Hydrodesulfurization of 4,6-Dimethyldibenzothiophene over CoMo Catalysts Supported on γ‑Alumina with Different Morphology

Nanostructured γ-alumina with two different morphologies (rod-like and cube-like) was used as support for CoMo hydrodesulfurization catalyst. Both γ-aluminas were prepared by thermal decomposition of ammonium aluminum carbonate hydroxide precursor, which was synthesized by a convenient hydrothermal method at two pH values. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of prydine adsorption, thermogravimetric analysis, and ²⁷Al magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR showed that the rod-like γ-alumina exhibited a lower acidity than the cube-like γ-alumina. The result of X-ray diffraction and temperature-programmed reduction indicated that CoMo oxidic catalysts supported on the rod-like γ-alumina presented higher reducibility compared to those of cube-like γ-alumina, because more β-CoMoO₄ was formed on the surface of the rod-like γ-alumina than that of the cube-like γ-alumina. After sulfidation, a large stack with slightly longer MoS₂ slabs was formed on the rod-like γ-alumina supports, thereby creating a catalyst with higher hydrodesulfurization activity and hydrogenation selectivity. The morphology of γ-alumina has an influence on the activity and selectivity of the as-synthesized CoMo catalyst

Electrostatic Assembly of Peptide Nanofiber–Biomimetic Silver Nanowires onto Graphene for Electrochemical Sensors

Biomacromolecules and their assemblies have the unique ability for biomimetic promotion of the formation of novel and functional nanomaterials. In this work, artificial peptide nanofibers were created with a special designed peptide molecule that contains complex motif sequences and then further metallized to synthesize nanofiber-based silver nanowires. A novel hybrid nanomaterial was obtained successfully by assembling the prepared silver nanowires on graphene nanosheets, and its potential application in nonenzymatic electrochemical H₂O₂ sensing was explored. This fabricated sensor based on graphene and silver nanowires exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity, low detection limit, and wide linear range for the determination of H₂O₂

Supramolecular Self-Assembly Bioinspired Synthesis of Luminescent Gold Nanocluster-Embedded Peptide Nanofibers for Temperature Sensing and Cellular Imaging

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) hold great potential as novel luminescent nanomaterials in many applications, while the synthesis of highly luminescent metal NCs still remains challenging. In this work, we report self-assembling peptides as a novel bioinspired scaffold capable of significantly enhancing the luminescence efficiency of gold nanoclusters (AuNCs). The resulting AuNCs capped with motif-designed peptides can self-assemble to form nanofiber structures, in which the luminescence of AuNCs is enhanced nearly 70-fold, with 21.3% quantum yield. The underlying mechanism responsible for the luminescence enhancement has been thoroughly investigated by the combined use of different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The resultant highly luminescent AuNC-decorated peptide nanofibers exhibit physicochemical properties that are advantageous for biological applications. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the use of these nanostructure as fluorescent thermometers and for imaging living cells, both showing very promising results

Aluminum-Doped Zinc Oxide as Highly Stable Electron Collection Layer for Perovskite Solar Cells

Although low-temperature, solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO) has been widely adopted as the electron collection layer (ECL) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) because of its simple synthesis and excellent electrical properties such as high charge mobility, the thermal stability of the perovskite films deposited atop ZnO layer remains as a major issue. Herein, we addressed this problem by employing aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) as the ECL and obtained extraordinarily thermally stable perovskite layers. The improvement of the thermal stability was ascribed to diminish of the Lewis acid–base chemical reaction between perovskite and ECL. Notably, the outstanding transmittance and conductivity also render AZO layer as an ideal candidate for transparent conductive electrodes, which enables a simplified cell structure featuring glass/AZO/perovskite/Spiro-OMeTAD/Au. Optimization of the perovskite layer leads to an excellent and repeatable photovoltaic performance, with the champion cell exhibiting an open-circuit voltage (<i>V</i>_oc) of 0.94 V, a short-circuit current (<i>J</i>_sc) of 20.2 mA cm^–2, a fill factor (FF) of 0.67, and an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.6% under standard 1 sun illumination. It was also revealed by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence that the AZO/perovskite interface resulted in less quenching than that between perovskite and hole transport material

Formation of In-Plane Semiconductor–Metal Contacts in 2D Platinum Telluride by Converting PtTe₂ to Pt₂Te₂

Monolayer PtTe2 is a narrow gap semiconductor while Pt2Te2 is a metal. Here we show that the former can be transformed into the latter by reaction with vapor-deposited Pt atoms. The transformation occurs by nucleating the Pt2Te2 phase within PtTe2 islands, so that a metal–semiconductor junction is formed. A flat band structure is found with the Fermi level of the metal aligning with that of the intrinsically p-doped PtTe2. This is achieved by an interface dipole that accommodates the ∼0.2 eV shift in the work functions of the two materials. First-principles calculations indicate that the origin of the interface dipole is the atomic scale charge redistributions at the heterojunction. The demonstrated compositional phase transformation of a 2D semiconductor into a 2D metal is a promising approach for making in-plane metal contacts that are required for efficient charge injection and is of particular interest for semiconductors with large spin–orbit coupling, like PtTe2

Additional file 1 of Pan-cancer analysis implicates novel insights of lactate metabolism into immunotherapy response prediction and survival prognostication

Supplementary Material 1: Figure S1. AUC value of LM.SIG in three independent testing cohorts. Figure S2. Bar plot depicting the AUC values of LM.SIG and other melanoma‑specific signatures in the SKCM cohort (Hugo 2016 + Van Allen 2015). Figure S3. The association between LM.SIG-related risk score and OS of patients in each TCGA pan-cancer dataset (all p < 0.05). Figure S4. The expression of LDHA in GSE115978 and GSE123813 datasets. Figure S5. The level of lactate in sh-LDHA PDOs. The mRNA (A) and protein (B) levels of LDHA in sh-LDHA PDOs. (C) The level of lactate in sh-LDHA PDOs. (ns, not significant; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001) Figure S6. IHC staining showing the expression of LDHA, CD8, CD163 and Ki-67 among sh-NC + anti-IgG, sh-NC + anti-PD1, sh-LDHA + anti-IgG and sh-LDHA + anti-PD1 groups (scale bar: 200 μm)

Effect of <i>HYAL1</i> and <i>HYAL2</i> transgenes on colony formation efficiency in KRC/Y and U2020 cells compared to empty pETE vector (negative control) and wild type or mutated <i>FUS1</i> transgenes.

<p>Graphical representation summarizing three independent experiments and photographic images of Petri dishes stained with methylene blue. Values are the mean ±s.d. of three separate experiments each calculated from triplicate plates.</p

CyQUANT Cell Proliferation Assay.

<p>Effect of expression of <i>HYAL1</i> transgene in KRC/Y (A) and in U2020 (B) cells. The same is shown for <i>HYAL2</i> (KRC/Y in C and U2020 in D). Experiments were done in triplicates in the absence of doxycycline. The same experiments were done in the presence of doxycycline and showed similar results (data not shown). Plotted data points represent averages of triplicate samples, the plotted line is a linear regression fit of all data points. The assay is designed to produce a linear analytical response from at least 100–20,000 cells per well in most cell lines.</p

Analysis of <i>HYAL1</i> and <i>HYAL2</i> stably transformed KRC/Y clones.

<p>Northern analysis (A) of tetracycline regulated clones. (+), tetracycline (Tet) or doxycycline is present, gene is OFF. (−), tetracycline or doxycycline is absent, gene is ON. Growth inhibition of KRC/Y cells with <i>HYAL1</i> (B) and <i>HYAL2</i> (C) transgenes <i>in vitro</i>. Tumour growth inhibition of KRC/Y cells by <i>HYAL1</i> and <i>HYAL2 in vivo</i> in SCID mice (D). Mice were drinking water with tetracycline (+Tet, gene is OFF) or without (−Tet, gene is ON) but for simplicity curves are shown only for mice when genes were ON (no tetracycline).</p

QPCR mRNA expression profile of <i>HYAL1</i> and <i>HYAL2</i> in SCC and RCC biopsies.

<p>The Y axis indicates the values of relative expression level of target genes in log₁₀ scale in tumour samples relative to control normal samples normalized to the reference gene <i>GAPDH.</i> The X axis shows the cDNA samples isolated from tumours at different stages (I–III). Open bars show HYAL1 and hatched bars HYAL2 expression.</p