Supramolecular Glyco‐nanoparticles Toward Immunological Applications

Glyco‐mimicking nanoparticles (glyco‐NPs) with Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) donor and acceptor groups formed via dynamic covalent bond of benzoboroxole and sugar from two complementary polymers are prepared. The glyco‐NPs are proved to be quite stable under physiological conditions but sensitive to pH. So the glyco‐NPs can be internalized by dendritic cells with integrity and nontoxicity and then dissociate within the acidic organelles. This particle dissociation is directly observed and visualized in vitro, for the first time via the FRET measurements and fluorescent microscopy. This feature makes controlled release of drug or protein by glyco‐NPs possible, i.e., when model antigen Ovalbumin is loaded in the glyco‐NPs, the released Ovalbumin in dendritic cells stimulates T cells more efficiently than the free Ovalbumin itself as a result of the enhanced antigen processing and presentation. Thus, the results enlighten a bright future of the glyco‐NPs in immunotherapy.     

Preparation and electrochromism of pyrochlore-type tungsten oxide film

Pyrochlore-type WO_3 powder was synthesized via hydrothermal method using aqueous sodium tungstate solution and oxalic acid as raw materials. The as-prepared powder was made into a soliquoid,from which films were made by dip coating process with indium-tin oxide(ITO).The obtained films were characterized by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis(TG-DTA), X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM), cyclic voltammetry(CV), chronoamperometry(CA) and ultravioletvisible(UV-Vis) absorption. Results show that the crystal of the pyrochlore-type WO_3 powder is perfect. When the calcination temperature rises from room temperature to500 ℃,the pyrochlore-type structure first becomes deformed, then it is destroyed and turns into amorphous phase,finally it will completely convert to WO_3 with a monoclinic structure. Electrochemical and optical tests demonstrate that the film calcined at 300 ℃ exhibits the best electrochromic performance and has a coloration efficiency of up to 68.5 cm~2 C~(-1) at 884 nm.     

Super-oleophilicity Co-doping Co2+/F-/TiO2 one-dimensional nanotubes for photocatalytic denitrification of light oil

In this study, a simple hydrothermal synthesis method was adapted for the preparation of Co-doping Co²⁺/F^-/TiO₂ nanotubes photocatalyst, and the micro-nano structure of catalysts prepared by biomimetic technology which makes the catalyst have super-oleophilicity property. Co²⁺/F^-/TiO₂ revealed improved photocatalytic performance for denitrification of light oil compared to single TiO₂ photocatalysts. The enhance of photocatalytic activity can be attributed to narrowing the band gap, increasing the light response wavelength and exposing more highly active crystal surfaces due to synergistic effects of Co²⁺ and F^? in the photocatalyst.     

Regulation of sensory nerve conduction velocity of human bodies responding to annual temperature variations in natural environments

The extensive research interests in environmental temperature can be linked to human productivity / performance as well as comfort and health; while the mechanisms of physiological indices responding to temperature variations remain incompletely understood. This study adopted a physiological sensory nerve conduction velocity (SCV) as a temperature‐sensitive biomarker to explore the thermoregulatory mechanisms of human responding to annual temperatures. The measurements of subjects’ SCV (over 600 samples) were conducted in a naturally ventilated environment over all four seasons. The results showed a positive correlation between SCV and annual temperatures and a Boltzmann model was adopted to depict the S‐shaped trend of SCV with operative temperatures from 5°C to 40°C. The SCV increased linearly with operative temperatures from 14.28°C to 20.5°C and responded sensitively for 10.19°C‐24.59°C, while tended to be stable beyond that. The subjects’ thermal sensations were linearly related to SCV, elaborating the relation between human physiological regulations and subjective thermal perception variations. The findings reveal the body SCV regulatory characteristics in different operative temperature intervals, thereby giving a deeper insight into human autonomic thermoregulation and benefiting for built environment designs, meantime minimizing the temperature‐invoked risks to human health and well‐being.     

Visual Detection of Adenosine Triphosphate by Taylor Rising: A Simple Point-of-Care Testing Method Based on Rolling Circle Amplification

Rapid and sensitive point-of-care testing (POCT) is an extremely critical mission in practical applications, especially for rigorous military medicine, home health care, and in the third world. Here, we report a visual POCT method for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) detection based on Taylor rising in the corner of quadratic geometries between two rod surfaces. We discuss the principle of Taylor rising, demonstrating that it is significantly influenced by contact angle, surface tension, and density of the sample, which are controlled by ATP-dependent rolling circle amplification (RCA). In the presence of ATP, RCA reaction effectively suppresses Taylor-rising behavior, due to the increased contact angle, density, and decreased surface tension. Without addition of ATP, untriggered RCA reaction is favorable for Taylor rising, resulting in a significant height. With this proposed method, visual sensitive detection of ATP without the aid of other instruments is realized with only a 5 μL droplet, which has good selectivity and a low detection limit (17 nM). Importantly, this visual method provides a promising POCT tool for user-friendly molecular diagnostics.