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Perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) have been attracting widespread attention owing to their unique advantages such as high luminance, narrow emission spectra and high color purity. However, the solution-processed fabrication method makes the deposition of multi-emitting layers of perovskite films for white PeLEDs challenging. Moreover, modulating the emission color by adjusting the thickness of the emitting layers will result in reduced optoelectronic performance of the polycrystalline perovskite films. Therefore, strategies for achieving high-performance white PeLEDs are urgently needed. This study developed a newly designed perovskite/organic hybrid tandem light-emitting diode (POTLED) by combining a bottom PeLED unit with a top organic light-emitting diode (OLED) unit. The vacuum deposition process of the OLED avoids damaging the underlying PeLED unit. Additionally, the emission color of the tandem device can be tuned by adjusting the thickness of the organic emitting layer while maintaining the optoelectronic properties of the perovskite layer. As a result, a high-efficiency green POTLED with an outstanding current efficiency of 144.2 cd A−1, an external quantum efficiency of 41.1%, and a luminance of over 32 000 cd m−2 is achieved, illustrating the feasibility and potential of the hybrid tandem perovskite-organic structure to realize high-efficiency white-color perovskite-based devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) based on quantum dots (QDs) and dye molecules have great application potential in biochemical fields. How to achieve an efficient energy transfer process has become an important research topic. Pressure can be used to regulate the energy transfer process, but its regulation on metal halide perovskite systems is rarely reported. Herein, the efficient FRET process between CsPbBr3 QDs and Rhodamine B (RhB) molecules under high pressure is investigated. Upon compression to 1.3 GPa, the FRET rate of the CsPbBr3–RhB composite reaches 0.21 ns−1 and the FRET efficiency is improved from 12.4% to 62.4%, due to enhanced spectral overlap and shortened minimum distance between CsPbBr3 QDs and RhB molecules. This study provides a strategy for achieving efficient FRET research and further promotes the development of applications based on halide perovskite molecular systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is a world-wide epidemic disease that correlates closely with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Obesity-induced chronic adipose tissue inflammation is now considered as a critical contributor to the above complications. Momordica charantia (bitter melon, BM) is a traditional Chinese food and well known for its function of reducing body weight gain and insulin resistance. However, it is unclear whether BM could alleviate adipose tissue inflammation caused by obesity. In this study, C57BL/6 mice were fed high fat diet (HFD) with or without BM for 12 weeks. BM-contained diets ameliorated HFD-induced obesity and insulin resistance. Histological and real-time PCR analysis demonstrated BM not only reduced macrophage infiltration into epididymal adipose tissues (EAT) and brown adipose tissues (BAT). Flow cytometry show that BM could modify the M1/M2 phenotype ratio of macrophages in EAT. Further study showed that BM lowered mast cell recruitments in EAT, and depressed pro-inflammatory cytokine monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) expression in EAT and BAT as well as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression in EAT. Finally, ELISA analysis showed BM-contained diets also normalized serum levels of the cytokines. In summary, in concert with ameliorated insulin resistance and fat deposition, BM reduced adipose tissue inflammation in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The contractility of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of cirrhosis with portal hypertension. The aim of this study was to research the effects of octreotide, an analogue of somatostatin, on intracellular Ca2+ and on the expression of L-type voltage-operated calcium channels (L-VOCCs) in activated HSCs, and to try to survey the use of octreotide in treatment and prevention of cirrhosis with portal hypertension complications., Methods: HSC-T6, an activated HSCs line, was plated on small glass coverslips in 35-mm culture dishes at a density of 1 x 10(5)/ml, and incubated in DMEM media for 24 hours. After the cells were loaded with Fluo-3/AM, intracellular Ca2+ was measured by Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (LSCM). The dynamic changes in activated HSCs of intracellular Ca2+, stimulated by octreotide, endothelin-1, and KCl, respectively, were also determined by LSCM. Each experiment was repeated six times. L-VOCC expression in HSCs was estimated by immunocytochemistry., Results: After octreotide stimulation, a significant decrease in the intracellular Ca2+ of activated HSCs was observed. However, octreotide did not inhibit the increases in intracellular Ca2+ after stimulation by KCl and endothelin-1. Moreover, octreotide did not significantly affect L-VOCC expression. These results suggest that neither L-VOCC nor endothelin-1 receptors in activated HSCs are inhibited by octreotide., Conclusions: Octreotide may decrease portal hypertension and intrahepatic vascular tension by inhibiting activated HSCs contractility through decreases in intracellular Ca2+. The somatostatin receptors in activated HSCs may be inhibited by octreotide.