Metal dimer nanojunction-magnetic material composites for magnetic field sensing.

Noble metal nanocrystals are used as high sensitivity optoelectronic sensors, such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering, SERS. The sensing performance of metal nanocrystals can be further improved by forming dimer nanojunctions with strong "plasmonic coupling". Since the strength of "plasmonic coupling" is highly sensitive to the sub-nanoscale spacing between plasmonic nanocrystals in nanojunctions, nanojunctions can be used to detect external stimuli that can change the spacing of nanocrystals in the nanojunction and thus change the sensitivity of the Raman scattering spectrum.

Potential role of microRNA-503 in Icariin-mediated prevention of high glucose-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Background: Dysregulated microRNA (miRNA) is crucial in the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN).

Aim: To investigate the potential molecular mechanism of Icariin (ICA) in regulating endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis in high glucose (HG)-induced primary rat kidney cells (PRKs), with emphasis on the role of miR-503 and sirtuin 4 (SIRT4) in this process.

Methods: Single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (65 mg/kg) in Sprague-Dawley rats induce DN in the hyperglycemic model.