Bioactive polypeptide hydrogels modified with RGD and N-cadherin mimetic peptide promote chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Cell-material and cell-cell interactions represent two crucial aspects of the regulation of cell behavior. In the present study, poly(L-glutamic acid)(PLG) hydrogels were prepared by catalyst-free click crosslinking via a strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition(SPAAC) reaction between azido-grafted PLG(PLG-N_3) and azadibenzocyclooctyne-grafted PLG(PLG-ADIBO).The bioactive peptides c(RGDfK) and N-cadherin mimetic peptide(N-Cad) were both conjugated to the PLG hydrogel(denoted PLG+RGD/N-Cad) in order to regulate cell-material and cell-cell interactions. Gelation time and storage modulus of the hydrogels were tunable through variations in the concentration of polypeptide precursors. The hydrogels degraded gradually in the presence of proteinases. The viability of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs) was maintained when cultured with extracts of the hydrogels or encapsulated within the hydrogels. Degradation was observed within 10 weeks following the subcutaneous injection of hydrogel solution in rats, displaying excellent histocompatibility in vivo. The introduction of RGD into the PLG hydrogel promoted the adhesion of BMSCs onto the hydrogels. Moreover, when encapsulated within the PLG+RGD/NCad hydrogel, BMSCs secreted cartilage-specific matrix, in addition to chondrogenic gene and protein expression being significantly enhanced in comparison with BMSCs encapsulated in hydrogels without N-Cad modification. These findings suggest that these biodegradable, bioactive polypeptide hydrogels have great potential for use in 3D cell culture and in cartilage tissue engineering.     

Propagation of the degree of cross-polarization of stochastic electromagnetic pulsed beams in free space

The concept of the degree of cross-polarization is extended from stochastic electromagnetic stationary beams to stochastic electromagnetic pulsed beams, and the propagation properties of the degree of cross-polarization of stochastic spatially and spectrally partially coherent electromagnetic pulsed beams is studied. The influence of pulse duration and temporal coherence length on the degree of cross-polarization P is emphasized. It is shown that P exhibits an oscillatory behavior in free-space propagation. An increase in the pulse duration or a decrease in the temporal coherence length can weaken the oscillation of P. The validity of the results is interpreted physically.     

Scattering-induced changes in the temporal coherence length and the pulse duration of a partially coherent plane-wave pulse

The scattering of a partially coherent plane-wave pulse on a Gaussian-correlated, quasi-homogeneous random medium is investigated. The analytical expressions for the temporal coherence length and the pulse duration of the scattered field are derived. We demonstrate that the scattering-induced changes in the temporal coherence length and the pulse duration may be used to determine the correlation function of the scattering potential of the medium.     

A Facile and Universal Top‐Down Method for Preparation of Monodisperse Transition‐Metal Dichalcogenide Nanodots

Despite unique properties of layered transition‐metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets, there is still lack of a facile and general strategy for the preparation of TMD nanodots (NDs). Reported herein is the preparation of a series of TMD NDs, including TMD quantum dots (e.g. MoS₂, WS₂, ReS₂, TaS₂, MoSe₂ and WSe₂) and NbSe₂ NDs, from their bulk crystals by using a combination of grinding and sonication techniques. These NDs could be easily separated from the N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone when post‐treated with n‐hexane and then chloroform. All the TMD NDs with sizes of less than 10 nm show a narrow size distribution with high dispersity in solution. As a proof‐of‐concept application, memory devices using TMD NDs, for example, MoSe₂, WS₂, or NbSe₂, mixed with polyvinylpyrrolidone as active layers, have been fabricated, which exhibit a nonvolatile write‐once‐read‐many behavior. These high‐quality TMD NDs should have various applications in optoelectronics, solar cells, catalysis, and biomedicine.     

Anion/cation induced optical switches based on luminescent lanthanide (Tb3+ and Eu3+) hydrogels

Two novel silica based lanthanide complexes (Tb(a)(2) and Eu(a)(2)) were encapsulated into poly(acrylic acid) host. Both Tb(III) and Eu(III) containing hydrogels have typical and easily distinguished narrow line emissions occurring in the green and red region respectively. Particularly, the excitation wavelength for Eu complex can be extended into nearly visible light range (λ(ex) = 395 nm). Interestingly, we discover that these target materials not only exhibit selective emission response towards HSO(4)(-) (detection limit 10(-5) M) compared with CH(3)COO(-), F(-), Cl(-), Br(-) and I(-) but also give unique quenching to Cu(2+) (detection limit 10(-5) M) (tested cations: Cu(2+), Pd(2+), Cd(2+), Co(2+) and Mn(2+)). More importantly, this kind of materials can be recycled more than 10 times.     

Terbium hybrid particles with spherical shape as luminescent probe for detection of Cu2+ and Fe3+ in water

A novel green emissive terbium inorganic-polymeric hybrid particle was designed and this material could detect cations in water. Polyvinyl alcohol as an amphiphilic surfactant rendered the powders dispersible in water with regular round shape (10-20 μm). Interestingly, we noticed that not only Cu(2+) (detection limit 10(-4)M) but also Fe(3+) (detection limit 10(-4) M) can give rise to emission quenching to this target material in comparison with K(+), Na(+), Fe(2+), Mn(2+), Pd(2+), Cd(2+) and Co(2+) (10(-3) mol L(-1)). We regarded that the coordination interactions between ligand and metal ions resulted in these quenching processes. Additionally, it was found that the sensing material can be repeatedly used at least 5 cycles. More importantly, this novel material demonstrated higher thermal-stability in aqueous media than pure silica hybrid material.     

Optical and electrochemical responses of an anthrax biomarker based on single-walled carbon nanotubes covalently loaded with terbium complexes

An effective single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) covalently loaded with unsaturated terbium emissive material was designed for specific and rapid (2-3 s) detection of calcium dipicolinate (CaDPA) (detection limit 1 μM). The nanoprobe was successfully assembled onto electrodes and its sensing abilities were investigated through electrochemical measurement. Cyclic voltammetry curves were selectively responsive to calcium dipicolinate compared with benzoic acid, o-phthalic acid and m-phthalic acid. This novel material provides dual opto-electrochemical recognition of the anthrax biomarker CaDPA.     

不确定性投资决策中的期权博弈分析

本文应用期权博弈理论方法分析了存在竞争条件下的不确定性投资决策问题.建立了一个对称双寡头模型,用实物期权方法计算了模型中的领先者、跟随者和同时投资者的价值函数和投资临界点.     

Stochastic electromagnetic plane-wave pulse with non-uniform correlation distribution

Stochastic electromagnetic plane-wave (SEPW) pulse with non-uniform correlation distribution is introduced. The realizability condition for such pulse is derived. It is found that the evolution properties of the intensity and the degree of polarization of an SEPW pulse with non-uniform correlation distribution in dispersive media are much different from those of an SEPW pulse with uniform correlation distribution.