High levels of soluble herpes virus entry mediator in sera of patients with allergic and autoimmune diseases

Herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM) is a newly discovered member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily that has a role in herpes simplex virus entry, in T cell activation and in tumor immunity. We generated mAb against HVEM and detected soluble HVEM (SHVEM) in the sera of patients with various autoimmune diseases. HVEM was constitutively expressed on CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, CD19(+) B cells, CD14(+) monocytes, neutrophils and dendritic cells. In three-way MLR, mAb 122 and 139 were agonists and mAb 108 had blocking activity. An ELISA was developed to detect sHVEM in patient sera. sHVEM levels were elevated in sera of patients with allergic asthma, atopic dermatitis and rheumatoid arthritis. The mAbs discussed here may be useful for studies of the role of HVEM in immune responses. Detection of soluble HVEM might have diagnostic and prognostic value in certain immunological disorders.     

Ethanol Washing Effect on Textural Properties of the Sodium Silicate-Derived Silica Xerogel

This study deals with the use of ethanol as washing solvent in the preparation of the silica gels from sodium silicate in order to enhance the textural properties, especially surface area. We here examined the effect of ethanol-washing on surface area, micro- and mesopore volume, and average pore size. The silica xerogels prepared from sodium silicate solution exhibited an extremely high surface area of 1139 m2/g by washing their hydrogels with ethanol. Compared to water-washed xerogels, ethanol-washed xerogels showed higher surface areas, total pore volumes, and larger average pore sizes. Unlike the surface area of water-washed xerogel, that of the ethanol-washed xerogel was not affected by the silica concentration of initial solution. This study indicates that the textural properties of sodium silicate-derived xerogels are further enhanced by using ethanol as washing solvent.     

Oxygen evolution reaction: a perspective on a decade of atomic scale simulations

Multiple strategies to overcome the intrinsic limitations of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) have been proposed by numerous research groups. Despite the substantial efforts, the driving force required for water oxidation is largely making the reaction inefficient. In the present work, we collected published studies involving DFT calculations for the OER, with the purpose to understand why the progress made so far, for lowering the overpotential of the reaction, is relatively small. The data revealed that the universal scaling relationship between HO* and HOO* intermediates is still present and robust, despite the variety in methods and structures used for calculating the binding energies of the intermediates. On the other hand, the data did not show a clear trend line regarding the O* binding. Our analysis suggested that trends in doped semiconducting oxides behave very differently from those in other oxides. This points towards a computational challenge in describing doped oxides in a realistic manner. We propose a way to overcome these computational challenges, which can be applied to simulations corresponding to doped semiconductors in general.

Multiple strategies to overcome the intrinsic limitations of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) have been proposed by numerous research groups.     

高效液相色谱法测定大鼠血浆中的原儿茶酸

建立了大鼠血浆中原儿茶酸含量测定的高效液相色谱方法。采用的色谱柱为DiamondsilTM C18 柱(150 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm);流动相为乙腈-水(体积比为9∶91,用H3PO4 调pH至2.5);流速1.2 mL/min;检测波长260 nm;内标为对羟基苯甲酸。原儿茶酸的线性范围为0.050~3.20 mg/L,线性相关系数为0.9978，最低定量限为0.050 mg/L,日内和日间测定的精密度（以相对标准偏差表示）均低于7.0%,准确度（以相对误差表示）为-1.4%～2.6%；在0.050,0.40,3.20 mg/L低、中、高3个添加浓度水平下，血浆样品的提取回收率分别为83.4%,87.3%,91.1%。该方法简便,灵敏,准确,适用于大鼠体内原儿茶酸的药物动力学研究。     

The quenching of CdSe quantum dots photoluminescence by gold nanoparticles in solution

The photoluminescence (PL) of CdSe quantum dots (QD) in aqueous media has been studied in the presence of gold nanoparticles (NP) with different shapes. The steady state PL intensity of CdSe QD (1.5-2 nm in size) is quenched in the presence of gold NP. Picosecond bleach recovery and nanosecond time-resolved luminescence measurements show a faster bleach recovery and decrease in the lifetime of the emitting states of CdSe QD in the presence of quenchers. Surfactant-capped gold nanorods (NR) with aspect ratio of 3 and surfactant-capped and citrate-capped nanospheres (NS) of 12 nm diameter were used as quenchers in order to study the effect of shape and surface charge on the quenching rates. The Stern-Volmer kinetics model is used to examine the observed quenching behavior as a function of the quencher concentration. It was found that the quenching rate of NR is more than 1000 times stronger than that of NS with the same capping material. We also found that the quenching rate decreases as the length of the NR decreases, although the overlap between the CdSe emission and the NR absorption increases. This suggests that the quenching is a result of electron transfer rather than long-range (Forster-type) energy transfer processes. The quenching was attributed to the transfer of electron with energies below the Fermi level of gold to the trap holes of CdSe QD. The observed large difference between NR and NS quenching efficiencies was attributed to the presence of the [110] facets only in the NR, which have higher surface energy.     

Palladium complexes with ethylene-bridged bis(N-heterocyclic carbene) for C-C coupling reactions

A series of new ethylene-bridged bis(imidazolium) halides with various N-substitutions were synthesized. Complexation of these imidazolium halides with Pd(OAc)₂ produced new Pd(II) ethylene-bridged bis(carbene) complexes. Crystallographic analyses of some of the new imidazolium salts and Pd(II) complexes were determined. Applications of these seven-member palladacycles in Suzuki and Heck coupling reactions produced comparable catalytic activities to those of six-member analogs.     

Bis‐clickable Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles: Straightforward Preparation of Light‐Actuated Nanomachines for Controlled Drug Delivery with Active Targeting

Bis(clickable) mesoporous silica nanospheres (ca. 100 nm) were obtained by the co‐condensation of TEOS with variable amounts (2–5 % each) of two clickable organosilanes in the presence of CTAB. Such nanoparticles could be easily functionalized with two independent functions using the copper‐catalyzed alkyne‐azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction to transform them into nanomachines bearing cancer cell targeting ligands with the ability to deliver drugs on‐demand. The active targeting was made possible after anchoring folic acid by CuAAC click reaction, whereas the controlled delivery was performed by clicked azobenzene fragments. Indeed, the azobenzene groups are able to obstruct the pores of the nanoparticles in the dark whereas upon irradiation in the UV or in the blue range, their trans‐to‐cis photoisomerization provokes disorder in the pores, enabling the delivery of the cargo molecules. The on‐command delivery was proven in solution by dye release experiments, and in vitro by doxorubicin delivery. The added value of the folic acid ligand was clearly evidenced by the difference of cell killing induced by doxorubicin‐loaded nanoparticles under blue irradiation, depending on whether the particles featured the clicked folic acid ligand or not.