Magic Peptide: Unique Properties of the LRR11 Peptide in the Activation of Leukotriene Synthesis in Human Neutrophils

Neutrophil-mediated innate host defense mechanisms include pathogen elimination through bacterial phagocytosis, which activates the 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) product synthesis. Here, we studied the effect of synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs), which mimic the receptor-recognized sites of bacterial (CpG-ODNs) and genomic (G-rich ODNs) DNAs released from the inflammatory area, on the neutrophil functions after cell stimulation with Salmonella typhimurium. A possible mechanism for ODN recognition by Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) and RAGE receptor has been proposed. We found for the first time that the combination of the magic peptide LRR11 from the leucine-rich repeat (LRR) of TLR9 with the CpG-ODNs modulates the uptake and signaling from ODNs, in particular, dramatically stimulates 5-LOX pathway. Using thickness shear mode acoustic method, we confirmed the specific binding of CpG-ODNs, but not G-rich ODN, to LRR11. The RAGE receptor has been shown to play an important role in promoting ODN uptake. Thus, FPS-ZM1, a high-affinity RAGE inhibitor, suppresses the synthesis of 5-LOX products and reduces the uptake of ODNs by neutrophils; the inhibitor effect being abolished by the addition of LRR11. The results obtained revealed that the studied peptide-ODN complexes possess high biological activity and can be promising for the development of effective vaccine adjuvants and antimicrobial therapeutics.     

大气生物气溶胶的源排放与源解析研究进展

2019年新冠肺炎(COVID-19)的全球爆发引起了公众对生物气溶胶的广泛关注。生物气溶胶是大气气溶胶的重要组成部分。生物气溶胶由于具有普通气溶胶的理化性质和本身特有的生物学特性,在全球生态系统、气候变化、空气质量和公共卫生等领域均扮演十分重要的角色。然而,目前学术界对生物气溶胶的研究主要集中在采样监测、消杀防护以及其环境与健康效应等方面,关于源特性研究相对滞后。基于此,聚焦大气中微生物的来源现状,综述了最近20年来生物气溶胶的自然源和人为源排放特性研究进展,并阐述了影响源排放和输送过程的主要因素(如生物地理区域、土地利用类型和环境因素等),探讨了当前生物气溶胶的各种源解析方法。最后,给出了生物气溶胶来源下一步的研究展望,以期为深入理解生物气溶胶的来源、输送与变化机理,更好地评估大气微生物污染水平与监控病原体的气溶胶传播提供参考。     

基于AIE特性的萘酰亚胺衍生物的合成及光谱研究

以分子内电荷转移为原理,选用萘酰亚胺为荧光团,与三苯胺通过偶联反应,制备了一种萘酰亚胺衍生物有机光功能小分子材料,其合成路线简单,实验操作条件易控,成品产率较高。对其光学性能进行研究,在不同溶剂中的光学性能主要表现出两个强吸收带,荧光发射达到到近红外区域,其表现出了非常明显的聚集诱导发光（AIE）特性,固体表现出很强的橘橙色荧光现象。     

水工混凝土构件裂缝检测方法及应用

水利工程在长期运行过程中,其混凝土构件会出现磨蚀、裂缝等损伤,如这类问题不能够及时得到处理,将会严重影响水利工程的安全运行。本次研究主要针对水工混凝土构件中的裂缝检测方法进行研究,提出从“定性”到“定量”的一体化检测思路,具体实施过程分为四部分,即“普探—详查—判定—验证”,其中,普探阶段采用探地雷达法,确定裂缝的总体分布;详查阶段采用超声横波反射三维成像的方法,确定裂缝的纵深向分布;判定阶段分别采用裂缝测宽法和表面声波法,用来确定裂缝的表面宽度和贯穿深度;验证采用钻孔电视,确定探测结果的正确性和准确性。上述技术路线突破了单一方法的限制,可有效地运用于水工混凝土构件裂缝检测,经实践证实,具有良好的检测效果。     

阳极溶解促进位错发射和运动的TEM原位观察

用自制的恒位移加载台在ＴＥＭ中原位观察了３１０不锈钢在水中阳极溶解前后加载裂尖前方位错形貌的变化．在排除室温蠕变影响后发现，阳极溶解能明显促进位错发射、增殖和运动．３１０不锈钢薄膜试样在室温水中能产生应力腐蚀．     

声发射源定位不确定度的计算

针对声发射检测中的声发射源定位的不确定性问题，就其影响因素，在常用的16MnR钢制板件上进行了检测实验，并开展了实验数据的计算、分析与讨论。     

中国煤电生命周期二氧化碳和大气污染物排放相互影响建模分析

煤电在中国电力供应结构中占据主导地位,其环境影响是研究热点之一。建立中国煤电生命周期二氧化碳和大气污染物排放分析模型,基于文献调研构建参数数据库,测算中国煤电的单位发电量排放。结果表明,近年来中国煤电生命周期单位发电量的CO₂、SO₂、NO_x和PM_2.5排放分别为838.6 g/（kW·h）、0.34 g/（kW·h）、0.32 g/（kW·h）和0.08 g/（kW·h）。其中煤电单位发电量大气污染物排放,比实施超低排放改造前,下降幅度超过90%。研究发现,增大单机机组规模和进行超低排放改造能够有效降低煤电发电过程的大气污染物排放,采用煤电燃烧后碳捕集和存储(carbon capture and storage, CCS)处理技术能够使煤电CO₂排放下降到144 g/（kW·h）,助力碳中和目标实现。如果不采用更加严格的大气污染物排放标准和处理方式,CCS技术可能会使煤电大气污染物排放强度上升30%~40%,这与碳捕集过程使用的技术有关。     

Physiological Imaging Methods for Evaluating Response to Immunotherapies in Glioblastomas

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant brain tumor in adults, with a dismal prognosis despite aggressive multi-modal therapy. Immunotherapy is currently being evaluated as an alternate treatment modality for recurrent GBMs in clinical trials. These immunotherapeutic approaches harness the patient’s immune response to fight and eliminate tumor cells. Standard MR imaging is not adequate for response assessment to immunotherapy in GBM patients even after using refined response assessment criteria secondary to amplified immune response. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development of effective and alternative neuroimaging techniques for accurate response assessment. To this end, some groups have reported the potential of diffusion and perfusion MR imaging and amino acid-based positron emission tomography techniques in evaluating treatment response to different immunotherapeutic regimens in GBMs. The main goal of these techniques is to provide definitive metrics of treatment response at earlier time points for making informed decisions on future therapeutic interventions. This review provides an overview of available immunotherapeutic approaches used to treat GBMs. It discusses the limitations of conventional imaging and potential utilities of physiologic imaging techniques in the response assessment to immunotherapies. It also describes challenges associated with these imaging methods and potential solutions to avoid them.     

Luminescent Amphiphilic Aminoglycoside Probes to Study Transfection

We report the characterization of amphiphilic aminoglycoside conjugates containing luminophores with aggregation-induced emission properties as transfection reagents. These inherently luminescent transfection vectors are capable of binding plasmid DNA through electrostatic interactions; this binding results in an emission “on” signal due to restriction of intramolecular motion of the luminophore core. The luminescent cationic amphiphiles effectively transferred plasmid DNA into mammalian cells (HeLa, HEK 293T), as proven by expression of a red fluorescent protein marker. The morphologies of the aggregates were investigated by microscopy as well as ζ-potential and dynamic light-scattering measurements. The transfection efficiencies using luminescent cationic amphiphiles were similar to that of the gold-standard transfection reagent Lipofectamine® 2000.     

水泥工业碳减排路径分析

介绍了目前国内的碳中和背景及发展现状,并基于水泥产业碳排放的相关数据,对该行业碳减排的方法和途径进行分析。水泥工业90%的二氧化碳排放来自熟料生产(碳酸钙分解、燃料燃烧),其余的10%来自原材料的准备和水泥制品的生成。指出发展创新减排燃烧、节能降耗技术、提高替代燃料掺烧量以及二氧化碳的捕集、封存与利用（CCUS）,是实现水泥产业碳中和的主要手段。