Silver nanoparticles reduce the apoptosis induced by tumor necrosis factor-α

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely known to have anti-inflammatory properties, but the exact mechanism underlying this anti-inflammatory effect is not clearly understood. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) is a major pro-inflammatory cytokine that is expressed in the early stage of cell inflammation and induces apoptosis by several known pathways. Our study aimed to investigate the effect of AgNPs on the response of lung epithelial cells to TNFα and the molecular mechanism of this response. Lung epithelial cell line NCI-H292 cells were exposed to AgNPs (5 µg/mL) and/or TNFα (20 ng/mL) for 24 h, then cellular uptake was analyzed using flow cytometry. Our results showed that AgNPs were taken up by cells in a dose-dependent manner and that the cellular uptake ratio of AgNPs was significantly increased in the presence of TNFα. Apoptosis assays indicated that exposure to AgNPs significantly decreased the apoptotic effect of TNFα. Confocal microscopy was used to localize the tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) and revealed that TNFR1 localized on the surface of cells exposed to TNFα. In contrast, TNFR1 localized inside cells exposed to both AgNPs and TNFα, with very few receptors scattered on the cell membrane. The results indicated that AgNPs reduced the cell surface TNFR1 expression level. The results suggested that the reduction of surface TNFR1 reduced cellular response to TNFα, resulting in an anti-apoptotic effect.     

Immobilization of Photo‐Immunoconjugates on Nanoparticles Leads to Enhanced Light‐Activated Biological Effects

The past three decades have witnessed notable advances in establishing photosensitizer–antibody photo‐immunoconjugates for photo‐immunotherapy and imaging of tumors. Photo‐immunotherapy minimizes damage to surrounding healthy tissue when using a cancer‐selective photo‐immunoconjugate, but requires a threshold intracellular photosensitizer concentration to be effective. Delivery of immunoconjugates to the target cells is often hindered by I) the low photosensitizer‐to‐antibody ratio of photo‐immunoconjugates and II) the limited amount of target molecule presented on the cell surface. Here, a nanoengineering approach is introduced to overcome these obstacles and improve the effectiveness of photo‐immunotherapy and imaging. Click chemistry coupling of benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD)–Cetuximab photo‐immunoconjugates onto FKR560 dye‐containing poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) nanoparticles markedly enhances intracellular photo‐immunoconjugate accumulation and potentiates light‐activated photo‐immunotoxicity in ovarian cancer and glioblastoma. It is further demonstrated that co‐delivery and light activation of BPD and FKR560 allow longitudinal fluorescence tracking of photoimmunoconjugate and nanoparticle in cells. Using xenograft mouse models of epithelial ovarian cancer, intravenous injection of photo‐immunoconjugated nanoparticles doubles intratumoral accumulation of photo‐immunoconjugates, resulting in an enhanced photoimmunotherapy‐mediated tumor volume reduction, compared to “standard” immunoconjugates. This generalizable “carrier effect” phenomenon is attributed to the successful incorporation of photo‐immunoconjugates onto a nanoplatform, which modulates immunoconjugate delivery and improves treatment outcomes.     

Spatial Micropatterning of Growth Factors in 3D Hydrogels for Location‐Specific Regulation of Cellular Behaviors

Growth factors are potent stimuli for regulating cell function in tissue engineering strategies, but spatially patterning their presentation in 3D in a facile manner using a single material is challenging. Micropatterning is an attractive tool to modulate the cellular microenvironment with various biochemical and physical cues and study their effects on stem cell behaviors. Implementing heparin's ability to immobilize growth factors, dual‐crosslinkable alginate hydrogels are micropatterned in 3D with photocrosslinkable heparin substrates with various geometries and micropattern sizes, and their capability to establish 3D micropatterns of growth factors within the hydrogels is confirmed. This 3D micropatterning method could be applied to various heparin binding growth factors, such as fibroblast growth factor‐2, vascular endothelial growth factor, transforming growth factor‐betas and bone morphogenetic proteins while retaining the hydrogel's natural degradability and cytocompability. Stem cells encapsulated within these micropatterned hydrogels have exhibited spatially localized growth and differentiation responses corresponding to various growth factor patterns, demonstrating the versatility of the approach in controlling stem cell behavior for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.     

GZO厚度对非晶硅电池中复合背电极的影响

在非晶硅太阳能电池中加入复合背电极是提高非晶硅太阳能电池光电转换效率和稳定性的有效手段.本文利用磁控溅射技术在非晶硅薄膜太阳能电池上制备了ZnO :Ga(GZO)/Al复合背电极,研究了GZO厚度对GZO薄膜光电性质及非晶硅电池中GZO/Al复合背电极性能的影响.研究表明：随着GZO层厚度的增加,GZO薄膜的光电性质均表现出较高水平,适合制备GZO/Al复合背电极;相较于单层Al背电极的非晶硅太阳能电池,具有GZO/Al复合背电极的太阳能电池性能大幅提高.当GZO层厚度为100 nm时,太阳能电池的短路电流(I_SC)、开路电压(V_OC)和填充因子(FF)分别达到8.66 mA,1.62 V和54.7%.     

异质性和时滞作用下神经元网络的共振动力学

利用参数互异的Fitzhugh-Nagumo神经元构建了含耦合时滞的无标度神经元网络模型,通过数值模拟的方法,提出研究参数异质性和耦合时滞影响下神经元网络的共振动力学.结果发现,当耦合项中不含时滞时,适中的参数异质性能够使得神经元网络对外界弱周期信号的响应达到最优,即适中的参数异质性能够诱导神经元网络的共振响应,而且异质性诱导共振对耦合强度具有鲁棒性.更重要的是,耦合时滞对参数异质性作用下神经元网络的共振特性也有着显著性影响.当时滞约为信号周期的整数倍时,神经元网络能够周期性地出现共振现象,即适当的耦合时滞能够诱导神经元网络的多重共振,而且这种现象在异质性参数的适当范围内都能明显出现.     

基于因子分析的模拟电路故障特征提取技术研究

针对LS-SVM算法中小波提取特征存在小波基函数选择和小波分解层次、系数选取的问题,提出了一种基于因子分析技术的故障特征识别方法;该方法通过构建采样数据的相关矩阵求出因子载荷和因子得分,按照累计贡献率自动提取出1~3个因子组成特征向量,从而降低了输入维度,提高了算法训练诊断效率,降低了收敛难度;四运放典型电路的仿真实验结果表明:文中算法的诊断正确率超过了同类方法,同时提高了训练时间和诊断效率。     

联合空间与角度的符号相干系数平面波成像北大核心CSCD

超声平面波成像是近年来一种应用较广泛的超快速超声成像方法,多角度相干平面波复合(Coherent Plane Wave Compounding,CPWC)成像在不过多损失速率的情况下,提升成像质量。但普通的CPWC方法只是简单复合多个角度延时叠加(Delay and Sum,DAS)后的数据,并未考虑到单个角度内以及多个角度之间数据的相关性。文章提出了一种联合空间与角度的符号相干系数(Angular Spatial Sign Coherence Factor,asSCF)平面波成像方法,将空间符号相干因子和角度符号相干因子创新性地融合到波束合成的过程中,充分考虑信号之间的相关性,旨在提升多角度复合成像质量。进行了仿真实验、仿体实验以及在体组织实验,对asSCF-CPWC方法、单一的符号相干系数法以及传统CPWC方法成像进行对比,结果发现asSCF-CPWC方法具有更好的横向分辨能力和成像对比度。     

绝缘油介质损耗与体积电阻率测试仪空杯电容值的计算

绝缘油介质损耗与体积电阻率测试仪的试验油杯是仪器的重要组成部分,以空气为介质的油杯电容值影响仪器的测量准确度和校准结果。为了得到准确的油杯电容值,依据油杯几何结构,采用圆锥体电容与圆柱体电容并联分布的物理模型,推导获得理论计算公式,并进行建模仿真比较。结果表明,所述理论计算方法有较高准确度,可用于指导测试仪的设计和校准工作。