Synthesis and performance optimization of CsPbBr/CdS core/shell lead halide perovskite nanocrystals by an ion exchange method.

All-inorganic lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have excellent optoelectronic properties and promising applications. Improving the stability of inorganic halide NCs and optimizing their photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY) has become an urgent task. Constructing core-shell structures is an effective method to improve the environmental stability and PLQY, however, realizing core-shell structured perovskite NCs with good dispersion and multiple perovskites encapsulated within the shell material remains challenging.

Molecular characterization of human HSPCs with different cell fates in vivo using single-cell transcriptome analysis and lentiviral barcoding technology.

Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) possess the potential to produce all types of blood cells throughout their lives. It is well recognized that HSPCs are heterogeneous, which is of great significance for their clinical applications and the treatment of diseases associated with HSPCs. This study presents a novel technology called Single-Cell transcriptome Analysis and Lentiviral Barcoding (SCALeBa) to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the heterogeneity of human HSPCs in vivo.

A novel computational method enables RNA editome profiling during human hematopoiesis from scRNA-seq data.

RNA editing is a post-transcriptional modification with a cell-specific manner and important biological implications. Although single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) is an effective method for studying cellular heterogeneity, it is difficult to detect and study RNA editing events from scRNA-seq data because of the low sequencing coverage. To overcome this, we develop a computational method to systematically identify RNA editing sites of cell types from scRNA-seq data.

Effect of Sr ions on the structure, up-conversion emission and thermal sensing of Er, Yb co-doped double perovskite BaSrMgWO phosphors.

Investigating the effect of different phases on the optical performance is crucial for thermal sensing phosphor materials. BaSrMgWO:Er, Yb, K double perovskite phosphors were successfully prepared using a high-temperature solid-phase method. The dominant up-conversion luminescent (UCL) mechanism was deduced by analyzing the power-dependence spectra and energy level diagrams.

Stemness-related genes revealed by single-cell profiling of naïve and stimulated human CD34 cells from CB and mPB.

Background: Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from different sources show varied repopulating capacity, and HSCs lose their stemness after long-time ex vivo culture. A deep understanding of these phenomena may provide helpful insights for HSCs.

Methods: Here, we applied single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) to analyse the naïve and stimulated human CD34 cells from cord blood (CB) and mobilised peripheral blood (mPB).

Single-cell transcriptional profiling reveals cellular and molecular divergence in human maternal-fetal interface.

Placenta plays essential role in successful pregnancy, as the most important organ connecting and interplaying between mother and fetus. However, the cellular characteristics and molecular interaction of cell populations within the fetomaternal interface is still poorly understood. Here, we surveyed the single-cell transcriptomic landscape of human full-term placenta and revealed the heterogeneity of cytotrophoblast cell (CTB) and stromal cell (STR) with the fetal/maternal origin consecutively localized from fetal section (FS), middle section (Mid_S) to maternal section (Mat_S) of maternal-fetal interface.

Single-cell transcriptional diversity of neonatal umbilical cord blood immune cells reveals neonatal immune tolerance.

The characteristics of neonatal immune cells display intrinsic differences compared with adult immune cells. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of key gene expression regulation is required to understand the response of the human fetal immune system to infections. Here, we applied single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-cell sequencing assay for transposase-accessible chromatin (scATAC-seq) to systematically profile umbilical cord blood (UCB) nucleated cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to identify their composition and differentially expressed genes.

High stability ultra-narrow band self-activated KGaSiO long-persistent phosphors for optical anti-counterfeiting.

Optical anti-counterfeiting has been developed as a promising optical-sensing technique. A self-activated phosphor was successfully prepared using the traditional solid-state method. The photoluminescence spectra of the as-synthesized phosphors indicate that the ultra-narrow band emission with green light peak at 503 nm is obtained when phosphors are excited by 254 nm UV light.

Single-cell transcriptome profiling reveals molecular heterogeneity in human umbilical cord tissue and culture-expanded mesenchymal stem cells.

Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (UMSCs) demonstrate great therapeutic potential in regenerative medicine. The use of UMSCs for clinical applications requires high quantity and good quality of cells usually by in vitro expansion. However, the heterogeneity and the characteristics of cultured UMSCs and the cognate human umbilical cord tissue at single-cell resolution remain poorly defined.

Cross-species single-cell transcriptomic analysis reveals pre-gastrulation developmental differences among pigs, monkeys, and humans.

Interspecies blastocyst complementation enables organ-specific enrichment of xenogeneic pluripotent stem cell (PSC) derivatives, which raises an intriguing possibility to generate functional human tissues/organs in an animal host. However, differences in embryo development between human and host species may constitute the barrier for efficient chimera formation. Here, to understand these differences we constructed a complete single-cell landscape of early embryonic development of pig, which is considered one of the best host species for human organ generation, and systematically compared its epiblast development with that of human and monkey.

Restoration of β-Globin Expression with Optimally Designed Lentiviral Vector for β-Thalassemia Treatment in Chinese Patients.

β-Thalassemia is one of the most prevalent genetic diseases worldwide. The current treatment for β-thalassemia is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which is limited due to lack of matched donors. Gene therapy has been developed as an alternative therapeutic option for transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT).

Transcriptome Analyses of β-Thalassemia -28(A>G) Mutation Using Isogenic Cell Models Generated by CRISPR/Cas9 and Asymmetric Single-Stranded Oligodeoxynucleotides (assODNs).

β-thalassemia, caused by mutations in the human hemoglobin β () gene, is one of the most common genetic diseases in the world. The -28(A>G) mutation is one of the five most common mutations in Chinese patients with β-thalassemia. However, few studies have been conducted to understand how this mutation affects the expression of pathogenesis-related genes, including globin genes, due to limited homozygote clinical materials.

From blue to cyan emission: Ce and Tb co-doped silicon phosphate phosphors with high thermal stability.

A series of Ca15(PO4)2(SiO4)6:xCe3+,yTb3+ phosphors have been prepared by a high-temperature solid-state reaction. Under the excitation of near-UV with 371 nm wavelength, Ca15(PO4)2(SiO4)6:xCe3+ phosphors exhibit strong blue emission with a broad peak at 432 nm. Based on the photoluminescence of Ca15(PO4)2(SiO4)6:xCe3+ phosphors, the coordination environment around Ce3+ ions and the concentration quenching mechanism are inferred.

Serum-Free Culture System for Spontaneous Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Spheroid Formation.

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are widely used in clinical research because of their multipotential, immunomodulatory, and reparative properties. Previous studies determined that hMSC spheroids from a three-dimensional (3D) culture possess higher therapeutic efficacy than conventional hMSCs from a monolayer (2D) culture. To date, various 3D culture methods have been developed to form hMSC spheroids but most of them used culture medium containing fetal bovine serum (FBS), which is not suitable for further clinical use.

Deconvolution of single-cell multi-omics layers reveals regulatory heterogeneity.

Integrative analysis of multi-omics layers at single cell level is critical for accurate dissection of cell-to-cell variation within certain cell populations. Here we report scCAT-seq, a technique for simultaneously assaying chromatin accessibility and the transcriptome within the same single cell. We show that the combined single cell signatures enable accurate construction of regulatory relationships between cis-regulatory elements and the target genes at single-cell resolution, providing a new dimension of features that helps direct discovery of regulatory patterns specific to distinct cell identities.

Retinoic acid combined with spermatogonial stem cell conditions facilitate the generation of mouse germ-like cells.

Spermatogenic lineage has been directly generated in spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) conditions from human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). However, it remains unknown whether mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can directly differentiate into advanced male germ cell lineage in the same conditions. Here, we showed rather low efficiency of germ-like cell generation from mouse ESCs in SSC conditions.

Variations of thermoelectric performance by electric fields in bilayer MX (M = W, Mo; X = S, Se).

A gate electrode is usually used to controllably tune the carrier concentrations, further modulating the electrical conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient to obtain the optimum thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) in two-dimensional materials. On the other hand, it is necessary to investigate how an electric field induced by a gate voltage affects the electronic structures, further determining the thermoelectric properties. Therefore, by using density functional calculations in combination with Boltzmann theory, the thermoelectric properties of bilayer MX (M = W, Mo; X = S, Se) with or without a 1 V nm perpendicular electric field are comparatively investigated.

Thermoelectric properties of fullerene-based junctions: a first-principles study.

This study is built on density functional calculations in combination with the non-equilibrium Green's function, and we probe the thermoelectric transport mechanisms through C molecules anchored to Al nano-electrodes in three different ways, such as, the planar, pyramidal, and asymmetric surfaces. When the electrode is switched from the planar and pyramidal surfaces, the electrical conductance (σ) and electron's thermal conductance (κ) decrease almost two orders of magnitude due to the reduction of the molecule-electrode contact coupling, whereas the Seebeck coefficients (S) are reduced by ∼55%. Furthermore, the maximum electron's thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT = SσT/κ, assuming a vanishing phonon's thermal conductance) is about 0.

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Luminescent Properties of Eu3+ Doped Sr3Al2O6 Phosphor for White LED.

Eu3+ ions doped Sr3Al2O6 phosphors were successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method. The precursor was prepared by low temperature hydrothermal method using ammonia as both alkaline source and precipitator. Then the final product was obtained by high temperature sintering.

Synthesis and Luminescent Properties of Eu2+ Doped Sr5SiO4Cl6 Phosphor by Sol-Gel Method.

The paper discusses preparation and luminescent properties of Sr5SiO4Cl6:Eu2+ blue phosphor, which was synthesized by sol-gel method. The emission and excitation spectra, SEM, XRD and diffuse reflection of the fluorescent powder were measured. It was shown that the samples were single phase of Sr5SiO4Cl6 by the XRD patterns.

Preparation, structure and luminescent properties of Eu3+ doped MBPO5 (M = Ca, Sr, Ba) red phosphor for white LED.

Motivation: A suite of MBPO5 (borophosphates-BPO):Eu3+ (M = Ca, Sr, Ba) red emitting phosphors were synthesized and their luminescent properties were studied by excitation and emission spectra.

Results: The energy gap of CBPO, SBPO and BBPO are 5.481, 5.

Heating-up Synthesis of MoS2 Nanosheets and Their Electrical Bistability Performance.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets were synthesized by using a simple heating-up approach, in which 1-dodecanethiol (DDT) was used not only as a sulfur source but also as the surface ligand. The sheet-like morphology was confirmed by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) results, and the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and Raman spectrum were employed to characterize the structure of the as-synthesized MoS2 nanosheets. The as-obtained MoS2 nanosheets blending with a polymer could be used to fabricate an electrically bistable device through a simple spin-coating method, and the device exhibited an obvious electrical bistability in the I-V curve.

Strain and electric field co-modulation of electronic properties of bilayer boronitrene.

The electronic properties of bilayer strained boronitrenes are investigated under an external electric field using density functional methods. Our result is just the same as the previous conclusion: ie, that the electric field will reduce their band gaps. Except for the decrease of their band gaps, the degeneracy of π valence bands at K points will be lifted and the degenerate gap will increase with the electric field increasing.

Enhanced thermoelectric performance in CdO by nano-SiO₂ inclusions.

We report enhanced thermoelectric (TE) performance in CdO by using thermally insulating nano-particles to mimic nano pores in the composite. Through simply mechanical alloying, we fabricated CdO-SiO2 composites with varying nano-SiO2 concentration from 0.1 to 3 at%.