A novel binding-induced DNAzyme motor triggered by survivin mRNA.

The accurate and sensitive detection of survivin mRNA is of great significance for cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, limited by the low-abundance mRNA in live cells, most strategies of survivin mRNA detection that were one-to-one signal-triggered model (one target triggered one signal) were inapplicable in practice. Here, we reported a binding-induced DNAzyme motor triggered by the survivin mRNA, which was a one-to-more signal-triggered model (one target triggered more signals), amplifying the detection signal and enhancing the sensitivity. The nanomotor is constructed by assembling several DNAzyme motor strands silenced by the blocker strands, and dozens of FAM-labeled substrate strands on a single gold nanoparticle (AuNP), forming three-dimensional DNA tracks. Through building the survivin mRNA bridge between the blocker and the DNAzyme motor strand, the binding-induced DNA nanomotor could be triggered by survivin mRNA. The operation of the DNAzyme motor was self-powered. And each walking step of the DNAzyme motor was fueled by DNAzyme-catalyzed substrate cleavage, along with the cleavage of the fluorescent molecule, resulting in autonomous and progressive walking along the AuNP-based tracks, and the fluorescence increase. The DNAzyme motor exhibited excellent sensitivity and remarkable specificity for survivin mRNA, providing the potential for cell image.

Substituent Effects on the Ultraviolet Absorption Properties of 2,4-Dihydroxy Dibenzophenone.

Substituent effects on the ultraviolet absorption properties of 2,4-dihydroxy dibenzophenone were investigated experimentally. Nine compounds of 2,4-dihydroxy dibenzophenone with different substituents were prepared by a solvent-free reaction of benzoyl chloride. The maximum absorption wavelength (λmax) of these samples was measured, and their UV resistance properties in cotton fabric as well as in polyester were determined. The results show that the λmax is dependent on the substituents at the benzylidene ring, and both electron donating substituents and electron withdrawing substituents cause a bathochromic shift. The UV resistance of fabric increases with the increase in compound concentration. The dyeing rate of each compound on polyester was higher than that of cotton. On cotton fabric, the dyeing rate of 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone was the highest, 77.8%. On polyester, that of 2,4-dihydroxy-4'-ethyl dibenzophenone was the highest, 84.1%. The study provides new insights into the effect of substituents on the properties of 2,4-dihydroxy dibenzophenone that are related to the whitening of cotton and polyester materials.

Efficient Evaluation of Concrete Fracture Surface Roughness Using Fringe Projection Technology.

The evaluation of concrete surface roughness is crucial in the field of civil engineering. The purpose of this study is to propose a no-contact and efficient method for the measurement of the roughness of concrete fracture surfaces based on fringe-projection technology. A simple phase-correction method using one additional strip image is presented for the phase unwrapping to improve the measurement efficiency and accuracy. The experimental results indicate that the measuring error for plane height is less than 0.1mm, and the relative accuracy for measuring a cylindrical object is about 0.1%, meeting the requirements for concrete fracture-surface measurement. On this basis, three-dimensional reconstructions were carried out on various concrete fracture surfaces to evaluate the roughness. The results reveal that the surface roughness (R) and fractal dimension (D) decrease as the concrete strength increases or the water-to-cement ratio decreases, consistent with previous studies. In addition, compared with the surface roughness, the fractal dimension is more sensitive to the change in concrete surface shape. The proposed method is effective for detecting concrete fracture-surface features.

Large Deformation and Energy Absorption Behaviour of Perforated Hollow Sphere Structures under Quasi-Static Compression.

Hollow sphere structures with perforations (PHSSs) in three different arrangements (simple cubic (SC), body-centred cubic (BCC), and face-centred cubic (FCC)) were fabricated through three-dimensional (3D) printing, and the mechanical behaviours of these PHSSs under quasi-static compression were investigated experimentally and numerically. The results indicated that under uniaxial compression, the PHSSs mainly undergo three stages, i.e., a linear elastic stage, a large deformation or plateau stage, and a densification stage. During the stage of large deformation, the SC and BCC PHSSs experience a preliminary compaction sub-stage after layer-by-layer buckling, while for the FCC PHSS, layer-by-layer collapse and compaction are the dominant deformation behaviours. A numerical simulation was employed to study the mechanical properties of PHSSs with different geometric parameters under quasi-static compression and to explore the effect of the wall thickness, hole diameter, and sphere arrangement on the first peak stress, plateau stress, and specific energy absorption (SEA) of the PHSSs. The results reveal that the geometric parameters have a significant impact on the large deformation behaviour and energy absorption capacity of PHSSs. The presented PHSS is also proven to be much lighter than traditional metallic hollow sphere structure (MHSS) and has higher specific strength and SEA.