Immune Dysregulation in Acute Herpes Zoster: Predictive Factors for Postherpetic Neuralgia.

BACKGROUND Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is closely related to the host immune response. This study explored the cellular and humoral immune functions of acute immunocompetent herpes zoster (HZ) patients and their relationship with PHN. MATERIAL AND METHODS We selected 188 patients with acute HZ admitted to our hospital and 79 individuals who underwent physical examinations during the same period.

Hyperballistic intercellular signaling through growth assisted positive feedback.

Intercellular signaling in bacteria is often mediated by small molecules secreted by cells. These small molecules disperse via diffusion which limits the speed and spatial extent of information transfer in spatially extended systems. Theory shows that a secondary signal and feedback circuits can speed up the flow of information and allow it to travel further.

Self-adaptive Coordination Evolution Mediated Pore-Space-Partition in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Boosting SF/N Separation.

The controllable and precise structural regulation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based on isoreticular chemistry is an effective strategy for creating functional material platforms, such as efficient porous adsorbents. Herein, for the first time, mediated by an unprecedented self-adaptive coordination evolution (SACE) on pseudo-D-symmetric [M(μ-O)(COO)] (M=Mn/Fe) clusters, two pore space partitioned MOFs (CTGU-47-Mn/Fe, CTGU=China Three Gorges University) have been successfully constructed. Owing to the more confined adsorption space and dense binding sites produced by pore space partitioning (PSP), the CTGU-47-Mn/Fe exhibit significantly enhanced performance in the capture or recovery SF (greenhouse/electronic specialty gas) from SF/N mixture compared to their non-partitioned homologous structures (CTGU-46-Mn/Fe) with adsorption selectivity increased from 37/72 to 634/157 (v/v, 10/90, 100 kPa).

Ultrafast Response in Nonenzymatic Electrochemical Glucose Sensing with Ni(II)-MOFs by Dimensional Manipulation.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are emerging as promising candidates for electrochemical glucose sensing owing to their ordered channels, tunable chemistry, and atom-precision metal sites. Herein, the efficient nonenzymatic electrochemical glucose sensing is achieved by taking advantage of Ni(II)-based metal-organic frameworks (Ni(II)-MOFs) and acquiring the ever-reported fastest response time. Three Ni(II)-MOFs ({[NiL(HO)]4HO} (CTGU-33), {Ni(bib)(HL)(HO)} (CTGU-34), {Ni(phen)(HL)(HO)} (CTGU-35)) have been synthesized for the first time, which use benzene-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexacarboxylic acid (HL) as an organic ligand and introduce 1,4-bis(1-imidazoly)benzene (bib) or 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) as spatially auxiliary ligands.

Two-step fabrication of COF membranes for efficient carbon capture.

Covalent organic framework (COF) materials have been considered as disruptive membrane materials for gas separation. The dominant one-step method for COF nanosheet synthesis often suffers from coupling among polymerization, assembly and crystallization processes. Herein, we propose a two-step method comprising a framework assembly step and functional group switching step to synthesize COF nanosheets and the corresponding COF membranes.

Electrochemical Interfacial Polymerization toward Ultrathin COF Membranes for Brine Desalination.

Ultrathin covalent organic framework (COF) membranes are urgently demanded in molecular/ionic separations. Herein, we reported an electrochemical interfacial polymerization strategy to fabricate ultrathin COF membranes with thickness of 85 nm, by actively manipulate self-healing effect and self-inhibiting effect. The resulting COF membrane exhibited superior performance in brine desalination with the permeation flux of 92 kg m  h and the rejection of 99.

Covalent organic framework membranes for efficient separation of monovalent cations.

Covalent organic frameworks (COF), with rigid, highly ordered and tunable structures, can actively manipulate the synergy of entropic selectivity and enthalpic selectivity, holding great potential as next-generation membrane materials for ion separations. Here, we demonstrated the efficient separation of monovalent cations by COF membrane. The channels of COF membrane are decorated with three different kinds of acid groups.

Aqueous Two-Phase Interfacial Assembly of COF Membranes for Water Desalination.

Aqueous two-phase system features with ultralow interfacial tension and thick interfacial region, affording unique confined space for membrane assembly. Here, for the first time, an aqueous two-phase interfacial assembly method is proposed to fabricate covalent organic framework (COF) membranes. The aqueous solution containing polyethylene glycol and dextran undergoes segregated phase separation into two water-rich phases.

Modulation of microbial community dynamics by spatial partitioning.

Microbial communities inhabit spatial architectures that divide a global environment into isolated or semi-isolated local environments, which leads to the partitioning of a microbial community into a collection of local communities. Despite its ubiquity and great interest in related processes, how and to what extent spatial partitioning affects the structures and dynamics of microbial communities are poorly understood. Using modeling and quantitative experiments with simple and complex microbial communities, we demonstrate that spatial partitioning modulates the community dynamics by altering the local interaction types and global interaction strength.

Organic molecular sieve membranes for chemical separations.

Molecular separations that enable selective transport of target molecules from gas and liquid molecular mixtures, such as CO2 capture, olefin/paraffin separations, and organic solvent nanofiltration, represent the most energy sensitive and significant demands. Membranes are favored for molecular separations owing to the advantages of energy efficiency, simplicity, scalability, and small environmental footprint. A number of emerging microporous organic materials have displayed great potential as building blocks of molecular separation membranes, which not only integrate the rigid, engineered pore structures and desirable stability of inorganic molecular sieve membranes, but also exhibit a high degree of freedom to create chemically rich combinations/sequences.