Noncollinearity-modulated electronic properties of the monolayer CrI3_3

Introducing noncollinear magnetization into a monolayer CrI$_3$ is proposed to be an effective approach to modulate the local electronic properties of the two-dimensional (2D) magnetic material. Using first-principles calculation, we illustrate that both the conduction and valence bands in the monolayer CrI$_3$ are lowered down by spin spiral states. The distinct electronic structure of the monolayer noncollinear CrI$_3$ can be applied in nanoscale functional devices. As a proof of concept, we show that a magnetic domain wall can form a one-dimensional conducting channel in the 2D semiconductor via proper gating. Other possible applications such as electron-hole separation and identical quantum dots are also discussed

A Tale of Four Functions and Their Relationships with the Device: Extending Implementation Intention Theory

10.1109/TPC.2011.2182570IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication55136-5

Social complexification and pig (Sus scrofa) husbandry in ancient China : a combined geometric morphometric and isotopic approach

Funding: This work was supported by the CNRSCASS program for the training of Chinese PhD students.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Developing Dipole-scheme Heterojunction Photocatalysts

The high recombination rate of photogenerated carriers is the bottleneck of photocatalysis, severely limiting the photocatalytic efficiency. Here, we develop a dipole-scheme (D-scheme for short) photocatalytic model and materials realization. The D-scheme heterojunction not only can effectively separate electrons and holes by a large polarization field, but also boosts photocatalytic redox reactions with large driving photovoltages and without any carrier loss. By means of first-principles and GW calculations, we propose a D-scheme heterojunction prototype with two real polar materials, PtSeTe/LiGaS2. This D-scheme photocatalyst exhibits a high capability of the photogenerated carrier separation and near-infrared light absorption. Moreover, our calculations of the Gibbs free energy imply a high ability of the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction by a large driving force. The proposed D-scheme photocatalytic model is generalized and paves a valuable route of significantly improving the photocatalytic efficiency.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Association between glycosylated hemoglobin levels, diabetes duration, and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes and preserved ejection fraction: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundWe aimed to explore the intricate interplay between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) levels, disease duration, and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) characterized by preserved ejection fraction.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2022 to December 2022. A total of 114 inpatients from the Department of Endocrinology were randomly selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patients with T2DM were stratified into three subgroups, each comprising 38 patients, based on disease duration and HbA1C levels. A sub-analysis was conducted to explore variations among these three distinct groups. A control group comprised 38 age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and smoking habit-matched healthy volunteers form the Physical Examination Center of the same hospital. General demographic information, biochemical results, and echocardiographic data were collected, and correlation and linear regression analyses were performed.ResultsDiabetic patients exhibited lower E/A values (0.85 (0.72, 1.17) vs. 1.20 (0.97, 1.30)) and elevated E/e’ values (9.50 (8.75, 11.00) vs. 9.00 (7.67, 9.85)) compared to their normal controls. In the subgroup analysis, patients with a disease duration exceeding 2 years displayed reduced E/A values (0.85 (0.75, 1.10) vs. 1.10 (0.80, 1.30)) and elevated E/e’ values (9.80 (9.20, 10.80) vs. 8.95 (7.77, 9.50)) in comparison to those with a disease duration of ≤2 years, p<0.05. Among patients with a disease duration surpassing 2 years, those with higher HbA1C levels exhibited lower E/A values (0.80 (0.70, 0.90) vs. (0.85 (0.75, 1.10)) and higher E/e’ values (11.00 (9.87, 12.15) vs. 9.80 (9.20, 10.80)) in contrast to patients with low HbA1C levels, p<0.05. Multiple linear regression analysis identified HbA1C (β=0.294, p<0.001) and disease duration (β=0.319, p<0.001) as independent risk factors for the E/A value in diabetes patients. Furthermore, HbA1C (β=0.178, p=0.015) and disease duration (β=0.529, p<0.001) emerged as independent risk factors for the E/e’ value in diabetic patients.ConclusionsIn individuals with T2DM exhibiting preserved ejection fraction, the presence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is significantly associated with HbA1C levels and the duration of diabetes

NADPH oxidase mediates oxidative stress and ventricular remodeling through SIRT3/FOXO3a pathway in diabetic mice

Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are important mechanisms of ventricular remodeling, predisposed to the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) in type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, we have successfully established a model of type 2 diabetes using a high-fat diet (HFD) in combination with streptozotocin (STZ). The mice were divided into three groups of six at random: control, diabetes, and diabetes with apocynin and the H9c2 cell line was used as an in vitro model for investigation. We examined the molecular mechanisms of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activation on mitochondrial dysfunction and ventricular remodeling in the diabetic mouse model. Hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress led to a reduced expression of sirtuin 3 (SIRT3), thereby promoting forkhead box class O 3a (FOXO3a) acetylation in ventricular tissue and H9c2 cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction promoted ventricular structural modeling and conduction defects. These alterations were mitigated by inhibiting NADPH oxidase with the pharmaceutical drug apocynin (APO). Apocynin improved SIRT3 and Mn-SOD expression in H9c2 cells transfected with SIRT3 siRNA. In our diabetic mouse model, apocynin improved myocardial mitochondrial function and ROS overproduction through the recovery of the SIRT3/FOXO3a pathway, thereby reducing ventricular remodeling and the incidence of DCM

Gene prioritization of resistant rice gene against Xanthomas oryzae pv. oryzae by using text mining technologies

To effectively assess the possibility of the unknown rice protein resistant to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, a hybrid strategy is proposed to enhance gene prioritization by combining text mining technologies with a sequence-based approach. The text mining technique of term frequency inverse document frequency is used to measure the importance of distinguished terms which reflect biomedical activity in rice before candidate genes are screened and vital terms are produced. Afterwards, a built-in classifier under the chaos games representation algorithm is used to sieve the best possible candidate gene. Our experiment results show that the combination of these two methods achieves enhanced gene prioritization

Phenylpropanoid amides from Solanum rostratum and their phytotoxic activities against Arabidopsis thaliana

IntroductionSolanum rostratum, an annual malignant weed, has seriously damaged the ecological environment and biodiversity of invasion area. This alien plant gains a competitive advantage by producing some new phytotoxic substances to inhibit the growth of native plants, thus achieving successful invasion. However, the chemical structures, inhibitory functions and action mechanisms of phytotoxic substances of S. rostratum remain unclear.MethodsIn this study, to clarify the chemical structures of phytotoxic substances from S. rostratum, we isolated phenylpropanoid amides from the plant. Their structures were identified by comprehensive HR-ESIMS, NMR and ECD data. And the inhibitory functions of isolated phenylpropanoid amides on one model plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) were also investigated. In addition, the action mechanisms of active phenylpropanoid amides were revealed by antioxidant-related enzymes [Catalase (CAT), Peroxidase (POD), Superoxide dismutase (SOD)] activities and corresponding molecular docking analyses.Results and DiscussionPhytochemical research on the whole plant of S. rostratum led to the isolation and identification of four new phenylpropanoid amides (1−4), together with two known analogues (5−6). All the compounds showed phytotoxic effects with varying levels on the seed germination and root elongation of one model plant (Arabidopsis thaliana), especially compound 2 and 4. Likewise, compounds 2 and 4 displayed potent inhibitory effects on antioxidant-related enzyme (POD). In addition, compounds 2 and 4 formed common conventional hydrogen bonds with residues Ala34 and Ser35 in POD revealed by molecular docking analyses. These findings not only helped to reveal the invasion mechanism of S. rostratum from the perspective of “novel weapons hypothesis”, but also opened up new ways for the exploitation and utilization of S. rostratum