Carbon-free nanoporous gold based membrane electrocatalysts for fuel cells

Nanoporous gold (NPG) membranes made by dealloying consist of a bicontinuous network of Au ligaments and open pore channels, which have gained considerable attention as a platform for the design of carbon-free electrodes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Benefiting from a unique combination of high electronic conductivity, high surface area, and modifiable surface chemistry, these self-supporting membrane type electrodes allow integration of various structural functions required for specific electrode reactions and simultaneously facilitate the entire fuel cell kinetic process. In this review, we summarize the major research progresses in this area, with an emphasis on how to customize the surface structures of these three-dimensional electrocatalysts for desired fuel molecule oxidation and oxidant reduction. We will also discuss these designed structural characteristics that can be readily accommodated in membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), thus effectively bridging the technological gap between electrocatalysts’ intrinsic activities and their actual performances in fuel cells.     

Patterning the neuronal cells via inkjet printing of self-assembled peptides on silk scaffolds

The patterning of neuronal cells and guiding neurite growth are important for neuron tissue engineering and cell-based biosensors. In this paper, inkjet printing has been employed to pattern self-assembled I₃QGK peptide nanofibers on silk substrates for guiding the growth of neuron-like PC12 cells. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) confirmed the dynamic self-assembly of I₃QGK into nanofiber structures. The printed self-assembled peptide strongly adheres to regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) substrates through charge-charge interactions. It was observed that in the absence of I₃QGK, PC12 cells exhibited poor attachment to RSF films, while for RSF surfaces coated or printed with peptide nanofibers, cellular attachment was significantly improved in terms of both cell density and morphology. AFM results revealed that peptide nanofibers can promote the generation of axons and terminal buttons of PC12 cells, indicating that I₃QGK nanofibers not only promote cellular attachment but also facilitate differentiation into neuronal phenotypes. Inkjet printing allows complex patterning of peptide nanofibers onto RSF substrates, which enabled us to engineer cell alignment and provide an opportunity to direct axonal development in vitro. The live/dead assay showed that printed I₃QGK patterns exhibit no cytotoxicity to PC12 cells demonstrating potential for future nerve tissue engineering applications.     

基于改进离散粒子群算法构建制造单元

在未知最佳分群单元数的情况下,考虑了零件多种可选工艺路径和零件工艺顺序,建立基于最小化零件跨单元移动次数的数学模型.通过引入自适应变异因子,提出一种改进的离散粒子群优化算法能动态地确定分群单元数,极大地减少了算法陷入局部最优解的可能.通过对文献中不同规模的单元构建问题进行求解,结果证明了该方法有效,并且无需预先设定分群单元数即可获得与文献中相同甚至更好的结果.     

EGF-induced programmed cell death of human mammary carcinoma MDA-MB-468 cells is preceded by activation of AP-1

MDA-MB-468 is a human mammary adenocarcinoma cell line that overexpresses the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor and undergoes programmed cell death (apoptosis) in response to EGF treatment. Programmed cell death was shown to be greatly enhanced when cells were growth-arrested prior to EGF treatment. Apoptosis was characterized by an initial rounding up and detachment of the cells from their substrate starting about 12 h after EGF treatment, followed by chromatin condensation, nuclear fragmentation and oligonucleosomal fragmentation of the DNA at about 24 to 48 h. Cell death was dependent on de novo protein synthesis. We found a rapid induction of c-fos, c-jun and junB at the mRNA level after about 30 min of EGF treatment and a more delayed upregulation of fosB and fra-1. The junD gene was expressed in the absence of EGF, and it was moderately induced within 30 min of growth factor addition. The increase of the different fos and jun mRNAs were paralleled by an increase of activator protein-1 (AP-1) DNA binding activity. A characterization of the AP-1 complex revealed similar levels of several Fos and Jun proteins. Based on the kinetics of AP-1 accumulation and cell death, it seems likely that AP-1 contributes to the apoptotic cell death of EGF receptor-overexpressing MDA-MB-468 cells. Received 21 July 1997; received after revision 6 November 1997; accepted 6 November 1997     

红豆杉离体培养染色体数变异与细胞多核现象

分别对在固体培养基上静止培养和在摇瓶、１０Ｌ及１００Ｌ生物反应器内悬浮培养的红豆杉茎尖和根尖离体细胞进行染色体数目观察,发现其染色体数目主要类型和亲本株相同,为２ｎ＝２４,且存在较大比例的染色体数目变异的细胞．还发现,离体培养红豆杉细胞有丝分裂间期存在多核现象．认为染色体数目的变异可能是红豆杉离体培养细胞紫杉醇产量不稳定的主要原因．     

双重优化对基于P3HT:PCBM有机太阳能电池效率的提高

有效提高太阳能电池对光的吸收效率是提高太阳能电池能量转换效率的重要因素.在以poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT)为电子给体材料,[6,6]-phenyl C60-butyric acid methyl eater(PCBM)为电子受体材料的有机太阳能电池中,Poly-(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)(PEDOT:PSS)与活性层之间插入不同厚度的P3HT层,并在P3HT层最佳厚度的基础上,进一步在活性层中掺杂不同比例的Ag纳米粒子,双重优化了电池器件.当插入45 nm的P3HT层及掺杂质量比为5%的Ag纳米粒子时活性层薄膜的形貌及内部结构得到了改善,电池对光的吸收,及外量子效率得到了显著地提高,并出现红移现象.在25°C,光强为100 mW/cm2的条件下测量其短路电流密度JSC为11.21 mA/cm2,能量转化效率PCE为3.79%.     

印楝细胞培养物控制黄粉虫幼虫的研究

为了探究印楝细胞培养物控制害虫的效果,本文通过诱导幼叶、继代培养获得印楝的松散型愈伤组织,再经振荡培养获得悬浮细胞培养物;然后采用二氯甲烷溶剂浸提愈伤组织、悬浮培养物及悬浮培养细胞,制备相应的浸提液;用二氯甲烷分别将这些浸提液稀释成含0.003%印楝素A的控虫工作液,用其分别处理黄粉虫幼虫,在12d内,考察其控虫效果.结果表明:3种浸提液的致死效应明显高于阴性对照,其中,第9天的最大致死率达到20%,但它们要明显低于0.003%印楝素乳油农药的处理;3种浸提液对幼虫的虫体质量、拒食和趋避作用等方面效果较好,均达到印楝乳油杀虫剂的控虫水平.印楝细胞培养物经一步浸提后,直接用于控虫制剂的生产,可以节约分离、提纯印楝素等生产性成本.     

氯化1-辛基-3-甲基咪唑对EMT6细胞的毒性及其DNA损伤作用

研究了氯化1-辛基-3-甲基咪唑([C8mim][Cl])对EMT6细胞的毒性大小及其可能的遗传机制.不同浓度(0.06、0.25、1.00mmol·L-1)的[C8mim][Cl]对EMT6细胞染毒12h,WST-1比色法检测了细胞活力,ELISA方法检测了Bcl-2蛋白的表达,Hoechst 33342染色检测了细胞核形态的变化,单细胞凝胶电泳(SCGE)检测了细胞DNA的损伤,流式细胞仪检测了细胞周期和细胞DNA的含量.结果显示,经[C8mim][Cl]染毒后,EMT6细胞活力下降,并且呈剂量依赖关系.当[C8mim][Cl]浓度高于0.25mmol·L-1时,与对照相比,差异显著.[C8mim][Cl]染毒使Bcl-2蛋白表达下调,引起了细胞核形态改变,造成了DNA的断裂损伤和含量下降,诱导了细胞凋亡.从而可以得出结论,DNA损伤参与了[C8mim][Cl]诱导的细胞凋亡.     

根瘤菌87-1-1诱导刺槐根表皮传递细胞特异性表达的cDNA文库构建及序列分析

探寻根瘤菌诱导刺槐后根表皮细胞分化成传递细胞的特异性表达基因及其分子机制.采用抑制差减杂交(suppression subtraction hybridization,SSH)技术构建刺槐根系被接种根瘤菌和未被接种根瘤菌二者间的正反两个c DNA文库.各挑选正反文库中500个克隆进行测序,在Blastn、Blastp、Swiss Prot、KEGG、COG、Interpro以及Gene ontology(GO)数据库中进行比对注释.结合生理过程对ESTs进行分析,共获得725条非冗余序列(uni EST),正反向文库分别为385条和340条,其中包括674个单一序列(singlets),51个拼接序列(contigs).在Nt库比对中有674条uni ESTs与已知基因匹配,占比93%;在Nr库比对中有648条序列有匹配蛋白,占比89%.有正向文库213个uni ESTs和反向文库156个uni ESTs能进行Geney ontology(GO)功能注释,在细胞组分被注释了270次,分子功能被注释了448次,生物过程被注释了484次.uni ESTs的功能分析显示,正向文库中多与细胞翻译后修饰、转录因子、细胞信号通路、细胞壁/细胞膜/内膜系统以及细胞骨架相关蛋白有关,部分是结瘤相关基因.而反向文库中与细胞生长、代谢物形成的基因相关较多,这与根瘤菌处理刺槐后的生理过程一致.在根瘤菌诱导的刺槐根组织文库中发现特异性基因如MYB类转录因子、囊泡相关膜蛋白等与传递细胞相关的基因,结果有助于进一步研究此类传递细胞的形成分化机制.     

New strategies for the repair of spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury （SCI） leads to several neu- rologic damages to patients with sensory and motor func- tion loss. Although some inspiring results were reported in animal, even in non-human primate models, the clinical translation of these research achievements barely move forward for the SCI patients. This review mainly focused on the pathogenesis of the primary and secondary injury, the clinical therapies and the new technologies in spinal cord injury. Moreover, the key scientific issues on this field were discussed in the review. Finally, some suggestions were proposed for the scientific and clinical researches.