Shape-dependent adjuvanticity of nanoparticle-conjugated RNA adjuvants for intranasal inactivated influenza vaccines

Intranasal inactivated influenza vaccines can elicit mucosal immune responses that protect against virus infection. For the development of intranasal inactivated influenza vaccines, effective adjuvants inducing minimal adverse reactions are required. Generally, however, lower toxicity adjuvants have lower adjuvanticity. In this research, we fabricated nanoparticle-based adjuvants to enhance its adjuvanticity. Herein, we focused on low-molecular-weight polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid, referred to as uPIC(40:400), as a weak and less toxic RNA adjuvant. We conjugated uPIC(40:400) with different shaped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) electrostatically. Conjugation with gold nanorods, but not spherical AuNPs, markedly enhanced the adjuvanticity of uPIC(40:400), leading to the suppression of viral infection in mice. Notably, conjugation with gold nanorods did not increase the inflammatory cytokine production in dendritic cells. These data indicated that gold nanorods can provide a good platform for enhancing the weak adjuvanticity of uPIC(40:400) while maintaining low inflammatory cytokine production toward the development of intranasal inactivated influenza vaccines.

Conjugation with gold nanorods enhanced the adjuvanticity of RNA adjuvant for intranasal inactivated influenza vaccines, providing efficient protection against infection in mice.     

A high performance surface acoustic wave visible light sensor using novel materials: Bi2S3 nanobelts

Low dimensional Bi₂S₃ materials are excellent for use in photodetectors with excellent stability and fast response time. In this work, we developed a visible light sensor with good performance based on surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices using Bi₂S₃ nanobelts as the sensing materials. The SAW delay-line sensor was fabricated on ST-cut quartz with a designed wavelength of 15.8 microns using conventional photolithography techniques. The measured center frequency was 200.02 MHz. The Bi₂S₃ nanobelts prepared by a facile hydrothermal process were deposited onto SAW sensors by spin-coating. Under irradiation of 625 nm visible light with a power intensity of 170 μW cm⁻², the sensor showed a fast and large response with a frequency upshift of 7 kHz within 1 s. The upshift of the frequency of the SAW device is mainly attributed to the mass loading effect caused by the desorption of oxygen from the Bi₂S₃ nanobelts under visible light radiation.

A high performance surface acoustic wave visible light sensor with Bi₂S₃ nanobelts.     

Complimentary effects of annealing temperature on optimal tuning of functionalized carbon–V2O5 hybrid nanobelts for targeted dual applications in electrochromic and supercapacitor devices

Herein, carbon nanosphere-decorated vanadium pentoxide (C@V₂O₅) hybrid nanobelts were grown via a single step hydrothermal route with improved electronic conductivity as compared to that of pristine oxide. This hybrid nanomaterial exhibits different complimentary ranges of optimum post-growth annealing temperatures, which are suitable for dual applications either in electro-chromic smart windows or in supercapacitors. C@V₂O₅ nanobelts annealed at 350 °C appear to favor electro-chromic applications. They exhibit maximum dynamic optical transmission modulation as they switch from yellow to dark green, fast switching response, and high visible transmittance. In contrast, C@V₂O₅nanobelts annealed at 250 °C have been found to be most suitable for supercapacitor applications. They display a high specific capacity and an enhanced diffusion coefficient. Moreover, they exhibit long lifetimes with a capacity retention of ∼94% even after 5000 cycles of operation. Therefore, the obtained results clearly indicate that optimization of the post-growth annealing temperatures is very important and rather complementary in nature in terms of determining the most favorable device functionalities. It enables us to optimally tune these hybrid nanomaterials for targeted, device-specific, energy applications in either electrochromic or supercapacitor technologies simply based on the annealing temperature alone.

Herein, carbon nanosphere-decorated vanadium pentoxide (C@V₂O₅) hybrid nanobelts were grown via a single step hydrothermal route with improved electronic conductivity as compared to that of pristine oxide.     

Synthesis and electrochemical performance of NaV3O8 nanobelts for Li/Na-ion batteries and aqueous zinc-ion batteries

NaV₃O₈ nanobelts were successfully synthesized for Li/Na-ion batteries and rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) by a facile hydrothermal reaction and subsequent thermal transformation. Compared to the electrochemical performance of LIBs and NIBs, NaV₃O₈ nanobelt cathode materials in ZIBs have shown excellent electrochemical performance, including high specific capacity of 421 mA h g⁻¹ at 100 mA g⁻¹ and good cycle stability with a capacity retention of 94% over 500 cycles at 5 A g⁻¹. The good diffusion coefficients and high surface capacity of NaV₃O₈ nanobelts in ZIBs were in favor of fast Zn²⁺ intercalation and long-term cycle stability.

Compared to the electrochemical performance for LIBs and NIBs, NaV₃O₈ nanobelts electrode for ZIBs shows excellent electrochemical performance, including high specific capacity of 421 mA h g⁻¹ at 100 mA g⁻¹, good rate performance and cycle performance.     

The photoluminescence,field emission and femtosecond nonlinear absorption properties of Al-doped ZnO nanowires,nanobelts, and nanoplane-cone morphologies

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanowires, nanobelts and nanoplane-cone nanostructures have been successfully synthesized. The structural, photoluminescence (PL) and field emission (FE) properties of AZO nanowires have been characterized. The dependence of the PL properties of AZO nanostructures versus excitation laser power in the range from 1 to 12 mW and temperature in the range of 10–273 K was discussed. The PL measurement results demonstrated that the ultraviolet emission came from a near band edge emission, and two peaks in visible light region were due to deep-level emission. Moreover, the AZO nanowires have a relatively stronger ultraviolet emission than other kinds of samples. The FE measurements indicate that the turn-on field for the nanoplane-cone structure is 2.52 V μm⁻¹, which is smaller than 4.42 V μm⁻¹ for nanowires and 5.28 V μm⁻¹ for nanobelts. In addition, the nonlinear absorption properties of AZO nanowires were measured using a femtosecond Z-scan technique. The effect of morphology on the nonlinear optical absorption properties of AZO nanowires was studied. From the results, the AZO nanowires show reverse saturable absorption (RSA) behavior. Furthermore, the results show that the order of magnitude of the nonlinear absorption coefficient for AZO nanowires is ∼10⁻² cm³ GW⁻². Our results show that AZO films are a promising candidate in further optoelectronic device applications.

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanowires, nanobelts and nanoplane-cone nanostructures have been successfully synthesized.     

NH4V4O10 nanobelts vertically grown on 3D TiN nanotube arrays as high-performance electrode materials of supercapacitors

High performance supercapacitor without binders has attracted wide attention as an energy storage device. In this work, novel NH₄V₄O₁₀ nanobelts were successfully synthesized and decorated into TiN nanotube arrays by a simple hydrothermal method. The as-prepared no-binder electrode hybrids exhibited excellent electrochemical performances with a specific capacitance of 749.0 F g⁻¹ at 5 mV s⁻¹ and a capacity retention of 85.7% after 200 cycles, which makes it an appealing candidate for electrode materials of supercapacitors.

NH₄V₄O₁₀ nanobelts were synthesized and decorated into TiN nanotube arrays as supercapacitor electrode with a specific capacitance of 749.0 F g⁻¹ at 5 mV s⁻¹ and a capacity retention of 85.7% after 200 cycles.     

The aggregation of Fe3+ and their d–d radiative transitions in ZnSe:Fe3+ nanobelts by CVD growth

Transition metal (TM) doped II–VI semiconductors have attracted great attention due to their luminescence and diluted magnetism. In this study, the Fe³⁺-doped ZnSe nanobelts (NBs) were grown by a facile CVD method. The surface morphology observed via SEM is smooth and clean and the elemental composition measured via EDS confirms that the Fe³⁺ ions were incorporated into ZnSe NBs successfully. The micro-Raman scattering spectra demonstrate that the as-prepared NBs have the zinc blende structure. Furthermore, the Raman spectra of the Fe³⁺-doped NBs were compared with those of pure and Fe²⁺-doped reference samples. The former with a higher signal-to-noise ratio, an enhanced 2LO mode, a stronger LO mode redshift and a larger intensity ratio of LO/TO mode as well as the lower acoustic phonon modes confirms the better crystallization and the stronger electron–phonon coupling on Fe³⁺-incorporation. The emission of single Fe³⁺ ion, assigned to the ⁴T₁ → ⁶A₁ transition, was observed at about 570 nm. Moreover, increasing the doping concentration of Fe³⁺ ions caused the formation of different Fe–Fe coupled pairs in the lattice, which emitted light at about 530–555 nm for an antiferromagnetic-coupled pair, possibly due to the stacking faults and at about 620–670 nm for a ferromagnetic-coupled pair.

Transition metal (TM) doped II–VI semiconductors have attracted great attention due to their luminescence and diluted magnetism.     

Theoretical study on aromatic and open-shell characteristics of carbon nanobelts composed of indeno[1,2-b]fluorene units: dependence on the number of units and charge states

In this study, we theoretically investigate the aromatic and open-shell characteristics of carbon nanobelts (CNBs) composed of five- and six-membered rings. We have designed nanobelts composed of indeno[1,2-b]fluorene ([1,2-b]IF) units, which are referred to as [N]IF-CNB (N: the number of five-membered rings). The number of π-electrons, n_π, in neutral [N]IF-CNB is 7N, and thus depending on N and charge states, n_π can be 4n + 2 and 4n. Quantum chemical calculations on neutral [6]IF-CNB and [8]IF-CNB and dicationic [8]IF-CNB²⁺ have revealed that they are expected to exhibit unique aromatic and open-shell characteristics depending on n_π, there are several analogies of the electronic structures in [N]IF-CNB to those in [N]annulene. Delocalized and intermediate open-shell electronic structures of [N]IF-CNB are also useful to drastically change the third-order nonlinear optical properties. These results suggest that theoretically designed [N]IF-CNB can be attractive and challenging targets of organic synthesis for realizing novel open-shell functional conjugated macrocycles.

Dependence of aromatic and open-shell characteristics on the number of units and charged states was theoretically investigated for carbon nanobelts composed of indeno[1,2-b]fluorene units by using quantum chemical calculations.     

Atomic and electronic structure of solids of Ge2Br2PN,Ge2I2PN,Sn2Cl2PN,Sn2Br2PN and Sn2I2PN inorganic double helices: a first principles study

We report the results of density functional theory calculations on the atomic and electronic structure of solids formed by assembling A₂B₂PN (A = Ge and Sn, B = Cl, Br, and I) inorganic double helices. The calculations have been performed using a generalized gradient approximation for the exchange–correlation functional and including van der Waals interactions. Our results show that the double helices crystallize in a monoclinic lattice with van der Waals type weak interactions between the double helices. In all cases except Ge₂Cl₂PN, the solids are stable with a binding energy between the double helices ranging from 0.06 eV per atom to 0.09 eV per atom and inter-double helices separation of more than 3.33 Å. All the solids are semiconducting. Further calculations have been done by using meta-GGA with a modified Becke–Johnson functional to obtain better band gaps, which are found to lie in the range of 0.91 eV to 1.49 eV. In the case of Ge₂Br₂PN the solid is a direct band gap semiconductor although the isolated double helix has an indirect band gap and it is suggested to be interesting for photovoltaic, and other optoelectronic applications. The charge transfer between the atoms has been studied using Bader charge analysis and the DDEC6 method in the CHARGEMOL program, which suggests charge transfer from the outer helix to the inner helix.

We report the results of density functional theory calculations on the atomic and electronic structure of solids formed by assembling A₂B₂PN (A = Ge and Sn, B = Cl, Br, and I) inorganic double helices.     

Efficient and stable transduction of dopaminergic neurons in rat substantia nigra by rAAV 2/1, 2/2, 2/5, 2/6.2, 2/7, 2/8 and 2/9

Dysfunction of the nigrostriatal system is the major cause of Parkinson's disease (PD). This brain region is therefore an important target for gene delivery aiming at disease modeling and gene therapy. Recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors have been developed as efficient vehicles for gene transfer into the central nervous system. Recently, several serotypes have been described, with varying tropism for brain transduction. In light of the further development of a viral vector-mediated rat model for PD, we performed a comprehensive comparison of the transduction and tropism for dopaminergic neurons (DNs) in the adult Wistar rat substantia nigra (SN) of seven rAAV vector serotypes (rAAV 2/1, 2/2, 2/5, 2/6.2, 2/7, 2/8 and 2/9). All vectors were normalized by titer and volume, and stereotactically injected into the SN. Gene expression was assessed non-invasively and quantitatively in vivo by bioluminescence imaging at 2 and 5 weeks after injection, and was found to be stable over time. Immunohistochemistry at 6 weeks following injection revealed the most widespread enhanced green fluorescence protein expression and the highest number of positive nigral cells using rAAV 2/7, 2/9 and 2/1. The area transduced by rAAV 2/8 was smaller, but nevertheless almost equal numbers of nigral cells were targeted. Detailed confocal analysis revealed that serotype 2/7, 2/9, 2/1 and 2/8 transduced at least 70% of the DNs. In conclusion, these results show that various rAAV serotypes efficiently transduce nigral DNs, but significant differences in transgene expression pattern and level were observed.     

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) immunotherapy

Various forms of immunotherapy have been employed for the treatment of cancer patients during the past 5 years, with recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2) having been widely used in these treatment regimes. The progress of IL-2 immunotherapy is discussed.     

K-doped CeO2–ZrO2 for CO2 thermochemical catalytic splitting

Green syngas production is a sustainable energy-development goal. Thermochemical H₂O/CO₂ splitting is a very promising sustainable technology allowing the production of H₂ and CO with only oxygen as the by-product. CeO₂–ZrO₂ systems are well known thermochemical splitting catalysts, since they combine stability at high temperature with rapid kinetics and redox cyclability. However, redox performances of these materials must be improved to allow their use in large scale plants. K-doped systems show good redox properties and repeatable performances. In this work, we studied the effect of potassium content on the performances of ceria–zirconia for CO₂ splitting. A kinetic model was developed to get insight into the nature of the catalytic sites. Fitting results confirmed the hypothesis about the existence of two types of redox sites in the investigated catalytic systems and their role at different K contents. Moreover, the model was used to predict the influence of key parameters, such as the process conditions.

K-doping enhances redox properties of ceria–zirconia towards thermochemical CO₂ splitting, showing promising performances at about 7 wt% of K.     

乳腺癌环氧合酶-2和基质金属蛋白酶-2及其抑制因子的表达

目的 研究环氧合酶(COX)-2、基质金属蛋白酶(MMP)-2及其抑制因子(TIMP-2)在乳腺癌组织中的蛋白表达及其相互关系.方法 建立组织芯片平台,应用免疫组织化学S-P法检测127例乳腺癌组织COX-2、MMP-2和TIMP-2蛋白的表达情况.结果 乳腺癌COX-2、MMP-2和TIMP-2阳性率分别为81.1%(103/127)、96.9%(123/127)和60.6%(77/127);COX-2的表达与乳腺癌腋淋巴结转移和TNM分期均呈正相关(P<0.01,P<0.05),与孕激素受体表达呈负相关(P<0.05);MMP-2蛋白表达与COX-2表达呈显著正相关(r=0.290,P<0.01).结论 乳腺癌COX-2表达状况与肿瘤侵袭转移有密切关系,COX-2可能通过调控MMP-2表达来促进肿瘤侵袭转移.