Effect of desflurane preconditioning on HUVECs submitted to A/R.

<p>Cells were submitted to A/R with or without pretreated with desflurane for 30 min or 5 µM BAY11-7082 (BAY). The viability was measured by MTT assay (A). The apoptosis rate was measured by FACSan flow cytometry (B). Data are presented as mean±SD. n = 6/group. *<i>P</i><0.05 versus CON group,^#<i>P</i><0.05 versus DES+A/R group.</p

Eeffect of desflurane on SMAC release and capase-3 cleavage.

<p>Western blot analysis showing cytosolic SAMC (A) and total caspase-3 (B). Equal loading was confirmed by western blot with an anti-β-actin antibody. The cytosolic SMAC and total caspsase-3 concentrations were calculated by averaging the results obtained from five independent experiments. Data are presented as mean±SD. *<i>P</i><0.05 versus CON group, ^#<i>P</i><0.05 versus DES+A/R group.</p

Desflurane preconditioning induced oscillation of NF-κB between nucleus and cytoplasm.

<p>Broken arrow refers to unconfirmed part of current study.</p

Experiment protocols.

<p>HUVECs submitted to the anoxia and reoxygenation (A/R) and pretreated with and without 1.0 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) desflurane or 5 µM BAY11-7082 (BAY). For cell viability, apoptosis, SOD activity assays, the cell samples were collected at the end of experiments. For western blot analysis, cell samples were collected at the end of reoxygenation (samples were collected at 45 min after baseline in CON group and 15 min after desflurane exposure in DES group).</p

HUVECs immunofluorescence stained with anti-factor VIII related antibody.

<p>Column 1 is the image of factor VIII (green) in cytoplasm, column 2 is the image of nuclei (blue) and column 3 is the merged image. Magnification ×40.</p

Effect of desflurane on NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation.

<p>Immunofluorescence assay showing NF-κB p65 subunit (green) translocated to nuclei (blue) after exposure to desflurane or A/R. Arrowheads signify some positive nuclei. Magnification ×200.</p

Effect of desflurane on expression of Bcl-2, c-IAP1 and SOD activity.

<p>Western blot analysis showing concentration of Bcl-2 (A), c-IAP1 (B). Equal loading was confirmed by western blot with an anti-β-actin or anti-tubulin antibody. The Bcl-2 and c-IAP1protein concentrations were calculated by averaging the results obtained from five independent experiments. The SOD activity was measured by WST-1 assay (C). Data are presented as mean±SD. *<i>P</i><0.05 versus CON group, ^#<i>P</i><0.05 versus DES+A/R group.</p

Hollow Fe³⁺-Doped Anatase Titanium Dioxide Nanosphere for Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes

In recent years, the development and application of semiconductor materials with excellent photocatalytic properties have been paid wide attention in addressing the issue of water pollution. Hollow nanospheres of titanium dioxide (TiO2), doped with Fe ions, have been fabricated through the hard template method for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. The hierarchical nanospheres were synthesized using hydrothermal carbon spheres as a template, resulting in an average diameter of about 200 nm, a mesoporous structure characterized by a remarkably large specific surface area, and uniform dispersion of Fe on the surface of hollow TiO2. In this study, the effect of operating parameters such as catalyst concentration and environmental conditions on the degradation of rhodamine dyes by catalysts was investigated. The optimal Fe dopant content of TiO2 was 2.0%, exhibiting the highest photocatalytic activity and recyclability under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. It can be attributed to the double effects of the oxygen vacancy (OV) defect produced by doped ion modification and more active site of the hollow structure. The results show that Fe–TiO2 composites can be used as effective photocatalysts to mineralize toxic dye molecules from wastewater

Pseudohalogen Ammonium Salt-Assisted Syntheses of Large-Sized Indium Phosphide Quantum Dots with Near-Infrared Photoluminescence

The development of indium phosphide (InP)-based quantum dots (QDs) with a near-infrared (NIR) emission area still lags behind the visible wavelength region and remains problematic. This study describes a one-step in situ pseudohalogen ammonium salt-assisted approach to generate NIR-emitted InP-based QDs with high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs). The coexistence of NH4+ and PF6– ions from NH4PF6 may in situ synchronously etch and passivate the surface oxides and impede the creation of traps under the whole growth process of InP QDs. Experimental findings demonstrated that the in situ pseudohalogen ammonium salt-assisted syntheses technique may feature emission at a full width at half-maximum (fwhm) peak as fine as ∼45 nm and broaden the emission range to around ∼780 nm. A two-step approach for ZnS shells was developed to further improve the PLQY of NIR-emitted InP QDs. Furthermore, the constructed high-power intrinsically stretchable NIR color-conversion film employing the InP-based QDs/polymer composites presented excellent luminescence conversion ability and stretchability

Using Molecular Level Modification To Tune the Conductivity of Graphene Papers

Graphene's excellent electrical conductivity benefits from its highly conjugated structure. Therefore, the manipulation of graphene's electronic and mechanical properties should be realized by controlled destruction of its in-sheet conjugation. Here, we report the manipulation of the conductivity of graphene papers, at the molecular level, via either covalent bonding or π–π stacking interactions using either monofunctional or bifunctional molecules. The graphene papers can be tailored with controllable conductivity from around 100 to below 0.001 S/cm. The controlled destruction of the in-sheet graphene conjugation system using monoaryl diazonium salts (MDS) resulted in a tunable decrease in the graphene paper conductivity. However, when the graphene was modified with bifunctional aryl diazonium salts (BDS), a more subtle decrease in conductivity of the graphene papers was observed. It is suggested that the modification of the graphene with the bifunctional BDS linker showed more subtle changes in conductivity because of the between-sheet electron communication, thus boosting the collective graphene paper conductivity. Consequently, a bipyrene terminal molecular wire (BPMW) was also synthesized and used to modify the graphene sheets via π–π stacking interactions. The BPMW afforded graphene papers with better electrical conductivity than those modified with either MDS or BDS molecules