The Chinese University of Hong Kong

About: The Chinese University of Hong Kong is a education organization based out in Hong Kong, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Computer science. The organization has 43411 authors who have published 93672 publications receiving 3066651 citations.

Microfluidics digital PCR reveals a higher than expected fraction of fetal DNA in maternal plasma.

Abstract: Background: The precise measurement of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma facilitates noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal chromosomal aneuploidies and other applications. We tested the hypothesis that microfluidics digital PCR, in which individual fetal-DNA molecules are counted, could enhance the precision of measuring circulating fetal DNA. Methods: We first determined whether microfluidics digital PCR, real-time PCR, and mass spectrometry produced different estimates of male-DNA concentrations in artificial mixtures of male and female DNA. We then focused on comparing the imprecision of microfluidics digital PCR with that of a well-established nondigital PCR assay for measuring male fetal DNA in maternal plasma. Results: Of the tested platforms, microfluidics digital PCR demonstrated the least quantitative bias for measuring the fractional concentration of male DNA. This assay had a lower imprecision and higher clinical sensitivity compared with nondigital real-time PCR. With the ZFY/ZFX assay on the microfluidics digital PCR platform, the median fractional concentration of fetal DNA in maternal plasma was ≥2 times higher for all 3 trimesters of pregnancy than previously reported. Conclusions: Microfluidics digital PCR represents an improvement over previous methods for quantifying fetal DNA in maternal plasma, enabling diagnostic and research applications requiring precise quantification. This approach may also impact other diagnostic applications of plasma nucleic acids, e.g., in oncology and transplantation.

The Role of Chlorine in the Formation Process of “CH3NH3PbI3-xClx” Perovskite

Abstract: CH3NH3PbI3-xClx is a commonly used chemical formula to represent the methylammonium lead halide perovskite fabricated from mixed chlorine- and iodine-containing salt precursors. Despite the rapid progress in improving its photovoltaic efficiency, fundamental questions remain regarding the atomic ratio of Cl in the perovskite as well as the reaction mechanism that leads to its formation and crystallization. In this work we investigated these questions through a combination of chemical, morphological, structural and thermal characterizations. The elemental analyses reveal unambiguously the negligible amount of Cl atoms in the CH3NH3PbI3-xClx perovskite. By studying the thermal characteristics of methylammonium halides as well as the annealing process in a polymer/perovskite/FTO glass structure, we show that the formation of the CH3NH3PbI3-xClx perovskite is likely driven by release of gaseous CH3NH3Cl (or other organic chlorides) through an intermediate organometal mixed halide phase. Furthermore, the comparative study on CH3NH3I/PbCl2 and CH3NH3I/PbI2 precursor combinations with different molar ratios suggest that the initial introduction of a CH3NH3+ rich environment is critical to slow down the perovskite formation process and thus improve the growth of the crystal domains during annealing; accordingly, the function of Cl− is to facilitate the release of excess CH3NH3+ at a relatively low annealing temperatures.