The structure of small penta-twinned gold particles

The structural feathers of penta-twinned gold particles (size between 2 and 6 nm) generated by gas evaporation have been investigated by high resolution TEM. The structural characteristic of penta-twinned particles is different from that of quasi-crystals that the five coherent or incoherent twin boundaries separating the twin oriented segments do not join up along a common edge. The lattice parameter is reduced by 4–5% in comparison to that of bulk gold. The formation of the penta-twinned particles is proposed to occur by particle collision. The particles were observed to be crystalline at ambient temperature.     

Pt-CNTs 修饰玻碳电极(Pt-CNTs/GC)电氧化活性的研究

采用透射电镜(TEM)和选区电子衍射(SAED)技术, 分别表征了Pt-CNTs/GC电极的表面形貌和所负载铂纳米原子簇的结构. 以CO和CH3OH为探针分子, 用循环伏安和计时电流等常规电化学方法检测了CO和CH3OH在Pt-CNTs/GC电极上的氧化行为. 研究结果表明, CO在Pt-CNTs/GC电极上有3个氧化电流峰(Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ), 其中峰Ⅰ为CO桥式吸附的氧化峰, 而峰Ⅱ和Ⅲ则分别为CO线形吸附在碳纳米管负载的不同粒径的Pt纳米原子簇以及Pt原子薄膜上所分裂的氧化峰; CH3OH在Pt-CNTs/GC电极上也能自发解离吸附强吸附中间体CO; Pt-CNTs/GC电极对CH3OH的氧化峰电流不总是随CNTs上载铂量的增加而增大, 表明在制备直接甲醇燃料电池阳极时, 应选择合适的载铂量.     

Electrochemical and spectroscopic characterization of the novel charge-transfer ground state in diimine complexes of ytterbocene

The novel charge-transfer ground state found in alpha,alpha'-diimine adducts of ytterbocene (C(5)Me(5))(2)Yb(L) [L = 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen)] in which an electron is spontaneously transferred from the f(14) metal center into the lowest unoccupied (pi*) molecular orbital (LUMO) of the diimine ligand to give an f(13)-L(*)(-) ground-state electronic configuration has been characterized by cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis-near-IR electronic absorption, and resonance Raman spectroscopies. The voltammetric data demonstrate that the diimine ligand LUMO is stabilized and the metal f orbital is destabilized by approximately 1.0 V each upon complexation for both bpy and phen adducts. The separation between the ligand-based oxidation wave (L(0/-)) and the metal-based reduction wave (Yb(3+/2+)) in the ytterbocene adducts is 0.79 V for both bpy and phen complexes. The UV-vis-near-IR absorption spectroscopic data for both the neutral adducts and the one-electron-oxidized complexes are consistent with those reported recently, but previously unreported bands in the near-IR have been recorded and assigned to ligand (pi*)-to-metal (f orbital) charge-transfer (LMCT) transitions. These optical electronic excited states are the converse of the ground-state charge-transfer process (e.g., f(13)-L(*-) <--> f(14)-L(0)). These new bands occur at approximately 5000 cm(-1) in both adducts, consistent with predictions from electrochemical data, and the spacings of the resolved vibronic bands in these transitions are consistent with the removal of an electron from the ligand pi* orbital. The unusually large intensity observed in the f --> f intraconfiguration transitions for the neutral phenanthroline adduct is discussed in terms of an intensity-borrowing mechanism involving the low-energy LMCT states. Raman vibrational data clearly reveal resonance enhancement for excitation into the low-lying pi* --> pi* ligand-localized excited states, and comparison of the vibrational energies with those reported for alkali-metal-reduced diimine ligands confirms that the ligands in the adducts are reduced radical anions. Differences in the resonance enhancement pattern for the modes in the bipyridine adduct with excitation into different pi* --> pi* levels illustrate the different nodal structures that exist in the various low-lying pi* orbitals.     

Microfluidic three-dimensional biomimetic tumor model for studying breast cancer cell migration and invasion in the presence of interstitial flow

Cell migration and invasion are critical steps in cancer metastasis, which are the major cause of death in cancer patients. Tumor-associated macrophages(TAMs) and interstitial flow(IF) are two important biochemical and biomechanical cues in tumor microenvironment, play essential roles in tumor progression. However, their combined effects on tumor cell migration and invasion as well as molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. In this work, we developed a microfluidic-based 3 D breast cancer model by co-culturing tumor aggregates, macrophages, monocytes and endothelial cells within 3 D extracellular matrix in the presence of IF to study tumor cell migration and invasion. On the established platform, we can precisely control the parameters related to tumor microenvironment and observe cellular responses and interactions in real-time. When co-culture of U937 with human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) or MDA-MB-231 cells and tri-culture of U937 with HUVECs and MDA-MB-231 cells, we found that mesenchymal-like MDA-MB-231 aggregates activated the monocytes to TAM-like phenotype macrophages. MDA-MB-231 cells and IF simultaneously enhanced the macrophages activation by the stimulation of colony-stimulating factor 1(CSF-1). The activated macrophages and IF further promoted vascular sprouting via vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGFα) signal and tumor cell invasion. This is the first attempt to study the interaction between macrophages and breast cancer cells under IF condition. Taken together, our results provide a new insight to reveal the important physiological and pathological processes of macrophages-tumor communication. Moreover, our established platform with a more mimetic 3 D breast cancer model has the potential for drug screening with more accurate results.     

分子信标用于p53 mRNA的体外定量检测

根据p53基因的序列设计并合成了能特异性检测p53 mRNA的分子信标(MB), 发展了一种快速定量测定细胞内总RNA提取物中p53 mRNA的方法. 采用鼻咽癌(CNE2)细胞系和经RNA干扰技术降低p53基因表达的CNE2-p53RNAi细胞系, 抽提总RNA并用MB检测, 验证了MB的检测对象是p53 mRNA. 将该方法应用于多种肿瘤细胞内p53基因表达水平的分析, 表达变化趋势与经典的mRNA分析方法RT-PCR检测结果相符. 在此基础上, 用MB对5-氟尿嘧啶(5-Fu)处理的肺腺癌细胞(A549)进行了p53 mRNA的体外定量检测, 结果表明采用MB能够快速地获知该药物对细胞内p53 mRNA表达影响的信息.     

Thermochemistry of the ternary solid complex Gd(C5H8NS2)3(C12H8N2)

The novel ternary solid complex Gd(C₅H₈NS₂)₃(C₁₂H₈N₂) has been obtained from the reaction of hydrous gadolinium chloride, ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC), and 1,10-phenanthroline (o-phen · H₂O) in absolute ethanol. The complex was described by an elemental analysis, TG-DTG, and an IR spectrum. The enthalpy change of the complex formation reaction from a solution of the reagents, Δ_r H _m ^ϑ (sol), and the molar heat capacity of the complex, c _m , were determined as being − 15.174 ± 0.053 kJ/mol and 72.377 ± 0.636 J/(mol K) at 298.15 K by using an RD496-III heat conduction microcalorimeter. The enthalpy change of a complex formation from the reaction of the reagents in a solid phase, Δ_r H _m ^ϑ (s), was calculated as being 52.703 ± 0.304 kJ/mol on the basis of an appropriate thermochemical cycle and other auxiliary thermodynamic data. The thermodynamics of the formation reaction of the complex was investigated by the reaction in solution. Fundamental parameters, the activation enthalpy (ΔH _≠ ^ϑ ), the activation entropy (ΔS _≠ ^ϑ ), the activation free energy (ΔG _≠ ^ϑ ), the apparent reaction rate constant (k), the apparent activation energy (E), the preexponential constant (A), and the reaction order (n), were obtained by the combination of the thermochemical data of the reaction and kinetic equations, with the data of thermokinetic experiments. The constant-volume combustion energy of the complex, Δ_c U, was determined as being −17588.79 ± 8.62 kJ/mol by an RBC-II type rotatingbomb calorimeter at 298.15 K. Its standard enthalpy of combustion, Δ_c H _m ^ϑ , and standard enthalpy of formation, Δ_f H _m ^ϑ , were calculated to be −17604.28 ± 8.62 and −282.43 ± 9.58 kJ/mol, respectively. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

SPME-GC-MSD for Determination of Nine Phenyl Compounds in Snow Water in Beijing China

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) then capillary gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection have been used for determination of nine phenyl compounds in snow water in Beijing City. Headspace extraction with a fiber coated with 100 µm PDMS was used to extract the compounds. Extraction and desorption times were optimized at 8 and 2 min, respectively. Relative standard deviation (RSD) of the analytical method was found to be less than 5%. The linear range was wide and limits of detection were less than 5 ng mL⁻¹ for the nine target analytes. Several phenyl compounds at ng mL⁻¹ levels were detected in snow samples in Beijing, indicating the corresponding air pollution.     

O(3P)原子和硅烷化学反应动力学研究

本文报道了用流动放电-化学发光技术测定O(~3P)和硅烷化学反应速率常数.在293—413K范围内, 结果为k=(1.05±0.36)×10~(-10)exp[(-3.06±0.10) kcal·mol~(-1) /RT] cm~3·molecule~(-1)·s~(-1)并用过渡态理论将上述实验结果外推到200—2000 K范围内. 计算结果以三参数公式表示为: k=7.67×10~(-19) T~(2.59) exp(-720 cal·mol~(-1)/RT) cm~3·molecule~(-1)·s~(-1).     

First principles study on the solvation and structure of C2O4(2-)(H2O)n, n = 6-12

The structures and energies of hydrated oxalate clusters, C2O4(2-)(H2O)n, n = 6-12, are obtained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations and compared to SO4(2-)(H2O)n. Although the evolution of the cluster structure with size is similar to that of SO4(2-)(H2O)n, there are a number of important and distinctive futures in C2O4(2-)(H2O)n, including the separation of the two charges due to the C-C bond in C2O4(2-), the lower symmetry around C2O4(2-), and the torsion along the C-C bond, that affect both the structure and the solvation energy. The solvation dynamics for the isomers of C2O4(2-)(H2O)12 are also examined by DFT based ab initio molecular dynamics.     

A combinatorial approach to study solvent-induced self-assembly of mixed poly(methyl methacrylate)/polystyrene brushes on planar silica substrates: effect of relative grafting density

This article reports the study of the effect of relative grafting densities of two polymer chains on solvent-induced self-assembly of mixed poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/polystyrene (PS) brushes through a combinatorial approach. Gradient-mixed PMMA/PS brushes were synthesized from a gradient-mixed initiator-terminated monolayer by combining atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and nitroxide mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) in a two-step process. The gradient-mixed initiator-terminated monolayer was fabricated by first formation of a gradient in density of an ATRP initiator through vapor diffusion followed by backfilling of an NMRP-initiator-terminated trichlorosilane. After treatment of a gradient-mixed brush whose PS Mn was slightly lower than that of PMMA with glacial acetic acid, a selective solvent for PMMA, relatively ordered nanodomains were observed in the region where the ratio of PS to PMMA grafting density (number of polymer chains/nm2) was in the range from 0.67 to 2.17 and the overall grafting density was approximately 0.85 polymer chains/nm2. Contact angle hysteresis were high (> or =40 degrees ) in this region and XPS studies confirmed that the PMMA chains were enriched at the outermost layer. The nanodomains are speculated to be of a micellar structure with PS chains forming the core shielded by PMMA chains.