Westlake University

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a debilitating neuropathic facial pain disorder in which current treatments often provide incomplete or poorly tolerated relief. Microglia-driven neuroinflammation in the trigeminal system, particularly Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88) signaling, is increasingly recognized as a key driver of neuropathic pain, and network pharmacology suggests that Liquiritin, a major licorice flavonoid with anti-inflammatory actions, may target this pathway. We aimed to determine whether Liquiritin alleviates infraorbital nerve injury (IONI)-induced TN-like neuropathic pain by suppressing microglial M1-like polarization via the TLR4/MyD88 pathway, and to characterize its effects on head-withdrawal thresholds, conditioned place preference, inflammatory and pain mediators and TLR4/MyD88 signaling in vivo and in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia. Adult female ICR mice (8-10weeks) underwent infraorbital nerve injury (IONI) or sham surgery and were randomly assigned to Sham + vehicle, IONI + vehicle, IONI + Liquiritin (200mg/kg, oral) or IONI + Pregabalin (10mg/kg) groups (n=10 per group) treated once daily for 18days. Mechanical allodynia (head-withdrawal thresholds to von Frey stimulation) and conditioned place preference were assessed, trigeminal tissues were analyzed by Western blotting, immunofluorescence and flow cytometry for microglial markers, inflammatory cytokines, pain mediators and TLR4/MyD88, and TLR4 antagonist/agonist administration, LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia and network pharmacology plus molecular docking were used to interrogate Liquiritin's TLR4/MyD88-dependent actions. In IONI mice, Liquiritin significantly attenuated mechanical allodynia and increased conditioned place preference compared with IONI + vehicle, yielding head-withdrawal threshold and conditioned place preference improvements. Network pharmacology identified 92 Liquiritin-related components, 194 candidate targets, and 41 neuropathic-pain-related overlapping genes enriched in Toll-like receptor signaling, and molecular docking showed favorable binding to IL-1β (-11.2kcal/mol), TNF-α (-8.35kcal/mol) and TLR4 (-8.76kcal/mol). Blocking TLR4/MyD88 signaling with LRU alleviated IONI-induced pain behaviors and reduced trigeminal IL-1β, TNF-α, Iba1, CD32, CGRP and TRPV1 expression, whereas TLR4 agonist TEA partially reversed Liquiritin-induced behavioral and molecular changes, supporting pathway involvement. In trigeminal tissues, Liquiritin decreased TLR4 and MyD88 expression and suppressed microglial M1-like markers together with IL-1β, TNF-α, TRPV1 and CGRP; in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia, Liquiritin (100μM) and LRU (10μg/mL) reduced the production of iNOS, Iba1, CD32 and IL-1β/TNF-α, and serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities were not significantly altered at 200mg/kg, while serum creatinine increased. Liquiritin alleviated IONI-induced TN-like neuropathic pain in mice, concomitant with reduced microglial M1-like activation, decreased IL-1β/TNF-α and TRPV1/CGRP levels, and down-regulation of TLR4/MyD88 signaling in trigeminal tissues. These in vivo, in vitro and in silico data support Liquiritin as a promising neuroinflammation-modulating candidate targeting TLR4/MyD88 in trigeminal neuropathic pain, warranting further pharmacokinetic, long-term safety and translational studies.

As the core foundation of quantum mechanics, wave-particle duality and the micro-macro description gap have long been controversial. Based on the Unified Complex System Theory (UCST) particle-life hypothesis, dualistic ontology, this paper presents a self-consistent interpretive framework for wave-particle duality in gas-liquid systems. The framework discards artificial micro-macro leaps and assumes particles have life-like properties: particle nature arises from ether-based material entities, while wave nature stems from two medium vibration modes—mind-driven active vibrations and environment-induced passive vibrations. In gas, statistical superposition of active intrinsic vibrations forms de Broglie matter waves, consistent with Planck’s quantum hypothesis and the UCST gas equation. In liquid, coordinated passive forced vibrations produce classical water waves, satisfying the standard wave equation and UCST macroscopic fluid mechanics. Through active-passive synergistic dynamics, the theory achieves a continuous transition of wave-particle behavior across gas, gas-liquid coexistence, and liquid phases. It maintains consistency with classical mechanics, clarifies the intrinsic origin of wave motion, and offers a unified physical mechanism and mathematical logic for reconciling wave-particle duality across microcosmic and macrocosmic systems, complementing UCST’s unification of microscopic and macroscopic physics.

Quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) are widely recognized as a promising next-generation display technology. Yet, they face critical challenges, including the toxicity of cadmium/lead (Cd/Pb)-based heavy metals and the lack of mature, simple, and cost-effective arraying techniques. Herein, we employed heavy-metal-free red/green/blue QDs (R-/G-/B-QDs) as tricolor emissive centers to fabricate single-emissive-layer white QLEDs (SEL-WQLEDs). By regulating charge distribution and Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) in the R-/G-/B-QD mixed emissive layer (EML), the electroluminescence (EL) performance and spectrum of SEL-WQLEDs were simultaneously improved. The optimal device exhibited a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 4.9% and emitted relatively balanced R/G/B light. Furthermore, we proposed a full-color display technical route in which interference color filters (ICFs) were transferred onto SEL-WQLED pixels. Benefitting from the narrow bandpass and high transmittance characteristics of the ICFs, the resulting QLED display achieved an exceptional color gamut of 113% NTSC (National Television System Committee) and excellent viewing-angle spectral stability over a range of 0°-30°, meeting the application requirements of near-eye displays, i.e., virtual reality/augmented reality (AR/VR). Based on the technical route, we designed a Google Glass-inspired prototype and successfully demonstrated its display functionality. This work offers a promising eco-friendly technical route for developing full-color QLED displays.