Support-Free Porous Polyamine Particles for CO₂ Capture

CO₂ emission from fossil fuel combustion is a major anthropogenic factor for global warming. Solid amine sorbents may be used to remove CO₂ from waste flue gases before their emission into the atmosphere. These particles are currently obtained by loading amine-containing compounds or polymers onto premade or commercially available porous supports. These supports play no active role in CO₂ uptake and increase the amount of heat or cost required to regenerate CO₂-sorbed particles by heating. Reported in this communication are the preparation, by precipitation polymerization, of support-free polyamine porous particles and the performance of these particles in CO₂ capture at room temperature and release at 100 °C

Charge Generation and Recombination in High Fullerene Content Organic Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

Organic bulk heterojunction solar cells with a high fullerene content (larger than 70%) have been studied in this work. The device performances of this kind of solar cell could be tuned by adjusting the blend ratio in the active layer. An appropriate amount of p-type semiconductor in the high fullerene content active blend layer is beneficial for light absorbance and exciton dissociation. The proper energy alignment between the highest occupied molecular orbital of a p-type material and an n-type fullerene derivative has a strong influence on the exciton dissociation efficiency. In addition, the mechanism of photogenerated charge recombination in the solar cells has been identified through intensity-dependent current density–voltage (<i>J–V</i>) measurements and results show that the mechanisms governing the recombination are crucial for solar cell performance

Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha rs1800629 Polymorphism and Risk of Cervical Lesions: A Meta-Analysis

<div><p>Background</p><p>Tumor necrosis factor- alpha (TNF-α) is an inflammatory cytokine which may play important role on the immune response may control the progression of cervical lesions. There is a possible association between TNF-α rs1800629 G/A polymorphism and cervical lesions, but previous studies report conflicting results. We performed a meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the association between TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism and cervical lesions risk.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Literature searches of Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, and Wanfang databases were performed for all publications on the association between TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism and cervical lesions through December 15, 2012. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence interval (95%CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of the association.</p><p>Results</p><p>Twenty individual case-control studies from 19 publications with a total of 4,146 cases and 4,731 controls were finally included into the meta-analysis. Overall, TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism was significantly associated with increased risk of cervical lesions under two main genetic comparison models (For A versus G: OR 1.22, 95%CI 1.04–1.44, P = 0.017; for AA versus GG: OR 1.32, 95%CI 1.02–1.71, P = 0.034). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity further showed that there was a significant association between TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism and increased risk of cervical lesions in Caucasians but not in Asians. Subgroup analysis by the types of cervical lesions showed that there was a significant association between TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism and increased risk of cervical cancer (For A versus G: OR 1.24, 95%CI 1.05–1.47, P = 0.011; for AA versus GG: OR 1.31, 95%CI 1.01–1.70, P = 0.043; for AA/GA versus GG: OR 1.25, 95%CI 1.01–1.54, P = 0.039).</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The meta-analysis suggests that TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism is associated with increased risk of cervical lesions, especially in Caucasians.</p></div

Forest plot describing the association between TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism and cervical lesions risk.

<p><b>(Each study is shown by the point estimate of the OR and 95% CI, and (the size of the square is proportional to the weight of each study.)</b> Figure 2-(A) A vs. G. Figure 2- (B) AA vs. GG. Figure 2- (C) AA/GA vs. GG.</p

Funnel plot for the detection of the publication bias in this meta-analysis.

<p>Funnel plot for the detection of the publication bias in this meta-analysis.</p

Meta-analysis of the association between TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism and cervical lesions risk.

<p>(<b>Abbreviations:</b> OR, odds ratio; 95%CI, 95% confidence interval; ICC, Invasive cervical cancer; SIL, squamous intraepithelial lesions.)</p

Characteristics of twenty studies on the association between TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism and cervical lesions risk.

<p>(†PCR-RFLP, Polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism; *ICC, Invasive cervical cancer; SIL, squamous intraepithelial lesions.)</p

The phenotypes of CTLA-4⁺, HLA-DR⁺, Ki67⁺ Tregs in liver transplant patients.

<p>The activated and proliferative molecules on Tregs were detected in liver transplant patients. The results showed that the frequencies of CTLA-4⁺, HLA-DR⁺, and Ki67⁺ Tregs were higher in Gr-SF than in Gr-AR (all <i>P</i><0.05). The above data suggested more Tregs were active and proliferating in Gr-SF than in Gr-AR in liver transplant recipients.</p

The distribution of Tregs and Th17 cells in the peripheral blood and in the grafts of patients with acute allograft rejection.

<p>(A) Representative profiles of Tregs and Th17 cells in peripheral blood collected using fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). (B) The frequency of Tregs and Tregs/Th17 ratio were significantly higher in Gr-SF than in Gr-AR. On the contrary, the frequency of Th17 cells was significantly lower in Gr-SF than in Gr-AR. In addition, the frequency of IL-17⁺IFN-γ⁺ cells was lower in Gr-SF than in Gr-AR. (C) To evaluate the distribution pattern of Tregs and Th17 cells in allografts with acute rejection, we examined the infiltration of Tregs and Th17 cells using immunohistochemical staining. Anti-FoxP3⁺ and anti-IL-17 antibodies were used on paraffin embedded biopsy samples which were obtained from allograft with acute rejection. The results showed extensive infiltration of Tregs (red) and Th17 cells (red). Original magnification, ×400. (D) One representative patient with acute allograft rejection was followed-up for 12 months after liver transplantation. The dynamics of Tregs and Th17 cell frequencies were depicted during the follow-up period (the black line represents Th17 cells frequency; the blue line the Tregs frequency; and the red line Tregs/Th17 ratio). ARS: Acute rejection subsided.</p

The frequency of Tregs, the frequency of Th17 cells, and Tregs/Th17 ratio are correlated with RAI.

<p>To confirm whether Tregs, Th17 cells and Tregs/Th17 were associated with the liver allograft rejection, we analyzed the correlation between RAI and the frequency of circulating Tregs, the frequency of circulating Th17 cells, and Tregs/Th17 ratio. We found that the Tregs level and Tregs/Th17 ratio had a negative correlation with RAI, whereas the Th17 cell level showed a positive correlation with RAI (<i>P</i><0.01).</p