Antibody Libraries as Tools to Discover Functional Antibodies and Receptor Pleiotropism

Most antibodies currently in use have been selected based on their binding affinity. However, nowadays, antibodies that can not only bind but can also alter the function of cell surface signaling components are increasingly sought after as therapeutic drugs. Therefore, the identification of such functional antibodies from a large antibody library is the subject of intensive research. New methods applied to combinatorial antibody libraries now allow the isolation of functional antibodies in the cellular environment. These selected agonist antibodies have provided new insights into important issues of signal transduction. Notably, when certain antibodies bind to a given receptor, the cell fate induced by them may be the same or different from that induced by natural agonists. In addition, combined with phenotypic screening, this platform allows us to discover unexpected experimental results and explore various phenomena in cell biology, such as those associated with stem cells and cancer cells.     

IGBT串联均压方法综述

绝缘栅双极性晶体管IGBT(insulated gate bipolar transistor)在高电压场合应用时需串联使用满足电压需求。由于器件内部的性能差异和外围电路参数不一致等,引起IGBT模块之间电压不均衡问题,威胁其运行安全。综述了国内外IGBT串联均压方法的发展及其研究现状。根据均压方法机理的不同,将IGBT串联均压方法分为被动均压方法和主动均压方法两种,进一步将主动均压方法归纳为无源控制方法和有源控制方法两类。根据各类方法的基本电路拓扑分析了均压原理,梳理了不同方法在电路拓扑、参数选择和控制策略等方面的优化和最新进展。通过均压效果、附加损耗和可靠性等多方面对不同均压方法进行对比,被动均压方法拓扑简单不需外加控制电路更适合在低频应用场合,在高频应用场合中,准有源栅极控制法以单驱动与无源器件相结合的方式,具有良好的发展前景。最后对IGBT串联均压方法进行了展望。     

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) and Abscisic Acid-, Stress-, and Ripening-Induced (ASR) Gene Superfamily from Canavalia rosea and Their Roles in Salinity/Alkaline and Drought Tolerance

Canavalia rosea (bay bean), distributing in coastal areas or islands in tropical and subtropical regions, is an extremophile halophyte with good adaptability to seawater and drought. Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins typically accumulate in response to various abiotic stresses, including dehydration, salinity, high temperature, and cold, or during the late stage of seed development. Abscisic acid-, stress-, and ripening-induced (ASR) genes are stress and developmentally regulated plant-specific genes. In this study, we reported the first comprehensive survey of the LEA and ASR gene superfamily in C. rosea. A total of 84 CrLEAs and three CrASRs were identified in C. rosea and classified into nine groups. All CrLEAs and CrASRs harbored the conserved motif for their family proteins. Our results revealed that the CrLEA genes were widely distributed in different chromosomes, and all of the CrLEA/CrASR genes showed wide expression features in different tissues in C. rosea plants. Additionally, we introduced 10 genes from different groups into yeast to assess the functions of the CrLEAs/CrASRs. These results contribute to our understanding of LEA/ASR genes from halophytes and provide robust candidate genes for functional investigations in plant species adapted to extreme environments.     

Highly Uniform and Stable Transparent Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Film Based on Silver Nanowire–PEDOT:PSS Composite for High Power Microwave Shielding

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials, especially ones with excellent shielding effectiveness (SE), high optical transmittance, long-term stability as well as high uniformity, are urgently desired to meet the requirements of many applications. Herein, an extremely transparent, stable and uniform silver nanowire (Ag NW)–poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) composite film as an EMI shielding material is prepared, which possess excellent shielding capability to both small signal and high power microwaves (HPM). The composite film exhibits SE of 30.5 dB in the frequency range of 1–12 GHz (small signal) and simultaneously has an optical transmittance of 91.0%. The SE continuously increases to 41.4 dB, while the optical transmittance still maintains at 81.1%. The composite film is very uniform, and its SE is almost unchanged even when exposed in air for a year. The SE of this composite film under the excitation of HPM is also thoroughly investigated. The HPM SE is much larger than that of small signal. As the power density of HPM is increased, the SE firstly remains unchanged, then continuously increases, and finally saturates. The SE exceeds 50 dB with the excitation power density of 40 W. More interestingly, the SE is saturated at a fixed HPM power density.     

Importance of Low-Temperature Melt-Mixing on the Construction of Stereocomplex Crystallites with Superior Nucleation Efficiency in Asymmetric Poly(l-lactide)/Poly(d-lactide) Blends

The nucleation efficiency (NE) of stereocomplex crystallites (SCs) formed in asymmetric poly(L-lactide)/poly(D-lactide) (PLLA/PDLA) blends is generally unsatisfactory because the competition between stereocomplexation and chain mixing involved in the melt-mixing process can cause low formation efficiency and even severe aggregation of SCs. Herein, it is attempted to achieve high-efficient formation of finely dispersed SCs particles by designing a unique melt-mixing procedure, where the mixing of PLLA with 0.75 wt% PDLA is first performed at elevated temperatures (far above the melting temperature of SCs) to allow the homogeneous mixing of PLLA/PDLA chains and then at a low temperature (slightly above that of homocrystallites) to permit the full stereocomplexation of the premixed chains. It is found that the SCs formed in the blends exhibit unexpectedly low NEs (e.g., 54.5%), much inferior to that (73.6%) in the counterpart without undergoing premixing. This is because the introduction of premixing leads to a remarkable deterioration in the amount of SCs particles formed, despite decreased particle size, highlighting that the direct mixing at low temperatures of 170–180 °C (about 20–30 °C lower than that used in common melt-processing of PLA) is more effective for the construction of SCs with superior NE. The mechanisms for these striking findings are discussed.     

Facile Fabrication of Povidone Iodine-Embedded Polytetrafluoroethylene Superhydrophobic Films with Improved Antiadhesive and Bactericidal Properties in Bacterial Environments

It remains a challenge to maintain the antiadhesion properties of superhydrophobic films after exposure to bacterial environments. In this work, superhydrophobic bactericidal polymer films via the simple incorporation of polyvinylpyrrolidone-iodine (PVP-I) or iodine into polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) are fabricated to improve their antiadhesive and antibacterial capability. Superhydrophobic iodine-embedded films, polytetrafluoroethylene/polyvinylpyrrolidone-iodine and polytetrafluoroethylene-iodine (PTFE/PVP-I and PTFE-I), show excellent antiadhesive and bactericidal performances even post exposure to bacterial solutions as compared to iodine-free counterparts by controlling the release of iodine. Especially, superhydrophobic PTFE/PVP-I films display a more sustained iodine release profile and significant antibacterial properties against gram-positive (S. aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA)) and gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria. Such a facile combination of antiseptic agents and superhydrophobic surface could be widely used for antiseptic biomedical applications.     

Low Dielectric Polyimide/Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (PI/FEP) Nanocomposite Film for High-Frequency Flexible Circuit Board Application

The low dielectric polymer films have drawn great attention to the application as the dielectric insulating materials in high-frequency circuit boards, while the weak adhesion to the copper foils and the poor processability resulted from the fluorinated or rigid structures limited their high-frequency application. In this work, the low dielectric and high adhesive polyimide/fluorinated ethylene propylene (PI/FEP) nanocomposite film for high-frequency flexible circuit board application is developed. It is indicated that the fluorocarbon surfactants can significantly improve the dispersion of FEP in PI substrate, and thus, the PI/FEP nanocomposite film exhibits excellent mechanical properties, including the tensile strength increases to 46.6 MPa and the elongation at the break increases to 13.7%. Importantly, at the high-frequency of 10 GHz, the 60 wt% FEP filled PI nanocomposite film displays an ultralow dielectric loss (0.006) and a reduced dielectric constant (2.69). In addition, the high-frequency flexible circuit board with the PI/FEP film as the dielectric insulating layer has a high peel strength of 0.75 N mm⁻¹, indicating this PI/FEP nanocomposite film can meet the requirements of the high-frequency flexible circuit board application.     

A Strategy of Liquid-Grafted Slippery Sponges with Simultaneously Enhanced Absorption and Desorption Performances for Crude Oil Spill Remediation

Crude oil spill accidents pose a worldwide environmental threat. Oleophilic and hydrophobic absorbents that can selectively absorb oil from water have shown promising application potential in oil spill remediation. Simultaneous optimization of the absorption and desorption speed of absorbents towards oil is highly desirable for their recyclable usage, but remains a great challenge, because these two properties are generally conflicting. Here, a facile and ingenious strategy is proposed to tackle the above challenge via surface modification of porous sponges with highly flexible linear polydimethylsiloxane (LPDMS) brushes. The LPDMS brushes feature liquid-like properties at room temperature owing to its extremely low glass transition temperature, and act as a covalently-grafted lubrication layer throughout the 3D network channels of the sponge, which can minimize contact angle hysteresis and reduce friction between oil and sponge channel. Compared to the prevalent cross-linked polydimethylsiloxane (CPDMS) modification strategy, sponges modified with LPDMS brushes not only shows significantly enhanced absorption speed, but also exhibits superior desorption dynamics towards viscous crude oils. The design strategy of slippery sponges with liquid-like molecules may open a new avenue for developing advanced absorbents with simultaneously enhanced absorption and desorption performances for liquid separation and purification applications.     

Highly Thermal Stable Polyimides Applied in Flexible Resistive Memory

Flexible memory devices are one of the most crucial elements in the wearable electronics. In this work, polyimides (PIs)-based flexible resistive memory devices with an excellent thermal and mechanical durability are demonstrated. Four kinds of functional PIs are derived from the heterocyclic diamines including 2,6-diaminodibenzo-p-dioxin (OODA) and 2,6-diaminothianthrene, and dianhydrides including 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride (6FDA) and 3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride. PI with diamine of OODA and dianhydride of 6FDA (PI(OODA_6FDA)) possesses outstanding thermal and mechanical properties with a high glass transition temperature of 352 °C, a low coefficient of thermal expansion of 28.1 ppm K⁻¹, and a high elongation at break of 10%. In addition, PI(OODA_6FDA)-based memory shows write-once-read-many behavior with a high on/off current ratio of 10⁶ and a stable data retention, attributed to the donor–acceptor charge transfer between the polymer chains. The retained current levels at a low resistive state can be observed even with thermal treatment at 200 °C for 24 h or 1000 times cyclic bending at a bending radius of 5 mm. These results demonstrate the potential of heterocyclic PIs for flexible resistive memory.     

Microstructural evolution and interfacial reactions between Ti and ZrO2/CaTiO3 composites

Various proportions of ZrO₂/CaTiO₃ powders were mixed and hot pressed at 1500°C/30 min for Ti casting. The hot-pressed ZrO₂/CaTiO₃ composites were reacted with pure Ti at 1700°C/10 min in Ar. The interfacial reaction between Ti and ZrO₂/CaTiO₃ composites was investigated through X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The ZrO₂/CaTiO₃ composites with less than 10 vol.%, CaTiO₃, and a minor amount of residual TiO₂ were found. When the content of ZrO₂ was increased to larger than 10 vol.%, two Ca₂Zr₅Ti₂O₁₆ and CaZrTi₂O₇ phases appeared in the composites. The amount of CaTiO₃ and CaZrTi₂O₇ in the composites gradually decreased as the amount of ZrO₂ increased. When Ti came in contact with ZrO₂/CaTiO₃ composites with less than 10 vol.% ZrO₂, the resulting eutectic reaction produced a liquid phase and induced melting. When ZrO₂ was increased to more than 30 vol.% in the composites, Ca₂Zr₅Ti₂O₁₆ and CaZrTi₂O₇ changed completely to CaZrO₃, Ti₂O, CaO, and ZrO₂. With more than 30 vol.% ZrO₂, no other reaction phases occurred in the Ti side after contact with the ZrO₂/CaTiO₃ composites, which is conducive for producing ceramic composites for Ti casting applications.