Rotational symmetry breaking in superconducting nickelate Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2 films

The infinite-layer nickelates, isostructural to the high-Tc superconductor cuprates, have risen as a promising platform to host unconventional superconductivity and stimulated growing interests in the condensed matter community. Despite numerous researches, the superconducting pairing symmetry of the nickelate superconductors, the fundamental characteristic of a superconducting state, is still under debate. Moreover, the strong electronic correlation in the nickelates may give rise to a rich phase diagram, where the underlying interplay between the superconductivity and other emerging quantum states with broken symmetry is awaiting exploration. Here, we study the angular dependence of the transport properties on the infinite-layer nickelate Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2 superconducting films with Corbino-disk configuration. The azimuthal angular dependence of the magnetoresistance (R({\phi})) manifests the rotational symmetry breaking from isotropy to four-fold (C4) anisotropy with increasing magnetic field, revealing a symmetry breaking phase transition. Approaching the low temperature and large magnetic field regime, an additional two-fold (C2) symmetric component in the R({\phi}) curves and an anomalous upturn of the temperature-dependent critical field are observed simultaneously, suggesting the emergence of an exotic electronic phase. Our work uncovers the evolution of the quantum states with different rotational symmetries and provides deep insight into the global phase diagram of the nickelate superconductors

DJ-1 maintains energy and glucose homeostasis by regulating the function of brown adipose tissue

We thank the members of the Yuan laboratory for critical reading of the manuscript and helpful discussion. We thank the Pathology Core Facility in the Institute of Biophysics, CAS. We also thank Dr Joyce Flemmings for the English editing. This work was supported by the grants from the strategic priority research program (XDB13030000 to WJ), the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81125010 and 81030025 to ZY), the National Basic Research Program of China (973–2012CB910701 and 2013DFA31990 to ZY) and Cross-disciplinary Collaborative Teams Program for Science, Technology and Innovation (2014–2016) from Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Key research program (KJZD-EW-L01-3 to WJ), One Hundred Talents Program (WJ) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2012CBA01301 and 2012CB944701 to WJ), as well as by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31171131 and 81370951 to WJ).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Extract of Wax Gourd Peel Prevents High-Fat Diet-Induced Hyperlipidemia in C57BL/6 Mice via the Inhibition of the PPAR γ

Wax gourd is a popular vegetable in East Asia. In traditional Chinese medicine, wax gourd peel is used to prevent and treat metabolic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. However, there is no experimental evidence to support these applications. Here, we examined the effect of the extract of wax gourd peel (EWGP) on metabolic disorders in diet-induced C57BL/6 obese mice. In the preventive experiment, EWGP blocked body weight gain and lowered serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), liver TG and TC contents, and fasting blood glucose in mice fed with a high-fat diet. In the therapeutic study, we induced obesity in the mice and treated with EWGP for two weeks. We found that EWGP treatment reduced serum and liver triglyceride (TG) contents and fasting blood glucose and improved glucose tolerance in the mice. Reporter assay and gene expression analysis showed that EWGP could inhibit peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) transactivities and could decrease mRNA levels of PPARγ and its target genes. We also found that HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR) was downregulated in the mouse liver by EWGP. Our data suggest that EWGP lowers hyperlipidemia of C57BL/6 mice induced by high-fat diet via the inhibition of PPARγ and HMGCR signaling

Comparison of pharmacokinetic profiles of seven major bioactive components in normal and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rats after oral administration of Ling-Gui-Zhu-Gan decoction by UPLC-MS/MS

A sensitive and rapid ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was hereby developed for the determination of seven components, namely, glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid, dehydrotumulosic acid, isoliquiritin, liquiritin, atractylenolide III, and cinnamic acid, in the plasma of rats after the oral administration of Ling-Gui-Zhu-Gan decoction (LGZGD). Besides, this very method was methodologically validated for specificity, linearity, inter-day and intra-day precision, accuracy, matrix effect, extraction recovery, and stability. It was also successfully used for the first time to compare the pharmacokinetic characteristics of the seven components after oral administration of LGZGD to normal rats and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rats. The results indicated significant differences between the pharmacokinetic characteristics of normal and NAFLD rats. To further reveal the different pharmacokinetic behaviors, the expressions of enzymes and transporters in the liver of normal and NAFLD rats were detected using UPLC-MS/MS. In the NAFLD rats, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1-1 (UGT1A1) and nine transporters were significantly inhibited and a positive correlation was observed between them and the AUC of the major components. The present results indicate that the pharmacokinetic differences between the normal and NAFLD rats might be attributed to the significant lower expression levels of both the metabolic enzyme UGT1A1 and nine transporter proteins in the NAFLD rats than in the normal rats. Meanwhile, UGT1A1 and the nine transporter proteins might be used as potential biomarkers to assess the ameliorative effect of LGZGD on NAFLD, which could provide useful information to guide the clinical application of LGZGD

Synthesis and Bio-Activity Evaluation of Scutellarein as a Potent Agent for the Therapy of Ischemic Cerebrovascular Disease

Scutellarein, the main metabolite of scutellarin in vivo, has relatively better solubility, bioavailability and bio-activity than scutellarin. However, it is very difficult to obtain scutellarein in nature compared with scutellarin. Therefore, the present study focused on establishing an efficient route for the synthesis of scutellarein by hydrolyzing scutellarin. The in vitro antioxidant activities of scutellarein were evaluated by measuring its scavenging capacities toward DPPH, ABTS+•, •OH free radicals and its protective effect on H2O2-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells using MTT assay method. The results showed that essential point to the synthesis was the implementation of H2SO4 in 90% ethanol in N2 atmosphere; scutellarein had stronger antioxidant activity than scutellarin. The results have laid the foundation for further research and the development of scutellarein as a promising candidate for ischemic cerebrovascular disease

Large corrections to asymptotic FηcγF_{\eta_c \gamma} and FηbγF_{\eta_b \gamma} in the light-cone perturbative QCD

The large-$Q^2$ behavior of $\eta_c$-$\gamma$ and $\eta_b$-$\gamma$ transition form factors, $F_{\eta_c\gamma}(Q^2)$ and $F_{\eta_b\gamma}(Q^2)$ are analyzed in the framework of light-cone perturbative QCD with the heavy quark ($c$ and $b$) mass effect, the parton's transverse momentum dependence and the higher helicity components in the light-cone wave function are respected. It is pointed out that the quark mass effect brings significant modifications to the asymptotic predictions of the transition form factors in a rather broad energy region, and this modification is much severer for $F_{\eta_b\gamma}(Q^2)$ than that for $F_{\eta_c\gamma}(Q^2)$ due to the $b$-quark being heavier than the $c$-quark. The parton's transverse momentum and the higher helicity components are another two factors which decrease the perturbative predictions. For the transition form factor $F_{\eta_c\gamma}(Q^2)$, they bring sizable corrections in the present experimentally accessible energy region ($Q^2 \leq 10 GeV^2$). For the transition form factor $F_{\eta_b\gamma}(Q^2)$, the corrections coming from these two factors are negligible since the $b$-quark mass is much larger than the parton's average transverse momentum. The coming $e^+ e^-$ collider (LEP2) will provide the opportunity to examine these theoretical predictions.Comment: 8 pages, RevTex, 5 PostScript figure