Immune repertoire analysis of normal Chinese donors at different ages.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the characteristics of the immune repertoire in normal Chinese individuals of different ages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, all seven receptor chains from both B and T cells in peripheral blood of 16 normal Chinese individuals from two age groups were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing and dimer-avoided multiplex PCR amplification. Normal in this study is defined as no chronic, infectious or autoimmune disease within 6 months prior to blood draw. RESULTS: We found that compared with the younger group, the clonal expression of T-cell receptor repertoire increased in the older group, while diversity decreased. In addition, we found that the T-cell receptor repertoire was more significantly affected by age than the B-cell receptor repertoire, including significant differences in the use of the unique TCR-alpha and TCR-beta V-J gene combinations, in the two groups of normal participants. We further analyzed the degree of complementarity determining region 3 sequence sharing between the two groups, and found shared TCR-alpha, TCR-gamma, immunoglobulin-kappa and immunoglobulin-lambda chain complementarity determining region 3 sequences in all subjects. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our study gives us a better understanding of the immune repertoire of different normal Chinese people, and these results can be applied to the treatment of age-related diseases. Immune repertoire analysis also allows us to observe participant's wellness, aiding in early-stage diagnosis.

Rational design of a cobalt sulfide nanoparticle-embedded flexible carbon nanofiber membrane electrocatalyst for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries.

Both the sluggish redox kinetics and severe polysulfide shuttling behavior hinders the commercialization of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery. To solve these obstacles, we design a cobalt sulfide nanoparticle-embedded flexible carbon nanofiber membrane (denoted as CoS2@NCF) as sulfiphilic functional interlayer materials. The hierarchically porous structure of carbon nanofiber is conducive to immobilizing sulfur species and facilitating lithium-ion penetration. Moreover, electrocatalytic CoS2nanoparticles can significantly enhance the catalytic effect, achieving favorable adsorption-diffusion-conversion interface of polysulfide. Combined with these synergistic features, the assembled Li-S cell with CoS2@NCF interlayer exhibited a great discharge capacity of 950.9 mAh g-1with prolonged cycle lifespan at 1 C (maintained 648.1 mAh g-1over 500 cycles). This multifunctional interlayer material used in this contribution provides an advanced route for developing high-energy-density Li-S battery.

Prussian blue analogs derived Fe-Ni-P@nitrogen-doped carbon composites as sulfur host for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have drawn a lot of attention owing to the high theoretical capacity of 1675 mAh g-1, environmental friendliness and relative abundance of sulfur. Nevertheless, the severe dissolution and migration of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and poor conductivity of sulfur greatly hinder the practical application of Li-S batteries. In this work, Fe-Ni-P@nitrogen-doped carbon (named as Fe-Ni-P@NC) derived from Fe-Ni Prussian blue analog (Fe-Ni PBA) was used as highly efficient sulfur host for Li-S batteries. The Fe-Ni-P particles not only enhance the adsorption of LiPSs but also effectively promote the conversion of LiPSs. In addition, the CN- of PBAs can readily generate nitrogen-doped carbon during pyrolysis, which can improve the conductivity of composites. Due to these advantages, Li-S batteries using S@Fe-Ni-P@NC composites cathodes exhibited good electrochemical performance with outstanding rate capability and stable cycling over 500 cycles with a lower capacity fading rate of 0.08% per cycle at 1 C.

Development of an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Based on Fusion VP2332-452 Antigen for Detecting Antibodies against Aleutian Mink Disease Virus.

For detection of Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) antibodies, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed using the recombinant VP2332-452 protein as an antigen. Counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) was used as a reference test to compare the results of the ELISA and Western blotting (WB); the specificity and sensitivity of the VP2332-452 ELISA were 97.9% and 97.3%, respectively, which were higher than those of WB. Therefore, this VP2332-452 ELISA may be a preferable method for detecting antibodies against AMDV.