Supramolecular Polyurethane "Ligaments" Enabling Room-Temperature Self-Healing Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells and Mini-Modules.

Flexible perovskite solar cells (F-PSCs) have emerged as promising alternatives to conventional silicon solar cells for applications in portable and wearable electronics. However, the mechanical stability of inherently brittle perovskite, due to residual lattice stress and ductile fracture formation, poses significant challenges to the long-term photovoltaic performance and device lifetime. In this paper, to address this issue, a dynamic "ligament" composed of supramolecular poly(dimethylsiloxane) polyurethane (DSSP-PPU) is introduced into the grain boundaries of the PSCs, facilitating the release of residual stress and softening of the grain boundaries. Remarkably, this dynamic "ligament" exhibits excellent self-healing properties and enables the healing of cracks in perovskite films at room temperature. The obtained PSCs have achieved power conversion efficiencies of 23.73% and 22.24% for rigid substrates and flexible substrates, respectively, also 17.32% for flexible mini-modules. Notably, the F-PSCs retain nearly 80% of their initial efficiency even after subjecting the F-PSCs to 8000 bending cycles (r = 2 mm), which can further recover to almost 90% of the initial efficiency through the self-healing process. This remarkable improvement in device stability and longevity holds great promise for extending the overall lifetime of F-PSCs.

A Self-Assembled 3D/0D Quasi-Core-Shell Structure as Internal Encapsulation Layer for Stable and Efficient FAPbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules.

FAPbI3 perovskites have garnered considerable interest owing to their outstanding thermal stability, along with near-theoretical bandgap and efficiency. However, their inherent phase instability presents a substantial challenge to the long-term stability of devices. Herein, this issue through a dual-strategy of self-assembly 3D/0D quasi-core-shell structure is tackled as an internal encapsulation layer, and in situ introduction of excess PbI2 for surface and grain boundary defects passivating, therefore preventing moisture intrusion into FAPbI3 perovskite films. By utilizing this method alone, not only enhances the stability of the FAPbI3 film but also effectively passivates defects and minimizes non-radiative recombination, ultimately yielding a champion device efficiency of 23.23%. Furthermore, the devices own better moisture resistance, exhibiting a T80 lifetime exceeding 3500 h at 40% relative humidity (RH). Meanwhile, a 19.51% PCE of mini-module (5 × 5 cm2) is demonstrated. This research offers valuable insights and directions for the advancement of stable and highly efficient FAPbI3 perovskite solar cells.

Niclosamide subacute exposure alters the immune response and microbiota of the gill and gut in black carp larvae, Mylopharyngodon piceus.

Niclosamide (NIC) is a commonly used insecticide and molluscicide in the prevention and treatment of parasitic diseases in fish. The utilization of NIC has the potential to disrupt the microbial community present on the mucosal tissue of fish, leading to localized inflammatory responses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of NIC on the immune system and bacterial populations within the gill and gut of Mylopharyngodon piceus. Fish were subjected to varying concentrations of NIC, including a control group (0 µg/L), a low NIC group (15% 96 h LC50, LNG, 9.8 µg/L), and a high NIC group (80% 96 h LC50, HNG, 52.5 µg/L). Gill and gut samples were collected 28 days post-exposure for analysis. The findings revealed that the 96-h LC50 for NIC was determined to be 65.7 µg/L, and histopathological examination demonstrated that exposure to NIC resulted in gill filament subepithelial edema, exfoliation, degeneration, and a decrease in gill filament length. Furthermore, the gut exhibited apical enterocyte degeneration and leucocyte infiltration following NIC exposure. Additionally, NIC exposure led to a significant elevation in the levels of immunoglobulin M (IgM), complement component 3 (C3), and complement component 4 (C4) in both gill and gut tissues. Moreover, the activity of lysozyme (LYZ) was enhanced in the gill, while the activities of peroxidase (POD) and immunoglobulin T (IgT) were increased in gut tissue. The exposure to NIC resulted in enhanced mRNA expression of c3, c9, tnfα, il6, il8, and il11 in the gill tissue, while decreasing c3 and il8 expression in the gut tissue. Furthermore, the natural resistance-associated macrophage protein (nramp) mRNA increased, and liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (leap2) mRNA decreased in gill and gut tissues. And hepcidin (hepc) mRNA levels rose in gill but fell in gut tissue. NIC exposure also led to a decrease in gill bacterial richness and diversity, which significantly differed from the control group, although this separation was not significant in the gut tissue. In conclusion, the administration of NIC resulted in alterations in both the immune response and mucosal microbiota of fish. Furthermore, it was noted that gills displayed a heightened vulnerability to sublethal effects of NIC in comparison to gut tissues.

Effect of chronic deltamethrin exposure on brain transcriptome and metabolome of juvenile crucian carp.

Deltamethrin (Del), a widely administered pyrethroid insecticide, has been established as a common contaminant of the freshwater environment and detected in many freshwater ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the changes in brain transcriptome and metabolome of crucian carp after exposure to 0.6 µg/L Del for 28 days. Elevated MDA levels and inhibition of SOD activity indicate damage to the antioxidant system. Moreover, a total of 70 differential metabolites (DMs) were identified using the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, including 32 upregulated and 38 downregulated DMs in the Del-exposed group. The DMs associated with chronic Del exposure were enriched in steroid hormone biosynthesis, fatty acid metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism for prostaglandin G2, 5-oxoeicosatetraenoic acid, progesterone, androsterone, etiocholanolone, and hydrocortisone. Transcriptomics analysis revealed that chronic Del exposure caused lipid metabolism disorder, endocrine disruption, and proinflammatory immune response by upregulating the pla2g4, cox2, log5, ptgis, lcn, and cbr expression. Importantly, the integrative analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics indicated that the arachidonic acid metabolism pathway and steroid hormone biosynthesis were decisive processes in the brain tissue of crucian carp after Del exposure. Furthermore, Del exposure perturbed the tight junction, HIF-1 signaling pathway, and thyroid hormone signaling pathway. Overall, transcriptome and metabolome data of our study offer a new insight to assess the risk of chronic Del exposure in fish brains.

Natural Sunlight-Mediated Emodin Photoinactivation of Aeromonas hydrophila.

Aeromonas hydrophila can be a substantial concern, as it causes various diseases in aquaculture. An effective and green method for inhibiting A. hydrophila is urgently required. Emodin, a naturally occurring anthraquinone compound, was exploited as a photo-antimicrobial agent against A. hydrophila. At the minimum inhibitory concentration of emodin (256 mg/L) to inactivate A. hydrophilia in 30 min, an 11.32% survival rate was observed under 45 W white compact fluorescent light irradiation. In addition, the antibacterial activity under natural sunlight (0.78%) indicated its potential for practical application. Morphological observations demonstrated that the cell walls and membranes of A. hydrophila were susceptible to damage by emodin when exposed to light irradiation. More importantly, the photoinactivation of A. hydrophila was predominantly attributed to the hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals produced by emodin, according to the trapping experiment and electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Finally, a light-dependent reactive oxygen species punching mechanism of emodin to photoinactivate A. hydrophila was proposed. This study highlights the potential use of emodin in sunlight-mediated applications for bacterial control, thereby providing new possibilities for the use of Chinese herbal medicine in aquatic diseases prevention.

The mitochondrial genome of Heterosentis pseudobagri (Wang & Zhang, 1987) Pichelin & Cribb, 1999 reveals novel aspects of tRNA genes evolution in Acanthocephala.

BACKGROUND: Acanthocephala is a clade of obligate endoparasites whose mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) and evolution remain relatively poorly understood. Previous studies reported that atp8 is lacking from acanthocephalan mitogenomes, and that tRNA genes often have nonstandard structures. Heterosentis pseudobagri (Arhythmacanthidae) is an acanthocephalan fish endoparasite for which no molecular data are currently available, and biological information is unavailable in the English language. Furthermore, there are currently no mitogenomes available for Arhythmacanthidae. METHODS: We sequenced its mitogenome and transcriptome, and conducted comparative mitogenomic analyses with almost all available acanthocephalan mitogenomes. RESULTS: The mitogenome had all genes encoded on the same strand and unique gene order in the dataset. Among the 12 protein-coding genes, several genes were highly divergent and annotated with difficulty. Moreover, several tRNA genes could not be identified automatically, so we had to identify them manually via a detailed comparison with orthologues. As common in acanthocephalans, some tRNAs lacked either the TWC arm or the DHU arm, but in several cases, we annotated tRNA genes only on the basis of the conserved narrow central segment comprising the anticodon, while the flanking 5' and 3' ends did not exhibit any resemblance to orthologues and they could not be folded into a tRNA secondary structure. We corroborated that these are not sequencing artefacts by assembling the mitogenome from transcriptomic data. Although this phenomenon was not observed in previous studies, our comparative analyses revealed the existence of highly divergent tRNAs in multiple acanthocephalan lineages. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate either that multiple tRNA genes are non-functional or that (some) tRNA genes in (some) acanthocephalans might undergo extensive posttranscriptional tRNA processing which restores them to more conventional structures. It is necessary to sequence mitogenomes from yet unrepresented lineages and further explore the unusual patterns of tRNA evolution in Acanthocephala.

Co-Solvent Engineering Contributing to Achieve High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules Based on Anti-Solvent Free Technology.

The pinhole-free and defect-less perovskite film is crucial for achieving high efficiency and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs), which can be prepared by widely used anti-solvent crystallization strategies. However, the involvement of anti-solvent requires precise control and inevitably brings toxicity in fabrication procedures, which limits its large-scale industrial application. In this work, a facile and effective co-solvent engineering strategy is introduced to obtain high- quality perovskite film while avoiding the usage of anti-solvent. The uniform and compact perovskite polycrystalline films have been fabricated through the addition of co-solvent that owns strong coordination capacity with perovskite components , meanwhile possessing the weaker interaction with main solvent . With those strategies, a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22% has been achieved with the optimal co-solvent, N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) and without usage of anti-solvent. Subsequently, PSCs based on NMP show high repeatability and good shelf stability (80% PCE remains after storing in ambient condition for 30 days). Finally, the perovskite solar module (5 × 5 cm) with 7 subcells connects in series yielding champion PCE of 16.54%. This strategy provides a general guidance of co-solvent selection for PSCs based on anti-solvent free technology and promotes commercial application of PSCs.

Madder (Rubia cordifolia L.) Alleviates Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Protecting Endothelial Cells from Apoptosis and Inflammation.

Objective: Ischemia-reperfusion injury often occurs in organ transplantation, coronary heart disease, ischemic heart disease, and other diseases, which greatly reduces clinical efficacy. This study examined the effectiveness of madder as a medicine to treat ischemia-reperfusion injury. Methods: The efficacy of madder was evaluated by measuring myocardial infarction size, coronary outflow volume, myocardial contraction rate, activation of inflammatory factors, autophagy factors, apoptosis factors, and related pathway genes in mice. Results: The results indicated that treatment with madder can effectively reduce the area of myocardial infarction and restore arterial blood flow velocity and myocardial contractility in mice. Additionally, madder treatment inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors, autophagy factors, and apoptosis factors in mice and reduced the degree of myocardial cell injury. Studies have also shown that madder treatment can alleviate myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice and inhibit the occurrence of inflammatory response by inhibiting the activity of the NF-κB pathway. Conclusion: The results showed that madder was effective against ischemia-reperfusion injury, thus showing potential as a clinical drug for treating ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Niclosamide exposure disrupts antioxidant defense, histology, and the liver and gut transcriptome of Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis).

Niclosamide (NIC) is the only commercially available molluscicide for controlling schistosomiasis, and its negative effects on aquatic animals had been frequently reported in recent years. However, the toxicity mechanism of NIC on the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) have not yet been investigated. Therefore, juvenile turtles were exposed to 0 (control group), 10 (low NIC, L), and 50 (high NIC, H) µg/L NIC for 120 h and our results demonstrated that NIC exposure induced severe pathological changes in the liver of P. sinensis. And the typical symptom included edema, nuclear migration and deformation, and vacuolization. Compared with the liver, the NIC exposure did not cause significant damage in the gut tissue. In addition, the DHE staining demonstrated that the ROS production of liver and gut increased with the increase in concentration of NIC. The activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) was inhibited with increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content, indicating that the antioxidant defense was significantly perturbed. Further, the transcriptome sequencing and was applied to evaluate the underlying toxicity mechanisms of NIC exposure in liver and gut of P. sinensis. Pathway enrichment showed that the disorder of lipid metabolism and innate immune regulation, including Toll-like receptors (TLRs), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), lectins, and complement and coagulation cascades, were toxicological properties of NIC on P. sinensis. Overall, the current study provides valuable information to understand the toxic effect of NIC on Chinese soft-shelled turtle.

Identification and whole-genome sequencing analysis of Vibrio vulnificus strains causing pearl gentian grouper disease in China.

Vibrio vulnificus is a pathogenic bacterium that causes disease in marine fish, affecting fish farming and human health worldwide. In May 2021, in the Bohai Bay region, a disease broke out in commercially farmed pearl gentian grouper (♀Epinephelus fuscoguttatus × â™‚Epinephelus lanceolatus), causing huge economic losses. The diseased fish had skin lesions, water accumulation in their abdomens, and showed tissue and organ damage. V. vulnificus biotype 2 has been reported in eels and other marine fish, but it is less reported in pearl gentian grouper. In this study, the pathogenic strain isolated from diseased fish was identified as V. vulnificus EPL 0201 biotype 2 on the basis of physiological and biochemical characteristics and the results of 16S rRNA gene and gyrB sequencing, virulence gene detection, and recursive infection experiments. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the pathogenicity and drug resistance of this strain, whole-genome sequencing was performed. Whole-genome analysis showed that the gene map of this strain was complete. The Virulence Factor Database annotation results showed that this strain had the key virulence factor genes vvhA and rtxA, which cause host disease. In addition, this strain had genes conferring resistance against cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, and sulfonamides. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing confirmed the presence of these resistance genes identified in the genome. The results of this study show that V. vulnificus EPL 0201 biotype 2 is a multi-drug resistant strain with high pathogenicity.

Chronic exposure to deltamethrin disrupts intestinal health and intestinal microbiota in juvenile crucian carp.

The indiscriminate use of deltamethrin in agriculture and aquaculture can lead to residues increased in many regions, which poses negative impacts on intestinal health of aquatic organisms. Although the potential toxicity of deltamethrin have recently attracted attention, the comprehensive studies on intestinal injuries after chronic deltamethrin exposure remain poorly understood. Herein, in a 28-day chronic toxicity test, crucian carp expose to different concentrations of deltamethrin (0, 0.3, and 0.6 µg/L) were used as the research object. We found that the morphology changes and increased goblet cells in intestinal tissue, and the extent of tissue injury increased along with the increasing exposure dose of deltamethrin. Additionally, the genes expression of antioxidant activity (Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn SOD), glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1), and catalase (CAT)), inflammatory response (tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interferon gamma (IFNγ), and interleukin 1 beta (IL-1ß)), and tight junctions (Claudin 12 (CLDN12), and tight junction protein 1 (ZO-1)) dramatically increased. Meanwhile, the apoptosis and autophagy process were triggered through caspase-9 cascade and autophagy related 5 (ATG5)- autophagy related 12 (ATG12) conjugate. Besides, chronic deltamethrin exposure increased the amount of Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobiota, while decreased Fusobacteriota abundance, resulting in intestinal microbiota function disorders. In summary, our results highlight that chronic exposure to deltamethrin cause serious intestinal toxicity and results in physiological changes and intestinal flora disturbances.

Histopathology and transcriptome analysis reveals the gills injury and immunotoxicity in gibel carp following acute deltamethrin exposure.

More and more evidences proved that deltamethrin (Del) exposure induced adverse effects and damaged immune function to the aquatic animals in the parasite killing process with increasing insecticide application. However, little is currently known of the negative effect on mucosal immunity, especially in gills tissue. Therefore, this study was aimed to reveal the tissue injury and immunotoxicity in the gill of gibel carp following acute deltamethrin exposure. The LC50 of deltamethrin on gibel carp at 96 h was determined to be 6.194 µg/L, and then juvenile gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) (8.8 ± 1.0 g) were exposed to four Del exposure groups (0.61, 1.22, 2.44, and 4.88 µg/L) for 12 h and 24 h. We measured the lysozyme (LYZ) contents and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities and found that with increased concentration of Del exposure, the LYZ contents were found to increase in the 1.22 µg/L Del group initially significantly and then gradually significantly decrease in the 4.88 µg/L Del group. And the activities of MPO were significantly lifted in a dose-dependent manner. The histological analysis showed that Del exposure caused serious desquamation and necrosis in the surface of epithelial cells, accompanied by interlamellar cellular mass degenerative. In addition, the mucous cells were significantly decreased in the high Del concentration group (2.44 µg/L and 4.88 µg/L Del group) by AB-PAS staining. Additionally, totally 2857 DEGs (including 1624 up-regulated and 1233 down-regulated genes) were identified between the control group and 4.88 µg/L Del exposure group using transcriptional analysis. Among these, some genes involved in innate immune molecules, complement activation, apoptosis-related molecules, cytokine, and adaptive immune molecules, were also down-regulated. Importantly, we found immune system process and tumor necrosis factor receptor (superfamily) binding pathways were downregulated based on the GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. Meanwhile, we detected the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1ß, and IL-8), anti-inflammatory cytokines (TGF-ß), LYZ, IgM, and Hsp70 in the gills tissue at 12 h and 24 h after Del exposure, which were consistent with our sequencing results. Collectively, these results demonstrated that the gills injury and immunotoxicity were induced by Del exposure and provided novel insight for explaining to some extent why Del-exposure fish are more susceptible to concurrent or secondary viral or bacterial infections.

Efficient Energy Transfer from Trap Levels to Eu3+ Leads to Antithermal Quenching Effect in High-Power White Light-Emitting Diodes.

The most critical aspect in the assembly of phosphor-converted white light-emitting diodes (pc-WLEDs) is how to stabilize the device in a practical environment. The high applied currents can generate enormous heat up to more than 100 °C, and such a continuous illumination process will lead to serious effects concerning the stability of the device. Therefore, the new search for examples to fully suppress thermal quenching effect is a real challenge. In this study, a novel Eu3+-activated CaMgGeO4 (CMGO) phosphor of olivine type is developed via a conventional solid-state reaction. The results reveal that Eu3+ occupies the low symmetric Ca2+ site of this host. Upon visible-light sensitization at 464 nm, a dominant red emission band with maximum at 612 nm is witnessed. Its full width at half-maximum (fwhm) is merely ∼4.37 nm, and a high color purity of around 94% is achieved. Their corresponding Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates are very close to standard red color coordinates (0.666, 0.333). The influence of concentration and temperature on the optical property has been explored. It has been discovered that the optimized sample (CMGO:0.01Eu3+) is not influenced by the thermal quenching effect and its fluorescent intensity is improved even up to 473 K, which is mainly attributed to the incorporation of abundant trap sites generated by the nonequivalent substitution Eu3+ for Ca2+. After it is integrated into commercially available YAG:Ce3+ phosphor-based pc-WLEDs, the excellent optical parameters of the fabricated WLEDs are evaluated. The correlated color temperature (CCT) varies from cool white (6458 K) to warm (4370 K), and the color rendering index (CRI) increases from 78 to 86 under a high flux operating current of 200 mA. Furthermore, the chromaticity coordinates remain almost stable with the increasing drive current from 200 mA to 1000 mA. It is highly expected that CaMgGeO4:0.01Eu3+ will become a suitable red phosphor for the preparation of white LEDs with high efficiency.

A New Co-Substitution Strategy as a Model to Study a Rare-Earth-Free Spinel-Type Phosphor with Red Emissions and Its Application in Light-Emitting Diodes.

The substitution of metal sites in Mg2TiO4 substrate leads to charge imbalance that will be closely related to a variety of changes including lattice structure, cell distortion, and photophysical properties. Herein, the co-substitution strategy of [Ga3+-Ga3+] for [Mg2+-Ti4+] and Sn4+ for Ti4+ achieves for the first time the novel Mg3Ga2SnO8 (MGS):xMn4+ (x = 0-3%) phosphors with efficient red emissions. In terms of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld refinement analysis, MGS:Mn4+ possesses a structure isotypic of Mg2TiO4 in the cubic space group Fd3̅m (227). There are two types of octahedra for Mn4+ ions in this structure, where Ga3+ ions completely occupy a group of octahedral sites and Mg2+/Sn4+ has been randomly distributed over another group of octahedral sites. A strong excitation band in the broad spectral range (220-550 nm) has been identified, thus facilitating the commercial uses for blue LED chips excitation. An intense red emission band at 680 nm has been observed due to the characteristic 2Eg-4A2g transition of Mn4+ ions. A concentration quenching effect occurs when the Mn4+ content exceeds 1.5%, and the quenching mechanism is demonstrated to be dipole-quadrupole interactions. Temperature-dependent luminescence measurements support its good thermal stability, and the corresponding activation energy Ea is determined to be 0.2552 eV. The possible luminous mechanism of the Mn4+ ion is explained by the Tanabe-Sugano energy level diagram. The crystal field strength and the Racah parameters together with the nephelauxetic ratio are also determined for Mn4+ in the MGS lattice. High color rendition warm white-light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) based on the optimal phosphor MGS:1.5%Mn4+,1.5%Li+ possess a color rendering index and color temperature of 85.6 and 3658 K, respectively. Its feasibility for application in solid-state white lighting has been verified.

Near-infrared emission tracks inter-individual variability of carboxylesterase-2 via a novel molecular substrate.

A low-molecular-weight molecule (4-(2-(3-(dicyanomethyl)-5,5-dimethylcyclohex-1-en-1-yl)vinyl)phenyl-benzoate, DDPB) has been developed. The organic framework possesses very weak fluorescence . The feasibility of the signal transduction has been performed via fluorometric titrations in solution. DDPB gives rise to responses to carboxylesterase 2 (CES2) based on "off-on" responses. The red emission at 670 nm has been derived from the enzyme-induced hydrolysis of ester linkages, thus suppressing the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) effect and thereby generating the fluorescent segment. The optical excitation window for this probe is extended to the visible light range (λex = 516 nm), and it will induce less harmful influence on biological substances. The detection limit for the measurement of CES2 concentration is as low as 2.33 mU/mL. The conventional studies concerning the activation process are generally performed within only a single liveing cell system. In this study, it is the first time that expression of carboxylesterase 2 in five kinds of cell lines (HeLa > C1498 > active T cell > Jurkat > unactive T cell) has been clarified by flow cytometry, Western blotting, and confocal microscopy analysis. The elucidation of CES2 and its variability in a variety of cells will open new ways for drug metabolism and disease prevention. Graphical abstract We reported a new "substrate-mediated light-on" strategy based on an ester bond cleavage reaction. Most of prepared nanomaterials and organic fluorophores possessed short wavelength emissions in the blue or green region which will not be difficult for cellular imaging. In this study, a novel functional molecule (DDPB) was considered as the substrate for CES2 and the optical "off-on" response was realized. DDPB was cell permeable and possessed very low cytotoxicity. Moreover, the identification of CES2 and their subtle changes in five different cells afforded the sequence for carboxylesterase-2 as Hela > C1498 > Active T cell > Jurkat > Unactive T cell. Inhibition studies showed that the hydrolysis of DDPB was effectively suppressed by bis-p-nitrophenyl phosphate and the cellular tracking results firmly supported this point. To our knowledge, the inter-individual variability for the CES2 expressions in five different cell lines has never been reported via the substrate induced optical changes.

Transcriptome profiles in the spleen of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) challenged with Aeromonas veronii.

The African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, an important cultured freshwater species in many countries, possess the characteristic of high disease resistance. However, little genomic information for this character of the fish is available up to now. To address the shortfall and to better understand C. gariepinus immune response to pathogen infection at molecular level, C. gariepinus were challenged with potent A. veronii and the high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology were employed to produce transcriptomes from spleen. In total, an average of 46,073,372 clean reads obtained were de novo assembled into 156,955 unigenes with an average length of 1082 bp. All of unigenes were annotated to seven public databases. Three comparisons were separately conducted between the infected groups at 3 h, 24 h, 48 h post-challenge and control group. A total of 2482 differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) were identified. Among these, 114 immune-related DEGs were captured, including 88, 42, and 31 genes at 3 h, 24 h and 48 h after infection respectively, for analysis of expression pattern and enrichment. The 114 DEGs displayed four expression patterns by cluster analysis and they were significantly enriched in 38 pathways (q < 0.01) related to the immune or disease, five of which were NF-kappa B, TNF, NLR, TLR and RLR pathways. Finally, the expression levels of twelve selected immune-related DEGs involved in above five pathways were scrutinized. Seven of which were up-regulated at 3 h after infection, afterward, their expression dropped to control level. In summary, this study provides valuable transcriptome resource for understanding the defense mechanisms of C. gariepinus in resistance to pathogens from the gene expression viewpoint, which also open up the possibility to study the immune complexity and to better comprehend the interrelationships between some immune pathways in C. gariepinus.

Realization of Optical Network Structures for Robust Films through Immobilization of Europium Complexes.

In this study, the bio-inspired self-cracking substrate can be employed as a template to control the formation of a robust mirco-patterning film. Uniform materials with variable diameters are achieved by optimizing the egg white/water ratios and reaction temperature. The incorporated europium ions exhibit its typical f-f transitions in patterned films. Moreover, the mechanical property and excellent transmittance features have been demonstrated. The current approach can be extended to design two-dimensional nanofabrication of different materials.

In vitro and in vivo studies of a chlorin-based carbon nanocarrier with photodynamic therapy features.

Carbonaceous materials have long been developed to utilize "nano-spaces" and numerous guest species could be encapsulated. A remarkable fluorescence difference has been observed after newly designed pyropheophorbide-a-appended carbon nanohorns were incorporated in a cellular medium and confocal microscopy was employed for the determination of the intracellular localization. Our study supported the role of carbon nanohorns as carriers of photodynamic therapy (PDT) agents and their heating behavior was discussed. We have developed a theranostic platform based on photosensitizer-conjugated carbon nanostructures and this system has been applied in an animal model. In addition, a negligible toxicity of CNH-Pyro was found in body weight experiments and histopathological examination of the major organs.

Ratiometric Fluorescence Platform Based on Modified Silicon Quantum Dots and Its Logic Gate Performance.

A novel optical nanoprobe based on silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) has been assembled through a one-pot low-temperature (40 °C) treatment by using 3-(aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS) and ascorbic acid (AA) as two precursors. The water-soluble SiQDs demonstrate intense green luminescence in aqueous environment and the excitation-dependent feature has been explored. Meanwhile, the incorporation of salicylaldehyde (SA) serves to suppress the emission of SiQDs effectively via nucleophilic reaction and an "on-off" change is observed. Furthermore, the addition of Zn2+ can lead to evolution of emission peaks, and the green band at 500 nm gradually shifts toward the blue side at 455 nm. The corresponding ratiometric signal changes ( I455/ I500) can accurately determine the Zn2+ concentration and the limit of detection is calculated to be 0.17 µM in the linear range between 1 and 100 µM. In this research, a molecular logic gate (AND) system has been well established by using SA and Zn2+ as two inputs. The fluorescence emission changes based on SiQDs will shed new light on the development of functional sensors at the nanoscale level.

Effective silicon nanowire arrays/WO3 core/shell photoelectrode for neutral pH water splitting.

We report the first demonstration of a high-efficiency photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting reaction using a novel Si NWs/WO3 core/shell photoanode prepared by a mild and inexpensive metal-catalyzed electroless etching process followed by dip-coating, airing and annealing methods. The dense and vertically aligned Si NWs/WO3 core/shell nanostructure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. In comparison to planar n-Si, Si NWs and planar Si/WO3, the Si NWs/WO3 samples showed significantly enhanced photocurrent over the entire potential sweep range. More significantly, the Si NWs/WO3 samples have an exceptionally low photocurrent onset potential of -0.6393 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), indicating very efficient charge separation and charge transportation processes. The as-prepared electrode also has a photocurrent density of 2.7 mA cm-2 at 0.6107 V versus RHE in 0.5 M Na2SO4 solution under simulated solar light irradiation (100 mW cm-2 from 300 W Xenon lamp coupled with an AM 1.5 G filter). An optimal solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of about 1.9% was achieved at 0.2676 V versus RHE. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was conducted to investigate the properties of the charge transfer process, and the results indicated that the enhanced PEC performance may due to the increased charge separation. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicated the chemical composition of the Si NWs/WO3 nanostructure. Our work has provided an efficient strategy to improve the energy conversion efficiency and photocurrent of water splitting materials.