Zhongfeng Xingnao prescription alleviates injury of intracerebral hemorrhage via regulating the CaMKII/NF-κB p65/NLRP3/GSDMD signaling axis.

Background And Aim: The NLRP3 inflammasome can be activated after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), triggering an inflammatory response in the brain. Chinese herbal medicine Zhongfeng Xingnao Prescription (ZFXN) is commonly used in China for intracerebral hemorrhage treatment. However, the underlying treatment mechanism of it is unclear.

Synergistic interplay of ABA and BR signal in regulating plant growth and adaptation.

Complex antagonistic interactions between abscisic acid (ABA) and brassinosteroid (BR) signalling pathways have been widely documented. However, whether or how ABA interacts synergistically with BR in plants remains to be elucidated. Here, we report that low, but not high, concentration of ABA increases lamina joint inclination of rice seedling, which requires functional BR biosynthesis and signalling.

Structural and electronic properties of SnO doped with non-metal elements.

Crystal structure and electronic properties of SnO doped with non-metal elements (F, S, C, B, and N) were studied using first-principles calculations. The theoretical results show that doping of non-metal elements cannot change the structure of SnO but result in a slight expansion of the lattice volume. The most obvious finding from the analysis is that F-doped SnO has the lowest defect binding energy.

Oriented thick films of block copolymer made by multiple successive coatings: perforated lamellae oriented lamellae.

Building 3D ordered nanostructures by copolymer deposition on a substrate implies a full control beyond the thin film regime. We have used here block copolymers (BCPs) forming bulk lamellar phases to form thick, i.e.

Indole-3-acetic acid has long-term effects on long non-coding RNA gene methylation and growth in Populus tomentosa.

DNA methylation and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate plant growth and development, but their relationship and effect on responses to the auxin phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) remain largely unknown, particularly in woody plants such as poplar (Populus tomentosa). Following treatment of 1-year-old clonal plants with 100 µM IAA, key poplar lncRNA genes showed changes in methylation, but whole-genome methylation levels showed no significant change. Moreover, 100 µM IAA inhibited growth of the 1-year-old poplar clones, possibly through the suppression of photosynthesis.

Design and synthesis of trithiophene-bound excited-state intramolecular proton transfer dye: enhancement on the performance of bulk heterojunction solar cells.

In an aim to harvest UV-near-visible (360-440 nm) photons as well as to increase the morphology in the bulk heterojunction solar cells, we report herein the strategic design, synthesis, and characterization of a novel excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer dye, 3-hydroxy-2-(5-(5-(5-(3-hydroxy-4-oxo-4H-chromen-2-yl)thiophen-2-yl)thiophen-2-yl)thiophen-2-yl)-4H-chromen-4-one (FT), which bears two key functional groups, namely 3-hydroxychromone chromophore and trithiophene backbone and is then exploited into the blends of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (RR-P3HT) and phenyl-C(61)-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). FT acts as an excellent UV-near visible absorber, which then undergoes excited-state intramolecular proton transfer, giving rise to an orange-red proton-transfer emission that was reabsorbed by P3HT via a Forster type of energy transfer. Introduction of FT to P3HT/PCBM blend films also improves the morphology of phase separated structure, in particular, enhances the interaction of P3HT chains and the hole mobility.

On the size evolution of gold-monolayer-protected clusters by ligand place-exchange reactions: the effect of headgroup-gold interactions.

To functionalize Au MPCs (monolayer-protected gold clusters), ligand place-exchange reactions provide a convenient route in which the initial capping ligands are displaced by mixing the MPCs with an excess amount of incoming ones. However, literature reports show that the diameters of the modified products do not always stay unchanged. Because of the diversity of experimental conditions carried out in the documented studies, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding concerning the size evolution.

[Detection of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy].

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique in the characterization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). However, this spectral method is subject to two obstacles. One is spatial resolution, namely the diffraction limits of light, and the other is its inherent small Raman cross section and weak signal.

Coherently aligned porphyrin-appended polynorbornenes.

Six different kinds of coherently aligned porphyrin-appended polynorbornenes derived from 5,6-endo-fused N-arylpyrrolidenonorbornenes have been synthesized. Pi-pi interactions between the pendant groups are essential for dictating the photophysical properties of the polymers and the mechanism for the stereoselective formation of polymers. Splitting of the Soret band of polymers 2a-c, which have alkyl-substituted porphyrin pendant groups, suggests strong exciton coupling between chromophores.

[Application of near-field Raman spectroscopy to nano-structure characterization].

Near-field Raman spectroscopy is a novel technology in the near-field optics, and attracts much attention of scientists because of the realization of spectral characterization of nano-structure. The technical advantage of Raman spectroscopy is described in the present review. The principle and practical technical scheme of near-field Raman spectroscopy systems are introduced.

[Investigation of phase morphology of PS/PMMA blend thin film by surface enhanced raman scattering].

Polystyrene/poly (methyl methacrylate) (PS/PMMA) was studied after the thin films were prepared on glass substrate by spin-coating from THF. Raman spectroscopy combined with microscopy was used to obtain information on the morphology and structure of the thin films. From the relative intensities of the peaks around 1 604 and 1 585 cm(-1) due to stretching of benzene rings, and 1 728 cm(-1) due to stretching of C=O for PS and PMMA respectively, the authors could define the composition of the domains in the sea-island-like phase-separated structure in the microscopic image.

Separation and identification of the phthalic anhydride derivatives of Liqusticum Chuanxiong Hort by GC-MS, TLC, HPLC-DAD, and HPLC-MS.

A simple, sensitive, and rapid method using gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectrometry (MS) is developed for the simultaneous separation and identification of the active ingredients of Liqusticum Chuanxiong Hort (Chuanxiong). Ten phthalic anhydride derivatives (PADs) are identified in Chuanxiong as 3-butylphthalide, 3-butylidenephthalide, 3-butylidene-4-hydroxyphthalide, senkyunolide A, neocnidilide, Z-ligustilide, E-ligustilide, senkyunolide F, senkyunolide-H, and senkyunolide-I. The existence of ferulic acid and vanillin in Chuanxiong extract is also demonstrated.