© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Carrier multiplication (CM) is the amplification of the excited carrier density by two times or more when the incident photon energy is larger than twice the bandgap of semiconductors. A practical approach to demonstrate the CM involves the direct measurement of photocurrent in the device. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/autophinib.html Specifically, photocurrent measurement in quantum dots (QDs) is typically limited by high contact resistance and long carrier-transfer length, which yields a low CM conversion efficiency and high CM threshold energy. Here, the local photocurrent is measured to evaluate the CM quantum efficiency from a QD-attached Au tip of a conductive atomic force microscope (CAFM) system. The photocurrent is efficiently measured between the PbS QDs anchored on a Au tip and a graphene layer on a SiO2 /Si substrate as a counter electrode, yielding an extremely short channel length that reduces the contact resistance. The quantum efficiency extracted from the local photocurrent data with an incident photon energy exhibits a step-like behavior. More importantly, the CM threshold energy is as low as twice the bandgap, which is the lowest threshold energy of optically observed QDs to date. This enables the CAFM-based photocurrent technique to directly evaluate the CM conversion efficiency in low-dimensional materials. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Reaction of (R)-3,3'-diformyl-1,1'-bi-2-naphthol with concentrated sulfuric acid gives the corresponding 6,6'-disulfonated compound (R)- 2 selectively. This provides a simple and efficient method to convert a water insoluble compound to a water soluble fluorescent probe. It is found that (R)- 2 in combination with Zn2+ shows highly enantioselective fluorescent response toward various amino acids in the aqueous HEPES buffer solution at pH = 7.4. For example, an enantioselective fluorescence enhancement ratio [ef = ΔID /ΔIL] up to 35.8 is observed for the recognition of asparagine. NMR and mass spectroscopic investigations are conducted to explore the reaction of (R)- 2 with asparagine. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.BACKGROUND AND AIM Chronic inflammation links closely to insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Macrophage M1 activation plays an important role in the initiation and continuing of pro-inflammatory response of NAFLD. Our study was to investigate whether macrophage M1/M2 polarization switching would affect hepatic inflammation and lipid metabolism through modulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-γ) activity in vivo and in vitro. METHODS RAW264.7 macrophages were treated with different fatty acids, and cell culture supernatants were collected to prepare conditioned media (CM). Different co-culture systems between primary hepatocytes and CM from macrophages were established. A PPAR-γ agonist or antagonist was administered to regulate PPAR-γ activity and macrophage polarization. M1/M2 phenotype markers, inflammatory signaling pathway, and lipid-related genes expression were determined. Wild-type C57BL/6 mice were fed a high-fat diet to induthe TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway is closely linked to dysregulated lipid metabolism in NAFLD. © 2020 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.BACKGROUND Gastrointestinal microbiota can be influenced by several factors, including diet and systemic inflammation, and in turn could act as a modulator of the allergic response. Fecal microbiota of horses with asthma has not been described. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES Analyze the bacterial fecal microbiota of horses with and without asthma under different environment and diet conditions, during both remission and exacerbation. METHODS Prospective observational study. Feces from 6 asthmatic and 6 healthy horses were collected under 3 different conditions on pasture, housed indoors receiving good quality hay ("good hay"), and housed indoors receiving poor quality hay ("dusty hay"). Sequencing was performed using an Illumina MiSeq platform and data were processed using the software mothur v.1.41.3 and LEfSe. RESULTS In horses with asthma, low-abundance bacteria were more affected by changes in environment and diet (ie, when horses were experiencing an exacerbation), as shown by changes in membership and results from the LEfSe analysis. There was a significant increase in the relative abundance of Fibrobacter in healthy horses eating hay, a change that was not observed in horses with asthma. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE The intestinal microbiota of horses with asthma does not adapt in the same way to changes in diet and environment compared to the microbiota of healthy horses. Mechanisms explaining how airway obstruction and inflammation could influence the intestinal microbiota and how in turn this microbiota could modulate systemic inflammation in asthmatic horses deserves further investigation. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.We present a 47-year-old woman with a 10-year disease course consisting of episodic confusion, aphasia, psychosis, depression, migrainous headaches and seizures. There was mild elevation of protein levels in the cerebrospinal fluid, progressive cerebral atrophy, and numerous small T1 hypointensities appearing as central "holes" in the corpus callosum on magnetic resonance imaging. She eventually expired due to status epilepticus and subsequent significant respiratory complications. In the central nervous system, there was generalized brain atrophy, and patchy labeling of blood vessels by antibodies to complement component 4d (C4d) and membrane attack complex. Innumerable small patches with loss of cell bodies (neurons and glial cells in gray matter and glial cells in white matter) and demyelination were scattered throughout the brain and spinal cord. There was no cavitation and the passing axons were mostly preserved. Large solid calcified foci were present predominantly in the pons along with disseminated focal calcification involving neuron cell bodies, neurites, and capillaries.