Hemophagocytic Syndrome in a Patient with Acute Tubulointerstitial Nephritis Secondary to Hepatitis A Virus Infection

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is generally a self-limited disease, but the infection in adults can be serious, to be often complicated by acute kidney injury (AKI) and rarely by virus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS). Our patient, a 48-yr-old man, was diagnosed with HAV infection complicated by dialysis-dependent AKI. His kidney biopsy showed acute tubulointerstitial nephritis with massive infiltration of activated macrophages and T cells, and he progressively demonstrated features of VAHS. With hemodialysis and steroid treatment, he was successfully recovered

Surface-Modified Ta3N5 Nanocrystals with Boron for Enhanced Visible-Light-Driven Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Photocatalysts for water splitting are the core of renewable energy technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells. The development of photoelectrode materials with high efficiency and low corrosivity has great challenges. In this study, we report new strategy to improve performance of tantalum nitride (Ta3N5) nanocrystals as promising photoanode materials for visible-light-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting cells. The surface of Ta3N5 nanocrystals was modified with boron whose content was controlled, with up to 30% substitution of Ta. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that boron was mainly incorporated into the surface oxide layers of the Ta3N5 nanocrystals. The surface modification with boron increases significantly the solar energy conversion efficiency of the water-splitting PEC cells by shifting the onset potential cathodically and increasing the photocurrents. It reduces the interfacial charge-transfer resistance and increases the electrical conductivity, which could cause the higher photocurrents at lower potential. The onset potential shift of the PEC cell with the boron incorporation can be attributed to the negative shift of the flat band potential. We suggest that the boron-modified surface acts as a protection layer for the Ta3N5 nanocrystals, by catalyzing effectively the water splitting reaction

Precise epigenomic editing with a SunTag-based modular epigenetic toolkit

Epigenetic regulation is a crucial factor controlling gene expression. Here, we report our CRISPR/dCas9-based modular epigenetic toolkit that enables gene-specific modulation of epigenetic architecture. By modifying the SunTag framework of dCas9 tagged with five GCN4 moieties, each epigenetic writer is bound to scFv and target-specific sgRNA, and this system is able to modify multiple epigenetic marks in a target-specific manner. We successfully demonstrated that this system is efficient in modifying individual histone post-translational modifications. We display its utility as a tool to understand the contributions of specific histone marks on gene expression by screening a large promoter region and identifying differential outcomes with high base-pair resolution. This epigenetic toolkit can be easily altered with a large variety of epigenetic effectors and is a useful tool for researchers to use in understanding gene-specific epigenetic changes and their relation to gene expression

Surface-Modified Ta₃N₅ Nanocrystals with Boron for Enhanced Visible-Light-Driven Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Photocatalysts for water splitting are the core of renewable energy technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells. The development of photoelectrode materials with high efficiency and low corrosivity has great challenges. In this study, we report new strategy to improve performance of tantalum nitride (Ta₃N₅) nanocrystals as promising photoanode materials for visible-light-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting cells. The surface of Ta₃N₅ nanocrystals was modified with boron whose content was controlled, with up to 30% substitution of Ta. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that boron was mainly incorporated into the surface oxide layers of the Ta₃N₅ nanocrystals. The surface modification with boron increases significantly the solar energy conversion efficiency of the water-splitting PEC cells by shifting the onset potential cathodically and increasing the photocurrents. It reduces the interfacial charge-transfer resistance and increases the electrical conductivity, which could cause the higher photocurrents at lower potential. The onset potential shift of the PEC cell with the boron incorporation can be attributed to the negative shift of the flat band potential. We suggest that the boron-modified surface acts as a protection layer for the Ta₃N₅ nanocrystals, by catalyzing effectively the water splitting reaction