Recent Advances in Flexible Temperature Sensors: Materials, Mechanism, Fabrication, and Applications.

Flexible electronics is an emerging and cutting-edge technology which is considered as the building blocks of the next generation micro-nano electronics. Flexible electronics integrate both active and passive functions in devices, driving rapid developments in healthcare, the Internet of Things (IoT), and industrial fields. Among them, flexible temperature sensors, which can be directly attached to human skin or curved surfaces of objects for continuous and stable temperature measurement, have attracted much attention for applications in disease prediction, health monitoring, robotic signal sensing, and curved surface temperature measurement.

Anti-fogging/dry-dust transparent superhydrophobic surfaces based on liquid-like molecule brush modified nanofiber cluster structures.

Transparent protective coatings capable of preventing fog and dust accumulation have broad application prospect in photovoltaic systems, optical devices and consumer electronics. Although a number of superhydrophobic coatings have been developed for self-cleaning purpose over the past three decades, there is still a lack of surfaces that can simultaneously possess high transparency, remarkable superhydrophobicity, and excellent fog and dust resistance. In this study, we have prepared surfaces featuring sub-wavelength nanofiber cluster structures through a facile plasma etching method, and further modified the surface with liquid-like perfluoropolyether (PFPE) brushes.

Design of highly robust super-liquid-repellent surfaces that can resist high-velocity impact of low-surface-tension liquids.

Super-liquid-repellent surfaces capable of preventing wetting with various liquids have tremendous application. However, high liquid repellency relies on surface texturing to minimize the solid-liquid interfacial contact, which generally results in impaired interface robustness and pressure resistance. Consequently, the surface tends to undergo a Cassie-Baxter to Wenzel wetting transition and loses liquid repellency under high-velocity liquid impact, especially for low-surface-tension liquids.

Surface Wettability Tuning of Acrylic Resin Photoresist and Its Aging Performance.

Photoresist is the key material in the fabrication of micropatterns or microstructures. Tuning the surface wettability of photoresist film is a critical consideration in its application of microfluidics. In this work, the surface wettability tuning of acrylic resin photoresist by oxygen plasma or ultra-violet/ozone, and its aging performance in different atmospheres, were systematically studied.

Designing the next-generation therapeutic vaccines to cure chronic hepatitis B: focus on antigen presentation, vaccine properties and effect measures.

In the mid-90s, hepatitis B virus (HBV)-directed immune responses were for the first time investigated in detail and revealed suboptimal T-cell responses in chronic HBV patients. Based on these studies, therapeutic vaccination exploiting the antigen presentation capacity of dendritic cells to prime and/or boost HBV-specific T-cell responses was considered highly promising. Now, 25 years later, it has not yet delivered this promise.

Design of TLR2-ligand-synthetic long peptide conjugates for therapeutic vaccination of chronic HBV patients.

Synthetic long peptide (SLP) vaccination is a promising new treatment strategy for patients with a chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. We have previously shown that a prototype HBV-core protein derived SLP was capable of boosting CD4 and CD8 T cell responses in the presence of a TLR2-ligand in chronic HBV patients ex vivo. For optimal efficacy of a therapeutic vaccine in vivo, adjuvants can be conjugated to the SLP to ensure delivery of both the antigen and the co-stimulatory signal to the same antigen-presenting cell (APC).

Photolithography Fabricated Spacer Arrays Offering Mechanical Strengthening and Oil Motion Control in Electrowetting Displays.

Introducing spacers into pixelated electrowetting displays (EWDs) normally gives mechanical strengthening, while bringing undesired disturbance of water/oil interfacial dynamics. Hence, spacer array is a key pixel structure needs careful consideration in the design and fabrication of electrowetting displays. Here, we propose a spacer array, which is designed standing on the junction of adjacent pixel walls, fabricated by photolithography.

Discovery and Selection of Hepatitis B Virus-Derived T Cell Epitopes for Global Immunotherapy Based on Viral Indispensability, Conservation, and HLA-Binding Strength.

Immunotherapy represents an attractive option for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The HBV proteins polymerase (Pol) and HBx are of special interest for antigen-specific immunotherapy because they are essential for viral replication and have been associated with viral control (Pol) or are still expressed upon viral DNA integration (HBx). Here, we scored all currently described HBx- and Pol-derived epitope sequences for viral indispensability and conservation across all HBV genotypes.

Elevated serum levels of soluble CD14 in HBeAg-positive chronic HBV patients upon Peginterferon treatment are associated with treatment response.

Pegylated IFNα (PEG-IFN) is one of the treatment options for chronic HBV (CHB) patients. However, the high patient treatment burden and limited response rate together clearly ask for biomarkers to predict PEG-IFN response. Soluble CD14 (sCD14) is considered a marker for immune activation and has been shown to predict clinical outcome of HIV infection.

Protonation-induced molecular permeation at the oil/water interface in an electric field.

As a common physicochemical phenomenon, protonation can cause molecules, atoms or ions with lone-pair electrons to become charged, and can further cause some changes in their physical and chemical properties. Our study first focused on the molecular protonation process and accompanying transitions of the oil/water interface properties in an electric field. The relationship between the protonation degree increment and applied voltage was proposed as a guide for controlling the protonation via applying an electric field.

Oil Motion Control by an Extra Pinning Structure in Electro-Fluidic Display.

Oil motion control is the key for the optical performance of electro-fluidic displays (EFD). In this paper, we introduced an extra pinning structure (EPS) into the EFD pixel to control the oil motion inside for the first time. The pinning structure canbe fabricated together with the pixel wall by a one-step lithography process.

HBV-Derived Synthetic Long Peptide Can Boost CD4+ and CD8+ T-Cell Responses in Chronic HBV Patients Ex Vivo.

Background: Vaccination with synthetic long peptides (SLP) is a promising new treatment strategy for chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB). SLP can induce broad T-cell responses for all HLA types. Here we investigated the ability of a prototype HBV-core (HBc)-sequence-derived SLP to boost HBV-specific T cells in CHB patients ex vivo.

Coating and Patterning Functional Materials for Large Area Electrofluidic Arrays.

Industrialization of electrofluidic devices requires both high performance coating laminates and efficient material utilization on large area substrates. Here we show that screen printing can be effectively used to provide homogeneous pin-hole free patterned amorphous fluoropolymer dielectric layers to provide both the insulating and fluidic reversibility required for devices. Subsequently, we over-coat photoresist using slit coating on this normally extremely hydrophobic layer.

Self-Assembled Templates of Aromatic Pentapeptides for Synthesis of CdS Quantum-Dots to Detect the Trace Amounts of Hg(2+) in Aqueous Solutions.

Molecular self-assembly has become a popular tool to prepare nanomaterials with potential applications, such as ion-responsive detection of Hg(2+) in aqueous solutions. In this study, FFACD aromatic pentapeptides, whose N-terminuses were protected by carboxyl (Ac-FFACD) or a 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl group (Fmoc-FFACD), were chosen as building blocks to produce nanostructures in solutions. Based on the preliminary determination of the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of Ac-FFACD and Fmoc-FFACD aromatic pentapeptides in water, the order of magnitude of which is 10(-5) mol·L(-1), self-assembled spiral and networked nanowires can be easily obtained over a range of concentrations.

Breath Figure Method for Construction of Honeycomb Films.

Honeycomb films with various building units, showing potential applications in biological, medical, physicochemical, photoelectric, and many other areas, could be prepared by the breath figure method. The ordered hexagonal structures formed by the breath figure process are related to the building units, solvents, substrates, temperature, humidity, air flow, and other factors. Therefore, by adjusting these factors, the honeycomb structures could be tuned properly.

Influenza B virus-specific CD8+ T-lymphocytes strongly cross-react with viruses of the opposing influenza B lineage.

Influenza B viruses fall in two antigenically distinct lineages (B/Victoria/2/1987 and B/Yamagata/16/1988 lineage) that co-circulate with influenza A viruses of the H3N2 and H1N1 subtypes during seasonal epidemics. Infections with influenza B viruses contribute considerably to morbidity and mortality in the human population. Influenza B virus neutralizing antibodies, elicited by natural infections or vaccination, poorly cross-react with viruses of the opposing influenza B lineage.

Magnetic-field-induced orientational phase structure transition.

Magnetic field effect on the phase transition at high temperature (from 50 °C) inside the magnetic field has been found in C14G2 (N-tetradecyllactobionamide)/C12EO4 (tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether)/D2O system. The phase was transited quickly from lamellar phase to isotropic phases [bottom, micellar phase (L1 phase) and top, sponge phase (L3 phase)] induced by a magnetic field, which was demonstrated by (2)H NMR and FF-TEM measurements. The isotropic phases induced by magnetic field were not stable, and the upper L3 phase can recover to lamellar phase after being restored in a 55 °C thermostat outside the magnetic field for about one month.

Spontaneous transformation of lamellar structures from simple to more complex states.

Spontaneous transformation of lamellar structures, such as multilamellar vesicles from micelles or unilamellar vesicles, is an important challenge in the field of amphiphile molecules, which may serve as models to understand biologically relevant bilayer membranes. Herein, we report a progressive self-assembly progress of N-tetradecyllactobionamide (C14G2) and tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C12EO4) mixtures in aqueous solution. Increasing temperature or surfactant compositions causes spontaneous transformation from simple to high-level aggregates, i.

Preparation of calcium oxalate by vesicle modification in the catanionic surfactant system CDS/TTABr/H2O.

In conventional cationic-anionic (catanionic) surfactant mixtures with excess monovalent salt, two lamellar phase (L(alpha)) regions are usually observed in both the cation-rich and anion-rich solutions, and precipitates form when there is an equal molar ratio of the cationic and anionic surfactants. The phase- and temperature-dependent behavior of the calcium dodecyl sulfate (CDS)-tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTABr)-water system with excess CaBr(2) is reported. A birefringent L(alpha)-phase is observed in the cation-rich solution while the precipitates in both the anion-rich and the cation-rich regions.