Efficient Encapsulation of Fe3O4 Nanoparticles into Genetically Engineered Hepatitis B Core Virus-Like Particles Through a Specific Interaction for Potential Bioapplications

Self-assembly of viral coating proteins encapsulating functional nanoparticles provides a new class of biomaterials with robust chemical and physical properties for potential applications in functional imaging, and therapeutic or diagnostic agent delivery. Herein, a straightforward method is demonstrated for efficient encapsidation of magnetic nanoparticles into the engineered virus-like particle (VLP) through the affinity of histidine tags for the nickel- nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) chelate. Monodispersed, uniformly sized, magnetic core-containing VLPs are obtained at high efficiency (>85%) and used as the cellular T2 contrast agents for MR imaging applications thanks to their biocompatibility, higher cellular uptake, as well as higher r2 values. ? 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Lignans from Patrinia scabiosaefolia improve insulin resistance by activating PI-3K/AKT pathway and promoting GLUT4 expression

Patrinia scabiosaefolia, is used as wild vegetable in China for more than 2 000 years, with a variety of pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and hypoglycemic. Based on our ongoing research on chemical constituents and hypoglycemic activity of P. scabiosaefolia, 4 lignan compounds, (+)-isolariciresinol (1), 7R,7'R,8S,8'S-(+)-neo-olivil-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), 4-O-methylcedrusin (3) and patrinian A (4), were isolated and identified. The hypoglycemic activity showed that compounds 2 and 3 could extremely significantly improve insulin resistance at 100 (P < 0.001), 50 (P < 0.001) and 25 µmol/L (P < 0.01) in IR 3T3-L1 cells. While compound 4 only promoted glucose uptake by IR 3T3-L1 cells at 100 µmol/L (P < 0.01). Western blotting experiments showed that compounds 2 and 4 up-regulated the protein expressions of p-IRS, PI-3K, p-AKT and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), and promoted the transcription of GLUT4 mRNA. Therefore, the mechanisms of compounds 2 and 4 were presumed to improve IR by activating PI-3K/AKT signaling pathway

Demonstration of ChromoCloth: Re-Programmable Multi-Color Textures through Flexible and Portable Light Source

The 36th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST ’23 Adjunct), October 29–November 01, 2023.In this demo, we present ChromoCloth, a fexible and portable light source for reprogrammable multi-color texture on photochromic objects, whose color can be reprogrammed with external light sources. While prior work used external projectors to trigger the color change, ChromoCloth initiates the color change by covering the object. ChromoCloth consists of a textile substrate, 3D printed difusive housing glued on top of the substrate and a fexible LED strip that is weaved through the housings

Rh(II)/Brønsted Acid Cocatalyzed Intramolecular Trapping of Ammonium Ylides with Enones: Diastereoselective Synthesis of 2,2,3-Trisubstituted Indolines

Highly diastereoselective intramolecular trapping of ammonium ylides with enones has been developed through a Rh­(II)/Brønsted acid cocatalytic strategy. This process allows rapid and efficient construction of <i>N</i>-unprotected polyfunctional 2,2,3-trisubstituted indolines in moderate to good yields with excellent diastereoselectivity

NIPS derived three-dimensional porous copper membrane for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries

NIPS derived three-dimensional porous copper membrane for high-energy-density lithium-ion batterie

Regulating Phosphorescence Lifetime of Organic Cocrystals by Alkyl Engineering

Phosphorescent cocrystal is one of the emerging room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials. However, it remains a great challenge to understand the relationship between the phosphorescent properties and molecular aggregation. Herein, we prepared a series of organic cocrystals with RTP features composed of different alkyl chain lengths. It is worth noting that the phosphorescent lifetime varied by the different lengths of alkyl chains. For melamine–succinic acid cocrystal, the phosphorescence lifetime can reach up to 512 ms. From the single-crystal analysis, the longer lifetime was mainly attributed to the shorter distance of molecular stacking between phosphorescent chromophores resulting in smaller free volume. This study not only provides a simple method to prepare RTP materials but also explores the relationship between phosphorescent properties and molecular stacking in organic phosphorescent cocrystals

Unique Domain Structure of Two-Dimensional α‑Mo₂C Superconducting Crystals

The properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene and monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides are strongly influenced by domain boundaries. Ultrathin transition metal carbides are a class of newly emerging 2D materials that are superconducting and have many potential applications such as in electrochemical energy storage, catalysis, and thermoelectric energy conversion. However, little is known about their domain structure and the influence of domain boundaries on their properties. Here we use atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with large-scale diffraction-filtered imaging to study the microstructure of chemical vapor deposited high-quality 2D α-Mo₂C superconducting crystals of different regular shapes including triangles, rectangles, hexagons, octagons, nonagons, and dodecagons. The Mo atom sublattice in all these crystals has a uniform hexagonal closely packed arrangement without any boundaries. However, except for rectangular and octagonal crystals, the C atom sublattices are composed of three or six domains with rotational-symmetry and well-defined line-shaped domain boundaries because of the presence of three equivalent off-center directions of interstitial carbon atoms in Mo octahedra. We found that there is very small lattice shear strain across the domain boundary. In contrast to the single sharp transition observed in single-domain crystals, transport studies across domain boundaries show a broad resistive superconducting transition with two distinct transition processes due to the formation of localized phase slip events within the boundaries, indicating a significant influence of the boundary on 2D superconductivity. These findings provide new understandings on not only the microstructure of 2D transition metal carbides but also the intrinsic influence of domain boundaries on 2D superconductivity

Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) may be associated with cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: a correlation study

Abstract Background Cognitive impairments are prominent in schizophrenia (SZ). Imaging studies have demonstrated that functional changes of several areas of the brain exist in SZ patients. The relationships between these two indexes are largely unexplored in SZ. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used to measure cognitive impairment in multi-dimensional cognitive fields of SZ patients. This study was conducted to explore the relationship between cognitive functional impairment and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) in SZ patients. Method A total of 104 participants (44 SZ patients and 60 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC)) were recruited for this study. The MCCB was used to assess cognitive function of the participants, while brain activity was assessed using the ALFF. The relationship between the MCCB and the ALFF was investigated by using a correlation analysis. Results There were significant differences between SZ patients and HC in MCCB total and domain scores as well as in ALFF results. The reduction of ALFF in the bilateral postcentral gyri and paracentral lobule in SZ patients has a negative correlation with the MCCB sub-test of symbol coding. Conclusion These findings suggest that the reduction of ALFF in bilateral postcentral gyri and paracentral lobule may be related to cognitive impairment in SZ patients