Does the active hydrogen atom in the hydantoin anion affect the physical properties, CO2 capture and conversion of ionic liquids?

Compared to the effect of the active hydrogen atom in the cation in protic ionic liquids (ILs) on their properties and applications, there are very few reports on the role of the active hydrogen atom in the anion. In order to better understand the role of the active hydrogen atom in the anion, the physical properties, CO2 capture and conversion of three hydantoin-based anion-functionalized ILs ([P4442][Hy], [P4442]2[Hy], and [HDBU][Hy]) have been investigated via experiments, spectroscopy, and DFT calculations in this work. The results show that the active hydrogen atom in the anion can form anionic hydrogen bonding networks, which significantly increase the melting point and viscosity and decrease the basicity of the IL, thereby weakening its ability to capture and convert CO2. Interestingly, [P4442][Hy] undergoes a solid/liquid two-phase transition during CO2 absorption/desorption due to the formation of quasi-intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the active hydrogen atom and the O- atom of the absorbed CO2, suggesting that the presence of the active hydrogen atom gives [P4442][Hy] the potential to be an excellent molecular switch. As there is no active hydrogen atom in the anion of [P4442]2[Hy], it shows excellent CO2 capture and conversion performance through the double-site interaction. [HDBU][Hy] shows the weakest catalytic CO2 conversion due to the presence of active hydrogen atoms on both its anion and cation. Therefore, the active hydrogen atom in the anion may play a more important role in the properties and potential applications of ILs than the active hydrogen atom in the cation.

Ultrasensitive refractometer based on helical long-period fiber grating near the dispersion turning point.

Precise and accurate measurements of the optical refractive index (RI) for liquids are increasingly finding applications in biochemistry and biomedicine. Here, we demonstrate a dual-resonance helical long-period fiber grating (HLPFG) near the dispersion turning point (DTP), which exhibits an ultrahigh RI sensitivity (∼25546 nm/RIU at ∼1.440). The achieved RI sensitivity is, to the best of our knowledge, more than one order of magnitude higher than a conventional HLPFG. The ultrahigh RI sensitivity can improve the RI measurement precision and accuracy significantly. Furthermore, ultralow wavelength shifts (nearly zero) with temperature and strain ranging from 20 to 100°C and 0 to 2226 µÎµ, respectively, are also demonstrated for the proposed HLPFG, which may be a good candidate for developing new low-cross-talk sensors.

Association of mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymes with the risk and mortality of sepsis among Chinese children.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a leading cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to explore the association of decreased mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme activities with the risk for pediatric sepsis, and explore their association with mortality among affected children. METHODS: A total of 50 incident cases with sepsis and 49 healthy controls participated in this study. The level of serum coenzyme Q10 was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, and selected mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymes in WBC were measured using spectrophotometric. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The levels of CoQ10, complex II, complex I + III and FoF1-ATPase were significantly higher in healthy controls than in children with sepsis (p < 0.001, = 0.004, < 0.001 and < 0.001, respectively). In children with sepsis, levels of CoQ10 and complex I + III were significantly higher in survived cases than in deceased cases (p < 0.001). Per 0.05 µmol/L, 50 nmol/min.mg and 100 nmol/min.mg increment in CoQ10, complex I + III and FoF1-ATPase were associated with significantly lowered risk of having sepsis, even after adjusting for confounding factors (OR = 0.85, 0.68 and 0.04, p = 0.001, < 0.001 and < 0.001, respectively). Per 0.05 µmol/L and 50 nmol/min.mg increment in CoQ10 and complex I + III was associated with significantly lowered risk of dying from sepsis during hospitalization, and significance retained after adjustment (OR = 0.73 and 0.76, 95% CI: 0.59 to 0.90 and 0.64 to 0.89, p = 0.004 and 0.001, respectively) in children with sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate the promising predictive contribution of low serum CoQ10 and complex I + III to the risk of pediatric sepsis and its associated mortality during hospitalization among Chinese children. Trial registration The trial was registered with www.chictr.org.cn , number ChiCTR-IOR-15006446 on May 05, 2015. Retrospectively registered.

DWARF14 is a non-canonical hormone receptor for strigolactone.

Classical hormone receptors reversibly and non-covalently bind active hormone molecules, which are generated by biosynthetic enzymes, to trigger signal transduction. The α/ß hydrolase DWARF14 (D14), which hydrolyses the plant branching hormone strigolactone and interacts with the F-box protein D3/MAX2, is probably involved in strigolactone detection. However, the active form of strigolactone has yet to be identified and it is unclear which protein directly binds the active form of strigolactone, and in which manner, to act as the genuine strigolactone receptor. Here we report the crystal structure of the strigolactone-induced AtD14-D3-ASK1 complex, reveal that Arabidopsis thaliana (At)D14 undergoes an open-to-closed state transition to trigger strigolactone signalling, and demonstrate that strigolactone is hydrolysed into a covalently linked intermediate molecule (CLIM) to initiate a conformational change of AtD14 to facilitate interaction with D3. Notably, analyses of a highly branched Arabidopsis mutant d14-5 show that the AtD14(G158E) mutant maintains enzyme activity to hydrolyse strigolactone, but fails to efficiently interact with D3/MAX2 and loses the ability to act as a receptor that triggers strigolactone signalling in planta. These findings uncover a mechanism underlying the allosteric activation of AtD14 by strigolactone hydrolysis into CLIM, and define AtD14 as a non-canonical hormone receptor with dual functions to generate and sense the active form of strigolactone.

High-Sensitivity Optical Fiber-Based Glucose Sensor Using Helical Intermediate-Period Fiber Grating.

An all-fiber glucose sensor is proposed and demonstrated based on a helical intermediate-period fiber grating (HIPFG) produced by using a hydrogen/oxygen flame heating method. The HIPFG, with a grating length of 1.7 cm and a period of 35 µm, presents four sets of double dips with low insertion losses and strong coupling strengths in the transmission spectrum. The HIPFG possesses an averaged refractive index (RI) sensitivity of 213.6 nm/RIU nm/RIU in the RI range of 1.33-1.36 and a highest RI sensitivity of 472 nm/RIU at RI of 1.395. In addition, the HIPFG is demonstrated with a low-temperature sensitivity of 3.67 pm/°C, which promises a self-temperature compensation in glucose detection. In the glucose-sensing test, the HIPFG sensor manifests a detection sensitivity of 0.026 nm/(mg/mL) and a limit of detection (LOD) of 1 mg/mL. Moreover, the HIPFG sensor exhibits good stability in 2 h, indicating its capacity for long-time detection. The properties of easy fabrication, high flexibility, insensitivity to temperature, and good stability of the proposed HIPFG endow it with a promising potential for long-term and compact biosensors.

Magnetic field sensor based on helical long-period fiber grating with a three-core optical fiber.

A high sensitivity optical fiber magnetic field sensor is proposed and implemented by using a helical long-period fiber grating (HLPFG) based on a three-core fiber (TCF) bonded to a U-shaped aluminum (Al) wire. An electrical current flowing through the Al wire in a perpendicular magnetic field can generate Ampere force, which changes the distance between the two arms of the U-shaped Al wire. Thus, when the intensity and direction of the magnetic field change, the bending curvature of TCF-HLPFG bonded to the U-shaped Al wire varies with the change of Ampere force, which is represented as the shift of resonant wavelength in the spectrum. The as-fabricated sensor can respond to the magnetic field direction and the intensity with a range from -15 mT to 15 mT, and the measured sensitivity is 456.5 pm/mT with Al wire electrical current 1A. The proposed sensor has the advantages of low cost, nondestructive measurement method and ease manufacture, and is expected to be applied to weak magnetic field measurements.

Selective fiber Bragg grating inscription in four-core fiber for two-dimension vector bending sensing.

The paper presents selective fiber Bragg grating (FBG) inscription in four-core fiber based on a phase mask scanning method. The inscription factors are systematically investigated, which involves fiber core position and focused laser beam size in fiber, etc. Several specific inscriptions (including individual, dual and all inscriptions) are demonstrated. Two orthogonally positioned cores are selectively inscribed and applied to two-dimension vector bending measurement. The measured bending sensitivities of two FBGs range from -54.3 pm/m-1 to 52.2 pm/m-1 and -53.7 pm/m-1 to 52.8 pm/m-1, respectively. More importantly, it has been revealed that their sensitivities versus bending direction follow regular cosinoidal and sinusoidal distribution. The direction and amplitude of the vector bending can be recovered using measured central wavelength shifts of those two FBGs.

Weak feedback assisted random fiber laser from 45°-tilted fiber Bragg grating.

We have demonstrated the realization of a high-polarization random fiber laser (RFL) output based on the hybrid Raman and Erbium gain with the tailored effect provided by a 45°-tilted fiber Bragg grating (45°-TFBG), revealing an improvement in the polarization extinction ratio (PER) and achieving a PER of ~15.3 dB. The hybrid RFL system incorporating the 45°-TFBG has been systematically characterized. The random lasing wavelength can be fixed under the extremely weak feedback effect of the 45°-TFBG with reflectivity of 0.09%. In addition, numerical simulation has verified that the weak feedback can boost the random lasing emission with fixed wavelength using a power balance model, which is in good accordance with the experiment results.

Residual-stress-induced helical long period fiber gratings for sensing applications.

We demonstrate a high-efficiency grating fabrication system, which can be used to inscribe a high-quality helical long period fiber grating (HLPFG) on single-mode fiber by means of hydrogen-oxygen flame. Such the HLPFG can be produced in enormous quantities with a uniform grating parameters and good reproducibility of grating inscription. Possible mechanisms for refractive index modulation in the HLPFG can be attributed to residual stress concentration by solidifying the periodic twisting stress under a fused status of optical fiber. Moreover, the HLPFG exhibits an excellence performance of high temperature sensing with a high sensitivity of ~132.8 pm/°C and a measuring range from room temperature to 900 °C. Comparing to the traditional LPFG fabricated by CO2 laser or arc discharge technique, the HLPFG has a low the bending and tensile strain sensitivity of 1.94 nm/(1/m) and 1.41 pm/µÎµ, respectively. So the proposed HLPFG could have a great potential in special applications as optical high-temperature sensors.

Strain-based tunable optical microresonator with an in-fiber rectangular air bubble.

We demonstrate a strain-based fully tunable, near-lossless, whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator made of an in-fiber rectangular air bubble, which is fabricated by splicing two segments of standard single-mode fibers. Such a resonator, with a 39 µm order radius and 1 µm order wall thickness, contributes to a high quality factor exceeding 106. The tuning in resonant wavelength is achieved by applying tensile strain to the resonator, and the voltage-tuning rate of the WGM resonance peaks is about 31.96 pm/V (strain-tuning rate ∼14.12 pm/µÏµ), and the corresponding tuning accuracy is better than 0.03 pm. Since the tensile strain applied on the resonator can reach 1000 µÏµ, the achievable total tunable bandwidth of ∼14.12 nm is more than two times that of its azimuthal free spectral range.

Study on vibration sensing performance of an equal strength cantilever beam based on an excessively tilted fiber grating.

An equal strength cantilever beam vibration sensor based on an excessively tilted fiber grating (Ex-TFG) with light intensity demodulation is proposed. The basic principles and sensing characteristics of vibration sensing of an equal strength cantilever beam and Ex-TFG, the combination of which is applied into vibration sensing, are analyzed. An Ex-TFG is attached to the middle axis of an equal strength cantilever beam. As the vibration of a piezoelectric ceramic causes the equal strength cantilever beam to deform, the same and uniform deformation also occurs on the Ex-TFG. Experimental results show that when the thickness of the equal strength cantilever beam is 0.3 mm and the Ex-TFG is at transverse electric (TE) polarization state, the sensing performance is the best, with the maximum acceleration sensitivity reaching 81.065 mv·m-1·s2, and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) main frequency components of the sensing signal accounting for more than 80%. In addition, this sensor is stable in sensing performance, easy in demodulation, simple in structure, high in sensitivity, and easy in manufacture, applicable for the sensing and on-line monitoring of low-frequency vibration signals.

Small-period long-period fiber grating with improved refractive index sensitivity and dual-parameter sensing ability.

We UV inscribe and characterize a long-period fiber grating with a period of 25 µm. A series of polarization-dependent dual-peak pairs can be seen in the transmission spectrum, even though only the symmetrical refractive index modification is introduced. The fabricated grating exhibits a lower temperature sensitivity compared with standard long-period gratings and an enhanced refractive index sensitivity of ∼312.5 nm/RIU averaged from 1.315 to 1.395, which is more than four-fold higher than standard long-period gratings in this range. The full width at half-maximum of the fabricated grating is only about 0.6 nm, allowing for high-resolution sensing. Moreover, the grating period is so small that the attenuation dip corresponding to a high-order Bragg resonance can also be seen, which can act as a monitor of the unwanted perturbation to realize dual-parameter sensing.

Silencing PRDX3 Inhibits Growth and Promotes Invasion and Extracellular Matrix Degradation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.

PRDX3 is a mitochondrial peroxide reductase that regulates cellular redox state. It has been reported that PRDX3 is overexpressed in liver cancer, but how PRDX3 is involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumorigenesis and progression has not been well-characterized. In the present study, we established two stable cell lines by overexpressing or knocking down PRDX3 in HepG2 cells. We found that PRDX3 silencing decreased the growth rate of HepG2 cells and increased mtDNA oxidation. Quantitative proteomics identified 475 differentially expressed proteins between the PRDX3 knockdown and the control cells. These proteins were involved in antioxidant activity, angiogenesis, cell adhesion, cell growth, ATP synthesis, nucleic acid binding, redox, and chaperones. PRDX3 knockdown led to the down-regulation of ATP synthases and the decreased cellular ATP level, contributing to the slow-down of cell growth. Furthermore, silencing PRDX3 enhanced invasive properties of HepG2 cells via TIMP-1 down-regulation and the increased ECM degradation. Taken together, our results indicate that PRDX3 promotes HCC growth and mediates cell migration and invasiveness and is a potential therapeutic target for HCC treatment.

Theoretical and experimental analysis of excessively tilted fiber gratings.

We have theoretically and experimentally investigated the dual-peak feature of tilted fiber gratings with excessively tilted structure (named as Ex-TFGs). We have explained the dual-peak feature by solving eigenvalue equations for TM0m and TE0m of a circular waveguide, in which the TE (transverse electric) and TM (transverse magnetic) core modes are coupled into TE and TM cladding modes, respectively. Meanwhile, in the experiment, we have verified that one of the dual peaks at the shorter wavelength is due to the TM mode coupling whereas the other one at the longer wavelength arises from TE mode coupling when a linearly polarized light launched into the Ex-TFG. We have also investigated the peak separation of TE and TM cladding mode for different surrounding medium refractive indexes (SRI), revealed that the dual peaks separation is decreasing as increasing of SRI, which agrees very well with the theoretical analysis results.

Biosensor based on excessively tilted fiber grating in thin-cladding optical fiber for sensitive and selective detection of low glucose concentration.

We report a highly sensitive, high Q-factor, label free and selective glucose sensor by using excessively tilted fiber grating (Ex-TFG) inscribed in the thin-cladding optical fiber (TCOF). Glucose oxidase (GOD) was covalently immobilized on optical fiber surface and the effectiveness of GOD immobilization was investigated by the fluorescence microscopy and highly accurate spectral interrogation method. In contrast to the long period grating (LPG) and optical fiber (OF) surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) based glucose sensors, the Ex-TFG configuration has merits of nearly independent cross sensitivity of the environmental temperature, simple fabrication method (no noble metal deposition or cladding etching) and high detection accuracy (or Q-factor). Our experimental results have shown that Ex-TFG in TCOF based sensor has a reliable and fast detection for the glucose concentration as low as 0.1~2.5mg/ml and a high sensitivity of ~1.514 nm·(mg/ml)⁻¹, which the detection accuracy is ~0.2857 nm⁻¹ at pH 5.2, and the limit of detection (LOD) is 0.013~0.02 mg/ml at the pH range of 5.2~7.4 by using an optical spectrum analyzer with a resolution of 0.02 nm.

Novel glucose sensor based on enzyme-immobilized 81° tilted fiber grating.

We demonstrate a novel glucose sensor based on an optical fiber grating with an excessively tilted index fringe structure and its surface modified by glucose oxidase (GOD). The aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was utilized as binding site for the subsequent GOD immobilization. Confocal microscopy and fluorescence microscope were used to provide the assessment of the effectiveness in modifying the fiber surface. The resonance wavelength of the sensor exhibited red-shift after the binding of the APTES and GOD to the fiber surface and also in the glucose detection process. The red-shift of the resonance wavelength showed a good linear response to the glucose concentration with a sensitivity of 0.298 nm·(mg/ml)-1 in the very low concentration range of 0.0~3.0mg/ml. Compared to the previously reported glucose sensor based on the GOD-immobilized long period grating (LPG), the 81° tilted fiber grating (81°-TFG) based sensor has shown a lower thermal cross-talk effect, better linearity and higher Q-factor in sensing response. In addition, its sensitivity for glucose concentration can be further improved by increasing the grating length and/or choosing a higher-order cladding mode for detection. Potentially, the proposed techniques based on 81°-TFG can be developed as sensitive, label free and micro-structural sensors for applications in food safety, disease diagnosis, clinical analysis and environmental monitoring.

Wide wavelength selectable all-fiber thulium doped fiber laser between 1925 nm and 2200 nm.

We demonstrate an all-fiber Tm(3+)-doped silica fiber laser operating at a wide selectable wavelength range by using different fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) as wavelength selection elements. With a specifically designed high reflective (HR) FBG and the fiber end as an output coupler, the lasing in the range from 1975 nm to 2150 nm with slope efficiency of >30% can be achieved. By employing a low reflective (LR) FBG as the output coupler, the obtainable wavelengths were extended to the range between 1925 nm and 2200 nm which is the reported longest wavelength from the Tm(3+)-doped silica fiber lasers. Furthermore, by employing a FBG array in the laser cavity and inducing bend loss between adjacent FBGs in the array, six switchable lasing wavelengths were achieved.

Thulium-doped all-fiber mode-locked laser based on NPR and 45°-tilted fiber grating.

A nonlinear polarization rotation based all-fiber passively mode-locked Tm³âº-doped fiber laser is demonstrated by using a 45° tilted fiber grating (TFG) as an in-line polarizer. The 45° TFG centered at 2000 nm with polarization dependent loss (PDL) of >12 dB at 1850 nm~2150 nm range was UV inscribed for the first time in SM28 fiber using a 244 nm Ar⁺ continuous wave laser and a phase mask with 25 mm long uniform pitch and titled period pattern of 33.7° with respect to the fiber axis. Stable soliton pulses centered at 1992.7 nm with 2.02 nm FWHM bandwidth were produced at a repetition rate of 1.902 MHz with pulse duration of 2.2 ps and pulse energy of 74.6 pJ. As increased pump power, the laser also can operate at noise-like regime with 18.1 nm FWHM bandwidth and pulse energy of up to 250.1 nJ. Using the same 45° TFG, both stable soliton and noise-like mode-locking centered at ~1970 nm and ~2050 nm, were also achieved by shortening and extending the length of Tm³âº-doped fiber, respectively, exhibiting advantages of broadband and low insertion loss at 2 µm band.

All-fiber passively mode-locked Tm-doped NOLM-based oscillator operating at 2-µm in both soliton and noisy-pulse regimes.

A self-starting all-fiber passively mode-locked Tm(3+)-doped fiber laser based on nonlinear loop mirror (NOLM) is demonstrated. Stable soliton pulses centered at 2017.33 nm with 1.56 nm FWHM were produced at a repetition rate of 1.514 MHz with pulse duration of 2.8 ps and pulse energy of 83.8 pJ. As increased pump power, the oscillator can also operate at noise-like (NL) regime. Stable NL pulses with coherence spike width of 341 fs and pulse energy of up to 249.32 nJ was achieved at a center wavelength of 2017.24 nm with 21.33 nm FWHM. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first 2 µm region NOLM-based mode-locked fiber laser operating at two regimes with the highest single pulse energy for NL pulses.

Constructing a "micro-nano collaboration" network via disk-milling: Value-enhanced utilization of flexible temperature-resistant cellulose insulation films.

Cellulose is a sustainable natural polymer material that has found widespread application in transformers and other power equipment because of its excellent electrical and mechanical performance. However, the utility of cellulose materials has been limited by the challenge of balancing heat resistance with flexibility. On the basis of the preliminary research conducted by the research team, further proposals have been put forward for a method involving disk milling to create a "micro-nanocollaboration" network for the fabrication of flexible, high-temperature-resistant, and ultrafine fiber-based cellulose insulating films. The resulting full-component cellulose films exhibited impressive properties, including high tensile strength (22 MPa), flexibility (92-263 mN), remarkable electrical breakdown strength (39 KV/mm), and volume resistivity that meets the standards for insulation materials (4.92 × 1011 Ω·m). These results demonstrate that the proposed method can produce full-component cellulose insulation films that offer both exceptional flexibility and high-temperature resistance.