Photocatalysis of PbS quantum dots in a quantum dot-sensitized solar cell: photovoltaic performance and characteristics

PbS QDs have been synthesized by an in situ photocatalysis method using the photocatalytic activity of nanocrystalline TiO(2) films. Both the photovoltaic response and size of the synthesized PbS QDs were analyzed. Compared with the conventional synthesis route, this method is simpler and produces less waste.     

One-step preparation of highly concentrated well-stable gold colloids by direct mix of polyelectrolyte and HAuCl4 aqueous solutions at room temperature

Highly concentrated, well-stable gold colloids can be prepared directly from an amine-bearing polyelectrolyte-HAuCl4 aqueous solution at room temperature. It is found that increasing molar ratio of polyelectrolyte to gold leads to increasing particle size. UV-vis spectra, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) were used to characterize the products thus formed.     

Development and assessment of scoring functions for protein identification using PMF data

PMF is one of the major methods for protein identification using the MS technology. It is faster and cheaper than MS/MS. Although PMF does not differentiate trypsin-digested peptides of identical mass, which makes it less informative than MS/MS, current computational methods for PMF have the potential to improve its detection accuracy by better use of the information content in PMF spectra. We developed a number of new probability-based scoring functions for PMF protein identification based on the MOWSE algorithm. We considered a detailed distribution of matching masses in a protein database and peak intensity, as well as the likelihood of peptide matches to be close to each other in a protein sequence. Our computational methods are assessed and compared with other methods using PMF data of 52 gel spots of known protein standards. The comparison shows that our new scoring schemes have higher or comparable accuracies for protein identification in comparison to the existing methods. Our software is freely available upon request. The scoring functions can be easily incorporated into other proteomics software packages.     

Isolation of neural precursor cells from skeletal muscle tissues and their differentiation into neuron-like cells

Skeletal muscle contains several precursor cells that generate muscle, bone, cartilage and blood cells. Although there are reports that skeletal muscle-derived cells can trans-differentiate into neural-lineage cells, methods for isolating precursor cells, and procedures for successful neural induction have not been fully established. Here, we show that the preplate cell isolation method, which separates cells based on their adhesion characteristics, permits separation of cells possessing neural precursor characteristics from other cells of skeletal muscle tissues. We term these isolated cells skeletal muscle-derived neural precursor cells (SMNPs). The isolated SMNPs constitutively expressed neural stem cell markers. In addition, we describe effective neural induction materials permitting the neuron-like cell differentiation of SMNPs. Treatment with retinoic acid or forskolin facilitated morphological changes in SMNPs; they differentiated into neuron-like cells that possessed specific neuronal markers. These results suggest that the preplate isolation method, and treatment with retinoic acid or forskolin, may provide vital assistance in the use of SMNPs in cell-based therapy of neuronal disease.     

新型重整催化剂的研究—Pt／BaKL型沸石中钡的作用

本文采用XRD,NH_3-TPD,IR以及TEM等方法考察了Pt/BaKL沸石中Ba~(2+)的作用。NH_3-TPD结果表明,交换Ba~(2+)后的L型沸石的酸性,由于阳离子的作用仅在弱酸范围内有些改变,但与载铂的沸石的催化活性无明显的对应关系。IR及XRD谱线表明,BaKL沸石中Ba~(2+)在最佳交换度(26.3%)时,随预培烧温度的提高,使Ba~(2+)处于沸石孔道中B、C、D位置,接近于最佳分布,此时IR谱线上1421cm~(-1)处有一新峰。当沸石负载铂后,因铂与Ba~(2+)的相互作用,新峰消失,导致铂粒在沸石上分布更加均匀;铂粒在1.5—3.0nm之间占有最大比例,使得Pt/BaKL沸石呈现芳构化活性及选择性高于Pt/KL沸石,分别为～98%和～95%。     

A full dimensional time-dependent wave packet study for the H4 four-center, collision induced dissociation, and single exchange reactions: reaction probabilities for J=0

A time-dependent initial state selected wave packet method has been developed to study the H2(v(1)=10-11,j1=0)+H2'(v2=0,j2=0)-->HH'+HH' four-center (4C) reaction, and two other competing reactions: the H2+H2'-->H+H+H2' collision induced dissociation (CID) and the H2+H2'-->H+HH'+H' single exchange (SE) reaction, in full six dimensions. Initial state-specific total reaction probabilities for these three competing reactions are presented for total angular momentum J=0 and the effects of reagent vibration on reactions are examined. It is found that (a) the CID process is the dominant process over the whole energy range considered in this study, but the 4C and SE processes also have non-negligible probabilities; (b) the SE process has a lower threshold energy than the 4C process, but the SE probability increases slower than the 4C probability as collision energy increases; (c) the vibrational excitation of H2(v1) is much more efficient than translational motion for promoting these processes, in particular to the CID process.     

Ultrafast growth of dendritic gold nanostructures and their applications in methanol electro-oxidation and surface-enhanced Raman scattering

A simple and rapid solution-phase synthesis of dendritic gold nanostructures with hyperbranched architecture is demonstrated in this report. Further investigations revealed that the morphology of the synthesized sample depended on proper parameters such as reagent concentration, reaction temperature, reagent addition sequence and stir. Moreover, the dendritic gold nanostructures exhibited a good electrocatalytic activity toward methanol electro-oxidation. When compared with sea-urchinlike and flowerlike gold nanostructures which were prepared by varying the parameters of experiment, dendritic gold nanostructures showed the highest surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensitivity using 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) as probe molecules. The dendritic gold nanostructures may find potential applications in catalysis, SERS and biosensor.     

Study of binding constant of toll-like receptor 4 and lipopolysaccharide using capillary zone electrophoresis

This short communication describes the interaction between toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS, its specific ligand) using analytical methods. Their interaction has been evidenced in many reports. Nevertheless, there are few reports focused on their binding constant. In this research, the interaction between TLR4 and LPS is investigated using mobility shift method by CZE. To optimize the electrophoresis conditions, the effecting factors, running buffer, sample concentration, injection duration, and operation voltage of electrophoretic on the mobility shift are studied in detail. Electrophoresis conditions were described as follows: borate buffer (pH 7.4, 20 mM), 5 s for 50 mbar pressure injection duration, and 13 kV of separation voltage in 41.5 cm fused silica capillary with 75 μm id and 375?μm od. The combination constant of TLR4 and LPS is calculated using Scatchard methods. The Scatchard liner correlation is y=-0.0165x+0.1456, binding constant is K=1.65 x 10? (g/mL)?1.     

Simple and accurate quantitative analysis of seven prohibited threshold substances in human urine by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in doping control

A simple and accurate liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method has been developed and validated for the quantitative determination of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, methylephedrine, cathine, salbutamol, morphine and epitestosterone in human urine. Urine samples were spiked with internal standard and diluted with acetonitrile. After centrifugation, the supernatants were directly analyzed by LC/MS/MS using the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. The linearity, intra- and inter-day precision, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were evaluated and the method was found to be accurate and reproducible for the quantitation of threshold substances. When the method was applied to the analysis of blind urine samples for the proficiency test, the results were close to the nominal concentrations, within 87.7-106.6% of nominal values, suggesting that the developed methods can be successfully applied to routine doping analyses.