Melatonin improves synapse development by PI3K/Akt signaling in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorders are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders involving more than 1100 genes,including Ctnnd2 as a candidate gene.Ctnnd2knockout mice,serving as an animal model of autis m,have been demonstrated to exhibit decreased density of dendritic spines.The role of melatonin,as a neuro hormone capable of effectively alleviating social interaction deficits and regulating the development of dendritic spines,in Ctnnd2 deletion-induced nerve injury remains unclea r.In the present study,we discove red that the deletion of exon 2 of the Ctnnd2 gene was linked to social interaction deficits,spine loss,impaired inhibitory neurons,and suppressed phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt) signal pathway in the prefrontal cortex.Our findings demonstrated that the long-term oral administration of melatonin for 28 days effectively alleviated the aforementioned abnormalities in Ctnnd2 gene-knockout mice.Furthermore,the administration of melatonin in the prefro ntal cortex was found to improve synaptic function and activate the PI3K/Akt signal pathway in this region.The pharmacological blockade of the PI3K/Akt signal pathway with a PI3K/Akt inhibitor,wo rtmannin,and melatonin receptor antagonists,luzindole and 4-phenyl-2-propionamidotetralin,prevented the melatonin-induced enhancement of GABAergic synaptic function.These findings suggest that melatonin treatment can ameliorate GABAe rgic synaptic function by activating the PI3K/Akt signal pathway,which may contribute to the improvement of dendritic spine abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders.

The Water Problem and Its Solution in Gansu, China

Based on such severe situation, we need to work out a way that enables us to analyze the current and future ability of a region to provide clean water to meet the needs of its population, and to develop a reasonable strategy to optimize the utilization of water resources in this area. This paper has worked out a resolution model and input the data of China, the United States, Russia, Laos and Afghanistan to do national testing. Then, we use the policy from “diaper incident” to do policy testing. The calculation results of the model are in conformity with the reality. Therefore, the model is effective. At last this model is used to resolve Gansu’s water problem and provide effective advices for the local government.

Low-loss and polarization insensitive 32×4 optical switch for ROADM applications

Integrated switches play a crucial role in the development of reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers(ROADMs)that have greater flexibility and compactness,ultimately leading to robust single-chip solutions.Despite decades of research on switches with various structures and platforms,achieving a balance between dense integration,low insertion loss(IL),and polarization-dependent loss(PDL)remains a significant challenge.In this paper,we propose and demonstrate a 32×4 optical switch using high-index doped silica glass(HDSG)for ROADM applications.This switch is designed to route any of the 32 inputs to the express ports or drop any channels from 32 inputs to the target 4 drop ports or add any of the 4 ports to any of the 32 express channels.The switch comprises 188 MachZehnder Interferometer(MZI)type switch elements,88 optical vias for the 44 optical bridges,and 618 waveguidewaveguide crossings with three-dimensional(3D)structures.At 1550 nm,the fiber-to-fiber loss for each express channel is below 2 dB,and across the C and L bands,below 3 dB.For each input channel to all 4 drop/add channels at 1550 nm,the loss is less than 3.5 dB and less than 5 dB across the C and L bands.The PDLs for all express and input channels to the 4 drop/add channels are below 0.3 dB over the C band,and the crosstalk is under−50 dB for both the C and L bands.

Electrocatalytic performance of CNTs/graphene composited rare earth phthalocyanines(M=La,Y,Yb,Sc)

In this study,a class of rare earth composite sandwich phthalocyanines(MPcs,M=La,Y,Yb,Sc) were prepared and compounded with graphene and carbon nanotubes to obtain MPc/Gr and MPc/CNTs composites.The electrocatalytic behaviors of MPc/Gr and MPc/CNTs electrodes were further investigated.The results show that the central rare earth metal has a large influence on the electrocatalytic performance.For the MPcs/Gr samples,ScPc with the smallest ionic radius and molecular size can be more uniformly dispersed in graphene,and the hydrogen precipitation overpotential of ScPc/Gr electrode is514 mV,corresponding to a Tafel slope of 148 mV/dec,with better electrocatalytic performance than other rare earth metal phthalocyanines.As for the MPc/CNTs composites,LaPc,which has the largest ionic radius and molecular size,is more uniformly dispersed on the surface of CNTs,so that the LaPc/CNT electrode exhibits the best LSV performance with the smallest corresponding Tafel slope(176 mV/dec).The main reason is the different binding modes of MPcs molecules in Gr and CNTs.When rare earth phthalocyanine is combined with layered graphene,the smallest size of rare earth phthalocyanine(ScPc)is more easily embedded in the graphene layer,resulting in better homogeneity of the composite,larger effective contact area and better electrocatalytic performance.In contrast,when rare earth phthalocyanine is bound to carbon nanotubes in a tubular structure,it is mainly bound by attaching to the surface or being entangled by the carbon nanotubes.In this case,the rare-earth phthalocyanine molecules(LaPc)with larger layer spacing can provide more contact area with CNTs,forming a more uniform and effective composite,which eventually provides more active sites and better electrocatalytic performance.

Nonlinear chirped pulse amplification for a 100-W-class GHz femtosecond all-fiber laser system at 1.5μm

In this work,we present a high-power,high-repetition-rate,all-fiber femtosecond laser system operating at 1.5μm.This all-fiber laser system can deliver femtosecond pulses at a fundamental repetition rate of 10.6 GHz with an average output power of 106.4 W–the highest average power reported so far from an all-fiber femtosecond laser at 1.5μm,to the best of our knowledge.By utilizing the soliton-effect-based pulse compression effect with optimized pre-chirping dispersion,the amplified pulses are compressed to 239 fs in an all-fiber configuration.Empowered by such a high-power ultrafast fiber laser system,we further explore the nonlinear interaction among transverse modes LP01,LP11 and LP21 that are expected to potentially exist in fiber laser systems using large-mode-area fibers.The intermodal modulational instability is theoretically investigated and subsequently identified in our experiments.Such a high-power all-fiber ultrafast laser without bulky free-space optics is anticipated to be a promising laser source for applications that specifically require compact and robust operation.

Spectral manipulation in a high-power ultrafast fiber laser system generating ultrashort pulses with GHz repetition rate

In this work,we demonstrate the spectral manipulation in an ultrafast fiber laser system that generates ultrashort pulses with a repetition rate of 1.2 GHz and two switchable modes—a 1064-nm fundamental laser mode with a maximum output power of 66.6 W,and a 1125-nm Raman laser mode with a maximum output power of 17.23 W.The pulse width,beam quality,and power stability are carefully characterized.We also investigate a method to switch between the two modes by manipulating the duty cycle of the modulation signal.It is anticipated that this bi-mode ultrafast fiber laser system can be a promising ultrafast laser source for frontier applications,such as micromachining,bioimaging,and spectroscopy.