Synergistic Construction of Sub-Nanometer Channel Membranes through MOF-Polymer Composites: Strategies and Nanofiltration Applications.

The selective separation of small molecules at the sub-nanometer scale has broad application prospects in the field, such as energy, catalysis, and separation. Conventional polymeric membrane materials (e.g., nanofiltration membranes) for sub-nanometer scale separations face challenges, such as inhomogeneous channel sizes and unstable pore structures. Combining polymers with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which possess uniform and intrinsic pore structures, may overcome this limitation. This combination has resulted in three distinct types of membranes: MOF polycrystalline membranes, mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs), and thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes. However, their effectiveness is hindered by the limited regulation of the surface properties and growth of MOFs and their poor interfacial compatibility. The main issues in preparing MOF polycrystalline membranes are the uncontrollable growth of MOFs and the poor adhesion between MOFs and the substrate. Here, polymers could serve as a simple and precise tool for regulating the growth and surface functionalities of MOFs while enhancing their adhesion to the substrate. For MOF mixed-matrix membranes, the primary challenge is the poor interfacial compatibility between polymers and MOFs. Strategies for the mutual modification of MOFs and polymers to enhance their interfacial compatibility are introduced. For TFN membranes, the challenges include the difficulty in controlling the growth of the polymer selective layer and the performance limitations caused by the "trade-off" effect. MOFs can modulate the formation process of the polymer selective layer and establish transport channels within the polymer matrix to overcome the "trade-off" effect limitations. This review focuses on the mechanisms of synergistic construction of polymer-MOF membranes and their structure-nanofiltration performance relationships, which have not been sufficiently addressed in the past.

Cystathionine ß-synthase expression correlates with tumor development and poor prognosis in lung squamous cell carcinoma patients.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the expression of cystathionine ß-synthase (CBS) in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) and the microvascular density (MVD) and clinicopathological features. Firstly, the expression status of CBS in diffuse carcinoma and LUSC was searched through the public bioinformatics database. Subsequently, immunohistochemical staining and scoring were performed on tumor tissues and matched normal tissues from 108 LUSC patients to assess CBS expression; the MVD of tumor tissues was also detected. The results showed that CBS was overexpressed in some tumor tissues, including LUSC. Immunohistochemical results showed that the positive expression rate of CBS in tumor tissues (63.0%) was higher than that in normal tissues (17.6%). The expression of CBS was correlated with T (p=0.01), N (p=0.004), TNM (p=0.011) stages, and tumor differentiation degrees (p<0.001), with the increase of T, N, and TNM stages or the decrease of differentiation, the expression level of CBS also increased. In addition, the expression level of CBS was positively correlated with MVD (r=0.6997, p<0.0001). Survival analysis showed that the survival rate of the CBS negative expression group was better than that of the positive expression group (p=0.004). Cox multivariate analysis showed that CBS expression status (p<0.001), T stages (p=0.020), and TNM stages (p=0.021) were independent factors affecting the prognosis of LUSC. In conclusion, the high expression of CBS affects tumor development and is associated with the poor prognosis of LUCS, which may be used as a biomarker to evaluate prognosis and find a new direction for the treatment of LUSC.

Error evaluation of Judd-Ofelt spectroscopic analysis.

Judd-Ofelt (J-O) spectroscopic knowledge of a rare-earth-doped luminescent material is crucial to its application. Although a large number of papers with regard to the J-O study of various rare-earth-doped luminescent materials have been reported each year, few papers presented the errors of the J-O intensity parameters Ωi (i = 2, 4, 6) and radiative probabilities evaluated from them. Present study focuses on the error evaluation of the J-O parameters and radiative probabilities. An error theory is established for the J-O analysis and radiative probability. Two error analysis methods based on root mean square of the difference either between measured and calculated oscillator strengths (δfrms) or between measured and calculated line strengths (δSrms) are studied. Explicit error expressions are presented for the J-O parameters and radiative probability. The validity of the theory is verified by applying it to widely studied Er3+, Tm3+, Ho3+ and Nd3+ ions that are doped into four single-crystals (LiNbO3, SrGdGa3O7, LiYF4 and YVO4) and a glass. The two methods are identical in nature and give similar results of errors of Ωi.

Sextuple ratiometric thermometry based on 980-nm-upconverted green fluorescence of Er3+ ions in submicron crystals.

980-nm-upconverted 530 and 550 nm Er3+ green fluorescence spectra of Er3+/Yb3+-codoped NaGd(WO4)2 submicron crystals were measured in the temperature range of 298-383 K. A sextuple ratiometric thermometry is proposed. It is established on the basis of six schemes of fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) that considers three component peaks of the 530 nm emission band and two component peaks of the 550 nm emission band, which involve electronic transitions between two Stark sublevels of Er3+. The study shows that the phosphor shows strong green fluorescence, which is verified by measured quantum yield, and thermally stable spectral structure desired for the sextuple ratiometric thermometry. All of the six FIR schemes display highly efficient sensing performances with slightly different thermal sensitivities. Each scheme gives a temperature value and the six schemes give an averaged result. In parallel, we have also carried out an ex vivo experimental study on the temperature characteristics of the green fluorescence of the phosphor. Almost same results have been obtained, verifying biological applicability of the phosphor. The ex vivo experimental results also show that the sextuple thermometry increases considerably the accuracy and reliability of temperature measurement in comparison with the conventional intensity integration method.

Measurement of refractive index of powder by prism coupler.

Refractive index of optical material of powder is measured not as easily as a bulk material. Here, the prism coupling technique in combination with the immersion method is proposed to measure the refractive index of an optical material of powder. First, the powder material to be measured was dispersed in α-bromonaphthalene (C10H7Br) liquid to form a suspension mixture. The refractive index of the mixture, together with that of pure C10H7Br, was then measured at the wavelengths of 632.8, 1311, and 1553 nm using a commercial prism coupler. From the measured index values of pure C10H7Br and powder-dispersed mixture, the refractive index of the powder material was obtained on the basis of the Maxwell-Garnett model. Microcrystal powder from a LiNbO3 single-crystal, which has the known refractive index values, has been exemplified to demonstrate the method. The results show that the method is feasible with an accuracy of ±0.05.

A simple, compact, low-cost, highly efficient thermometer based on green fluorescence of Er3+/Yb3+-codoped NaYF4 microcrystals.

We developed a highly efficient optical thermometer based on intensity ratio of upconversion green fluorescence of Er3+/Yb3+-codoped NaYF4 microcrystals. The sensor consists simply of a 980nm laser diode, one narrow-band interference filter, two lenses, one Si-photocell and one multimeter, while being without use of spectrometer and additional electronics. The device not only has a simple, compact structure (hence a low cost), but also displays highly efficient sensing performance, characterized by large signal-to-noise ratio due to strong fluorescence intensity, high thermal resolution and sensitivity, which have the values 1.3K and 1.24×10-2K-1, respectively, at the physiological temperature 310K. The excellent sensing performance of the device was further confirmed by the results of the measurements repeated using a spectrometer. The thermometer is highly generalized that can be applied to other luminescent materials, and shows great potential for the physiological temperature sensing in biological tissues and cells.

Optical damage resistant Ti-diffused Zr/Er-codoped lithium niobate strip waveguide for high-power 980 nm pumping.

Ti4+-diffused Zr4+/Er3+-codoped LiNbO3 strip waveguide was fabricated on an X-cut LiNbO3 substrate by thermal diffusion in sequence of Er3+, Zr4+ and Ti4+. Secondary ion mass spectrometry study shows that the Ti4+ ions follow a sum of two error functions in the width direction and a Gauss function in the depth direction of the waveguide. Both Er3+ and Zr4+ profiles follow the desired Gauss function, and entirely cover the Ti4+ profile. Optical study shows that the waveguide is TE or TM single mode at 1.5 µm wavelength, and has a loss of 0.3 (0.5) dB/cm for the TM (TE) mode. In the case of 980 nm pumping, the waveguide shows stable 1547 nm signal output under high-power pumping without optical damage observed, and a net gain of 1.1 dB/cm is obtained for the available pump power of 120 mW.

Note: Electro-optic coefficients of Li-deficient MgO-doped LiNbO3 crystal.

A number of Li-deficient MgO-doped LiNbO3 (LN) crystals with different Li2O contents ranging from 43.4 mol. % to 44.5 mol. % were prepared by carrying out the Li-poor vapor transport equilibration treatment on 5 mol. % (in growth melt) MgO-doped LN crystals. Unclamped electro-optic (EO) coefficients γ13 and γ33 of these crystals were measured by Mach-Zehnder interferometry. The results show that γ13 (γ33) increases linearly by ∼14% (11%) as the Li2O content decreases from 44.5 mol. % of the as-grown state to 43.4 mol. % of the Li-deficient state. This feature is desired for the EO application of the Li-deficient MgO:LN crystal.

Polarization-insensitive, shallow Ti-diffused near-stoichiometric LiTaO3 strip waveguide for integrated optics.

We report on a Ti-diffused near-stoichiometric (NS) LiTaO3 strip waveguide fabricated by diffusion of an 8 µm wide, 160 nm thick Ti-strip followed by Li-rich vapor transport equilibration. It is found that the waveguide surface caves in ∼60 nm below the crystal surface. X-ray single-crystal diffraction shows that the indentation is due to Ti-induced lattice contraction. Optical studies show that the waveguide is in an NS composition environment, supports TE and TM single-mode propagation at 1.5 µm wavelength, is polarization insensitive, and has a shallow mode field profile and a loss of 0.2/0.3 dB/cm for the TE/TM mode. Secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis shows that the Ti profile follows a sum of two error functions in the width direction and a Gaussian function in the depth direction of the waveguide. With the optimized fabrication condition, the waveguide is promising for developing an optical-damage-resistant device that requires a shallow mode field profile.

[Association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the promoter of adiponectin gene and essential hypertension in Chinese Korean and Han of Yanbian region].

To investigate the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in adiponectin gene promoter and essential hypertension (EH) in Chinese Korean and Han of Yanbian area, 220 EH patients and 268 normotensive control individuals were enrolled. PCR and direct DNA sequencing were used to determine the -11426A>G (rs16861194), -11391G>A (rs17300539), -11377C>G (rs62620185), -11156insCA (rs60806105), and -11043C>T (rs76786086) SNPs in the promoter region of adiponectin gene. Total cholesterol (TC), the triglyceride (TG), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were examined by oxi-dase method. The plasma adiponectin and insulin were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed that: (1) SNPs of -11426A>G, -11377C>G, and -11156insCA were found and in Hardy-Weinberg equilib-rium (P>0.05), but not the case in -11391G>A and -11043C>T. (2) -11426A>G and -11156insCA were perfectly in link-age disequilibrium (D'=1; r2=1). (3) The allele G frequency of -11426A>G polymorphism in Chinese Korean (21.10%) was significantly higher than that in Chinese Han (12.50%), and also higher in EH group than in the control group of Chinese Han. The genotype and allele frequencies of -11377C>G showed no significant difference between the two groups ob-served. (4) The haplotype -11426G -11377C frequency in EH of Chinese Han was higher than in the control group (P<0.05). (5) The EH showed lower plasma adiponectin level compared with the control group (P<0.001) in both Chinese Korean and Han. Our results indicate that: (1) the perfect linkage disequilibrium of -11426A>G and -11156insCA is first reported, and the SNP of -11426A>G is associated with Chinese Han and Korean. (2) -11426 G and -11426G -11377C are risk factor and risk haplotype in Yanbian Chinese Han, but not in Chinese-Korean. (3) The lower hypoadiponectinemia is the important risk factors for EH in Chinese Korean and Han of Yanbian area. (4) There is no relationship between -11426A>G polymorphism and the plasma adiponectin level.

[The research of basic medical education with clinical practice and culturing of discovering and creative ability for students].

In order to explore the educational model of combined research aidding basic medical education and clinical practice, the educational form of combined research, teaching and clinical practice was adopted and brought into the education of medical genetics for medical students. The consequence of five-year educational practice has revealed that the educational effects and quality have been obviously increased, and the deeply activated studying initiative, self-studying ability, ability of cooperation, discovering and creative ability have been achieved in culturing practical general medical students with in-depth basic knowledge, great ability and high quality.