A pH-regulated stimuli-responsive strategy for RNA-cleaving DNAzyme

RNA-cleaving DNAzymes possess important roles in DNAzymes and have been widely used in the biosensors,DNA nanomachines owing to their ion-specific dependence.However,there are still challenges in constructing universal but versatile stimuli-responsive strategies of RNA-cleaving DNAzymes.Herein,a stimuli-responsive strategy for RNA-cleaving DNAzyme is proposed by the artful design of hairpin nanostructure,in which the activities of DNAzyme(Pb~(2+) -dependent DNAzyme as a model) in the hairpin's loop are p H-regulated by using the triplex stem as the "lock".Upon introducing the "key",p H values,the DNAzyme will be activated and fragment the substrate of it in the presence of Pb~(2+),accompanied by the turn-on of the fluorescence quenched by fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET).The regulation ability of p H can be controlled by the length and sequence of the triplex stem,and the wide p H regulation range may be helpful for the application of DNAzymes in biological medicine delivery systems.     

Core‐Shell Structured Layered Lanthanide‐Organic Complexes with Stilbazolium‐type Dye Encapsulation for Multifunctional Performances

Host‐guest encapsulation of functional organic dye into a porous metal‐organic framework can give rise to the development of new functional materials. In this work, by intercalating the stilbazolium‐type dye (DEAST)I (4′‐diethylamino‐N‐methyl stilbazolium) into four lanthanide layered metal‐organic complexes (Ln‐LMOCs), i. e. {[Ln(BTB)(H₂O)₂]?3(DMF)?2(H₂O)}_n (Ln=La (1), Nd (2), Sm (3), Er (4)), four responsive (DEAST)I@Ln‐LMOC composites have been prepared, serving as multifunctional performance platform. The core–shell structures of (DEAST)I@Ln‐LMOC composites have been fully characterized by IR, UV/Vis, PXRD, SEM, TEM, TGA and ESR. Significantly, after intercalation of dyes, the (DEAST)I@Ln‐LMOC composites exhibit enhanced luminescent sensing properties in detecting Fe³⁺ with much higher water stabilities. The luminescent sensing behavior stems from the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from the π‐electron‐rich BTB ligands to the Fe³⁺, and their higher water stabilities are induced by electrostatic interactions and lower porosity. Specially, the characteristic emissions of Sm³⁺ will not be affected after the encapsulation guest dyes, which provide a theoretical guide for the modulation of luminescence devices. Finally, better ion conductivities and diminished photocurrents can be achieved after the embedding of the functional organic dye. In all, the formation of (DEAST)I@Ln‐LMOC composites with core–shell structures can be utilized as a multifunctional platform with good stability.     

Halogen modified two-dimensional covalent triazine frameworks as visible-light driven photocatalysts for overall water splitting

The covalent triazine framework CTF-1 as a member of the two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks(COFs) is a category of novel metal-free photocatalysts for water splitting. The large band gap severely restricts its energy conversion efficiency. By means of the first-principles calculations, we proposed the decoration of CTF-1 by anchoring halogen atoms onto benzene moieties for improving the solar-to-hydrogen(STH) efficiency. The electronic structures reveal that the halogen substitution successfully decreases the band gap of CTF-1. Meanwhile, the calculated free energy changes along the reaction pathway indicate that all these COFs can spontaneously drive overall water splitting under light irradiation in a specific acid-base environment. The time-dependent ab initio non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the electron-hole recombination periods of these COFs fall in a few to tens of nanoseconds. Excitingly, CTF-1 modified by linking six iodine atoms onto the benzene ring in the para-position(CTF-1-6I) shows a quite low band gap of 2.81 eV, indicating that it is a visible-light driven COF for overall photocatalytic water splitting. Correspondingly, CTF-1-6I also exhibits an extraordinarily promising STH efficiency of 3.70%, which is an order magnitude higher than that of the pristine CTF-1.     

Regulation of Cathode‐Electrolyte Interphase via Electrolyte Additives in Lithium Ion Batteries

As the power supply of the prosperous new energy products, advanced lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are widely applied to portable energy equipment and large‐scale energy storage systems. To broaden the applicable range, considerable endeavours have been devoted towards improving the energy and power density of LIBs. However, the side reaction caused by the close contact between the electrode (particularly the cathode) and the electrolyte leads to capacity decay and structural degradation, which is a tricky problem to be solved. In order to overcome this obstacle, the researchers focused their attention on electrolyte additives. By adding additives to the electrolyte, the construction of a stable cathode‐electrolyte interphase (CEI) between the cathode and the electrolyte has been proven to competently elevate the overall electrochemical performance of LIBs. However, how to choose electrolyte additives that match different cathode systems ideally to achieve stable CEI layer construction and high‐performance LIBs is still in the stage of repeated experiments and exploration. This article specifically introduces the working mechanism of diverse electrolyte additives for forming a stable CEI layer and summarizes the latest research progress in the application of electrolyte additives for LIBs with diverse cathode materials. Finally, we tentatively set forth recommendations on the screening and customization of ideal additives required for the construction of robust CEI layer in LIBs. We believe this minireview will have a certain reference value for the design and construction of stable CEI layer to realize desirable performance of LIBs.     

Skin Friction Reduction of Hypersonic Body by Supersonic Layer

Fluid Dynamics - Both numerical methods and wind tunnel tests were used to reduce skin friction for a hypersonic body. A hypersonic cone was tested under three different free-stream flow...     

Effects of nonlinearity of restoring springs on propulsion performance of wave glider

Nonlinear Dynamics - Wave glider is an unmanned surface vehicle that can directly convert wave energy into forward propulsion and fulfill long-term marine monitoring. A previous study suggested...     

The impact of the global and local awareness diffusion on epidemic transmission considering the heterogeneity of individual influences

In this paper, we propose a coupled awareness—epidemic spreading model considering the heterogeneity of individual influences, which aims to explore the interaction between awareness diffusion and epidemic transmission. The considered heterogeneities of individual influences are threefold: the heterogeneity of individual influences in the information layer, the heterogeneity of individual influences in the epidemic layer and the heterogeneity of individual behavioral responses to epidemics. In addition, the individuals’ receptive preference for information and the impacts of individuals’ perceived local awareness ratio and individuals’ perceived epidemic severity on self-protective behavior are included. The epidemic threshold is theoretically established by the microscopic Markov chain approach and the mean-field approach. Results indicate that the critical local and global awareness ratios have two-stage effects on the epidemic threshold. Besides, either the heterogeneity of individual influences in the information layer or the strength of individuals’ responses to epidemics can influence the epidemic threshold with a nonlinear way. However, the heterogeneity of individual influences in the epidemic layer has few effect on the epidemic threshold, but can affects the magnitude of the final infected density.

     

Facilely prepared aggregation-induced emission (AIE) nanocrystals with deep-red emission for super-resolution imaging

Organic nanocrystals (NCs) with high brightness are highly desirable for biological imaging. However, the preparation of NCs by a facile and fast method is still challenging. Herein, an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogen of 4,4′-(5,6-difluorobenzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole-4,7-diyl)bis(N,N-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)aniline) (DTPA-BT-F) in the deep-red region is designed with intensive crystalline features to obtain NCs by kinetically controlled nanoprecipitation. The prepared AIE NCs with high brightness and good photo-stability are then applied in super-resolution imaging via stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy. As observed, the nanostructures in lysosomes of both fixed and live cells are well visualized with superior lateral resolutions under STED nanoscopy (full width at half maximum values, 107 and 108 nm) in contrast to that in confocal imaging (548 and 740 nm). More importantly, dynamic monitoring and long-term tracking of lysosomal movements in live HeLa cells, such as lysosomal contact, can also be carried out by using DTPA-BT-F NCs at a superior resolution. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of AIE NCs prepared by nanoprecipitation for STED nanoscopy, thus providing a new strategy to develop high performance imaging agents for super-resolution imaging.

AIE nanocrystals with high brightness in the deep-red region were facilely prepared by kinetically controlled nanoprecipitation. These nanocrystals were then applied in super-resolution cellular imaging via STED nanoscopy.     

Effects of High-Intensity Ultrasound Pretreatment on Structure,Properties, and Enzymolysis of Walnut Protein Isolate

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effect of high-intensity ultrasonication (HIU) pretreatment before enzymolysis on structural conformations of walnut protein isolate (WPI) and antioxidant activity of its hydrolysates. Aqueous WPI suspensions were subjected to ultrasonic processing at different power levels (600–2000 W) and times (5–30 min), and then changes in the particle size, zeta (ζ) potential, and structure of WPI were investigated, and antioxidant activity of its hydrolysates was determined. The particle size of the particles of aqueous WPI suspensions was decreased after ultrasound, indicating that sonication destroyed protein aggregates. The ζ-potential values of a protein solution significantly changed after sonication, demonstrating that the original dense structure of the protein was destroyed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated a change in the secondary structure of WPI after sonication, with a decrease in β-turn and an increase in α-helix, β-sheet, and random coil content. Two absorption peaks of WPI were generated, and the fluorescence emission intensity of the proteins decreased after ultrasonic treatment, indicating that the changes in protein tertiary structure occurred. Moreover, the degree of hydrolysis and the antioxidant activity of the WPI hydrolysates increased after sonication. These results suggest that HIU pretreatment is a potential tool for improving the functional properties of walnut proteins.     

一类四阶微分方程边值问题解的存在唯一性

为解决两端固定支撑弹性梁解的存在性及唯一性问题,运用Leray-Schauder延拓定理,研究一类非线性四阶常微分方程边值问题,当非线性项满足适当至多增长性条件时,得到解的存在性结果.进一步,当非线性项满足Lipschitz条件时,得到解的唯一性结果.