Single nucleotide polymorphisms of mitochondrial DNA HVS‐I and HVS‐II in Chinese Bai ethnic group

For forensic and population genetic purposes, a total of 125 unrelated volunteers’ blood samples were collected from Chinese Bai ethnic minority group to analyze sequence variation of two hypervariable segments (HVS‐I and HVS‐II) in the mitochondrial DNA control region. Comparing the HVS‐I and HVS‐II sequences of the 125 Chinese Bais to the Anderson reference sequence, we found 86 polymorphic loci in HVS‐I and 40 in HVS‐II in mitochondrial DNA sequences of the Chinese Bai ethnic minority group, which defined 93 and 53 different haplotypes, respectively. Haplotype diversity and the mean pairwise differences were 0.992 ± 0.003 and 6.553 in HVS‐I, and 0.877 ± 0.027 and 2.407 in HVS‐II, respectively. We defined four macrohaplogroups R, M, N and D with the proportions ranging from 9.6% to 40.0%. With the analysis of the hypervariable domain from nucleotide 16 180–16 193 in HVS‐I, our study revealed new haplotypes of sequence variations. In addition, the Fst metric, phylogenetic tree, and principal component analysis demonstrated a close genetic relationship between the Bai group and Chinese Han populations from South China, Changsha, and Guangdong. The results support that the Bai group is a multiorigin ethnic minority that has merged with the Chinese Han population.     

Light‐Driven Reversible Alignment Switching of Liquid Crystals Enabled by Azo Thiol Grafted Gold Nanoparticles

Stimuli‐directed alignment control of liquid crystals (LCs) with desired molecular orientation is currently in the limelight for the development of smart functional materials and devices. Here, photoresponsive azo thiol (AzoSH) was grafted onto gold nanoparticles (GNPs). The resulting hybrid GNPs were able to homogeneously mix with a commercially available nematic LC host, as evidenced by Cryo‐TEM. Interestingly, the LC nanocomposites were found to undergo reversible alignment transition upon light irradiation as a consequence of the trans–cis photoisomerization of the azo groups on the GNP surface. LC molecules in either planar or bare glass cells were able to change their alignment to vertical upon UV irradiation, while the vertically aligned LC molecules returned to the planar or random orientation under visible irradiation. Neither the azo thiol molecules nor the unfunctionalized GNPs alone promoted the alignment of the LC molecules in the system upon light irradiation. The photoinduced vertical alignment without applied electric or magnetic field was very stable over time and with respect to temperature. Furthermore, an optically switchable device based on the photostimulated reversible alignment control of LCs was demonstrated.     

Cytotoxicity of benzophenanthridine alkaloids from the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. var. fastuosum How ex Huang

This work aimed to investigate benzophenanthridine from the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. var. fastuosum How ex Huang for the first time. Thirteen benzophenanthridines were isolated, and our results of the cytotoxic activities indicated that compound 6 exhibited the best potency against A549, Hela, SMMC-7721 and EJ, with the IC₅₀ values of 27.50, 37.50, 16.95 and 60.42 μM, respectively. Compounds 7 and 11 also showed strong cytotoxicity when tested against the four human cancer cell lines (A549, Hela, SMMC-7721 and EJ), while only compounds 12 and 13 displayed cytotoxicity in inhibiting BALL-1 proliferation among all the compounds. These results suggested that benzophenanthridines may become a valid alternative of potential basis for new anti-proliferative agents.     

Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil from Agathis dammara (Lamb.) Rich fresh leaves

The essential oil of fresh leaves from Agathis dammara (Lamb.) Rich was extracted using hydro-distillation, and GC-FID and GC–MS were used to analyse the essential oil. Nineteen compounds were identified, among which the major components were limonene (36.81%), β-bisabolene (33.43%) and β-myrcene (25.48%). In the antibacterial test, disc diffusion method and micro-well dilution assay proved that the essential oil had significant antibacterial activities. The inhibition zones against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were 23.7 and 23 mm, respectively, which demonstrated that the inhibition effects were greater than positive control (10 μg/disc streptomycin). And the lowest MIC value of the essential oil was found against S. aureus (1.25 mg/mL) and Bacillus subtilis (1.25 mg/mL). This is the first report on the antibacterial activities of A. dammara essential oil.     

Enrichment of adenosine using thermally responsive chromatographic materials under friendly pH conditions

A thermally responsive boronate affinity chromatographic material, which showed thermal sensitivity, had been successfully applied for the enrichment and separation of cis‐diol‐containing compounds, and the capture and release process could be facilitated by adjusting the temperature. However, in this system, the pH of the mobile phase must be higher than 9.8, and alkaline media can lead to the degradation of labile compounds; the use of silica beads also limits its use. In this study, thermally responsive boronate affinity chromatographic material, namely poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐N‐acryloyl‐3‐aminophenylboronic acid) grafted silica, was successfully prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization. Its structure was confirmed by IR spectroscopy and the graft ratio was 20.8%, determined by thermogravimetric analysis. Furthermore, the capture/release of adenosine, a cis‐diol, was performed from pH 5.0–9.0 and 10–50°C. The elution of adenosine was remarkably retarded at decreased temperatures and adenosine could be captured completely at 10°C at pH values of 5.0–9.0. The enrichment of adenosine could be achieved by simply changing the temperature from 10 to 50°C. Therefore, this material not only improved the stability of the silica, but was also suitable for the capture of oxidation‐sensitive biological analytes. Moreover, it could be used for the enrichment of cis‐diol‐containing compounds in LC with MS.     

双金属MOFs及其衍生物在电化学储能领域中的应用

双金属有机骨架及其衍生物一方面具有单金属有机骨架孔道丰富、比表面积大、结构可调、活性位点丰富等特点,另一方面具有双组分与多孔结构之间的协同效应,因而受到了研究人员的密切关注,在储能、催化、分离、传感器、医药、气体存储等领域广泛应用。和单金属MOFs类似,双金属MOFs的导电性不佳、结构易坍塌,这极大地限制了其在电化学储能中的应用。通过对双金属MOFs进行热处理,易得到分布均匀的多孔碳@双金属氧化物/硫化物/磷化物/硒化物等衍生物,不仅保持了独特的多孔结构,而且提高了材料的导电性和结构稳定性,有利于在电化学储能中的应用。因此,本文从双金属MOFs中的主要金属离子入手,综述了双金属MOFs及其衍生物用于超级电容器、锂离子电池、钠离子电池、金属空气电池等电化学储能器件的最新应用进展。在此基础上,总结了双金属MOFs在电化学储能应用中的优势,并对其制备、作用机理和后处理研究提出了建议。     

Generation and Identification of the Linear OCBNO and OBNCO Molecules with 24 Valence Electrons

Two structural isomers containing five second-row element atoms with 24 valence electrons were generated and identified by matrix-isolation IR spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. The OCBNO complex, which is produced by the reaction of boron atoms with mixtures of carbon monoxide and nitric oxide in solid neon, rearranges to the more stable OBNCO isomer on UV excitation. Bonding analysis indicates that the OCBNO complex is best described by the bonding interactions between a triplet-state boron cation with an electron configuration of (2s)⁰(2p_σ)⁰(2p_π)² and the CO/NO⁻ ligands in the triplet state forming two degenerate electron-sharing π bonds and two ligand-to-boron dative σ bonds.     

Surface-assembled highly flexible Na_3(VOPO_4)_2F nanocube cathode for high-rate binder-free Na-ion batteries

Flexible Na-ion storage cathodes are still very few due to the challenge in achieving both reliable mechanical flexibility and excellent electrochemical performances.Herein,a new type of flexible Na_3(VOPO_4)_2F cathode with nanocubes tightly assembled on carbon cloth is fabricated by a facile solvothe rmal method for the first time.The cathode is able to exhibit superior rate capability and stable cycling performa nce up to 1000 cycles,due to the surface-assembling of crystalline nanocubes on carbon fibers.In addition,it shows good mechanical flexibility,nearly no capacity decay is observed after continuous bending of 500 times.With this novel cathode and a directly-grown Na_2Ti_2O_5 anode,a fully binde r-free Na-ion battery is assembled.It can deliver a high wo rking voltage and increased gravimetric energy/power densities(maximum values:220.2 Wh/kg;5674,7 W/kg),and can power a LED indicator at bending angles fro m 0° to 180°.