Correlation between PDGF-BB and M1-type macrophage in inflammatory bowel disease: a case-control study.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease in which macrophages play an important role in its pathogenesis. Platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) secreted by macrophages is involved in the repair of vascular endothelial injury during inflammatory reactions.

Methods: The expression levels of M1 macrophages and PDGF-BB in serum and colonic mucosa of 30 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and 30 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and immunohistochemistry.

Three-Photon AIE Pt(II) Complexes as Cysteine-Targeting Theranostic Agents for Tumor Imaging and Chemotherapy.

Herein, we have synthesized a series of three-photon fluorescent Pt(II) complexes targeting a tumor-associated biothiol, cysteine (Cys), which allows it to be detected without any interference from other intracellular proteins. We focused on how to significantly improve the fluorescence response of Cys regulating the recognition units in probes. The reaction of KPtCl with or in DMSO solution gave and , respectively, which present four-coordinated square-planar geometries in mononuclear structures.

A cyclometallated iridium(III) complex with multi-photon absorption properties as an imaging-guided photosensitizer.

Conventional photosensitizers (PSs) often have shorter excitation wavelengths and poor cancer cell targeting, resulting in a limited tissue penetration depth and increased biotoxicity, which are significant barriers to ensuring effective photodynamic therapy (PDT) In this work, a cyclometallated iridium(III) complex (Ir-Biotin) with a long excitation wavelength and effective cancer cell targeting was designed and synthesized. The initial assessment indicated that Ir-Biotin shows excellent PDT activity with a high singlet-oxygen (O) generation yield (0.19) due to the facilitated intersystem crossing process.

Angularly anisotropic tunability of upconversion luminescence by tuning plasmonic local-field responses in gold nanorods antennae with different configurations.

Optical polarization has attracted considerable research attention by extra detection dimension in angular space, flourishing modern optoelectronic applications. Nonetheless, purposive polarization controlling at nanoscales and even at the single-particle level constitutes a challenge. Plasmonic nanoantenna opens up new perspectives in polarization state modification.

Polarization control of plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials with reversibly convertible bright and dark modes.

We numerically demonstrate a -shaped metal-based metamaterial to realize an active polarization-controlled plasmon-induced transparency (PIT). The metamaterial unit cell contains two horizontal Au bars and a vertical Au bar. Simply by varying the incident light polarization, a tunable PIT can be achieved due to the reversible conversion of bright and dark modes between the horizontal and vertical Au bars.

Plasmon Enhanced Second Harmonic Generation from ZnO Nanofilms on Vertical Au Nanorod Arrays.

Vertically aligned gold nanorod arrays have attracted much attention for their fascinating optical properties. Different from longitudinal surface plasmon wavelength (LSPW) and edge-to-edge spacing of gold nanorods, the role of gold nanorod diameter in plasmonic enhancement ability of vertical gold nanorod arrays has rarely been explored. In this work, we selected gold nanorods with similar LSPW but two different diameters (22 and 41 nm), the optical properties of which are dominated by absorption and scattering cross sections, respectively.

Association between Allergic Diseases and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Retrospective Study.

Background: The relationship between allergic disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the potential association as well as the underlying immunological mechanisms.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study of 108 atopic patients from among outpatients in an allergy clinic (allergic rhinitis [AR], n = 49; chronic urticaria [CU], n = 59) and 74 controls from among ward companions was conducted from November 2016 to March 2017.

A case-control study: Association between serum neuregulin 4 level and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a great health burden. Neuregulin 4 (Nrg4) is a recently identified secret factor that may be associated with NAFLD.

Aim: To investigate the association between serum Nrg4 level and NAFLD by conducting a case-control study.

Serum periostin is a potential biomarker for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a case-control study.

Recent animal studies support close associations of Periostin with hepatosteatosis and steatohepatitis. This study is to evaluate the role of serum periostin in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A hospital-based age-/sex-matched case-control study was conducted.