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Semiconductor mixed-halide perovskites featured with a tunable energy bandgap are ideal candidates for light absorbers in tandem solar cells as well as fluorescent materials in light-emitting diodes and nanoscale lasers. These device advancements are currently hindered by the light-induced phase segregation effect, whereby ion migration would yield smaller-bandgap domains with red-shifted photoluminescence. Here we show that upon laser excitation all-inorganic mixed-halide nanocrystals unexpectedly exhibit a blue shift in the photoluminescence peak that can revert back in the dark, thus depicting the processes of ion migration out of and back to the originally excited nanocrystals. Interestingly, this reversible photoluminescence shift can also be induced by electrical biasing of mixed-halide nanocrystals without the injection of charge carriers. The above findings suggest that it is the local electric field that breaks the ionic bonds in mixed-halide nanocrystals, which could be a universal origin for light-induced phase segregation observed in other mixed-halide perovskite materials. Mixed-halide perovskites possess excellent semiconductor properties but suffer severely from notorious light-induced phase segregation effect. Here Zhang et al. employ simple photoluminescence measurements to link the effect to the local electric field induced ion migration process.

The cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway is pivotal in immunotherapy. Several agonists and inhibitors of the cGAS-STING pathway have been developed and evaluated for the treatment of various diseases. The agonists aim to activate STING, with cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) being the most common, while the inhibitors aim to block the enzymatic activity or DNA binding ability of cGAS. Meanwhile, non-CDN compounds and cGAS agonists are also gaining attention. The omnipresence of the cGAS-STING pathway in vivo indicates that its overactivation could lead to undesired inflammatory responses and autoimmune diseases, which underscores the necessity of developing both agonists and inhibitors of the cGAS-STING pathway. This review describes the molecular traits and roles of the cGAS-STING pathway and summarizes the development of cGAS-STING agonists and inhibitors. The information is supposed to be conducive to the design of novel drugs for targeting the cGAS-STING pathway.

Artificial photosynthesis, light-driving CO 2 conversion into hydrocarbon fuels, is a promising strategy to synchronously overcome global warming and energy-supply issues. The quaternary AgInP 2 S 6 atomic layer with the thickness of ~ 0.70 nm were successfully synthesized through facile ultrasonic exfoliation of the corresponding bulk crystal. The sulfur defect engineering on this atomic layer through a H 2 O 2 etching treatment can excitingly change the CO 2 photoreduction reaction pathway to steer dominant generation of ethene with the yield-based selectivity reaching ~73% and the electron-based selectivity as high as ~89%. Both DFT calculation and in-situ FTIR spectra demonstrate that as the introduction of S vacancies in AgInP 2 S 6 causes the charge accumulation on the Ag atoms near the S vacancies, the exposed Ag sites can thus effectively capture the forming *CO molecules. It makes the catalyst surface enrich with key reaction intermediates to lower the C-C binding coupling barrier, which facilitates the production of ethene. CO 2 conversion driven by light is a promising strategy to synchronously overcome global warming and energy-supply issues. Here the authors show that the sulfur defect engineering on a quaternary AgInP2S6 atomic layer can excitingly change the CO 2 photoreduction reaction pathway to the generation of ethene.

Due to the complex core–shell structure and variety of surface functional groups, the photoluminescence (PL) mechanism of carbon dots (CDs) remain unclear. o-Phenylenediamine (oPD), as one of the most common precursors for preparing red emissive CDs, has been extensively studied. Interestingly, most of the red emission CDs based on oPD have similar PL emission characteristics. Herein, we prepared six different oPD-based CDs and found that they had almost the same PL emission and absorption spectra after purification. Structural and spectral characterization indicated that they had similar carbon core structures but different surface polymer shells. Furthermore, single-molecule PL spectroscopy confirmed that the multi-modal emission of those CDs originated from the transitions of different vibrational energy levels of the same PL center in the carbon core. In addition, the phenomenon of “spectral splitting” of single-particle CDs was observed at low temperature, which confirmed these oPD-based CDs were unique materials with properties of both organic molecules and quantum dots. Finally, theoretical calculations revealed their potential polymerization mode and carbon core structure. Moreover, we proposed the PL mechanism of red-emitting CDs based on oPD precursors; that is, the carbon core regulates the PL emission, and the polymer shell regulates the PL intensity. Our work resolves the controversy on the PL mechanism of oPD-based red CDs. These findings provide a general guide for the mechanism exploration and structural analysis of other types of CDs.

Platinum-based anticancer drugs represented by cisplatin play important roles in the treatment of various solid tumors. However, their applications are largely compromised by drug resistance and side effects. Much effort has been made to circumvent the drug resistance and general toxicity of these drugs. Among multifarious designs, monofunctional platinum(II) complexes with a general formula of [Pt(3A)Cl]+ (A: Ammonia or amine) stand out as a class of “non-traditional” anticancer agents hopeful to overcome the defects of current platinum drugs. This review aims to summarize the development of monofunctional platinum(II) complexes in recent years. They are classified into four categories: fluorescent complexes, photoactive complexes, targeted complexes, and miscellaneous complexes. The intention behind the designs is either to visualize the cellular distribution, or to reduce the side effects, or to improve the tumor selectivity, or inhibit the cancer cells through non-DNA targets. The information provided by this review may inspire researchers to conceive more innovative complexes with potent efficacy to shake off the drawbacks of platinum anticancer drugs.

We analyzed national mortality from Acute pancreatitis (AP) in United States (US) adults from 2006–2023 using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) Underlying Cause of Death database to compare alcoholic AP (AAP) and non-alcoholic AP (non-AAP) across demographic and geographic groups. During this period, there were 52,904 AP deaths, including 6,759 AAP deaths and 46,145 non-AAP deaths. Overall, AP age-adjusted mortality rate (AAMR) declined from 1.54 to 1.19 per 100,000, and non-AAP AAMR declined from 1.38 to 0.99 per 100,000. In contrast, AAP AAMR increased from 0.13 to 0.23 per 100,000, and AAP deaths rose by more than 60 percent. Crude mortality fell in adults aged 75 years and older but increased in adults aged 25 to 44 years, especially for AAP. AAP deaths increased in both males and females and in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. These findings show that while non-AAP mortality continues to decline, AAP mortality is increasing and represents a growing, largely preventable source of premature death that warrants targeted prevention, improved access to alcohol use treatment, and community-level policies addressing harmful drinking behaviors, with particular concern for younger adults entering their peak working years.

The clinical applications of magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) have been largely hindered by the poor magnetic-to-thermal conversion efficiency of MHT agents. Herein, we develop a facile and efficient strategy for engineering encapsulin-produced magnetic iron oxide nanocomposites (eMIONs) via a green biomineralization procedure. We demonstrate that eMIONs have excellent magnetic saturation and remnant magnetization properties, featuring superior magnetic-to-thermal conversion efficiency with an ultrahigh specific absorption rate of 2390 W/g to overcome the critical issues of MHT. We also show that eMIONs act as a nanozyme and have enhanced catalase-like activity in the presence of an alternative magnetic field, leading to tumor angiogenesis inhibition with a corresponding sharp decrease in the expression of HIF-1α. The inherent excellent magnetic-heat capability, coupled with catalysis-triggered tumor suppression, allows eMIONs to provide an MRI-guided magneto-catalytic combination therapy, which may open up a new avenue for bench-to-bed translational research of MHT. The clinical application of magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) is limited by the poor magnetic-to-thermal conversion efficiency of MHT agents. Here, the authors develop encapsulin-produced magnetic iron oxide nanocomposites (eMIONs) with excellent magnetic-heat capability and catalysis-triggered tumor suppression ability to overcome the critical issues of MHT.

The development of precision nanomedicines to direct nanostructure-based reagents into tumour-targeted areas remains a critical challenge in clinics. Chemical reaction-mediated localization in response to tumour environmental perturbations offers promising opportunities for rational design of effective nano-theranostics. Here, we present a unique microenvironment-sensitive strategy for localization of peptide-premodified upconversion nanocrystals (UCNs) within tumour areas. Upon tumour-specific cathepsin protease reactions, the cleavage of peptides induces covalent cross-linking between the exposed cysteine and 2-cyanobenzothiazole on neighbouring particles, thus triggering the accumulation of UCNs into tumour site. Such enzyme-triggered cross-linking of UCNs leads to enhanced upconversion emission upon 808 nm laser irradiation, and in turn amplifies the singlet oxygen generation from the photosensitizers attached on UCNs. Importantly, this design enables remarkable tumour inhibition through either intratumoral UCNs injection or intravenous injection of nanoparticles modified with the targeting ligand. Our strategy may provide a multimodality solution for effective molecular sensing and site-specific tumour treatment. Directing nanomedicines to desired locations - such as tumour sites - is difficult to achieve selectively. Here, the authors develop a method to covalently crosslink peptide-modified upconversion nanocrystals into tumour sites for photodynamic therapy and show in vivo tumour inhibition in mice.

Hybrid metal/semiconductor nano-heterostructures with strong exciton-plasmon coupling have been proposed for applications in hot carrier optoelectronic devices. However, the performance of devices based on this concept has been limited by the poor efficiency of plasmon-hot electron conversion at the metal/semiconductor interface. Here, we report that the efficiency of interfacial hot excitation transfer can be substantially improved in hybrid metal semiconductor nano-heterostructures consisting of perovskite semiconductors. In Ag–CsPbBr 3 nanocrystals, both the plasmon-induced hot electron and the resonant energy transfer processes can occur on a time scale of less than 100 fs with quantum efficiencies of 50 ± 18% and 15 ± 5%, respectively. The markedly high efficiency of hot electron transfer observed here can be ascribed to the increased metal/semiconductor coupling compared with those in conventional systems. These findings suggest that hybrid architectures of metal and perovskite semiconductors may be excellent candidates to achieve highly efficient plasmon-induced hot carrier devices. Proposed devices exploiting the strong exciton-plasmon coupling are limited by the low efficiency of hot carrier generation. Here, Huang et al. study the efficiencies of different plasmon-hot electron conversion processes in metal/perovskite semiconductor nanocrystals to address this problem.

Background Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is considered a standard therapy for individuals diagnosed with early gastric cancer (EGC) who demonstrate minimal risk of lymph node metastasis. This study aims to compare the efficacy and safety of ESD for EGC versus surgery for EGC in young patients ≤ 45 years old, assess ESD outcomes and effectiveness across different age groups, and evaluate post-treatment quality of life (QoL) in young patients undergoing ESD or surgery. Materials and methods This multicenter study retrospectively analyzed data from January 2015 to December 2022, comparing ESD and surgery outcomes, post-treatment QoL in young patients (≤ 45 years), and assessing ESD efficacy across age groups (≤ 45, 46–65, > 65 years). Results Among 154 young patients, 41 underwent ESD, and 113 had surgery, with ESD showing comparable overall survival (OS) 97.6% and disease-free survival (DFS) 97.6% to surgery (OS: 99.1%, DFS: 99.1%) without significant differences ( p  > 0.05). Across 833 patients who underwent ESD for EGC, ESD demonstrated high efficacy in all age groups, with consistent DFS rates ( p  = 0.575) and high OS rates (97.6% for ≤ 45, 99.3% for 46–65, 97.6% for > 65). Regarding post-treatment QoL, ESD resulted in fewer complications, such as nausea ( p  = 0.001) and diarrhea ( p  = 0.043), than surgery. ESD patients also maintained stable weight and BMI, unlike surgery patients who experienced reductions. Conclusion ESD is a safe and effective treatment for EGC in young patients, providing comparable survival outcomes to surgery and offering better post-treatment QoL, which is especially beneficial for young patients due to its effectiveness and favorable impact on QoL.