Ultra-efficient frequency comb generation in AlGaAs-on-insulator microresonators.

Recent advances in nonlinear optics have revolutionized integrated photonics, providing on-chip solutions to a wide range of new applications. Currently, state of the art integrated nonlinear photonic devices are mainly based on dielectric material platforms, such as SiN and SiO. While semiconductor materials feature much higher nonlinear coefficients and convenience in active integration, they have suffered from high waveguide losses that prevent the realization of efficient nonlinear processes on-chip.

Increase in liver γδ T cells with concurrent augmentation of IFN-β production during the early stages of a mouse model of acute experimental hepatitis B virus infection.

The role of γδ T cells in acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains unclear. For the present study, a mouse model of acute HBV infection was constructed using hydrodynamic injection-based transfection of an HBV DNA plasmid (pHBV). Subsequent changes in the percentages of γδ T cells, expression of activation molecules (CD25 and CD69) and the production of the inflammatory cytokines interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) by liver γδ T cells were investigated using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS).

Dual functional oyster shell-derived Ag/ZnO/CaCO nanocomposites with enhanced catalytic and antibacterial activities for water purification.

Transforming biological waste into high value-added materials has attracted extensive current research interest in the wastewater treatment field. In this study, oyster shell-derived CaCO was used as a solid support to construct efficient Ag/ZnO/CaCO extract. As compared to binary Ag/CaCO and ZnO/CaCO, the as-obtained Ag/ZnO/CaCO exhibits excellent performance for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) with a reduction rate of 97.

Platelet activation during chronic hepatitis B infection exacerbates liver inflammation and promotes fibrosis.

Recurrent hepatitis activity during chronic hepatitis B virus infection results in fibrosis and even hepatocellular carcinoma. It is still unclear what causes acute exacerbation. As platelets have recently been identified as a significant role in inflammation, we here investigated the role of platelets in mediating liver damage in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

[How to deduce the seven basic class asci of ordered tetrads in Neurospora].

Genetic analysis is an important part of undergraduate genetics teaching and tetrad analysis is unique and integral for genetic analysis of fungi. The ordered tetrad in Neurospora is an important material for genetic analysis, which can not only be used to study recombination between genes and centromeres, but also between genes themselves, as well as study the fine cross patterns between non-sister chromatids of homologous chromosomes. However, in textbooks and related professional journals, there is a lack of specific introduction to the induction methods of the seven basic class asci used in two genes analysis.

Veliparib overcomes multidrug resistance in liver cancer cells.

Overexpression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter is one of the most important factors taking responsibility for the progress of multidrug resistance (MDR) in multiple cancers. In this study, we investigated that veliparib, a PARP inhibitor which is in clinical development, could overcome ABCB1-mediated MDR in liver cancer cells. Veliparib could significantly enhance the cytotoxic effects of a series of conventional chemotherapeutic drugs in ABCB1-overexpression liver cancer cells.

Activation of pruritogenic TGR5, MrgprA3, and MrgprC11 on colon-innervating afferents induces visceral hypersensitivity.

Itch induces scratching that removes irritants from the skin, whereas pain initiates withdrawal or avoidance of tissue damage. While pain arises from both the skin and viscera, we investigated whether pruritogenic irritant mechanisms also function within visceral pathways. We show that subsets of colon-innervating sensory neurons in mice express, either individually or in combination, the pruritogenic receptors Tgr5 and the Mas-gene-related GPCRs Mrgpra3 and Mrgprc11.

Improved second harmonic performance in periodically poled LNOI waveguides through engineering of lateral leakage.

In this contribution, we investigate the impact of lateral leakage for linear and nonlinear optical waveguides in lithium niobate on an insulator (LNOI). Silicon nitride (SiN) loaded and direct patterned lithium niobate cross-sections are investigated. We show that lateral leakage can take place for the TE mode in LNOI ridge waveguides (X-cut lithium niobate), due to the birefringence of the material.

Low loss (Al)GaAs on an insulator waveguide platform.

In this Letter, we demonstrate a low loss gallium arsenide and aluminum gallium arsenide on an insulator platform by heterogenous integration. The resonators on this platform exhibit record high quality factors up to 1.5×10, corresponding to a propagation loss ∼0.

µ-opioid receptor, β-endorphin, and cannabinoid receptor-2 are increased in the colonic mucosa of irritable bowel syndrome patients.

Background And Aims: The gut immune, cannabinoid, and opioid systems constitute an integrated network contributing to visceral sensation and pain modulation. We aimed to assess the expression of the µ-opioid receptor (MOR), its ligand β-endorphin (β-END), and cannabinoid receptor-2 (CB ) in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and asymptomatic controls (AC) and their correlation with sex and symptom perception.

Methods: Mucosal biopsies were obtained from the left colon of 31 IBS patients (45% women) with predominant constipation (IBS-C, 9) or diarrhea (IBS-D, 10) or with mixed bowel habits (IBS-M, 12) and 32 AC (44% women) and processed for qRT-PCR, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry.

miR-24 Is Elevated in Ulcerative Colitis Patients and Regulates Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Function.

Inflammatory bowel disease is characterized by high levels of inflammation and loss of barrier integrity in the colon. The intestinal barrier is a dynamic network of proteins that encircle intestinal epithelial cells. miRNAs regulate protein-coding genes.

Impact of patient and disease characteristics on the efficacy and safety of eluxadoline for IBS-D: a subgroup analysis of phase III trials.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) is a prevalent gastrointestinal (GI) disorder with a varied presentation, often overlapping with other GI and non-GI disorders. Eluxadoline is a locally active mixed µ- and κ-opioid receptor agonist and δ-opioid receptor antagonist approved for the treatment of IBS-D in adults. As IBS-D is a heterogeneous disease, factors such as patient demographics, symptom severity, and symptom pattern history can potentially inform treatment selection.

The Natural History of Labyrinthine Hemorrhage in Patients With Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

To investigate the application of inner ear 3-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (3D-FLAIR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) accompanied by inner ear hemorrhage. A total of 1252 SSNHL patients who were admitted from January 2010 to April 2018 were included in the study. The patients' clinical features, complete blood counts, coagulation profiles, audiometry data, and MRI scans were retrospectively reviewed.

Core-shell noble-metal@zeolitic-imidazolate-framework nanocarriers with high cancer treatment efficiency in vitro.

Core-shell Au@zeolitic-imidazolate-framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanostructures are reported as a nanocarrier with both a high drug payload and high cancer treatment efficiency in vitro. Impressively, when used as multifunctional drug delivery vehicles, such core-shell Au@ZIF-8 nanostructures not only exhibit light- and pH-controlled drug release properties, but also provide two synergetic therapeutic modes for cancer treatment, resulting in 98% cell-killing activity after 30 min light irradiation followed by 24 h incubation even though HeLa cells are treated only by Au@ZIF-8 nanostructures loaded with 10 μM doxorubicin hydrochloride. All these results demonstrate the promising applications of this type of core-shell nanostructure in biomedical fields.

Peptides Containing meso-Oxa-Diaminopimelic Acid as Substrates for the Cell-Shape-Determining Proteases Csd6 and Pgp2.

The enzymes Csd6 and Pgp2 are peptidoglycan (PG) proteases found in the pathogenic bacteria Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni, respectively. These enzymes are involved in the trimming of non-crosslinked PG sidechains and catalyze the cleavage of the bond between meso-diaminopimelic acid (meso-Dap) and d-alanine, thus converting a PG tetrapeptide into a PG tripeptide. They are known to be cell-shape-determining enzymes, because deletion of the corresponding genes results in mutant strains that have lost the normal helical phenotype and instead possess a straight-rod morphology.

Plasma Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptors and B7-2⁺ Extracellular Vesicles in Blood Correlate with Irritable Bowel Syndrome Disease Severity.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are composed of bilayer membranes that are released by different cell types and are present in bodily fluids, such as blood, urine, and bile. EVs are thought to play a key role in intracellular communication. Based on their size and density, EVs are classified into small, medium, or large EVs.

Negative Events During Adulthood Are Associated With Symptom Severity and Altered Stress Response in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Background & Aims: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a stress-sensitive disorder associated with dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. We studied the cumulative effect of events during adulthood on this pathway in patients with IBS.

Methods: We studied 129 patients with IBS, based on Rome III criteria (mean age 28.

The Biophysical Basis for Phosphorylation-Enhanced DNA-Binding Autoinhibition of the ETS1 Transcription Factor.

The eukaryotic transcription factor ETS1 is regulated by an intrinsically disordered serine-rich region (SRR) that transiently associates with the adjacent ETS domain to inhibit DNA binding. In this study, we further elucidated the physicochemical basis for ETS1 autoinhibition by characterizing the interaction of its ETS domain with a series of synthetic peptides corresponding to the SRR. Binding is driven by the hydrophobic effect and enhanced electrostatically by phosphorylation of serines adjacent to aromatic residues in the amphipathic SRR.

Risk and Protective Factors Related to Early Adverse Life Events in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a stress-sensitive disorder of brain-gut interactions associated with a higher prevalence of early adverse life events (EALs). However, it is incompletely understood how trauma severity or disclosure influence the risk of developing IBS or symptom severity.

Aims: To determine whether (1) IBS patients report a greater number of EALs compared with healthy controls; (2) trauma severity and first age of EAL increase the odds of IBS; (3) confiding in others reduces the odds of IBS; (4) the number, trauma severity, and first age of EAL are associated with symptom severity; (5) sex differences exist.

Association of traditional Chinese exercises with glycemic responses in people with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: There is increasing evidence showing the health benefits of various forms of traditional Chinese exercises (TCEs) on the glycemic profile in people with type 2 diabetes. However, relatively little is known about the combined clinical effectiveness of these traditional exercises. This study was designed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the overall effect of 3 common TCEs (Tai Ji Quan, Qigong, Ba Duan Jin) on glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Synthesis, structural characterization and fluorescence enhancement of chromophore-modified polyoxometalates.

Intramolecular charge transfers between π-conjugated molecules and polyoxometalate (POM) clusters have been observed in donor-acceptor systems based on organic donors and inorganic POM acceptors, which unfortunately results in a general quenching of the chromophore luminescence. The development of POM-chromophore dyads that are capable of tackling the quenching process and enhancing the fluorescence intensity of such systems remains a highly challenging area of study. A family of organic-inorganic polyoxometalate View Article and Find Full Text PDF