Relationship Between Glucose/Lipid Metabolism and Placental Biomarkers in Gestational Diabetes and Preeclampsia.

Objective: To investigate the significance and relationship of glucose and lipid metabolism, placental resistin, and human lipid carrier protein (LCN-2) expression in pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) complicated by severe preeclampsia (SPE).

Methods: A total of 89 patients with GDM and SPE (G+S group) and 89 patients with GDM alone (GDM group) were included. Blood samples were collected to measure glucose and lipid metabolism indicators [fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), HDL-C, and LDL-C], and immunohistochemistry was used to assess placental resistin and LCN-2 levels.

Thionated Coumarins: Study of the Intersystem Crossing and the Zero-field Splitting of the Triplet State Using Time-Resolved Transient Optical and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopies.

To study the effect of thionation of the carbonyl groups in a chromophore, i.e. replacing the O atom with S atom, on the photophysics, we studied two thionated coumarin derivatives (Cou-S and Cou-6-S) with various steady state and transient spectroscopic methods.

Plasmonic Ultrafast All-Optical Switching with a Superior On-Off Ratio.

Plasmonic ultrafast all-optical switching holds great promise for advancing next-generation optical communication and optical computing technologies. However, achieving subpicosecond all-optical switching with a high on-off ratio remains challenging due to the slow dynamics of electron-phonon scattering in plasmonic materials. Here, we report an innovative method that utilizes the negative signal induced by plasmonic excited hot electrons in the transient spectrum and the positive signal caused by hot electrons excited by off-resonant pumping, both designed at the same wavelength to effectively offset slow dynamics.

Red Phosphorescence at Elevated Temperatures Enabled by Dexter Energy Transfer in Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon-Xanthone Systems.

Organic materials with red persistent phosphorescence hold immense promise for biotechnology due to their excellent tissue permeability and high signal-to-background ratios. However, inefficient spin-orbit coupling, high triplet susceptibility, and narrow energy gapspromoted nonradiative deactivations, pose a formidable obstacle to achieving efficient red phosphorescence. This study addresses these challenges by introducing xanthone (Xan)-based host-guest systems.

Autonomous robotic ultrasound scanning system: a key to enhancing image analysis reproducibility and observer consistency in ultrasound imaging.

Purpose: This study aims to develop an autonomous robotic ultrasound scanning system (auto-RUSS) pipeline, comparing its reproducibility and observer consistency in image analysis with physicians of varying levels of expertise.

Design/methodology/approach: An auto-RUSS was engineered using a 7-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, with real-time regulation based on force control and ultrasound visual servoing. Two phantoms were employed for the human-machine comparative experiment, involving three groups: auto-RUSS, non-expert (4 junior physicians), and expert (4 senior physicians).

Excited state dynamics of a Bodipy derivative with a twisted molecular structure: Combined experimental and theoretical studies.

The photophysical properties of a boron dipyrromethene (Bodipy, BDP) derivative (BDP-SA) in which one F atom at the BDP core was replaced by an O atom and condensed with salicylaldehyde were investigated. This compound has a twisted molecular structure and unusually low fluorescence quantum yield (1% in toluene). No intersystem crossing was observed with a nanosecond transient absorption study.

Regioisomerism in NIR-II-emissive semiconducting biradicals for high-performance bioimaging and phototheranostics of tumors.

Photothermal agents (PTAs) have received significant attention in medical therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Despite their tremendous development, developing PTAs is challenging when applied to a living body with deep tissue, as it usually leads to attenuated therapeutic efficiency and potential biosafety hazards. Here, we report a molecular isomerization strategy based on NIR-II semiconducting biradicals that boosts the performance of NIR-II phototheranostics.

High-Performance Overall Water Splitting Dominated by Direct Ligand-to-Cluster Photoexcitation in Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Expanding the spectral response of photocatalysts to facilitate overall water splitting (OWS) represents an effective approach for improving solar spectrum utilization efficiency. However, the majority of single-phase photocatalysts designed for OWS primarily respond to the ultraviolet region, which accounts for a small proportion of sunlight. Herein, we present a versatile strategy to achieve broad visible-light-responsive OWS photocatalysis dominated by direct ligand-to-cluster charge transfer (LCCT) within metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

Native Defect-Dependent Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics in p-Type Dopable Wide-Bandgap NiO.

NiO is a wide-bandgap p-type metal oxide that has extensive applications in optoelectronics and photocatalysts. Understanding the carrier dynamics in p-type NiO is pivotal for optimizing device performance, yet they remain largely unexplored. In this study, we employed femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy to delve into the dynamics of photogenerated carriers in NiO films containing distinct prominent native defects: undoped NiO with oxygen vacancies () and O-rich NiO (denoted as NiO) with nickel vacancies ().

Sub-picosecond biphasic ultrafast all-optical switching in ultraviolet band.

Ultrafast all-optical control has been a subject of wide-spread attention as a method of manipulating optical fields using light excitation on extremely short time scales. As a fundamental form of ultrafast all-optical control, all-optical switching has achieved sub-picosecond switch speeds in the visible, infrared, and terahertz spectral regions. However, due to the lack of suitable materials, ultrafast all-optical control in the ultraviolet range remains in its early stages.

Photogeneration and Direct Observation of a 2H-phosphirene and a Closed-shell Singlet Arylphosphenium Ion.

Phosphenium ions are highly reactive species with the formula of RR'P. Although phosphenium ions were proposed as the invaluable intermediates of various important chemical processes, the methods to generate and characterize them were very limited. In this study, a novel photoprecursor to give rise to the arylphosphenium ions, 1-(naphthalen-2-yl)phosphirane, was synthesized and investigated by femtosecond to nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopies, photoproduct analysis, and density functional theory calculations.

Effects of remimazolam and surgery on cognition in a tibia fracture mouse model.

Background: To investigate the effects of remimazolam and surgery on cognitive function and neuropathology.

Methods: We performed intramedullary pin fixation of tibial fractures in wild-type male (12-13-week-old) C57BL/6J mice under intraperitoneal anesthesia with remimazolam. Age-matched wild-type control mice received either saline or remimazolam without surgery.

Ultrasomics differentiation of malignant and benign focal liver lesions based on contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

Objectives: To establish a nomogram for differentiating malignant and benign focal liver lesions (FLLs) using ultrasomics features derived from contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).

Methods: 527 patients were retrospectively enrolled. On the training cohort, ultrasomics features were extracted from CEUS and b-mode ultrasound (BUS).

Enhancing colorimetric efficiency: nanozyme-activated peroxymonosulfate for in situ 3-aminophenol detection.

A novel colorimetric approach specifically designed to effectively identify the presence of 3-aminophenol (3-AP) in environmental water is introduced. Briefly, a nitrogen-doped carbon-supported cobalt nanozyme (Co@CN-1) was synthesized and utilized to improve the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Comparative catalytic reactions confirmed that the performance of PMS as an activator exceeds that of hydrogen peroxide catalytically by a factor of 3.

Single-Luminophore Molecular Engineering for Rapidly Phototunable Solid-State Luminescence.

Smart materials enabling emission intensity or wavelength tuning by light stimulus have attracted attention in cutting-edge fields. However, due to the general limitation of the dense molecular stacking (in solid states, especially in crystals) on photoresponsivity, constructing rapidly phototunable solid-state luminescent systems remains challenging. Herein, we present a new luminophore that serves as both a photoresponsive and a luminous group with enhanced conformational freedom to attain this goal, namely, relying on photoexcitation-induced molecular conformational change of an ionized persulfurated arene based on weak intermolecular aliphatic C-H⋅⋅⋅π interaction.

Red light-induced localized release of carbon monoxide for alleviating postoperative cognitive dysfunction.

Inflammation within the central nervous system (CNS), which may be triggered by surgical trauma, has been implicated as a significant factor contributing to postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). The relationship between mitigating inflammation at peripheral surgical sites and its potential to attenuate the CNS inflammatory response, thereby easing POCD symptoms, remains uncertain. Notably, carbon monoxide (CO), a gasotransmitter, exhibits pronounced anti-inflammatory effects.

High-level reverse intersystem crossing of charge transfer compounds: to fluoresce or not to fluoresce?

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) has been widely applied to electroluminescent materials to take the best advantage of triplet excitons. For some materials, the TADF originates from high-level reverse intersystem crossing (hRISC), and has attracted much attention due to its high efficiency for utilizing the triplet excitons. However, reports concerning the mechanistic studies on the hRISC-TADF process and structure-property correlation are sparse.

Photosensitizing metal covalent organic framework with fast charge transfer dynamics for efficient CO photoreduction.

Designing artificial photocatalysts for CO reduction is challenging, mainly due to the intrinsic difficulty of making multiple functional units cooperate efficiently. Herein, three-dimensional metal covalent organic frameworks (3D MCOFs) were employed as an innovative platform to integrate a strong Ru(ii) light-harvesting unit, an active Re(i) catalytic center, and an efficient charge separation configuration for photocatalysis. The photosensitive moiety was precisely stabilized into the covalent skeleton by using a rational-designed Ru(ii) complex as one of the building units, while the Re(i) center was linked a shared bridging ligand with an Ru(ii) center, opening an effective pathway for their electronic interaction.

Efficient intersystem crossing and tunable ultralong organic room-temperature phosphorescence via doping polyvinylpyrrolidone with polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

Polymer-based pure organic room-temperature phosphorescent materials have tremendous advantages in applications owing to their low cost, vast resources, and easy processability. However, designing polymer-based room-temperature phosphorescent materials with large Stokes shifts as key requirements in biocompatibility and environmental-friendly performance is still challenging. By generating charge transfer states as the gangplank from singlet excited states to triplet states in doped organic molecules, we find a host molecule (pyrrolidone) that affords charge transfer with doped guest molecules, and excellent polymer-based organic room-temperature phosphorescent materials can be easily fabricated when polymerizing the host molecule.

Multiple Pathways in the Triplet States Population for a Naphthalenediimide-C Dyad.

The link of an antenna dye with an electron spin converter, in this case naphthalenediimide and C, produces a system with a rich photophysics including the detection of more than one triplet state on the long timescale (tens of μs). Beside the use of optical spectroscopies in the ns and in the fs time scale, we used time-resolved Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (TREPR) to study the system evolution following photoexcitation. TREPR keeps track of the formation path of the triplet states through specific spin polarization patterns observed in the spectra.

US-based Sequential Algorithm Integrating an AI Model for Advanced Liver Fibrosis Screening.

Background Noninvasive tests can be used to screen patients with chronic liver disease for advanced liver fibrosis; however, the use of single tests may not be adequate. Purpose To construct sequential clinical algorithms that include a US deep learning (DL) model and compare their ability to predict advanced liver fibrosis with that of other noninvasive tests. Materials and Methods This retrospective study included adult patients with a history of chronic liver disease or unexplained abnormal liver function test results who underwent B-mode US of the liver between January 2014 and September 2022 at three health care facilities.

Nucleic-acid-base photofunctional cocrystal for information security and antimicrobial applications.

Cocrystal engineering is an efficient and simple strategy to construct functional materials, especially for the exploitation of novel and multifunctional materials. Herein, we report two kinds of nucleic-acid-base cocrystal systems that imitate the strong hydrogen bond interactions constructed in the form of complementary base pairing. The two cocrystals studied exhibit different colors of phosphorescence from their monomeric counterparts and show the feature of rare high-temperature phosphorescence.