Enhancement of bioavailability by formulating rhEPO ionic complex with lysine into PEG–PLA micelle

The electron transport properties of CO adsorbed SiC nanotubes as a function of concentration density and structural deformation have been characterized for the single-walled (7,0) zigzag model using a combined formalism of density-functional theory and nonequilibrium Green’s function. It is found that CO adsorption can significantly suppress the transmission spectrum of SiC nanotube for a wide range of energies. As the concentration increases, a density-dependent superimposed transport gap exists and widens the initial electronic band gap of SiC nanotube. Under the same applied bias voltage, the current through SiC nanotube decreases with the increasing CO concentrations. The local torsional deformation has no effect on this essential motif. However, the current in the locally twisted system is larger than that of the undeformed one. The transmission suppression and the current differences can be attributed to the response of the localized impurity state induced by CO adsorption to density and deformation. Our results show that SiC nanotube can be a promising gas sensor for CO detection.     

Room‐Temperature Synthesis of Cu2−xE (E=S,Se) Nanotubes with Hierarchical Architecture as High‐Performance Counter Electrodes of Quantum‐Dot‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Copper chalcogenide nanostructures (e.g. one‐ dimensional nanotubes) have been the focus of interest because of their unique properties and great potential in various applications. Their current fabrications mainly rely on high‐temperature or complicated processes. Here, with the assistance of theoretical prediction, we prepared Cu_2?xE (E=S, Se) micro‐/nanotubes (NTs) with a hierarchical architecture by using copper nanowires (Cu NWs), stable sulfur and selenium powder as precursors at room temperature. The influence of reaction parameters (e.g. precursor ratio, ligands, ligand ratio, and reaction time) on the formation of nanotubes was comprehensively investigated. The resultant Cu_2?xE (E=S, Se) NTs were used as counter electrodes (CE) of quantum‐dot‐sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) to achieve a conversion efficiency (η) of 5.02 and 6.25 %, respectively, much higher than that of QDSSCs made with Au CE (η=2.94 %).     

Pyrolysis of Animal Bones with Vitamin B12: A Facile Route to Efficient Transition Metal–Nitrogen–Carbon (TM‐N‐C) Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction

By pyrolyzing cattle bones, hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) networks with a high surface area (2520 m² g^?1) and connected pores were prepared at a low cost and large scale. Subsequent co‐pyrolysis of HPC with vitamin B12 resulted in the formation of three‐dimensional (3D) hierarchically structured porous cobalt–nitrogen–carbon (Co‐N‐HPC) electrocatalysts with a surface area as high as 859 m² g^?1 as well as a higher oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalytic activity, better operation stability, and higher tolerance to methanol than the commercial Pt/C catalyst in alkaline electrolyte.     

Multi-level preconditioned block accelerated overrelaxation iteration method for z-matrices

A class of multi-level preconditioners and corresponding preconditioned block AOR iterative method are presented and studied in this paper. We analyze the convergence performance of the new method and give the comparison theorems for different preconditioning level. Numerical results further verify our theoretical analysis and show that the proposed method has faster convergence speed than existing preconditioned block AOR method.     

Voltammetric Immunoassay for the Detection of Protein Biomarkers

A strategy for a fast (ca. 20 min), specific, electrochemical immunoassay for the cardiac biomarker creatine kinase (CK) and the human cytokine interleukin 10 (IL10) has been developed in this paper. The polyaniline modified gold surface formed from electrochemical reduction of diazonium salt supplies a solid substrate to link the activated carboxylic acid groups from the antibodies, which were labelled with ferrocene. The direct electrochemistry of ferrocene allows the analysis of protein markers with good sensitivity. The creatine kinase sensor demonstrates limit of detection of 0.5 pg mL^?1 in a physiological Krebs‐Henseleit solution. The anti‐IL10 antibody retained fluorescence activity after further coupling to ferrocene and covalent immobilization on to a gold electrode, showing a linear detection range for IL‐10 from 0.001 ng mL^?1 to 50 ng mL^?1 in PBS. We attribute the high sensitivity to the well‐controlled modified surface which results in end–on antibodies that can specifically capture the antigen with ease.     

Multiple Effects Tailoring the Self-organization Behaviors of Triphenylene Side-chain Liquid Crystalline Polymers via Changing the Spacer Length

Long-alkyl tail triphenylene(TP) side-chain liquid crystalline polymers(SCLCPs) with different spacer length(P-m-TP,m =2,3,4,6,8,which is the number of carbon atom in the flexible alkyl spacers) have been successfully synthesized via free radical polymerization.The differential scanning calorimetry(DSC),polarized light microscopy(POM),ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy(UVVis),wide-angle X-ray diffraction(WAXD) and small-angle X-ray scattering(SAXS) measurements were performed to investigate the influence of multiple effects on the self-organization behaviors of P-m-TP,including steric effect,decoupling effect and π-π stacking effect.The experimental results revealed that P-m-TP(m = 2,3,4) formed the columnar phase which was developed by the TP moieties and the main chain as a whole,suggesting that the side-chains had strong steric effect even though the number of spacer length(m)exceeded 4.In addition,the clearing points(Tis) of the polymers were above 300 °C.When m = 6 and 8,the polymers displayed hexagonal columnar phase and exhibited the low Tis(91 and 80 °C respectively),originating from the self-assembly of triphenylene due to the decoupling effect and π-π stacking effect.This work offers a viable and inspiring pathway to control the phase transition temperature and phase structure of TP SCLCPs via simply tailoring the spacer length and increasing the alkyl tail length of TP.     

Synthesis and application of Vis/NIR dialkylaminophenylbuta-1, 3-dienyl borondipyrromethene dyes

Mono- and bis-dialkylaminophenylbuta-1,3-dienyl boron-dipyrromethenes(BODIPYs) 1–12 were synthesized in 36%–42% yields by a Knoevenagel-type condensation. The absorption and emission maxima(labs= 614–739 nm; lem= 655–776 nm in CHCl3) of 1–12 covered from the visible to the nearinfrared region. Probe 1 was ratiometric Vis p H probes. Such probe was almost non-fluorescent. Upon the protonation of the tertiary amine function of 1, the strong fluorescence(Φf= 0.97) was released and the florescence intensity was dramatically increased by one thousand folds. The sharp isosbestic points were discovered at 590 nm, which was a ratiometric p H probe.     

Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles at Room Temperature Using Kiwifruit Juice

Comparing with physical and chemical methods, green synthesis techniques are emerging as facile and eco-friendly methods for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. In this work, we demonstrated the biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles by the reduction of silver ions using kiwifruit juice as the reducing and stabilizing reagent. From the evidence of ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, different sizes of silver nanoparticles were formed when the juice volume, reaction temperature, and reaction time were altered with respect to 0.01% silver acetate solution. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were stable for more than 1 month. Transmission electron microscopy studies showed the silver nanoparticles synthesized in room temperature have the diameters in the range of 5–25 nm. The proposed synthesis method is green and low cost, and the synthesized silver nanoparticles have potential bioanalytical applications.