A logic-activated nanoswitch for killing cancer cells according to assessment of drug-resistance.

A logic-activated nanoswitch that could diagnose the differences between drug-resistant and non-drug-resistant cancer cells and control the release of drugs was developed for enhanced chemo-gene therapy using a standalone system. Compared to traditional treatments, the nanoswitch displayed improved anti-tumor efficiency .

Construction of Zn-Cu bimetallic metal-organic frameworks for carbon dioxide capture.

Bimetallic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown more impressive performance in gas adsorption compared with monometallic MOFs. Herein, a Cu-Zn bimetallic metal-organic framework (Zn/Cu-BTC) was synthesized a one-pot method, and its structure, thermal stability and CO adsorption property were investigated and compared with those of corresponding monometallic Cu-BTC and Zn-BTC. The results showed that Zn/Cu-BTC has a specific ortho-octahedral crystal morphology with a unique X-ray diffraction peak, the atomic ratio of Zn to Cu is about 1 : 5, and it remained stable at a temperature up to 490 K.

[Mechanism of bilobalide promoting neuroprotection of macrophages].

This study aims to explore the neuroprotective effect of bilobalide(BB) and the mechanisms such as inhibiting inflammatory response in macrophage/microglia, promoting neurotrophic factor secretion, and interfering with the activation and differentiation of peripheral CD4~+ T cells. BB of different concentration(12.5, 25, 50, 100 μg·mL~(-1)) was used to treat the RAW264.

Synergistic effect of porous carbon shell confinement and catalytic conversion of nickel nanoparticle cores for improved lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are some of the most promising energy storage systems to break the ceiling of Li-ion batteries. However, the notorious shuttle effect and slow redox kinetics give rise to low sulfur utilization and discharge capacity, poor rate performance, and fast capacity decay. It is proved that the reasonable design of the electrocatalyst is one of the important ways to improve the electrochemical performance of LSBs.

Aptamer modified Zr-based porphyrinic nanoscale metal-organic frameworks for active-targeted chemo-photodynamic therapy of tumors.

Active-targeted nanoplatforms could specifically target tumors compared to normal cells, making them a promising therapeutic agent. The aptamer is a kind of short DNA or RNA sequence that can specifically bind to target molecules, and could be widely used as the active targeting agents of nanoplatforms to achieve active-targeted therapy of tumors. Herein, an aptamer modified nanoplatform DOX@PCN@Apt-M was designed for active-targeted chemo-photodynamic therapy of tumors.

One-step potentiostatic electrodeposition of NiS-NiS on sludge-based biochar and its application for a non-enzymatic glucose sensor.

Conventional nanomaterials are available in electrochemical glucose nonenzymatic sensing, but their broad applications are limited due to their high cost and complicated preparation procedures. In this study, NiS-NiS/sludge-based biochar/GCE was fabricated by one-step potentiostatic electrodeposition on biochar and used as an interface material for non-enzymatic sensing of glucose in 0.1 M NaOH.

Curing behavior of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose/epoxy/MWCNT nanocomposites.

The surfactant-assisted preparation of carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composites has attracted the attention of scientists around the world. Here, CNT/epoxy nanocomposites were prepared using sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The effect of CMC on the curing behaviors of epoxy resin (E44) and CNTs/E44 was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

Hygroscopic additive-modified magnesium sulfate thermochemical material construction and heat transfer numerical simulation for low temperature energy storage.

In this research, the core objective is to explore the effect of super-absorbent polymer material (poly(sodium acrylate)) on the heat storage performance of magnesium sulfate and to investigate the heat transfer behavior of 13X-zeolite, nano-aluminum oxide (nano-AlO) and poly(sodium acrylate) modified magnesium sulfate in a reactor. Finally it provides support for future material and reactor design. All characterizations and performance tests were done in the laboratory and a numerical simulation method was used to investigate the heat transfer behavior of the reactor.

"Water-in-salt" electrolyte enhanced high voltage aqueous supercapacitor with carbon electrodes derived from biomass waste-ground grain hulls.

To design high specific surface area and optimize the pore size distribution of materials, we employ a combination of carbonization and KOH activation to prepare activated carbon derived from ground grain hulls. The resulting carbon material at lower temperature (800, BSAC-A-800) exhibits a porous structure with a high specific surface area of 1037.6 m g and a pore volume of 0.

Two novel aromatic hydrocarbons: facile synthesis, photophysical properties and applications in deep-blue electroluminescence.

Two efficient novel fluorescent naphthalene and fluorene-based aromatic hydrocarbon isomers (1 and 2) are prepared and investigated for organic electroluminescence. These compounds show bright violet to deep-blue emission, narrow full width at half maximum (52 nm), and high photoluminescence efficiency ( 0.61 in CHCl, 0.

Green synthesis of palladium nanoparticles using lentinan for catalytic activity and biological applications.

The green synthesis of palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) for catalysis and biological applications has been gaining great interest. To replace complex plant extracts, lentinan (LNT) may be a good reducing and stabilizing agent. In this work, a simple and green method using LNT to reduce and stabilize palladium Pd NPs was verified.

Highly selective and sensitive detection of amaranth by using carbon dots-based nanosensor.

In this work, a novel fluorescence nanosensor for selective and sensitive determination of amaranth was constructed using carbon dots (C-dots). Water soluble C-dots with strong fluorescence were obtained by a simple microwave-assisted method using urea and glycine as raw materials. It was found that amaranth can efficiently and sensitively quench the C-dots fluorescence by the inner filter effect (IFE) and non-radiative energy transfer (NRET) mechanisms.

Rational design of quinoxaline-based bipolar host materials for highly efficient red phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes.

Two novel bipolar carbazole/diphenylquinoxaline-based host materials 3-(2,3-diphenylquinoxalin-6-yl)-9-phenyl-9-carbazole (M1) and 3-(4-(2,3-diphenylquinoxalin-6-yl)phenyl)-9-phenyl-9-carbazole (M2) have been rationally designed and synthesized. The phenyl spacer between the functionalized quinoxaline moiety and the carbazole moiety is also introduced to investigate its influence on their photophysical properties. The chemical structures, and thermal, photophysical and electrochemical properties of the two host materials were characterized and explored in detail.

The application of a non-doped composite hole transport layer of [MoO/CBP] with multi-periodic structure for high power efficiency organic light-emitting diodes.

A non-doped multi-periodic structure of composite hole transport layer of [MoO/CBP] was applied to organic light-emitting diodes. All devices with such hole transport layers showed low turn-on voltage of about 3 V, ultra-high luminance of >110 000 cd m, high current efficiency of >50 cd A, and high EQE of more than 15%. The optimized device exhibited power efficiency increase of 66% and 18% relative to the single periodic and doped structure OLEDs.

A novel highly fluorescent S, N, O co-doped carbon dots for biosensing and bioimaging of copper ions in live cells.

In this study, novel highly fluorescent sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen co-doped carbon dots (S, N, O-CDs) were prepared from -phenylenediamine and sulfamide by using the hydrothermal method. The prepared S, N, O-CDs show high doping rate and fluorescence yield as well as long-term fluorescence stability. In addition, S, N, O-CDs show good fluorescence response towards Cu over a concentration range of 2-60 μM with a detection limit of 0.

The behavior of the aluminum trimer when combining with different superatom clusters.

The interaction between the aluminum trimer and representative (super)halogens X (X = F, LiF, BeF, BF) and (super)alkalis M (M = Li, FLi, OLi, NLi) has been theoretically investigated at the MP2/6-311+(3df) level. Various geometrical structures were obtained for the resulting Al-X and Al-M superatom compounds, respectively. Natural bond orbital analysis reveals that the Al moiety exists in a cationic state in Al-X while in an anionic state in Al-M compounds.

Porous Pt-NiO nanostructures with ultrasmall building blocks and enhanced electrocatalytic activity for the ethanol oxidation reaction.

Oxidized species on surfaces would significantly improve the electrocatalytic activity of Pt-based materials. Constructing three-dimensional porous structures would endow the catalysts with good stability. Here, we report a simple strategy to synthesize porous Pt-NiO nanostructures composed of ultrasmall (about 3.

Neuroprotective effect of fasudil on inflammation through PI3K/Akt and Wnt/β-catenin dependent pathways in a mice model of Parkinson's disease.

Objective: Fasudil, a Rho kinase inhibitor, has neuroprotection in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-based Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aims to investigate the mechanism underlying the neuroprotection of fasudil in the PD mice model.

Methods: Female MPTP-intoxication C57BL/6 mice were treated with normal saline or fasudil on day 15 after first administration of MPTP.