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Yan-Bin Liu,1 Li-Juan Zuo,2 Ya-Chao Liu,1 Yan-Ping Li,1 Yun-Chao Xin,1 Hong-Yan Zhang,3 Li-Yuan Hou4 1Department of ENT & HN Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei, 075000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Endocrine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei, 075000, People’s Republic of China; 3Departmentof Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei, 075000, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei, 075000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yan-Bin Liu, Department of ENT & HN Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, No. 12, Changqing Street, Qiaoxi District, Zhangjiakou, Hebei, 075000, People’s Republic of China, Email liuyanbin19830524@163.comObjective: This study aimed to design a standard method of psychological intervention and evaluate the effect of such psychological intervention against the psychological distress of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients in the treatment with radioactive iodine.Methods: The enrolled patients were randomly divided into the intervention group and the control group. Both the patients in the 2 groups received the routine nursing care, while the patients in the intervention group also received the additional standard psychological interventions. The questionnaires including patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), generalized anxiety disorder 7-item (GAD-7), cancer fatigue scale (CFS) and positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) were used to assess psychological status. These questionnaires were performed at week 0 (T0), week 8 (T1, immediately after the last time of intervention) and week 24 (T2, 16 weeks after the intervention).Results: PHQ-9, GAD-7, CFS and Negative Affect (NA) scores measured at T1 and T2 in the intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.001). And intervention group also had higher positive affect (PA) scores at T1 and T2 (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the changes of PHQ-9, GAD-7, CFS, PA and NA scores from T0 to T1 and T0 to T2 were more evident in the intervention group than in the control group.Conclusion: Psychological intervention could significantly improve psychological distress of DTC patients in the treatment with radioactive iodine.Keywords: differentiated thyroid cancer, radioactive iodine, psychological intervention, psychological distress, mood

A dual-channel “on–off–on” fluorescent carbon dot was developed for specific detection of Fe3+ and Hg2+, which can be distinguished by F− and Al3+. The probe was practically applied in quantification of Fe3+ and Hg2+ in livestock feed and wastewater.

Blue-fluorescent blood-CDs were synthesized through a one-pot hydrothermal method using a mixture of chicken blood and trisodium citrate and then explored as a fluorescent probe for detecting Fe

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory response that increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. An in-depth study of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is critical for the treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The development of atherosclerosis involves many cells, such as endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, macrophages, and others. The considerable effects of macrophages in atherosclerosis are inextricably linked to macrophage polarization and the resulting phenotype. Moreover, the significant impact of macrophages on atherosclerosis depend not only on the function of the different macrophage phenotypes but also on the relative ratio of different phenotypes in the plaque. Research on atherosclerosis therapy indicates that the reduced plaque size and enhanced stability are partly due to modulating macrophage polarization. Therefore, regulating macrophage polarization and changing the proportion of macrophage phenotypes in plaques is a new therapeutic approach for atherosclerosis. This review provides a new perspective for atherosclerosis therapy by summarizing the relationship between macrophage polarization and atherosclerosis, as well as treatment targeting macrophage polarization.

A novel dual-emissive Eu

Tetracyclines (TCs), a type of antibiotics, are widely used in human therapy and animal husbandry. Public concerns about tetracyclines residues have been raised due to their negative impact on the environment and food, causing bacterias drug resistance and human health concerns. In this work, a luminescent europium MOF (EuUCBA) is constructed via post-synthetic attachment of Eu

C40H28N4O10Co, monoclinic, C2/c (no. 15), a = 29.686(3) Å, b = 6.2315(4) Å, c = 21.0994(15) Å, β = 114.727(8)°, V = 3545.3(5) Å3, Z = 4, R gt (F) = 0.0386, wR ref (F 2) = 0.0897, T = 293(2) K. CCDC no.: 2054400

Sulfur dioxide derivatives are intimately involved in some physiological processes in organisms, and high levels of these substances can cause many diseases. Herein, we rationally prepared a mitochondrion-targeting, in situ-activatable near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe (DCQN) by coupling 2-(3,5,5-trimethylcyclohex-2-enylidene)malononitrile with 3-quinolinium carboxaldehyde. DCQN displayed a NIR fluorescence turn-on signal to indicate the presence of HSO3-, along with a considerable hyperchromic shift from light yellow to purple via a 1,4-nucleophilic addition reaction. We were able to use DCQN to instantaneously and quantitatively determine the concentration of HSO3- with high specificity, a low detection limit (24 nM), a large Stokes shift (∼110 nm), and a high contrast ratio. Moreover, DCQN displayed good mitochondrion-targeting abilities and was in situ-activated by HSO3- to produce NIR fluorescence for imaging HSO3- in the mitochondria of live breast cancer cells. Furthermore, DCQN was used to monitor HSO3- in zebrafish with a high contrast ratio.

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) reduces the development of atherosclerosis by regulating tissue factor (TF) mediated coagulation pathway. In this review, we focus on recent findings on the inhibitory effects of TFPI on endothelial cell activation, vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and migration, inflammatory cell recruitment and extracellular matrix which are associated with the development of atherosclerosis. Meanwhile, we are also concerned about the impact of TFPI levels and genetic polymorphisms on clinical atherogenesis. This article aims to explain the mechanism in inhibiting the development of atherosclerosis and clinical effects of TFPI, and provide new ideas for the clinical researches and mechanism studies of atherothrombosis.

Endothelial cells are the main components of the heart, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels, which play an important role in regulating the physiological functions of the cardiovascular system. Endothelial dysfunction is involved in a variety of acute and chronic cardiovascular diseases. As a special type of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), endothelium to mesenchymal transition (EndMT) regulates the transformation of endothelial cells into mesenchymal cells accompanied by changes in the expression of various transcription factors and cytokines, which is closely related to vascular endothelial injury, vascular remodeling, myocardial fibrosis and valvar disease. Endothelial cells undergoing EndMT lose their endothelial characteristics and undergo a transition toward a more mesenchymal-like phenotype. However, the molecular mechanism of EndMT remains unclear. EndMT, as a type of endothelial dysfunction, can cause vascular remodeling which is a major determinant of atherosclerotic luminal area. Therefore, exploring the important signaling pathways in the process of EndMT may provide novel therapeutic strategies for treating atherosclerotic diseases.

An europium functionalized metal-organic fluorescent probe, Eu3+@UiO-66-FDC was constructed by post-synthetic modification through coordination interactions. Eu3+@UiO-66-FDC displayed high selectivity and sensitivity toward Tryptophan (Trp) among all the 20 natural amino acids and other general compounds in food and biological samples, with a wide linear concentration range (0–1000 μM), low detection limit (0.29 μM), and a rapid response (

A notable characteristic of PbTaSe$_2$, a prototypical noncentrosymmetric (NCS) superconductor, is that its superconductivity can be modulated through a structural transition under hydrostatic pressure [Phys. Rev. B 95, 224508 (2017)]. Here we report on simultaneous pressure-sensitive point-contact Andreev reflection (PCAR) spectroscopy and bulk resistance measurements on PbTaSe$_2$, to elucidate the nature of the surface and bulk superconductivity and their evolution with hydrostatic pressure. It is found that in high pressure region the superconducting gap opening temperature $T_c^A$ is significantly lower that the bulk resistive transition temperature $T_c^R$, revealing a clear experimental signature of surface-bulk separation associated with enhanced antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling (ASOC). The PCAR spectra, reflecting the superconducting surface state, are analyzed with the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk theory, yielding an isotropic $s$-wave full BCS-gap in the strong coupling regime. Analysis based on a modified McMillan formula indicates a sizable coupling strength contributed from ASOC for the superconducting surface state. These results suggest the coexistence of full gap $s$-wave superconductivity and topological surface states in PbTaSe$_2$, indicating that this NSC with significantly enhanced ASOC may offer a solid platform to investigate the topological aspect in the superconducting condensate.

Thiabendazole (TBZ), has been extensively employed as a pesticide and/or a fungicide in agriculture, while its residues would threaten to public health and safety. Simple, rapid and sensitive probes for detection of TBZ in real food samples is significantly desirable. In present work, a highly selective and sensitive luminescent sensor for monitoring TBZ in oranges has been constructed based on a Tb

In this work, a metal-organic framework UiO-66-(COOH)

Enrofloxacin is a broad spectrum antibacterial agent with an excellent killing effect against bacteria, commonly infecting the respiratory and intestinal tracts of livestock and poultry. However, its bitter taste and significant irritation to the gastrointestinal tract often lead to a failure of the commonly used current drug delivery system to achieve the desired therapeutic effect due to inefficient release of drugs. In the present study, pH-responsive enrofloxacin nanoparticles (ENR-NPs) for treating bacterial infections were fabricated through a facile one-pot approach to achieve the amphiphilic functionalization of chitosan (CS) through acid-labile Schiff-base with cinnamaldehyde and drug encapsulation. The structure and morphology of ENR-NPs were characterized by FTIR, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The ENR-NPs were uniform in size and full in shape with an average particle size of 135 nm. The encapsulation rate (76.61%) and drug loading capacity (3.3%) were measured by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The in vitro experiments elucidated that the release rate of enrofloxacin from ENR-NPs was significantly faster at pH 5.0 than at pH 7.4 due to the cleavage of the acid-sensitive Schiff-base bond. Further, the antimicrobial studies revealed that the inhibitory effects were improved with the increase of acidity of the culture medium. Therefore, ENR-NPs provide a potential application of enrofloxacin for bacterial-response drug delivery.

A novel fluorescent chemodosimeter for thiophenols has been readily developed from a red emitting Indole-BODIPY . The chemodosimeter displays a significant fluorescence turn-on response towards thiophenols based on nucleophilic substitution reaction. A linear relationship was obtained between the fluorescence intensity and the concentrations of thiophenols ranging from 0 to 1.8 μM. The chemodosimeter can determine thiophenols (4-fluorothiophenol, 4-methoxybenzenethiol, p -toluenethiol) with high selectivity, fast response (within 8 min) and extremely low limit of detection (9.8 nM). The chemodosimeter was successfully used to determine the level of thiophenol (PhSH) in industrial wastewater and Bohai Sea water with good recoveries. Furthermore, the chemodosimeter was employed to image thiophenols in cancer cells with good performance and low cytotoxicity. Therefore, this chemodosimeter has great potential application in environment.

Thiabendazole (TBZ), has been extensively employed as a pesticide and/or a fungicide in agriculture, while its residues would threaten to public health and safety. Simple, rapid and sensitive probes for detection of TBZ in real food samples is significantly desirable. In present work, a highly selective and sensitive luminescent sensor for monitoring TBZ in oranges has been constructed based on a Tb3+-functionalized Zr-MOF (Tb3+@1). Tb3+@1 exhibited many attractive sensing properties toward TBZ, including broad linear range (0–80 μM), high selectivity, low LOD (0.271 μM) and rapid response time (less than1 min). Moreover, the probe was employed to determine TBZ in real orange samples, in which good recoveries from 98.41 to 104.48% were obtained. It only takes 35 min for the whole process of detection TBZ in real orange samples combined with QuEChERS method. Therefore, this work provided a reliable and rapid method for monitoring the TBZ in real orange samples.

Biogenic primary diamines are a family of critical food spoilage biomarkers. To maintain food safety, it is necessary to implement highly efficient detection methods to monitor the levels of biogenic primary diamines in edible products. In this study, we report a 7-diethylaminocoumarin derivative, CMA-Cl, as a colorimetric and fluorescence lighting-up probe for detecting critical biogenic primary diamines including cadaverine and putrescine. The CMA-Cl probe underwent a nucleophilic substitution and condensation reaction with biogenic primary diamines, generating highly emissive compounds, which displayed strong emission at 475 nm with a fluorescence quantum yield of 36.4%. The CMA-Cl probe showed colorimetric and fluorescence dual-response towards biogenic primary amines with a significant linear relationship, good selectivity, and low limit of detection (209 nM). The probe demonstrated a good recovery (97–122%) for the determination of a typical biogenic primary diamine cadaverine during the spoilage of fish. Furthermore, CMA-Cl-loaded paper was fabricated for the real-time visual detection of a typical biogenic primary diamine cadaverine in fish samples based on distinct changes in color and fluorescence.

In this work, a metal−organic framework UiO-66-(COOH)2 has been synthesized and is further functionalized with Tb3+ through coordination interactions. The functionalized MOF, denoted as Tb3+@UiO-66-(COOH)2, is fully characterized and further developed as an excellent fluorescent probe to monitor Cu2+ ions in aqueous media by fluorescence quenching effect. Tb3+@UiO-66-(COOH)2 exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity, broad linear concentration range (0–200 μM), low detection limits (0.23 μM), fast response speed (within 1 min), as well as in situ naked eye observation under UV light for sensing Cu2+ ion. Furthermore, this probe was successfully employed to detect Cu2+ ion in real water with good recovery. Hence, this work developed a very excellent fluorescent sensor with high potential practical applications for detection of Cu2+ ion in environmental water samples.

The screening of highly toxic chemical vapor is critical for environmental monitoring and human health maintenance. Herein, we reported a chemosensor (AC-HPD) for rapid and specific detection of highly toxic oxalyl chloride vapor, which adopted anthracene carboxyimide as a fluorophore and 3-aminopropanol as the reaction site. Upon coupling of oxalyl chloride with NH and OH groups, AC-HPD exhibited remarkable colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescence dual-mode responses towards oxalyl chloride via the intramolecular charge transfer effect. AC-HPD could determine oxalyl chloride with features of rapid response, excellent specificity, low detection limit (95 nM), as well as obvious color and fluorescence change. Furthermore, AC-HPD-embedded test strip was successfully fabricated and used as a flexible sensing device for rapid, sensitive and visible monitoring oxalyl chloride vapor.

Organophosphorus compounds (OPs) as chemical warfare agents (CWAs) pose a great threat to human health. For the issue of global security, it is highly demanded to establish fast and efficient detection methods for monitoring CWAs. This work presented a benzothiazole-based fluorescent chemodosimeter (BT-OH) for the detection of diethylchlorophosphate (DCP) via “ESIPT-OFF” mechanism, in which the phenyl hydroxyl group could efficiently be phosphated by DCP and turn to phosphorester, thus bringing about obvious fluorescence lighting-up. BT-OH shows rapid response (within 6 s) towards DCP with good linearity and specificity, as well as low detection limit (0.186 μM). Furthermore, a polystyrene-based testing membrane immobilized with BT-OH was prepared for real-time detection of DCP vapor with good performance. Therefore, this work provides a new manner for the detection of DCP by using a fluorescent chemodosimeter with the advantages of high sensitivity and selectivity, ultra-fast detection, easy-to-manipulate, as well as in situ naked eye observation.

Once the transmission grid of the external UHVDC transmission system has a blocking fault, it will cause high-frequency problems. The adjustment capacity of the system alone often cannot meet the requirements, and the generators need to be tripped in the second defense line of the grid. However, the current tripping method of the high-frequency second line of defense is not systematic. This paper first proposes a simple and practical frequency safety constraint condition. When the system meets the constraint condition, the maximum frequency deviation under a given power disturbance will remain within the set limit. At the same time, based on this constraint condition, a generator tripping optimization model of the high-frequency second line of defense is proposed. The simulation results prove that the tripping solution obtained by solving the model can make the highest frequency and steady state frequency of the system meet the setting requirements, meanwhile, it can reduce the tripping amount and avoid excessive generator tripping.

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21, a member of the family of FGFs, exhibits protective effects against myocardial ischemia and ischemia/reperfusion injury; it is also an enhancer of autophagy. However, the mechanisms underlying the protective role of FGF-21 against cardiomyocyte hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury remain unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of FGF-21 on H9c2 cardiomyocyte injury induced by H/R and the mechanism associated with changes in autophagy. Cultured H9c2 cardiomyocytes subjected to hypoxia were treated with a vehicle or FGF-21 during reoxygenation. The viability of H9c2 rat cardiomyocytes was measured using Cell Counting Kit-8 and trypan blue exclusion assays. The contents of creatine kinase (CK) and creatine kinase isoenzymes (CK-MB), cardiac troponin I (cTnT), cardiac troponin T (cTnI) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in culture medium were detected with a CK, CK-MB, cTnT, cTnI and LDH assay kits. The protein levels were examined by western blot analysis. Autophagic flux was detected by Ad-mCherry-GFP-LC3B autophagy fluorescent adenovirus reagent. The results indicated that FGF-21 alleviated H/R-induced H9c2 myocardial cell injury and enhanced autophagic flux during H/R, and that this effect was antagonized by co-treatment with 3-methyladenine, an autophagy inhibitor. Furthermore, FGF-21 increased the expression levels of Beclin-1 and Vps34 proteins, but not of mechanistic target of rapamycin. These data indicate that FGF-21 treatment limited H/R injury in H9c2 cardiomyocytes by promoting autophagic flux through upregulation of the expression levels of Beclin-1 and Vps34 proteins.

Two-phase I/O is a well-known strategy for implementing collective MPI-IO functions. It redistributes I/O requests among the calling processes into a form that minimizes the file access costs. As modern parallel computers continue to grow into the exascale era, the communication cost of such request redistribution can quickly overwhelm collective I/O performance. This effect has been observed from parallel jobs that run on multiple compute nodes with a high count of MPI processes on each node. To reduce the communication cost, we present a new design for collective I/O by adding an extra communication layer that performs request aggregation among processes within the same compute nodes. This approach can significantly reduce inter-node communication congestion when redistributing the I/O requests. We evaluate the performance and compare with the original two-phase I/O on a Cray XC40 parallel computer with Intel KNL processors. Using I/O patterns from two large-scale production applications and an I/O benchmark, we show the performance improvement of up to 29 times when running 16384 MPI processes on 256 compute nodes., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures

Mutagenic formaldehyde (FA) is usually abused to preserve seafood, thus it is very necessary to detect harmful formaldehyde in seafood with a simple and effective method. In this work, we facilely prepared a new fluorescent probe RBNA, which showed a remarkable fluorescence lighting-up response towards FA with high sensitivity and selectivity, fast response (within 5 min) and a low detection limit (0.21 μM). The fluorescence intensity is linearly related to the concentration of FA ranging from 0 to 120 μM (R2 = 0.9952), which enables it to quantitatively determine the concentration of FA. This probe was successfully used to detect FA in seafood samples with good recoveries (80–119%). Furthermore, the probe has been utilized to image FA in living cells and zebrafish with good performance. Therefore, this probe has a good capability for rapid and sensitive determination of FA in seafood.

We developed a simple and efficient method for fabricating a taste-masked oral drug delivery system (DDS) that regulates the release of unpleasant drug taste via the change in pH value in the physiological environment of the alimentary canal. In this drug delivery system, a pH-sensitive metal–organic coordination polymer (CP), Fe-4,4′-bipyridine (Fe-bipy) complex, works as a taste-masker. The pH-sensitive Fe-bipy was grafted onto the mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) containing the model bitter drug mequindox (MEQ) in its mesopores through metal–organic coordination cross-linking, resulting in the CP-coated nanodrug MSN-NH2-MEQ@Fe-bipy. In artificial saliva (pH 6.6), Fe-4,4′-bipyridine CPs effectively prevent the leaking of the loaded guest molecule MEQ. On the other hand, in artificial gastric fluid (pH 1.0), the coordination bonds of the Fe-4,4′-bipyridine complex were broken, leading to the release of MEQ molecules from MSN-NH2-MEQ@Fe-bipy. The results indicate that the simple and efficient preparation method for taste-masked MSN-NH2-MEQ@Fe-bipy could provide new insights into taste-masking technology by using pH-responsive smart nanomaterials.

Treatment of the racemic isomer (ΔΔ/ΛΛ) of the cationic CoIII3 trinuclear complex that includes 2-aminoethanethiolate (aet), ΔΔ/ΛΛ-[Co3(aet)6]3+, with the ΔLLLΔLLL isomer of the anionic AgI3MIII2 pentanuclear complex that includes l-cysteinate (l-cys), ΔLLLΔLLL-[Ag3M2(l-cys)6]3− (M = Co, Rh), in water produced a 1:1 complex salt of [Co3(aet)6][Ag3M2(l-cys)6] in which only the ΔΔ isomer of [Co3(aet)6]3+ was incorporated. A similar treatment with the analogous AuI3MIII2 complex, ΔLLLΔLLL-[Au3M2(l-cys)6]3−, also produced the 1:1 complex salt, but it incorporated both the ΔΔ and ΛΛ isomers of [Co3(aet)6]3+.

The abuse of bisulfite and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) in food can cause serious damage to humans, hence, it is necessary to determine bisulfite and BPO in food. In this paper, we presented a fluorescence chemosensor (PTCA) for discriminative detection of bisulfite and BPO with differential fluorescence based on different chemical reactions. PTCA exhibited blue fluorescence turn-on response towards bisulfite with good selectivity, fast response (

Polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel has compatibility and biomechanical properties of human articular cartilage similar and good biological. The implantation in the human body can replace part of articular cartilage, which plays the role of bearing and alleviate the impact force. It has the prospect of clinical application. This paper introduces the research progress of polyvinyl alcohol hydro-gel materials. And compared with the characteristics of articular cartilage, clarify the possibility of repair of articular cartilage defects of the materials.

Non-centrosymmetric superconductors have received considerable attention because of their possible possession of unconventional spin-triplet pairing.For this reason,the non-centrosymmetric Re3W with α -Mn structure has been widely concerned.However,almost all the previous studies support that the non-centrosymmetric phase of Re3W is a conventional weak-coupling s-wave superconductor.Later on,it is proved that Re3W has two different superconducting phases,one is the non-centrosymmetric phase and the other has a centrosymmetric hexagonal structure.Thus,a comparative study of these two superconducting phases could provide more information about the effect of non-centrosymmetric structure on the pairing symmetry of Re3W.In this paper,point-contact Andreev reflection experiments are carried out on Re3W/Au and the data can be well fitted by isotropic s-wave Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk (BTK) theory.In combination with our previous researches,we find that both centrosymmetric and non-centrosymmetric phases have similar temperature dependence of superconducting gap (△) with almost the same gap ratio of △/Tc.These results present strong evidence that both phases of Re3W are weak coupling Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductors.Another interesting finding is that both phases of Re3W could easily form an ideal point-contact junction (i.e.,inelastic scatterings at the interface can be ignored) with a normal metal tip.This is manifested as an extremely small broadening factor (Γ) used in the fitting process,and indicates a clean (and possibly transparent) interface.Keeping this in mind,we can assume that the effective barrier (Z) at the interface mainly comes from the mismatch between the Fermi velocity of the superconductor and that of the normal metal,which can be estimated from the formula Z2=(1-r)2/4r,where r is the ratio between those two Fermi velocities.From this formula,we can obtain the Fermi velocity of Re3W by using the known value of Au's Fermi velocity and the fitting parameter Z for the Re3W/Au point contacts.It is interesting to find that the chemical property of Re3W is stable in the atmospheric environment.Even if the samples are exposed to the atmospheric environment for nearly six months,the inelastic scatterings are still very weak,and the superconducting properties are unchanged.Such an exceptional performance of Re3W can be utilized to study the physical properties of its counter electrode in a point contact.As an attempt,we build a point contact between Re3W and a ferromagnetic Ni tip,and measure its Andreev reflection spectra which are then fitted with a modified BTK model by considering spin polarization.The determined spin polarization of Ni is in good agreement with previously reported result. Moreover,using the Fermi velocities of Re3W and Ni,we can calculate the effective barrier to be around 0.3 in the Re3W/Ni interface,which coincides with the fitting parameter Z.These results self-consistently demonstrate the validity of the determination of Re3W's Fermi velocity and the cleanness/transparency of the studied point-contact interface.

Reaction of 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (cyclen) and Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O with nucleobases (adenine, hypoxanthine, xanthine, theophylline, cytosine, or uracil) under alkaline conditions gave four ternary cyclen–metal–nucleobase complexes, [Cu(cyclen)(adeninato)]·ClO4·2H2O (1), [{Cu(cyclen)}2(hypoxanthinato)]·(ClO4)3 (2), [Cu(cyclen)(theophyllinato)]3·(ClO4)3·2H2O (3), and [Cu(cyclen)(xanthinato)]·(0.7ClO4)·(0.3ClO4)·3H2O·(0.5H2O)3 (4), whose crystal structures were determined by X-ray diffraction. In the adenine complex 1, a cyclen-capped square–pyramidal Cu2+ ion binds to an adeninato ligand through N(9) with the formation of an intramolecular interligand hydrogen bond between the secondary amino nitrogen of cyclen and N(3) of the base. In the hypoxanthine complex 2, two cyclen-capped Cu2+ ions bind to a hypoxanthinato ligand, one through N(7) with the formation of an intramolecular N(cyclen)–H···O(6) hydrogen bond and the other through N(9) to form an intramolecular N(cyclen)–H···N(3) hydrogen bond. Similarly, in both the theophylline complex 3 and the xanthine complex 4, each cyclen-capped Cu2+ ion binds to a theophyllinato or xanthinato ligand through N(7) with the formation of an intramolecular N(cyclen)–H···O(6) hydrogen bond. However, unlike in 2, steric constraints between amino group(s) of cyclen and the methyl group at N(3) of theophylline in 3 or the proton attached to N(9) of xanthine in 4 preclude the metal bonding to N(9) in 3 or N(3) in 4. The significance of intramolecular interligand interaction as a factor that affects metal-binding site(s) on nucleobases is emphasized.

Reaction between nucleobases (adenine, hypoxanthine, cytosine, and uracil), tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (tren) and M(ClO4)2 (M2+ = Zn2+, Cd2+, Ni2+ or Cu2+) under pH 8–9 gave eight ternary tren-metal ion-nucleobase complexes, among which seven crystal structures, [Zn(tren)(adeninato)] · ClO4 (1), [Cd(tren)(adeninato)] · ClO4 (2), [Ni(tren)(adeninato)(ClO4)] (3), [Zn(tren)(hypoxanthinato)] · ClO4 · H2O (4), [{Cd(tren)}2(hypoxanthinato)] · (ClO4)3 · 0.5 H2O (5), [Ni(tren)(uracilato)(H2O)] · ClO4 · (0.5H2O)2 (7), and [Cu(tren)(uracilato)] · ClO4 · 0.5H2O (8) were determined by X-ray diffraction. In each of the adenine complexes with Zn2+ (1), Cd2+ (2), and Ni2+ (3), among which 1 and 2 are isostructural to each other, a tren-capped metal ion binds to an adeninato ligand through N(9) with the formation of an intramolecular interligand hydrogen bond between the amino nitrogen of tren and N(3) of the base. In the hypoxanthine complexes 4 and 5, a tren-capped Zn2+ ion in 4 binds to a hypoxanthinato ligand through N(9) with the formation of an intramolecular N(tren)–H⋯N(3) hydrogen bond, while in 5 two tren-capped Cd2+ ions bind to a hypoxanthinato ligand, one through N(7) with the formation of an intramolecular N(tren)–H⋯O(6) hydrogen bond and the other through N(9) to form an intramolecular N(tren)–H⋯N(3) hydrogen bond. In each of the uracil complexes with Ni2+ (7) and Cu2+ (8), a tren-capped metal ion binds to an uracilato ligand through N(1) with the formation of an intracomplex O(aqua)–H⋯O(2) hydrogen bond in 7 or an intramolecular N(tren)–H⋯O(2) hydrogen bond in 8. Tren-capped metal ion-bonded nucleobases act as building blocks for the assembly of supramolecular structures, by versatile hydrogen bonding and/or stacking abilities of nucleobases. The significance of intramolecular interligand interaction as a factor that affects metal-binding site(s) on nucleobases is emphasized.

Reaction between xanthine, tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (tren) and M(ClO 4 ) 2 (M = Zn 2+ , Cd 2+ , Ni 2+ or Cu 2+ ) under alkaline conditions gave five ternary tren–metal ion–xanthine complexes, among which crystal structures of [Zn(tren)(H 2 xan)] · ClO 4 · H 2 O ( 1 ), [Cd(tren)(H 2 xan)] · ClO 4 · H 2 O ( 2 ), [Ni(tren)(H 2 xan)(H 2 O)] · ClO 4 · H 2 O ( 3 ), and [Cu 2 {(μ-Hxan)Cu(tren)} 2 (μ-Hxan) 2 (H 2 O) 2 ] · 10H 2 O ( 4 ) (H 3 xan = neutral xanthine) were determined by X-ray diffraction. In the Zn 2+ ( 1 ) and Cd 2+ ( 2 ) complexes, which are isostructural to each other, the tren-capped metal ion binds to xanthine through N(7) with the formation of an intramolecular interligand hydrogen bond between the amino nitrogen of tren and O(6) of the base. The Ni 2+ complex ( 3 ) involves the metal bonding to N(7) of the base with the formation of two intramolecular hydrogen bonds between O(6) of the base and the amino group of tren and the aqua ligand. The tetranuclear Cu 2+ complex ( 4 ) forms a paddle-wheel type of centrosymmetrical dicopper tetraxanthinate structure, where the two copper ions are bridged by four xanthine ligands through N(3)/N(9) chelation and, in addition, two among the four xanthine ligands are metalated each by the tren-capped copper ion through N(7) with the formation of an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the amino group of tren and O(6) of the base. The significance of intramolecular interligand interaction as a factor that affects site-specific metal bonding is emphasized. A review of metal bonding properties of so far reported xanthine–metal complexes is given.

Four transition metal (Cu(II), Zn(II) and Ni(II)) complexes with a Schiff-base ligand (salicylideneglycine) have been synthesized. All complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra and UV-vis spectroscopy. Single-crystal analyses were performed with (C9H7NO3)Cu(C3H4N2) (1), (C9H7NO3)Zn(C3H4N2)2 (2), (C9H7NO3)2Ni2(C3H4N2)4 (3) and (C9H7NO3)Ni(C3H4N2)2(C4H5N2O) · CH3OH · 0.5H2O (4) and fluorescence spectra and thermogravimetric analyses were also carried out. Structural analyses show that 1, 2 and 4 have similar coordinated modes with the tridentate amino-Schiff-base ligand, but differ from the binuclear nickel complex 3. The tridentate amino-Schiff-base ligand contains aliphatic nitrogen, phenoxy, and carboxylic oxygen as three donor atoms. In addition, inter- and intra-molecular hydrogen bonds are also discussed.

Two new oxovanadium (IV) complexes VO(HB(pz)3)(H2B(pz)2) (1) and VO(B(pz)4)2 (2) have been obtained by the reaction of oxovanadium sulfate with the corresponding ligands KHB(pz)3, KH2B(pz)2 and KB(pz)4, respectively. The two complexes were characterized by elemental analyses, IR, UV–Vis and X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group, Pca21. Complex 2 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group, Pna21. In both complexes, five nitrogen atoms and one oxygen atom coordinate to the vanadium atom, forming a distorted octahedral geometry (VON5). In addition, related spectra characterization, hydrogen-binding properties, structural configuration and quantum chemistry calculations are also discussed.

We present a new method in which both positive and negative pulses are used to etch silicon for fabrication of porous silicon (PS) monolayer. The optical thickness and morphology of PS monolayer fabricated with different negative pulse voltages are investigated by means of reflectance spectra, scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectra. It is found that with this method the PS monolayer is thicker and more uniform. The micropores also appear to be more regular than those made by common positive pulse etching. This phenomenon is attributed to the vertical etching effect of the PS monolayer being strengthened while lateral etching process is restrained. The explanation we propose is that negative pulse can help the hydrogen cations (H+) in the electrolyte move into the micropores of PS monolayer. These H+ ions combine with the Si atoms on the wall of new-formed micropores, leading to formation of Si–H bonds. The formation of Si–H bonds results in a hole depletion layer near the micropore wall surface, which decreases hole density on the surface, preventing the micropore wall from being eroded laterally by F− anions. Therefore during the positive pulse period the etching reaction occurs exclusively only at the bottom of the micropores where lots of holes are provided by the anode.

A hydrothermal reaction of a mixture of Eu2O3, V2O5, 4,4′‐bpy, phen, HCl and ethylenediamine in methanol solution resulted in the unexpected complex, [V6O12(phen)4(CH3O)4] · 4H2O, which was then characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. This complex crystallizes in the triclinic system with the space group P‐1 and cell parameters a=9.778(4) A, b=11.620(5) A, c=13.271(5) A, α=73.433(8)°, β=77.068 (8)°, γ=87.509(8)°, and Z=2 with R1=0.0726. Interestingly, a cyclic water tetramer is located in the packing diagrams of the title complex. The four water molecules linked by hydrogen bonds generate a two‐dimensional (2D) box structure, resulting in the formation of a square‐prism like water tetramer, which has not been experimentally observed and theoretically predicted so far.

A bimetallic cluster complex, [{Zn(2,2′-bipy)3}2V4O12] · 11H2O(2,2′-bipy=2,2′-bipyridine), has been synthesized hydrothermally by a new and more efficient modified way. This complex crystallizes in the monoclinic system with space group C2/c and cell parameters a=21.9417(5) A, b=14.0337(3) A, c=23.8513(7) A. β=106.2(8)° and Z=4 with R1=0.0342. The structure of the complex consists of a discrete anion cluster [V4O12]4− and the cation {Zn(2,2′-bipy)3}2+, which is connected by electrostatic force. IR spectra and quantum chemistry data for this complex are given and discussed.

Novel blue organic electroluminescent materials with improved hole transporting ability were synthesized by incorporating carbazoles into distyrylarylene (DSA). The new carbazole substituted DSA derivatives (CDSA) were characterized by 1H NMR, IR, MS and elemental analysis. The luminescent characteristics of CDSA were investigated. Two types of blue light emitting diodes were constructed from CDSA: ITO/NPB/CDSA/PBD/LiF/Al and ITO/CDSA/PBD/LiF/Al.

Treatment of the ΛLLLΛLLL and ΔLLLΔLLL isomers of K3[Co{Co(L-cys-N,S)3}2] (K3[1], L-cys: L-cysteinate) with Ln(NO3)3 (Ln = La and Yb) in water gave coordination polymers, ΛLLLΛLLL-Ln[1] and ΔLLLΔLL...

C16H18O8Zn, Monoclinic, C2, a = 11.612(2) Å, b = 5.2119(11) Å, c = 13.762(3) Å, β = 101.151(3)°, V = 817.2(3) Å3, Z = 2, R gt (F) = 0.0248, wR ref (F 2 ) = 0.0790, T = 296(2) K.

After introducing briefly the basic concept of statistical interaction, we illustrate it on integrable XXZ chain corresponding Potts case by the Bethe ansatz and point out that the nontrivial part of this statistical interaction comes from the rates of change of phase shifts with respect to momentum.