Virus-Like Particle-Induced cGAS-STING Activation and AIM2 Inflammasome-Mediated Pyroptosis for Robust Cancer Immunotherapy

cGAS-STING-mediated DNA sensing is demonstrated to be critical for launching antitumor immunity. However, DNA-based cGAS-STING agonists are rarely reported owing to low cell permeability, poor biostability and, especially, limited length of exogenous DNA. Here, we present a virus-like particle which is self-assembled from long DNA building blocks generated through rolling-circle amplification (RCA) and covered with cationic liposomes. Based on long and densely packed DNA structure, it could efficiently induce liquid phase condensation of cGAS and activate STING signaling to produce inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, this virus-like particle could also trigger the formation of AIM2 inflammasome to induce gasdermin D-mediated pyroptosis, boosting antitumor immunity. Thus, this study provides a simple and robust strategy for cancer immunotherapy for clinical application. This is the first study to report the intrinsic immunogenicity of RCA products, thus facilitating their biomedical applications.     

Sulfur/microporous carbon composites for Li-S battery

A commercial carbon black with microporous framework is used as carbon matrix to prepare sulfur/microporous carbon (S/MC) composites for the cathode of lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery. The S/MC composites with 50, 60, and 72 wt.% sulfur loading are prepared by a facile heat treatment method. Electrochemical performance of the as-prepared S/MC composites are measured by galvanostatic charge/discharge tests, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), with carbonate-based electrolyte of 1.0 M LiPF₆/(PC-EC-DEC). The composite with 50 wt.% sulfur presents the optimized electrochemical performance, including the utilization of active sulfur, discharge capacity, and cycling stability. At the current density of 50 mA g^?1, it can demonstrate a high initial discharge capacity of 1624.5 mAh g^?1. Even at the current density of 800 mA g^?1, the initial capacity of 1288.6 mAh g^?1 can be obtained, and the capacity can still maintain at 522.8 mAh g^?1 after 180 cycles. The remarkably improved electrochemical performance of the S/MC composite with 50 wt.% sulfur are attributed to the carbon matrix with microporous structure, which can effectively enhance the electrical conductivity of the sulfur cathode, suppress the loss of active material during charge/discharge processes, and restrain the migration of polysulfide ions to the lithium anode.     

Alkoxy substitution on simple non-fused electron acceptors for tuning the photoelectric properties of organic solar cells

In order to identify high-performance non-fused ring electron acceptors for bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells, six structurally diverse molecules are designed and categorized into two series. The first series is anchored by R1 as the reference molecule, featured fixed BDT, IC-2F end groups and modified π bridges. The second series is anchored by R2 as the reference molecule, incorporated a terminal IC-2F and a central core modified with EDOT bridge. The electronic structure and photoelectric properties of all acceptor molecules were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). Charge transfer matrix (CTM), Density of states (DOS) and Reorganization energy (RE) etc. were analyzed to provide fundamental knowledge on charge transport and electronic excitation. Among the studied molecules, W2 exhibited a smaller energy gap (1.74 eV) compared to the other molecules, effectively transferring its electron from HOMO to LUMO. At the same time, the W2 molecule has excellent V_oc and FF. Furthermore, W2 displayed the largest λ_max redshift compared to R1. Although W3 had a smaller value of λ_h, the comprehensive photovoltaic parameters of W2 were more excellent. The research results not only demonstrated the feasibility of introducing different alkoxy groups to alter the structure of the π bridge and central core is a feasible method for constructing high-performance NFREAs, but also highlighted that BDT cores combined with EDOT bridges are among the most promising small molecule acceptors (SMAs) that could be considered as reasonable candidates for synthesis and incorporation into organic solar cells. The results of this study are expected to provide seminal ideas for the design of high-performance non-fullerene acceptors.     

铂微电极位点上氧化铝纳米孔的制备

金属微电极表面的纳米级处理可以大大提高电极的性能。本文基于微加工及电化学技术在铂微电极位点上制备了一致性良好的氧化铝纳米结构。通过对基片铂层表面等离子体处理,使铝膜与铂层之间粘附力明显增强。利用二次阳极氧化法,在铂微电极位点上制备出纳米孔。结果表明,30V是该条件下比较理想的氧化电压。同时,通过对氧化过程中电流的监测,发现当铝膜完全氧化后电流大幅上升,可将此现象作为终止阳极氧化的标志。这种微电极位点处的氧化铝模板可进一步用于不同材料纳米微电极的制备。     

A Nitrite Biosensor Based on the Direct Electron Transfer of Hemoglobin Immobilized on Carboxyl‐Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes/Polyimide Composite

The high electrically conductive carboxyl‐functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (COOH‐MWCNTs) were used to combine with nonconducting polyimide (PI) to generate a PI/COOH‐MWCNTs membrane. PI served as a matrix to entrap COOH‐MWCNTs and hemoglobin (Hb). COOH‐MWCNTs can improve the conductivity of the composite. The direct electrochemistry measurement indicated that the PI/COOH‐MWCNTs composite enhanced the immobilization of Hb significantly. Besides, the Hb/PI/COOH‐MWCNTs/GCE biosensor possessed excellent electrocatalytic activity for the detection of nitrite. Therefore, PI is a good matrix for Hb immobilization and it has application in sensor construction. This work is promising in the development of sensitive biosensors based on PI/COOH‐MWCNTs composite film.     

一种实验用交流超导磁体的研制

该文介绍了用于探测线圈法测量超导材料交流损耗的一种交流超导磁体的设计、加工与绕制。超导磁体设计采用成熟的螺线管磁体技术,磁体骨架为低温环氧树脂加工而成,所用超导线为NbTi/Cu复合超导绞线。为了满足磁体的稳定性,每两层超导线间留出了一条冷却通道。所绕磁体的磁场强度和均匀度都满足设计要求。     

Influence of Mo on the Microstructure and Corrosion Behavior of Laser Cladding FeCoCrNi High-Entropy Alloy Coatings

FeCoCrNi and FeCoNiCrMo_0.2 high-entropy alloy powders were prepared by gas atomization. Two kinds of coatings were prepared on the surface of 304 stainless steel by laser cladding technology. The effect of Mo element on the microstructure of laser cladding FeCoCrNi coating and its corrosion behavior in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution was investigated. Both FeCoCrNi and FeCoCrNiMo_0.2 powders exhibit a single-phase FCC structure. Due to the remelting and multiple heat treatments during the preparation of the laser cladding coating, a small amount of σ and μ phases appeared in the FeCoCrNiMo_0.2 coating. The microstructures of the two coatings from the bonding area to the top layer are planar, columnar and equiaxed grains, respectively. The addition of the Mo element causes the dendrite size in the middle region of the FeCoCrNiMo_0.2 coating increases significantly and exhibits obvious orientation characteristics. FeCoCrNiMo_0.2 coating has high corrosion potential (−0.01 V_SHE) and low current density (0.94 × 10⁻⁷ A/cm²) in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, showing excellent corrosion resistance. The passivation film formed on corroded the FeCoCrNiMo_0.2 coating contains high content of oxides of Cr and Mo. The addition of the Mo element enhances the compactness and pitting resistance of the passivation film.     

一类具积分项非线性梁方程整体解的存在性

讨论了一类在轴向载荷作用下,有限长粘弹性梁的非线性振动问题,用Galerkin方法证明了问题的整体强解和整体经典解的存在性.     

无机-有机复合材料沸石@聚丙烯酰胺的制备及对Pb2+的吸附研究

重金属污染会引起严峻的环境问题。因此,必须对重金属离子进行测定,但由于重金属离子的含量低并受基体效应影响,检测前需要先将其分离富集。本实验利用一锅法制备了沸石@聚丙烯酰胺复合材料,将其作为分离富集材料,结合火焰原子吸收光谱仪,研究对Pb2+的吸附性能。为了得到最佳的吸附性能,对制备条件中的沸石用量进行了优化,并对优化后的复合材料进行了扫描电镜、热重分析和比表面积表征。利用单一变量法,对固相萃取条件中的溶液pH和振荡时间进行了优化。研究了复合材料在吸附Pb2+过程中的动力学模型、等温线模型和热力学参数。结果表明,在沸石用量为333 mg/g,溶液pH为5和振荡时间为80 min时,复合材料的吸附效率最佳;沸石@聚丙烯酰胺复合材料吸附Pb2+的过程符合二级动力学和Freundlich模型,且在298.15K时,热力学参数 ?H=15614.18 J/mol、?S=65.2 J/mol/K、?G=-1878.059 J/mol,是一个吸热且熵增的自发过程;此外,复合材料经过连续三次吸附和解吸实验,对Pb2+的吸附量基本不变,且解吸率保持在89.7%以上,说明沸石@聚丙烯酰胺复合材料具有较好的再生性能。     

Construction of Asymmetrical Dual Jahn–Teller Sites for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction (PCR) expresses great attraction to convert useless greenhouse gas into valuable chemical feedstock. However, the weak interactions between catalytic sites and PCR intermediates constrains the PCR activity and selectivity. Herein, we proposed a new strategy to match the intermediates due to the maximum orbital overlap of catalytic sites and C₁ intermediates by establishing dual Jahn–Teller (J–T) sites, in which, the strongly asymmetric J–T sites can break the nonpolar CO₂ molecules and self-adapt the different structure of C₁ intermediates. Taking cobalt carbonate hydroxide as an example, the weakly symmetric dual cobalt (Co₂) dual J–T sites, weakly asymmetric Fe&Co sites and strongly asymmetric Cu&Co sites were assembled. After illumination, the interaction between dual J–T sites and the CO₂ molecules enhances J–T distortion, which further modulates the PCR activity and selectivity. As a result, the Cu&Co sites exhibited CO yield of 8137.9 μmol g⁻¹, about 2.3-fold and 4.2-fold higher than that of the Fe&Co and Co₂ sites within 5-hour photoreaction, respectively. In addition, the selectivity achieved as high as 92.62 % than Fe&Co (88.67 %) and Co₂ sites (55.33 %). This work provides a novel design concept for the construction of dual J–T sites to regulate the catalytic activity and selectivity.