Showing papers by "Capital Normal University published in 2016"

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

Abstract: In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation, it is imperative to target by gene knockout or RNA interference more than one autophagy-related protein. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways implying that not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.

High-Performance Electron Acceptor with Thienyl Side Chains for Organic Photovoltaics.

Abstract: We develop an efficient fused-ring electron acceptor (ITIC-Th) based on indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene core and thienyl side-chains for organic solar cells (OSCs). Relative to its counterpart with phenyl side-chains (ITIC), ITIC-Th shows lower energy levels (ITIC-Th: HOMO = −5.66 eV, LUMO = −3.93 eV; ITIC: HOMO = −5.48 eV, LUMO = −3.83 eV) due to the σ-inductive effect of thienyl side-chains, which can match with high-performance narrow-band-gap polymer donors and wide-band-gap polymer donors. ITIC-Th has higher electron mobility (6.1 × 10–4 cm2 V–1 s–1) than ITIC (2.6 × 10–4 cm2 V–1 s–1) due to enhanced intermolecular interaction induced by sulfur–sulfur interaction. We fabricate OSCs by blending ITIC-Th acceptor with two different low-band-gap and wide-band-gap polymer donors. In one case, a power conversion efficiency of 9.6% was observed, which rivals some of the highest efficiencies for single junction OSCs based on fullerene acceptors.

A Facile Planar Fused-Ring Electron Acceptor for As-Cast Polymer Solar Cells with 8.71% Efficiency

Abstract: A planar fused-ring electron acceptor (IC-C6IDT-IC) based on indacenodithiophene is designed and synthesized. IC-C6IDT-IC shows strong absorption in 500–800 nm with extinction coefficient of up to 2.4 × 105 M–1 cm–1 and high electron mobility of 1.1 × 10–3 cm2 V–1 s–1. The as-cast polymer solar cells based on IC-C6IDT-IC without additional treatments exhibit power conversion efficiencies of up to 8.71%.

Oligomer Molecules for Efficient Organic Photovoltaics.

Abstract: ConspectusSolar cells, a renewable, clean energy technology that efficiently converts sunlight into electricity, are a promising long-term solution for energy and environmental problems caused by a mass of production and the use of fossil fuels. Solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted much attention in the past few years because of several advantages, including easy fabrication, low cost, lightweight, and flexibility. Now, OSCs exhibit power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of over 10%.In the early stage of OSCs, vapor-deposited organic dye materials were first used in bilayer heterojunction devices in the 1980s, and then, solution-processed polymers were introduced in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) devices. Relative to polymers, vapor-deposited small molecules offer potential advantages, such as a defined molecular structure, definite molecular weight, easy purification, mass-scale production, and good batch-to-batch reproducibility. However, the limited solubility and high crystallinity of...

Three-Bladed Rylene Propellers with Three-Dimensional Network Assembly for Organic Electronics.

Abstract: Two kinds of conjugated C3-symmetric perylene dyes, namely, triperylene hexaimides (TPH) and selenium-annulated triperylene hexaimides (TPH-Se), are efficiently synthesized. Both TPH and TPH-Se have broad and strong absorption in the region 300–600 nm together with suitable LUMO levels of about −3.8 eV. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies show that TPH displays an extremely twisted three-bladed propeller configuration and a unique 3D network assembly in which three PBI subunits in one TPH molecule have strong π–π intermolecular interactions with PBI subunits in neighboring molecules. The integration of selenophene to TPH endows TPH-Se with a more distorted propeller configuration and a more compact 3D network assembly due to the Se···O interactions. A single-crystal transistor confirms that both TPH and TPH-Se possess good electron-transport ability. TPH and TPH-Se acceptor-based solar cells show high power conversion efficiency of 8.28% and 9.28%, respectively, which mainly results from the combined...

Jasmonates: biosynthesis, metabolism, and signaling by proteins activating and repressing transcription.

Abstract: The lipid-derived phytohormone jasmonate (JA) regulates plant growth, development, secondary metabolism, defense against insect attack and pathogen infection, and tolerance to abiotic stresses such as wounding, UV light, salt, and drought. JA was first identified in 1962, and since the 1980s many studies have analyzed the physiological functions, biosynthesis, distribution, metabolism, perception, signaling, and crosstalk of JA, greatly expanding our knowledge of the hormone's action. In response to fluctuating environmental cues and transient endogenous signals, the occurrence of multilayered organization of biosynthesis and inactivation of JA, and activation and repression of the COI1-JAZ-based perception and signaling contributes to the fine-tuning of JA responses. This review describes the JA biosynthetic enzymes in terms of gene families, enzymatic activity, location and regulation, substrate specificity and products, the metabolic pathways in converting JA to activate or inactivate compounds, JA signaling in perception, and the co-existence of signaling activators and repressors.

Exciton localization in solution-processed organolead trihalide perovskites

Abstract: Organolead trihalide perovskites have attracted great attention due to the stunning advances in both photovoltaic and light-emitting devices. However, the photophysical properties, especially the recombination dynamics of photogenerated carriers, of this class of materials are controversial. Here we report that under an excitation level close to the working regime of solar cells, the recombination of photogenerated carriers in solution-processed methylammonium-lead-halide films is dominated by excitons weakly localized in band tail states. This scenario is evidenced by experiments of spectral-dependent luminescence decay, excitation density-dependent luminescence and frequency-dependent terahertz photoconductivity. The exciton localization effect is found to be general for several solution-processed hybrid perovskite films prepared by different methods. Our results provide insights into the charge transport and recombination mechanism in perovskite films and help to unravel their potential for high-performance optoelectronic devices.

Low-Temperature Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO with NH3 over Mn2O3-Doped Fe2O3 Hexagonal Microsheets

Abstract: Mn2O3-doped Fe2O3 hexagonal microsheets were prepared for the low-temperature selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH3. These hexagonal microsheets were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, BET, XPS, NH3-TPD, H2-TPR, and in situ DRIFT and were shown to exhibit a considerable uniform hexagonal microsheet structure and excellent low temperature SCR efficiency. When doped with different Mn molar ratios, Mn2O3 was detected in the Fe2O3 hexagonal microsheets based on the XRD results without the presence of other MnOX species. In addition, the hexagonal microsheets with a Mn/Fe molar ratio of 0.2 showed the best SCR removal performance among the materials, where a 98% NO conversion ratio at 200 °C at a space velocity of 30 000 h–1 was obtained. Meanwhile, excellent tolerances to H2O and SO2, as well as high thermal stability, were obtained in Mn2O3-doped Fe2O3 hexagonal microsheets. Moreover, on the basis of the XPS and in situ DRIFT results, it can be suggested that coupled Mn2O3 nanocrystals played a key...

Construction of a male sterility system for hybrid rice breeding and seed production using a nuclear male sterility gene.

Abstract: The breeding and large-scale adoption of hybrid seeds is an important achievement in agriculture. Rice hybrid seed production uses cytoplasmic male sterile lines or photoperiod/thermo-sensitive genic male sterile lines (PTGMS) as female parent. Cytoplasmic male sterile lines are propagated via cross-pollination by corresponding maintainer lines, whereas PTGMS lines are propagated via self-pollination under environmental conditions restoring male fertility. Despite huge successes, both systems have their intrinsic drawbacks. Here, we constructed a rice male sterility system using a nuclear gene named Oryza sativa No Pollen 1 (OsNP1). OsNP1 encodes a putative glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase regulating tapetum degeneration and pollen exine formation; it is specifically expressed in the tapetum and miscrospores. The osnp1 mutant plant displays normal vegetative growth but complete male sterility insensitive to environmental conditions. OsNP1 was coupled with an α-amylase gene to devitalize transgenic pollen and the red fluorescence protein (DsRed) gene to mark transgenic seed and transformed into the osnp1 mutant. Self-pollination of the transgenic plant carrying a single hemizygous transgene produced nontransgenic male sterile and transgenic fertile seeds in 1:1 ratio that can be sorted out based on the red fluorescence coded by DsRed Cross-pollination of the fertile transgenic plants to the nontransgenic male sterile plants propagated the male sterile seeds of high purity. The male sterile line was crossed with ∼1,200 individual rice germplasms available. Approximately 85% of the F1s outperformed their parents in per plant yield, and 10% out-yielded the best local cultivars, indicating that the technology is promising in hybrid rice breeding and production.

Infinitely many sign-changing solutions for the nonlinear Schrödinger–Poisson system

Abstract: In this paper, we consider the following Schrodinger–Poisson system $$\begin{aligned} \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} -\Delta u+V(x)u+\phi u=f(u)&{}\quad \text{ in }\ \mathbb {R}^3,\\ -\Delta \phi =u^2&{}\quad \text{ in }\ \mathbb {R}^3. \end{array} \right. \end{aligned}$$ We investigate the existence of multiple bound state solutions, in particular sign-changing solutions. By using the method of invariant sets of descending flow, we prove that this system has infinitely many sign-changing solutions. In particular, the nonlinear term includes the power-type nonlinearity $$f(u)=|u|^{p-2}u$$ for the well-studied case $$p\in (4,6)$$ , and the less studied case $$p\in (3,4)$$ , and for the latter case, few existence results are available in the literature.

New data from the Middle Jurassic of China shed light on the phylogeny and origin of the proboscis in the Mesopsychidae (Insecta: Mecoptera).

Abstract: The Mesopsychidae is an extinct family of Mecoptera, comprising eleven described genera from Upper Permian to Lower Cretaceous deposits. In 2009, several well-preserved mesopsychids with long proboscides were reported from the mid Mesozoic of Northeastern China, suggesting the presence of pollination mutualisms with gymnosperm plants and highlighting their elevated genus-level diversity. Since that time, additional mesopsychid taxa have been described. However, the phylogeny of genera within Mesopsychidae has not been studied formally, attributable to the limited number of well-preserved fossils. Here, we describe two new species, Lichnomesopsyche prochorista sp. nov. and Vitimopsyche pristina sp. nov. and revise the diagnosis of Lichnomesopsyche daohugouensis Ren, Labandeira and Shih, 2010, based on ten specimens from the latest Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. After compiling data from these new fossil species and previously reported representative taxa, we conducted phylogenetic analyses and geometric morphometric studies that now shed light on the taxonomy and phylogeny of Mesopsychidae. We also evaluate the recurring origin of the siphonate proboscis in the Mecoptera and propose an evolutionary developmental model for its multiple origins. Phylogenetic and geometric morphometric results confirm the establishment of two new species, each to Lichnomesopsyche and Vitimopsyche. Vitimopsyche pristina sp. nov. extends the existence of the genus Vitimopsyche Novokshonov and Sukacheva, 2001, from the mid Lower Cretaceous to the latest Middle Jurassic. Two methods of analyses indicate an affiliation of Mesopsyche dobrokhotovae Novokshonov, 1997 with Permopsyche Bashkuev, 2011. A phylogenetic analysis of the Mesopsychidae supports: 1), Mesopsychidae as a monophyletic group; 2), Mesopsyche as a paraphyletic group, to be revised pending future examination of additional material; and 3), the independent origin of the proboscis in the Pseudopolycentropodidae, its subsequent loss in earliest Mesopsychidae such as Epicharmesopsyche, its re-origination in the common ancestor (or perhaps independently) in the Vitimopsyche and Lichnomesopsyche clades of the Mesopsychidae. The third conclusion indicates that the proboscis originated four or five times within early Mecoptera, whose origin is explained by an evolutionary developmental model.

Structure Evolution of Oligomer Fused-Ring Electron Acceptors toward High Efficiency of As-Cast Polymer Solar Cells

Abstract: The structure evolution of oligomer fused-ring electron acceptors (FREAs) toward high efficiency of as-cast polymer solar cells (PSCs) is reported. First, a series of FREAs (IC-(1-3)IDT-IC) based on indacenodithiophene (IDT) oligomers as cores are designed and synthesized, effects of IDT number (1–3) on their basic optical and electronic properties are investigated, and more importantly, the relationship between device performance of as-cast PSCs and donor(D)/acceptor(A) matching (absorption, energy level, morphology, and charge transport) of IC-(1-3)IDT-IC acceptors and two representative polymer donors, PTB7-Th and PDBT-T1 is surveyed. Then, the most promising D/A system (PDBT-T1/IC-1IDT-IC) with the best D/A harmony among the six D/A combinations, which yields a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.39%, is found. Finally, changing the side-chains in IC-1IDT-IC from alkylphenyl to alkyl enhances the PCE from 7.39% to 9.20%.

Review of the Remaining Useful Life Prognostics of Vehicle Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Data-Driven Methodologies

Abstract: Lithium-ion batteries are the primary power source in electric vehicles, and the prognosis of their remaining useful life is vital for ensuring the safety, stability, and long lifetime of electric vehicles. Accurately establishing a mechanism model of a vehicle lithium-ion battery involves a complex electrochemical process. Remaining useful life (RUL) prognostics based on data-driven methods has become a focus of research. Current research on data-driven methodologies is summarized in this paper. By analyzing the problems of vehicle lithium-ion batteries in practical applications, the problems that need to be solved in the future are identified.

Holocene shifts in the assembly of plant and animal communities implicate human impacts

Abstract: Understanding how ecological communities are organized and how they change through time is critical to predicting the effects of climate change. Recent work documenting the co-occurrence structure of modern communities found that most significant species pairs co-occur less frequently than would be expected by chance. However, little is known about how co-occurrence structure changes through time. Here we evaluate changes in plant and animal community organization over geological time by quantifying the co-occurrence structure of 359,896 unique taxon pairs in 80 assemblages spanning the past 300 million years. Co-occurrences of most taxon pairs were statistically random, but a significant fraction were spatially aggregated or segregated. Aggregated pairs dominated from the Carboniferous period (307 million years ago) to the early Holocene epoch (11,700 years before present), when there was a pronounced shift to more segregated pairs, a trend that continues in modern assemblages. The shift began during the Holocene and coincided with increasing human population size and the spread of agriculture in North America. Before the shift, an average of 64% of significant pairs were aggregated; after the shift, the average dropped to 37%. The organization of modern and late Holocene plant and animal assemblages differs fundamentally from that of assemblages over the past 300 million years that predate the large-scale impacts of humans. Our results suggest that the rules governing the assembly of communities have recently been changed by human activity.

DocChat: An Information Retrieval Approach for Chatbot Engines Using Unstructured Documents

Abstract: Most current chatbot engines are designed to reply to user utterances based on existing utterance-response (or Q-R)1 pairs. In this paper, we present DocChat, a novel information retrieval approach for chatbot engines that can leverage unstructured documents, instead of Q-R pairs, to respond to utterances. A learning to rank model with features designed at different levels of granularity is proposed to measure the relevance between utterances and responses directly. We evaluate our proposed approach in both English and Chinese: (i) For English, we evaluate DocChat on WikiQA and QASent, two answer sentence selection tasks, and compare it with state-of-the-art methods. Reasonable improvements and good adaptability are observed. (ii) For Chinese, we compare DocChat with XiaoIce2, a famous chitchat engine in China, and side-by-side evaluation shows that DocChat is a perfect complement for chatbot engines using Q-R pairs as main source of responses.

Oxytocin enhances inter-brain synchrony during social coordination in male adults

Abstract: Recent brain imaging research has revealed oxytocin (OT) effects on an individual's brain activity during social interaction but tells little about whether and how OT modulates the coherence of inter-brain activity related to two individuals' coordination behavior. We developed a new real-time coordination game that required two individuals of a dyad to synchronize with a partner (coordination task) or with a computer (control task) by counting in mind rhythmically. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded simultaneously from a dyad to examine OT effects on inter-brain synchrony of neural activity during interpersonal coordination. Experiment 1 found that dyads showed smaller interpersonal time lags of counting and greater inter-brain synchrony of alpha-band neural oscillations during the coordination (vs control) task and these effects were reliably observed in female but not male dyads. Moreover, the increased alpha-band inter-brain synchrony predicted better interpersonal behavioral synchrony across all participants. Experiment 2, using a double blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design, revealed that intranasal OT vs placebo administration in male dyads improved interpersonal behavioral synchrony in both the coordination and control tasks but specifically enhanced alpha-band inter-brain neural oscillations during the coordination task. Our findings provide first evidence that OT enhances inter-brain synchrony in male adults to facilitate social coordination.

A glassy carbon electrode modified with a nanocomposite consisting of MoS2 and reduced graphene oxide for electrochemical simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid, dopamine, and uric acid

Abstract: We describe the synthesis of a hybrid nanocomposite consisting of MoS2 and reduced graphene oxide (MoS2/rGO) by a one-pot hydrothermal process, and the use of the material in an amperometric sensor. Scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption tests revealed that the nanocomposite possesses a porous and flower-like structure and a large specific surface. Cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry demonstrated the nanocomposite to perform excellently in the electrochemical oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA), and uric acid (UA), respectively. The oxidation potentials are well separated (oxidation peaks at −64, 168 and 320 mV vs. Ag/AgCl) for AA, DA, and UA, and the respective detection sensitivities are strongly enhanced (0.12, 4.11 and 1.59 μA μM−1 cm−2). The sensor was applied to the detection of the three species in spiked human serum samples where it gave recoveries ranging from 98.9 to 104.1 % (for n = 3).

Optimization of Prussian Blue Coated NaDyF4:x%Lu Nanocomposites for Multifunctional Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy

Abstract: Imaging-guided photothermal therapy based on functional nanomaterials has recently received significant attention and the selection of functional materials with optimal imaging and therapy effect is extremely important. In this work, NaDyF4-based nanoparticles with varying size are synthesized by doping with different amounts of lutetium ions. To obtain an optimized material, the influence factor of magnetic resonance, X-ray attenuation, and photothermal properties are discussed in detail. Then, NaDyF4:50%Lu@Prussian blue (PB) nanocomposite is selected as the optimal functional material for T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray computed tomography, and photothermal imaging-guided photothermal therapy of tumor on a small animal model, and the treatment is applied with good results. Studies also suggest that the NaDyF4:50%Lu@PB nanocomposites are biocompatibile. The selection of an optimal material from a multi-perspective study has provided an incentive for the development of an assortment of novel multifunctional materials for early cancer multifunctional diagnosis and imaging-guided photothermal therapy.

Thermoresponsive Nanogel-Encapsulated PEDOT and HSP70 Inhibitor for Improving the Depth of the Photothermal Therapeutic Effect

Abstract: Photothermal therapy (PTT), a new, noninvasive treatment measure, has recently drawn much attention. However, due to the limited penetration depth of near-infrared (NIR) light, PTT is focused on treating superficial tumors. Improving the depth of the therapeutic effect is a bottleneck for successful PTT. To solve this problem, a new kind of nanoplatform (Nanogel+phenylethynesulfonamide (PES)) is fabricated by using a thermo-responsive polymer shell (poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) to encapsulate 2-PES, an effective heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) inhibitor, and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), a widely used photothermal coupling agent. Upon NIR irradiation, PES can be released from the Nanogel+PES when a thermo-responsive phase transition occurs, which could restrain the function of HSP70 and reduces the cells' endurance to heat. In this way, a better therapeutic effect on deeper tissues is achieved with a relatively small rise in temperature. Therefore, with the advantages of the thermo-responsive photothermal effect, coupled with the inhibition of HSP70, and minimal cytotoxicity, the Nanogel+PES appears to be a promising photothermal agent that can improve the depth of the PTT effect.

Arabidopsis cryptochrome 1 functions in nitrogen regulation of flowering.

Abstract: The phenomenon of delayed flowering after the application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer has long been known in agriculture, but the detailed molecular basis for this phenomenon is largely unclear. Here we used a modified method of suppression-subtractive hybridization to identify two key factors involved in N-regulated flowering time control in Arabidopsis thaliana, namely ferredoxin-NADP(+)-oxidoreductase and the blue-light receptor cryptochrome 1 (CRY1). The expression of both genes is induced by low N levels, and their loss-of-function mutants are insensitive to altered N concentration. Low-N conditions increase both NADPH/NADP(+) and ATP/AMP ratios, which in turn affect adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity. Moreover, our results show that the AMPK activity and nuclear localization are rhythmic and inversely correlated with nuclear CRY1 protein abundance. Low-N conditions increase but high-N conditions decrease the expression of several key components of the central oscillator (e.g., CCA1, LHY, and TOC1) and the flowering output genes (e.g., GI and CO). Taken together, our results suggest that N signaling functions as a modulator of nuclear CRY1 protein abundance, as well as the input signal for the central circadian clock to interfere with the normal flowering process.

Theoretical Prediction of the Intrinsic Half-Metallicity in Surface-Oxygen-Passivated Cr2N MXene

Abstract: Two-dimensional Cr2N MXene as well as surface-passivated Cr2NF2, Cr2N(OH)2, and Cr2NO2 have been investigated using density functional theory. Cr2N is an antiferromagnetic metal. The F atom or OH group-passivation does not change the antiferromagnetic characteristics; however, Cr2NO2 has a ferromagnetic ground state that acts a half-metal. The half-metallic structure is verified by phonon dispersion and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. Furthermore, the half-metallicity of Cr2NO2 is still robust when bias is applied to a nanometer-sized device, implying that the half-metallicity is intrinsic and does not require atomically clean surfaces. Therefore, the stable surface-oxygen-passivated MXene is a good candidate for spintronics.

Aqueous Solution Processed Photoconductive Cathode Interlayer for High Performance Polymer Solar Cells with Thick Interlayer and Thick Active Layer.

Abstract: An aqueous-solution-processed photoconductive cathode interlayer is developed, in which the photoinduced charge transfer brings multiple advantages such as increased conductivity and electron mobility, as well as reduced work function. Average power conversion efficiency over 10% is achieved even when the thickness of the cathode interlayer and active layer is up to 100 and 300 nm, respectively.

Zr-Doped β-In2S3 Ultrathin Nanoflakes as Photoanodes: Enhanced Visible-Light-Driven Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Abstract: Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting via semiconductor is a promising approach to the scalable generation of renewable H2 fuels. Several characteristics are crucial for efficient water splitting in PEC cell systems, including low onset potential for the photoanode, high photocurrent, and long-term stability. In this study, we investigated metal ion doping application to prepare 2, 5, and 8 mol % Zr-doped β-In2S3 two-dimensional nanoflakes; we then used the material to create improved photoelectrodes for PEC water splitting. That Zr4+ doping in the crystal lattice of β-In2S3 led to red-shift absorption of the 40 nm wavelength, which benefits visible-light utilization. Three nanoflake samples were tested for use as PEC water splitting electrodes and compared to pure β-In2S3 nanoflakes. We found that the photocurrent density of 2 mol % Zr-doped β-In2S3 nanoflakes was nearly 10 times higher than that of pure β-In2S3 nanoflakes at 1.2 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). In addition, the anodi...

Using an online collaborative project between American and Chinese students to develop ESL teaching skills, cross-cultural awareness and language skills

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools to facilitate second language acquisition and develop English as a second language (ESL) teaching skills and cultural awareness. The paper describes a collaborative online project between students from China and the USA. who communicated using the discussion board and e-mail tools on blackboard for tutoring and learning different aspects of English grammar and for developing culture awareness. Twenty-three American students from an ESL teaching program were paired up with 26 Chinese first-year English majors and tutored them on grammar structures that they selected after analyzing the Chinese students’ introductory essays on American life and culture for grammar mistakes. The tutorials addressed specific grammar points and were presented through texts that described different aspects of American culture. The Chinese students used the discussion board and e-mail as well as Skype to communicate with their A...

Cypate-Conjugated Porous Upconversion Nanocomposites for Programmed Delivery of Heat Shock Protein 70 Small Interfering RNA for Gene Silencing and Photothermal Ablation

Abstract: Synergistic therapy is an accepted method of enhancing the efficacy of cancer therapies. In this study, cypate-conjugated porous NaLuF4 doped with Yb3+, Er3+, and Gd3+ is synthesized and its potential for upconversion luminescence/magnetic resonance dual-modality molecular imaging for guiding oncotherapy is tested. Loading cypate-conjugated upconversion nanoparticles (UCNP-cy) with small interfering RNA gene against heat shock protein 70 (UCNP-cy-siRNA) enhances the cell damage. UCNP-cy-siRNA exhibits remarkable antitumor efficacy in vivo as a result of the synergistic effects of gene silencing and photothermal therapy, with low drug dose and minimal side effects. This result thus provides an explicit strategy for developing next-generation multifunctional nanoplatforms for multimodal imaging-guided synergistic oncotherapy.