polysulfides deteriorates its electrochemical performance. Herein, a novel Co9S8 nanostructure derived from metal organic framework material (MOF) was explored by simple liquid phase reaction and heat vulcanization of 2-methylimidazole and Co(NO3)2·6H2O on the surface of the original PP separator. The Co9S8 nano-flower cluster array wall was vertically and closely arranged with the thickness of 200 nm, and the polysulfide can be adsorbed by its physical and chemical action to slow down the “shuttle effect”. It is found that the cell with the modified separator can achieve an ideal discharge capacity of about 600 mAh/g at 1 C. The specific capacity is maintained at 500 mAh/g after 200 cycles, with only 0.11 % of capacity decay per cycle. It provides a new way for the utilization of MOF material derivatives to modify the separator in order to improve the electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur batteries.

A comprehensive field experiment measuring aerosol chemical and physical properties at a suburban site in Beijing around the 2019 Spring Festival was carried out to investigate the impact of reduced anthropogenic emissions on aerosol formation. Sharply reduced sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations during the festival holiday resulted in an unexpected increase in the surface ozone (O3) concentration caused by the strong O3-titration phenomenon. Simultaneously, the reduced anthropogenic emissions resulted in massive decreases in particle number concentration at all sizes and the mass concentrations of organics and black carbon. However, the mass concentrations of inorganics (especially sulfate) decreased weakly. Detailed analyses of the sulfur oxidation ratio and the nitrogen oxidation ratio suggest that sulfate formation during the holiday could be promoted by enhanced nocturnal aqueous-phase chemical reactions between SO2 and O3 under moderate relative humidity (RH) conditions (40 %

Background To investigate the pharmacokinetics of 6-O-demethylmenisporphine, an oxoisoaporphine alkaloid with significant anti-tumor activities and isolated from Menispermi Rhizoma, a novel and sensitive HPLC assay was established for 6-O-demethylmenisporphine quantification in rat plasma. Methods Peak responses were detected by a highly selective and sensitive fluorescence detector with 426-nm excitation and 514-nm emission wavelengths. Curcumin was employed as the internal standard (IS). A Capcell Pak C18 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm) and an isocratic elution procedure with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min were used to exclude the endogenous interfering substance. Acetonitrile-water (68:32, v/v) containing 1% formic acid was employed as mobile phase. A 7-point calibration curve that covered the concentration range of 10–2500 ng/mL was constructed. Results A good linearity was observed with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9993. The lower limit of quantification for 6-O-demethylmenisporphine was 10 ng/mL. The mean recoveries of analyte in rat plasma exceeded 80.5%. The precision at four concentration levels was within 11.3% and the accuracy ranged from − 7.6 to 6.7%. Conclusion Using this new HPLC-FLD method, the investigation of plasma samples from rats following oral dosing of neat compound and Menispermi Rhizoma extract was successfully conducted. The results will provide a reference for the evaluation of preclinical safety of 6-O-demethylmenisporphine.

A series of well-defined di- and triblock acrylic copolymers consisting of hard poly(dicyclopentanyl acrylate) (PdcPA) and soft poly(alkyl acrylate) (PAA) blocks are synthesized by the N-(trimethylsilyl)bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Me3SiNTf2) catalyzed group transfer polymerization (GTP) of dicyclopentanyl acrylate (dcPA) and alkyl acrylate (AA) including n-butyl acrylate (nBA), n-octylacrylate (nOA), 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (EHA), and n-dodecyl acrylate (nDA). The distribution of the monomeric units of the copolymers is controlled through the addition sequence of the comonomers and by the used initiator. In greater detail, the mixed addition of AA and dcPA using the monofunctional 1-methoxy-1-triisopropylsiloxy-2-methylpropene (MTSiPr) as the initiator produces the statistical poly[(alkyl acrylate)-stat-(dicyclopentanyl acrylate)] (Poly(AA-stat-dcPA)), the sequential addition of AA and then dcPA using MTSiPr as an initiator produces the AB-type hard–soft diblock poly(alkyl acrylate)-block-poly(dicyclopentanyl acrylate) (PAA-b-PdcPA), the sequential addition of AA and then dcPA using the bifunctional 1,2-bis[2-methyl-1-(triisopropylsiloxy)prop-1-enyloxy]ethane (MTSiPr2) as the initiator affords the ABA-type hard–soft–hard triblock poly(dicyclopentanyl acrylate)-block-poly(alkyl acrylate)-block-poly(dicyclopentanyl acrylate) (PdcPA-b-PAA-b-PdcPA), and the reverse addition of the two monomers using MTSiPr2 affords the soft–hard–soft BAB-type triblock poly(alkyl acrylate)-block-poly(dicyclopentanyl acrylate)-block-poly(alkyl acrylate) (PAA-b-PdcPA-b-PAA). The formation of the statistical and block copolymers has been confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) measurements. Afterwards, the glass transition behavior of the resulting copolymers is analyzed by both differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and rheometry. A detailed discussion of this part is presented in the following sections.

Distinct metabolic programs, either energy-consuming anabolism or energy-generating catabolism, were required for different biological functions. Macrophages can adopt different immune phenotypes in response to various cues and exhibit anti- or pro-inflammatory properties relying on catabolic pathways associated with oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) or glycolysis. Spermidine, a natural polyamine, has been reported to regulate inflammation through inducing anti-inflammatory (M2) macrophages. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. We show here that the M2-polarization induced by spermidine is mediated by mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS). The levels of mitochondrial superoxide and H2O2 were markedly elevated by spermidine. Mechanistically, mtROS were found to activate AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which in turn enhanced mitochondrial function. Furthermore, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (Hif-1α) was upregulated by the AMPK activation and mtROS and was required for the expression of anti-inflammatory genes and induction of autophagy. Consistent with previous report that autophagy is required for the M2 polarization, we found that the M2 polarization induced by spermidine was also mediated by increased autophagy. The macrophages treated with spermidine in vitro were found to ameliorate Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS)-induced inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in mice. Thus, spermidine can elicit an anti-inflammatory program driven by mtROS-dependent AMPK activation, Hif-1α stabilization and autophagy induction in macrophages. Our studies revealed a critical role of mtROS in shaping macrophages into M2-like phenotype and provided novel information for management of inflammatory disease by spermidine.

In this work, a CoNxC active sites-rich three-dimensional porous carbon nanofibers network derived from bacterial cellulose and bimetal-ZIFs is prepared via a nucleation growth strategy and a pyrolysis process. The material displays excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction, reaching a high limiting diffusion current density of −7.8 mA cm−2, outperforming metal–organic frameworks derived multifunctional electrocatalysts, and oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction with low overpotentials of 380 and 107 mV, respectively. When the electrochemical properties are further evaluated, the electrocatalyst as an air cathode for Zn-air batteries exhibits a high cycling stability for 63 h as well as a maximum power density of 308 mW cm−2, which is better than those for most Zn-air batteries reported to date. In addition, a power density of 152 mW cm−2 is provided by the solid-state Zn-air batteries, and the cycling stability is outstanding for 24 h. The remarkable electrocatalytic properties are attributed to the synergistic effect of the 3D porous carbon nanofibers network and abundant inserted CoNxC active sites, which enable the fast transmission of ions and mass and simultaneously provide a large contact area for the electrode/electrolyte.

In this contribution, a series of ionic liquids (ILs) with tri-n-butylethyl-phosphonium cation ([P4442]) and functional anions are designed and prepared, including pyridinolate anion ([PyO]), pyrid...

Garcinia mangostana L. (mangosteen) is a famous tropical fruit that contains a large number of xanthones. Regular consumption of mangosteen may confer health benefits and prevent some diseases, such as malaria. Quinone reductase 2 (QR-2) is a cytosolic enzyme found in human red blood cells, and it is becoming a target for chemoprevention because it is involved in the mechanisms of several diseases, including malaria. To understand whether the xanthones present in mangosteen might inhibit the activity of QR-2, blood samples were collected from rat following the oral administration of mangosteen extract and then incubated with QR-2 followed by UF-HPLC-QTOF/MS analysis to rapidly screen for and identify the QR-2-inhibiting xanthones. A total of 16 xanthones were identified, and six of these (α-mangostin, γ-mangostin, 8-deoxyartanin, 1,3,7-trihydroxy-2,8-di(3-methylbut-2-enyl)xanthone, garcinone E, and 9-hydroxycalabaxanthone) were subjected to QR-2 inhibition assay. γ-Mangostin exhibited the strongest inhibition, achieving an IC50 value of 3.82 ± 0.51 μM. Its interaction with QR-2 was found to involve hydrogen bond and arene-arene interaction as revealed by molecular docking. The present study could provide new insight into the potential application of mangosteen as functional food ingredients for inhibiting the activity of QR-2. However, the extent of daily intake of mangosteen required and the exact contribution of mangosteen to the prevention and treatment of malaria remain subjects of further study.

Cytokines produced by immune cells have been demonstrated to act on muscle stem cells (MuSCs) and direct their fate and behavior during muscle repair and regeneration. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether and how MuSCs can also in turn modulate the properties of immune cells. Here, we showed that in vitro expanded MuSCs exhibited a potent anti‐inflammatory effect when infused into mice suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Supernatant conditioned by MuSCs similarly ameliorated IBD. This beneficial effect of MuSCs was not observed when macrophages were depleted. The MuSC supernatant was found to greatly attenuate the expression of inflammatory cytokines but increase the expression of programmed death‐ligand 1 in macrophages treated with lipopolysaccharide and interferon gamma. Further analysis revealed that MuSCs produce a large amount of insulin‐like growth factor‐2 (IGF‐2) that instructs maturing macrophages to undergo oxidative phosphorylation and thus acquire anti‐inflammatory properties. Interestingly, the IGF‐2 production by MuSCs is much higher than by mesenchymal stem cells. Knockdown or neutralization of IGF‐2 abrogated the anti‐inflammatory effects of MuSCs and their therapeutic efficacy on IBD. Our study demonstrated that MuSCs possess a strong anti‐inflammatory property and the bidirectional interactions between immune cells and MuSCs have important implications in muscle‐related physiological and pathological conditions., Immune cells are known to direct the fate of muscle stem cells (MuSCs) during tissue repair and regeneration. MuSCs can also act on maturing macrophages and confer them with anti‐inflammatory properties via insulin‐like growth factor‐2, thus ameliorating dextran sulfate sodium‐induced colitis.

This study investigated the distribution of 209 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in sediment samples collected from seven sites in the Raritan River estuary (NJ, USA) using gas chromatography/tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS). Results showed that concentrations of 209 PCB congeners ranged up to 20 ng/g, that total PCB concentrations by homolog groups varied from 9.0 to 327 ng/g, and that total PCB mass ranged from 101.0 to 1,476.3 ng with the order of sites 6 > 7 > 3 > 4 > 2 > 1 > 5. Furthermore, higher PCB concentrations were detected for homolog groups including hexa- and hepta-PCBs. More PCBs were associated with sediments at downstream sites possibly due to accumulation and deposition in the estuary, as supported by strong correlations of PCB concentrations between different sampling sites (R2 ≤ 0.96). Comparisons with prior reports showed that all total PCB concentrations were below those reported by the Contamination Assessment and Reduction Project (CARP) and Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), except for sites 6 and 7. Sites 3 and 4 had PCB concentrations exceeding the 22.7 ng/g limit of the Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs), whereas sites 6 and 7 exceeded the 180 ng/g limit, indicating potential health hazards from PCBs.

Mesoporous N-doped carbon (m-N-Carbon) nanofibers with controlled numerous surface nanocavities as efficient oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts have been fabricated through carbonization polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers decorated with different sizes of SiO2 nanoparticles. The prepared m-N-Carbon nanofibers possess tunable mesopores, high surface area and desired nitrogen moieties. Among these, the sample m-N-Carbon (M-900) exhibits the highest electrocatalytic performance with high onset potential (0.941), half-wave potential (0.713 V), superior catalytic stability with slightly attenuated after 20000-s continuous operation and well tolerance to methanol. The enhanced electrocatalytic activities are associated with high-nitrogen content and the rational design of mesoporous structure N-Carbon nanofibers, which are contributed to the mass/electron transfer and exposure of active sites.

A novel quaternary selenide (Na0.60Ba0.70)Ga2Se4 (1) obtained by a high-temperature method crystallizes in the non-centrosymmetric space group I4cm, and its structure features {[GaSe2]−}∞ chains. I...

Herein, a novel phototheranostic nanocomplex that is self-assembled from bovine serum albumin (BSA) and indocyanine green (ICG) is developed for enhanced near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging, which benefits the guidance on in vivo cancer photothermal therapy (PTT). The study confirms that the binding of ICG with the bind sits on the albumin will result in improved hydrolytic stability and high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). The ICG loading ratio in the nanocomplex is optimized and confirms the loading ratio of 0.5% ICG to be the optimal content. The optimized ICG–BSA nanocomplex (ICG–BSA NC) possesses a higher PLQY of 16.8% than that of free ICG (2.7%). The high PLQY and efficient passive targeting ability of ICG–BSA NC help improve its in vivo tumor accumulation and NIR fluorescence imaging significantly. Under laser irradiation, efficient PTT with obvious tumor growth suppression on a triple negative breast tumor model can be observed in the ICG–BSA NC treated group.

A dual-function fluorescent probe (Probe 1) was developed for discriminative detection of Hg2+ and N2 H4 . Probe 1 could discriminatively detect Hg2+ and N2 H4 through two different reaction sites, with the mechanism for Probe 1 for Hg2+ depending on a desulfurization reaction and for N2 H4 depending on the Schiff-base reaction. N2 H4 had minimal effect on Hg2+ detection in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)/H2 O solution, but Hg2+ could interfere with N2 H4 detection in DMSO/buffer solution. Different concentrations of Hg2+ and N2 H4 resulted in different blue shades of Probe 1 test strips, and the shade of blue was different with the same concentration of Hg2+ or N2 H4 , as observed under ultraviolet light at 365 nm wavelength.

A tumor redox-activatable micellar nanoplatform based on the naturally occurring biomacromolecule hyaluronic acid (HA) was developed for complementary photodynamic/chemotherapy against CD44-positive tumors. Here HA was first conjugated with l-carnitine (Lc)-modified zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) via disulfide linkage and then co-assembled with tirapazamine (TPZ) to afford the physiologically stable micellar nanostructure. The mitochondria-targeted photodynamic activity of ZnPc-Lc could efficiently activate the mitochondrial apoptosis cascade and deplete the oxygen in the tumor intracellular environment to amplify the hypoxia-dependent cytotoxic effect of TPZ.

High-throughput drug discovery is highly dependent on the targets available to accelerate the process of candidates screening. Traditional chemical proteomics approaches for the screening of drug targets usually require the immobilization/modification of the drug molecules to pull down the interacting proteins. Recently, energetics-based proteomics methods provide an alternative way to study drug-protein interaction by using complex cell lysate directly without any modification of the drugs. In this study, we developed a novel energetics-based proteomics strategy, the solvent-induced protein precipitation (SIP) approach, to profile the interaction of drugs with their target proteins by using quantitative proteomics. The method is easy to use for any laboratory with the common chemical reagents of acetone, ethanol, and acetic acid. The SIP approach was able to identify the well-known protein targets of methotrexate, SNS-032, and a pan-kinase inhibitor of staurosporine in cell lysate. We further applied this approach to discover the off-targets of geldanamycin. Three known protein targets of the HSP90 family were successfully identified, and several potential off-targets including NADH dehydrogenase subunits NDUFV1 and NDUFAB1 were identified for the first time, and the NDUFV1 was validated by using Western blotting. In addition, this approach was capable of evaluating the affinity of the drug-target interaction. The data collectively proved that our approach provides a powerful platform for drug target discovery.

Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) is an intelligent hydrogel which exhibits volume transition in response to temperature change. This work reports the PNIPAM/AM-QDs hybrid hydrogels, in which N-isopropylacrylamide, acrylamide as monomers and CdTe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) as filler, are prepared by glow discharge electrolysis plasma (GDEP). The hydrogels are investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectra, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and PL spectra, as well as the swelling rate, temperature sensitivity and fluorescence reversibility. The results show that the PNIPAM hydrogels and QDs are cross-linked by coordination bond, and the QDs are well dispersed and combined firmly in the networks of the hydrogels. The phase transition temperature of PNIPAM/AM-QDs hybrid hydrogels is 32.5°C. The fluorescence intensity of hydrogels is 1490 a.u. and 20 a.u. at 20 and 40°C, respectively. Furthermore, the luminescence intensity of hydrogels is almost not weakened after five heating-cooling cycles, which should be used as a temperature-controlled light switch.

In this work, we design a three-dimensional (3D) strongly-coupled polyaniline/crosslinked carbon nanosheets (PANI/CCNs) composite using a facile in-situ chemical polymerization method. The PANI is uniformly and conformally covered on the thin graphene-like biomass-derived CCNs. The interconnected CCNs with high surface area and electrical conductivity can expose more active sites of PANI and enhance the interfacial electron transfer, which contributes to the improvement of specific capacitance and rate performance. The sheets-like PANI can introduce pseudocapacitance through the surface redox reactions on the surface. As a result, the PANI/CCNs composite electrode can reach high specific capacitance of 444 and 340 F g−1 at current densities of 0.1 and 5 A g−1, respectively. The assembled PANI/CCNs//PANI/CCNs symmetric supercapacitor can reach a high specific capacitance of 72.0 F g−1 at a current density of 0.1 A g−1. Moreover, the PANI/CCNs//PANI/CCNs symmetric cell exhibits a high energy density of 28.9 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 85.1 W kg−1, which is competitive in the aqueous PANI-based symmetric supercapacitors.

A new energetic salt, hydrazinium 5-nitro-3-dinitromethyl-2H-pyrazole, was synthesized using 1-nitro-3-trinitromethylpyrazole and hydrazine as raw materials and fully characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and X-ray crystallography. The isomerization of N-nitropyrazole in the reaction condition was first reported and the possible mechanism was explained by the density functional theory method. The salt has good density, high positive enthalpy of formation superior to those of the RDX and HMX, and good detonation properties comparable to those of RDX. By denitration and isomerization reactions, the salt gains a better thermal stability and lower sensitivity toward impact and friction compared with its parent compound. Based on an overall energetic evaluation, the salt has a promising future as an alternative explosive. The research also contributes to the synthesis and application of polynitro-substituted N-heterocyclic compounds as energetic materials.

With the phasing out of traditional polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), significant volumes of alternative brominated flame retardants (aBFRs) are being used and released into the environment compartment, especially in coastal regions. The levels and distribution of PBDEs, aBFRs, and dechlorane plus (DPs) were investigated in the surface sediments of the Yellow Sea (YS) and East China Sea (ECS) to examine the distribution and sources of these hydrophobic contaminants. The level and distribution of pollutants in the sediments of YS and ECS show obvious regional differences. As a major replacement for decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 209), decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) was the dominant compound observed in the surface sediments, with a concentration one order of magnitude higher than that of BDE 209. High concentrations were found in the depositional zones of the YS, indicating that these contaminants may originate from land-based pollution sources (likely from the Laizhou Bay manufacturing base) near the Bohai Sea. The pollutants can be carried by the coastal current together with the sediment from the Yellow River, transported through the Bohai Strait and deposited in the mud zone of Northern and Southern YS. Low levels of halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) were found in the estuary of the Yangtze River and ECS, indicating that Yangtze River contributes less HFRs to the region. Riverine discharge, atmospheric deposition, surface runoff, ocean current system, and mud area deposition effects may be significant factors influencing the distributions of HFRs.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a multi-system neurodegenerative disorder. Patients with PD often suffer chronic pain. In the present study, we investigated motor, sensory and emotional changes in three different PD mice models. We found that 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-treatment caused significant changes in all measurements. Mechanical hypersensitivity of PD model induced by MPTP peaked at 3 days and persisted for at least 14 days. Using Fos transgenic mice, we found that neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were activated after MPTP treatment. Inhibiting ACC by bilateral microinjection of muscimol significantly reduced mechanical hypersensitivity and anxiety-like responses. By contrast, MPTP induced motor deficit was not affected, indicating ACC activity is mostly responsible for sensory and emotional changes. We also investigated excitatory synaptic transmission and plasticity using brain slices of MPTP treated animals. While L-LTP was blocked or significantly reduced. E-LTP was not significantly affected in slices of MPTP treated animals. LTD induced by repetitive stimulation was not affected. Furthermore, we found that paired-pulse facilitation and spontaneous release of glutamate were also altered in MPTP treated animals, suggesting presynaptic enhancement of excitatory transmission in PD. Our results suggest that ACC synaptic transmission is enhanced in the animal model of PD, and cortical excitation may play important roles in PD related pain and anxiety.

The chlorophyll ethanol-extracted silkworm excrement was hardly biologically reused or fermented by most microorganisms. However, partial extremely environmental halophiles were reported to be able to utilize a variety of inexpensive carbon sources to accumulate polyhydroxyalkanoates. In this study, by using the nile red staining and gas chromatography assays, two endogenous haloarchaea strains: Haloarcula hispanica A85 and Natrinema altunense A112 of silkworm excrement were shown to accumulate poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) up to 0.23 g/L and 0.08 g/L, respectively, when using the silkworm excrement as the sole carbon source. The PHA production of two haloarchaea showed no significant decreases in the silkworm excrement medium without being sterilized compared to that of the sterilized medium. Meanwhile, the CFU experiments revealed that there were more than 60% target PHAs producing haloarchaea cells at the time of the highest PHAs production, and the addition of 0.5% glucose into the open fermentation medium can largely increase both the ratio of target haloarchaea cells (to nearly 100%) and the production of PHAs. In conclusion, our study demonstrated the feasibility of using endogenous haloarchaea to utilize waste silkworm excrement, effectively. The introduce of halophiles could provide a potential way for open fermentation to further lower the cost of the production of PHAs.

In this study, the effects of the addition of pectin (PEC) on the physicochemical properties and freeze-thaw stability of waxy rice starch (WRS) were investigated. As PEC content increased, the pasting viscosity and pasting temperature of WRS significantly increased (p &lt, 0.05), whereas its breakdown value and setback value decreased. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that the addition of PEC increased the gelatinization temperature of WRS, but decreased its gelatinization enthalpy. Rheological measurements indicated that the addition of PEC did not change the shear-thinning behavior of WRS–PEC blends, and the storage modulus and loss modulus were positively correlated with PEC content. Moreover, the textural parameter of WRS decreased with the increase in PEC content. Furthermore, the addition of PEC decreased the transmittance of starch paste, but enhanced the freeze-thaw stability of WRS to some extent. These results may contribute to the development of WRS-based food products.

Background Breast cancer is the fastest-growing cancer among females and the second leading cause of female death. At present, targeted antibodies combined with hyperthermia locally in tumor has been identified as a potential combination therapy to combat tumors. But in fact, the uniformly deep distribution of photosensitizer in tumor sites is still an urgent problem, which limited the clinical application. We reported an HER2-modified thermosensitive liposome (immunoliposome)-assisted complex by reducing gold nanocluster on the surface (GTSL-CYC-HER2) to obtain a new type of bioplasma resonance structured carrier. The HER2 decoration on the surface enhanced targeting to the breast cancer tumor site and forming irregular, dense, "petal-like" shells of gold nanoclusters. Due to the good photothermal conversion ability under near-infrared light (NIR) irradiation, the thermosensitive liposome released the antitumor Chinese traditional medicine, cyclopamine, accompanied with the degradation of gold clusters into 3–5 nm nanoparticles which can accelerate renal metabolism of the gold clusters. With the help of cyclopamine to degrade the tumor associated matrix, this size-tunable gold wrapped immunoliposome was more likely to penetrate the deeper layers of the tumor, while the presence of gold nanoparticles makes GTSL-CYC-HER2 multimodal imaging feasible. Results The prepared GTSL-CYC-HER2 had a size of 113.5 nm and displayed excellent colloidal stability, photo-thermal conversion ability and NIR-sensitive drug release. These GTSL-CYC-HER2 were taken up selectively by cancer cells in vitro and accumulated at tumour sites in vivo. As for the in vivo experiments, compared to the other groups, under near-infrared laser irradiation, the temperature of GTSL-CYC-HER2 rises rapidly to the phase transition temperature, and released the cyclopamine locally in the tumor. Then, the released cyclopamine destroyed the stroma of the tumor tissue while killing the tumor cells, which in turn increased the penetration of the liposomes in deep tumor tissues. Moreover, the GTSL-CYC-HER2 enhanced the performance of multimodal computed tomography (CT) and photothermal (PT) imaging and enabled chemo-thermal combination therapy. Conclusions This optically controlled biodegradable plasmonic resonance structures not only improves the safety of the inorganic carrier application in vivo, but also greatly improves the anti-tumor efficiency through the visibility of in vivo CT and PT imaging, as well as chemotherapy combined with hyperthermia, and provides a synergistic treatment strategy that can broaden the conventional treatment alone. Graphic Abstract

Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) is an aggressive zoonotic pathogen that causes enteritis and diarrhea. Antibiotic therapy is still the primary method at present. However, the increasing emergence of multi-drug resistant bacteria weakens the therapeutic efficacy of antibiotics. Probiotics have been widely studied as an alternative antibiotic therapy. In this study, we established an IPEC-J2 cell model of S. Typhimurium infection, aiming to determine the protective effect of Lactobacillus johnsonii L531 (L. johnsonii L531) on S. Typhimurium infection. As our data showed, S. Typhimurium infection resulted in a robust inflammatory response demonstrated by promoted protein levels of the inflammatory-related pathway (TLR4, MyD88, p-IκBα, and p-p65), increased cytokine levels of IL-6, IL-1β, IL-18, and TNF-α, and activated the NLRP3 inflammasome via promoting its assembly. However, L. johnsonii L531 pre-incubation inhibited the activation of the above inflammatory signaling pathways and reduced the expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In addition, L. johnsonii L531 alleviated the damage of S. Typhimurium to tight junctions ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-1. In summary, our findings suggested that L. johnsonii L531 alleviated S. Typhimurium-induced tight junction injury by inhibiting the TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathway.

As novel alternatives to legacy poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), perfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids (PFECAs) have been widely detected in the environment; however, there is limited information and knowledge regarding their bioaccumulation and trophic transfer behavior along the food chain. This research presents the first known published data on the bioaccumulation and trophic transfer characteristics of PFECAs in a source-impacted estuary. Elevated PFECA concentrations were observed in organisms (for instance, conch, with perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acid (PFMOAA) concentration reaches up to 16 700 ng/g dry weight (dw)), indicating exposure risks to the consumers. Conch can be acted as a potential environmental bioindicator of PFMOAA. PFMOAA, hexafluoropropylene oxide trimer acid (HFPO-TrA) and PFOA were predominant detected in biotas. On the basis of trophic magnification factors (TMFs), PFECAs with ≥6 perfluorinated carbons (HFPO-TrA, hexafluoropropylene oxide tetramer acid (HFPO-TeA) and perfluoro (3, 5, 7, 9, 11-pentaoxadodecanoic) acid (PFO5DoA)) could be biomagnified along the food chain (TMF > 1), while PFMOAA with the least perfluorinated carbons undergone biodilution (TMF < 1). As seafood is an important dietary source of protein to human, there is a potential health risk related to the consuming polluted aquatic products.

The use of nature polymer to prepare degradable films is a sustainable production concept that can improve resource utilization and reduce the environmental pollution caused by traditional packaging waste or another field. Here, a regenerated cellulose film was prepared through the N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) cellulose system. The most critical peculiarity is that films with air barrier and moisture conduction character, because the surface of film is dense and does not allow small molecules like oxygen to pass through, but water molecules can move freely in the film by means of hydrogen bonds. This shows that the cellulose film has in textiles, food preservation, medicine and other fields. Significantly, the film has good tensile strength (maximum strength reaches 149.5 MPa) and light transmittance (more than 80% at 600 nm). Moreover, the effect of coagulation bath concentration, temperature and the content of glycerin on film strength was discussed.

Infectious bacterial and viral diseases that cause hemolysis are considered life-threatening to grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), which is a species used in aquaculture worldwide. After heme and hemeproteins (Hb) are released as a result of hemolysis, the effect of excess Hb and heme on tissues remains to be characterized. To decipher the mechanisms, after incubation with Hb, we showed that lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Hb, and heme increased the cytotoxicity and secretion of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6, chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 1 (CCL1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in vitro, which was due to stimulation of the expression of innate immune receptors, such as nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD2), toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), TLR 4, and TLR3. The formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB were important for increasing the cytokine production to induce heme, Hb, and LPS. Moreover, we confirmed that after LPS, Hb, and heme challenge, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) synthetase (GSS) also caused remarkable destruction. However, catalase (CAT) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) were strongly activated. In summary, our research findings present a framework through which heme and Hb concentrations amplify the secretions of inflammatory cytokines, which are induced by pattern recognition receptor (PRR) activation and present possible paths for immune intervention during infection with viral diseases and hemolytic bacterial.

Short- and medium-chain volatile esters with flavors and fruity fragrances, such as ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, and butyl butyrate, are usually value-added in brewing, food, and pharmacy. The esters can be naturally produced by some microorganisms. As ester-forming reactions are increasingly deeply understood, it is possible to produce esters in non-natural but more potential hosts. Clostridia are a group of important industrial microorganisms since they can produce a variety of volatile organic acids and alcohols with high titers, especially butanol and butyric acid through the CoA-dependent carbon chain elongation pathway. This implies sufficient supplies of acyl-CoA, organic acids, and alcohols in cells, which are precursors for ester production. Besides, some Clostridia could utilize lignocellulosic biomass, industrial off-gas, or crude glycerol to produce other branched or straight-chain alcohols and acids. Therefore, Clostridia offer great potential to be engineered to produce short- and medium-chain volatile esters. In the review, the efforts to produce esters from Clostridia via in vitro lipase-mediated catalysis and in vivo alcohol acyltransferase (AAT)-mediated reaction are comprehensively revisited. Besides, the advantageous characteristics of several Clostridia and clostridial consortia for bio-ester production and the driving force of synthetic biology to clostridial chassis development are also discussed. It is believed that synthetic biotechnology should enable the future development of more effective Clostridia for ester production.

Background Aroma is one the most crucial inherent quality attributes of fruit. ‘Ruixue’ apples were selected from a cross between ‘Pink Lady’ and ‘Fuji’, a later ripening yellow new cultivar. However, there is little known about the content and composition of aroma compounds in ‘Ruixue’ apples or the genetic characters of ‘Ruixue’ and its parents. In addition, the metabolic pathways for biosynthesis of aroma volatiles and aroma-related genes remain poorly understood. Results Volatile aroma compounds were putatively identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Our results show that the profile of volatile compounds changes with ripening. Aldehydes were the dominant volatile compounds in early fruit development, with alcohols and esters increasing dramatically during maturation. On the basis of a heatmap dendrogram, these aroma compounds clustered into seven groups. In ripe fruit, esters and terpenoids were the main aroma volatiles in ripening fruit of ‘Pink Lady’ and ‘Fuji’ apples, and they included butyl 2-methylbutanoate; propanoic acid, hexyl ester; propanoic acid, hexyl ester; hexanoic acid, hexyl ester; acetic acid, hexyl ester and (Z, E)-α-farnesene. Interestingly, aldehydes and terpenoids were the dominant volatile aroma compounds in ripening fruit of ‘Ruixue’, and they mainly included hexanal; 2-hexenal; octanal; (E)-2-octenal; nonanal and (Z, E)-α-farnesene. By comparing the transcriptome profiles of ‘Ruixue’ and its parents fruits during development, we identified a large number of aroma-related genes related to the fatty acid, isoleucine and sesquiterpenoid metabolism pathways and transcription factors that may volatile regulate biosynthesis. Conclusions Our initial study facilitates a better understanding of the volatile compounds that affect fruit flavour as well as the mechanisms underlying differences in flavour between ‘Ruixue’ and its parents.

Catechins are major antioxidant constituents of green tea, which have attracted much attention as human health promoters. To identify catechins, we built a chrono-colorimetric sensor array for iden...

The weight losses of cement-based material samples were often used to characterize the content of their hydration products and explain the strength changes of cement-based materials. However, the quantitative relationship has not been studied between the weight loss of hydration products and strength of cement-based materials. This paper studied the relationship between the strengths of cemented tailings backfills (CTBs) and the weight losses of its hydration products. The CTB samples have been done, especially on different binders, cement-tailing ratios, mass concentrations, and different curing ages. The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) experiments were used to test the mechanical strength of samples; X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were used to test the crystalline phases of hydration products by samples; thermal analyses (thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric (TG/DTG)) experiments were used to test the weight losses of hydration products. By means of regression analysis, the relationship model was established between the UCS of CTB and the weight losses of hydration products at different concentrations. The results show that there is a strong linear correlation between the UCS and the weight loss of the hydration product calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) for the CTB made of glue powder, while the UCS is related to the weight losses of C-S-H and Ca(OH)2 for the CTB made of ordinary Portland cement. The results acquired by this paper provide a scientific basis for studying hydration products by thermal analyses and explaining the strength changes of cement-based materials.

Nanosized Li4Ti5O12 with both a Li2TiO3 coating and C-N-Br co-doping (CLLTO) was successfully synthesized via a facile reverse microemulsion method in one step using hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide as a surface control agent and as a carbon, nitrogen, and bromine source. A uniform Li2TiO3 layer was formed on the surface and strongly adhered to the host material Li4Ti5O12 (LTO), which played an important role in improving the cyclic stability of CLLTO. The thin and stable Li2TiO3 layer has the same cubic structure as LTO, which provides many three-dimensional channels for ion transport. C, N, and Br co-doping in CLLTO promoted the transition of Ti4+ to Ti3+ in Li4Ti5O12, which could improve the capacity and facilitate the Li+ ion and electron transfer at the interface. The conductive behavior induced by co-doping was estimated by UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra and further supported by theoretical calculations. The electrical conductivity of both p-type and n-type LTO can be well improved by co-doping C, N, and Br. This improvement may be due to the band gap reduction and the increased n-type electronic modification of the entire LTO. Owing to the synergistic effect of coating, co-doping, and nanosizing at one time, the CLLTO exhibits a high discharge capacity of 177.3-153.9 mA h g-1 at the working rate of 0.1C-20C, with a capacity retention of 86%. The stable cycling of CLLTO is also obtained after 500 cycles at 20C, with a capacity retention of 95.5% (approximately 8 times higher than that of pure LTO) and almost 100% Coulombic efficiency. With high capacity, excellent rate performance, and good cycling stability, CLLTO can be applied in high-power lithium-ion batteries.

Two energetic compounds, 1-amino-1-picrylamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (APDE) and its potassium salt [K(APDE)] were synthesized through an aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction between FOX-7 and picryl chloride. APDE and K(APDE) were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. APDE has a 3D wavy layered stacking structure similar to FOX-7. K(APDE) (peak temperature (Tip )=185.6 °C and impact sensitivity (IS)=19.6 J) presents better stability than APDE (tap =133.3 °C and IS=15.7 J). The reasons why the stability of APDE is lower than that of FOX-7 and picryl chloride are analyzed. The detonation velocity (D) and detonation pressure (P) of APDE (8.36 km s-1 and 31.3 Gpa) are close to those of FOX-7 and RDX. The thermal decomposition of K(APDE) is very violent, and its detonation performance (D=9.14 km s-1 and P=38.6 Gpa) is comparable to that of HMX, indicating that K(APDE) has good potential to be a high explosive.

To detect hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and water content in dimethyl sulfoxide, the fluorescent probe (Probe 1) was used, as it not only detects H2S but also detects the water content. After H2S was added into Probe 1, the intensity of fluorescence increased and was up to 1300 times. In case the H2S concentration was in the range 0-20 μM, it was able to be detected by Probe 1, and the limit of detection was 0.851 nM. When Probe 1 and H2S underwent a reaction, the solution color had some changes. These colors changed in terms of the concentration changes of H2S, ranging from colorless to yellow. The Probe 1 test paper only needed to be exposed to hydrogen sulfide gas for 20 s for the color change to occur. Besides, Probe 1-H2S was used to detect water content in dimethyl sulfoxide which ranged from 0 to 100%. The color change of the solution was opposite to that of H2S, ranging from yellow to colorless.

In this paper, we studied the femtosecond laser induced periodic surface structures (fs-LIPSS) formation on LiNbO3:Fe crystal with the assistance of elevated temperature. Uniform deep-subwavelength fs-LIPSS with the period of 190 ± 10 nm was successfully fabricated on crystal surface as the sample temperature was at 1000 °C. And the measurement of Transmission Electron Microscopy showed that fs-laser treated samples remained crystalline. We believed that thermal excitation plays a critical role in the formation of fs-LIPSS. The initial carrier density of LiNbO3:Fe are effectively increased during this process, and high concentration surface carriers are effectively excited by femtosecond laser irradiation, which make great contribution to formation of fs-LIPSS. Moreover, we also found that the doped Fe2+ ions are conducive to the fs-LIPSS formation. The iron doped LiNbO3 crystal with uniform surface structure has great application prospects in related fields, such as on-chip photonic-integrated platforms, nanophotonics, and nanostructures for micro-fluidics.

In this paper, the effects of electron beam irradiation (EBI) on wheat germ protein hydrolysates (WGPHs) were investigated. The functional properties of WGPHs were enhanced by EBI, with the emulsifying capacity reaching its maximum value at 10 kGy. Moreover, foaming capacity reached its maximum value at 25 kGy. Additionally, EBI can enhance the antioxidant activity of WGPHs, and a dose-dependent effect was observed. Hydrolysates irradiated at 50 kGy had the greatest antioxidant activity; the DPPH and ABTS+ radical scavenging activities increased by 45.77% and 52.52%, respectively, compared to the non-irradiated sample. Additionally, surface hydrophobicity reached its minimum value at 10 kGy. After 10 kGy of irradiation, the fraction of hydrolysates with a molecular weight

A dual-function fluorescent probe (Probe 1) was developed for discriminative detection of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and hydrazine (N2H4). The 2,4-dinitrophenyl moiety was reactive with H2S and the α,β-unsaturated ketone was reactive with N2H4. The discriminative detection of H2S and N2H4 was achieved via the colour change of a solution or test strip of Probe 1-H2S and Probe 1-N2H4. The test strips of Probe 1 reacted with different concentrations of H2S to produce colour changes from colourless to dull red under natural light, and reacted with different concentrations of N2H4 to produce color changes from purple to purplish blue under 254 nm ultraviolet light. Therefore, Probe 1 could be used as a sensor to detect N2H4 and H2S.

Artificial super-hydrophobic surfaces are required for various applications. The super-hydrophobic surfaces are usually made by applying a low surface-energy organic coating on a highly textured substrate. A major problem with the as-created surfaces is their poor durability. This problem is even severer for the surfaces created by applying the organic coating on inorganic substrates. The present study reports for the first time the all-inorganic super-hydrophobic surface created by modifying the inorganic substrates with polymer-derived inorganic coating. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film was applied to an alumina substrate having flower-like hierarchal micro-nano surface texture, and then subjected to pyrolysis at 400°C in a nonoxidizing atmosphere. As a result, a SixCyOz ceramic coating with low-surface energy methyl groups was formed on the alumina substrate. The as-modified alumina exhibited super-hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 170° and a sliding angle of 5°. The super-hydrophobicity was well retained after abrasion with sandpaper and exposure to boiling water and acidic solution. The super-hydrophobic alumina demonstrated desired water repelling and self-cleaning function. The method explored in this study could also be used for super-hydrophobic surface modification of other inorganic materials such as glass and metals.

A highly enantioselective Michael addition of nitro esters to 2-enoyl-pyridine N-oxides was developed by using chiral copper catalysts. The Michael addition products can be obtained in high yields and with up to 96% ee. Moreover, asymmetric Michael addition product of nitromethane to 2-enoyl-pyridine N-oxides can be obtained in one step. An analogue of nicotine, dihydro-2H-pyrrol 4b was synthesized with this developed method.

Partial substitution of Ba by K in the Ba sites of BaGa2Se4 creates a new selenide (K0.38Ba0.81)Ga2Se4 (1), which is crystallized in the noncentrosymmetric space group I4cm, different from the centric structures of all the ternary MI-MIII2-Q4 (MII = divalent Sr, Ba, Pb, Sn, Eu; MIII = trivalent Ga, In; Q = S and Se) chalcogenides. Its 1D structure features {[GaSe2]-}∞ chains, and K/Ba occupying the interchain cavities as the counter cations. Its powder sample demonstrates a second-harmonic generation intensity which is around 0.9 times that of AgGaS2 at 2.1 μm, and a laser-induced damage threshold which is 13.4 times that of AgGaS2. DFT calculations on its electronic structure and optical properties were also performed.