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The antireflective transmittance-enhancing films have important applications in solar cells and other applications due to their self-cleaning and high light transmittance. However, obtaining high transmittance, highly durable, and superhydrophobic surfaces in a simple and easily accessible way is still a challenge. A simple evaporative coating technique has been proposed that can be used to prepare antireflective superhydrophobic aluminum oxide films using 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoroalkyltriethoxysilanes. The results show that the contact angle of grass-like alumina increased from 99.5° to 155°. The surface energy of grass-like alumina decreased from 17.96 to 1.93 mN/m. The maximum value of light transmittance is close to 98%, and the average transmittance is above 95%. The films have excellent ultraviolet resistance and thermal stability along with relative mechanical and chemical stability. Meanwhile, this method has an excellent capacity for shape preservation. The relationships between the evaporation temperature and time and the light transmittance and hydrophobic angle of the films were also investigated together. This approach has the potential to be extended to large-scale industrial production.

Triple-shape-memory polymers (triple-SMPs) are a class of polymers capable of fixing two temporary shapes and recovering sequentially from the first temporary shape to the second temporary shape and, last, to the permanent shape. To accomplish a sequential shape change, a triple-SMP must have two separate shape-fixing mechanisms triggerable by distinct stimuli. Despite the biomedical potential of triple-SMPs, a triple-SMP that with cells present can undergo two different shape changes via two distinct cytocompatible triggers has not previously been demonstrated. Here, we report the design and characterization of a cytocompatible triple-SMP material that responds separately to thermal and light triggers to undergo two distinct shape changes under cytocompatible conditions. Tandem triggering was achieved via a photothermally triggered component, comprising poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibers with graphene oxide (GO) particles physically attached, embedded in a thermally triggered component, comprising a tert-butyl acrylate-butyl acrylate (tBA-BA) matrix. The material was characterized in terms of thermal properties, surface morphology, shape-memory performance, and cytocompatibility during shape change. Collectively, the results demonstrate cytocompatible triple-shape behavior with a relatively larger thermal shape change (an average of 20.4 ± 4.2% strain recovered for all PCL-containing groups) followed by a smaller photothermal shape change (an average of 3.5 ± 0.8% strain recovered for all PCL-GO-containing groups; samples without GO showed no recovery) with greater than 95% cell viability on the triple-SMP materials, establishing the feasibility of triple-shape memory to be incorporated into biomedical devices and strategies.

Stem cell organoids are powerful models for studying organ development, disease modeling, drug screening, and regenerative medicine applications. The convergence of organoid technology, tissue engineering, and artificial intelligence (AI) could potentially enhance our understanding of the design principles for organoid engineering. In this study, we utilized micropatterning techniques to create a designer library of 230 cardiac organoids with 7 geometric designs. We employed manifold learning techniques to analyze single organoid heterogeneity based on 10 physiological parameters. We clustered and refined the cardiac organoids based on their functional similarity using unsupervised machine learning approaches, thus elucidating unique functionalities associated with geometric designs. We also highlighted the critical role of calcium transient rising time in distinguishing organoids based on geometric patterns and clustering results. This integration of organoid engineering and machine learning enhances our understanding of structure-function relationships in cardiac organoids, paving the way for more controlled and optimized organoid design.

Following first principles and inspired by the special structure of the nickel–nitrogen color center, this work enhances the known diamond germanium-vacancy (GeV) color center by adding nitrogen (N) atoms and increasing the number of vacancies. Results demonstrate that the most stable structure is one without vacancies, where the germanium (Ge) atoms are connected to four N atoms. This work analyzes the new structure of the GeV color center and determines the charge transfer and bonding from the difference in charge density. The electron bands and density of states of the GeV color center with four N atoms are calculated. By analyzing the electrical properties of each atom, we posit that the N atom is a transitional modified atom. The new structure of the GeV color center has good prospects for use in sensors and single-photon sources.

ABSTRACTStudies have revealed that vaccines are more often exposed to sub-zero temperatures during cold chain transportation than what was previously known. Such exposure might be detrimental to the potency of temperature-sensitive vaccines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of exposure to freezing on the physicochemical properties and biological activities of recombinant hepatitis E (rHE) vaccine. Changes in rHE vaccine due to freezing temperatures were analyzed with regard to sedimentation rate, antigenicity, and antibody affinity and potency. The freezing temperature of rHE was measured, then rHE vaccine was exposed to freezing temperatures below −10°C.Significant increase of sedimentation rate was noted, according to shake test and massed precipitates. In addition, the binding affinity of rHE vaccine to six specific monoclonal antibodies was significantly reduced and the in vivo potency for eliciting a protective IgG response was also partially lost, especially for anti-HEV neutralizing antibodies. Altogether, our work indicates that exposure of rHE vaccine to a temperature below −10°C results in the loss of structural integrity and biological potency of rHE vaccine.

Cardiomyocyte (CM) alignment with striated myofibril organization is developed during early cardiac organogenesis. Previous work has successfully achieved in vitroCM alignment using a variety of biomaterial scaffolds and substrates with static topographic features. However, the cellular processes that occur during the response of CMs to dynamic surface topographic changes, which may provide a model of in vivodevelopmental progress of CM alignment within embryonic myocardium, remains poorly understood. To gain insights into these cellular processes involved in the response of CMs to dynamic topographic changes, we developed a dynamic topographic substrate that employs a shape memory polymer coated with polyelectrolyte multilayers to produce a flat-to-wrinkle surface transition when triggered by a change in incubation temperature. Using this system, we investigated cellular morphological alignment and intracellular myofibril reorganization in response to the dynamic wrinkle formation. Hence, we identified the progressive cellular processes of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-CMs in a time-dependent manner, which could provide a foundation for a mechanistic model of cardiac myofibril reorganization in response to extracellular microenvironment changes.

ABSTRACTCoxsackievirus A16 (CA16) has caused worldwide epidemics of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), particularly in infants and pre-school children. Currently, there are no vaccines or antiviral drugs available for CA16-associated disease. In this study, a CA16-specific monoclonal antibody (MAb) NA11F12 was derived with an epidemic CA16 strain (GenBank no. JX127258). NA11F12 was found to have high cross-neutralization activity against different CA16 subgenotypes but not EV71 using RD cells. The neutralizing titers of NA11F12 ranged from 1:1024 to 1:12288 against A, B1, B2 and C subgenotypes of CA16 and was less than 8 against EV71 strain. In the neonatal mouse model, a single treatment of NA11F12 showed effective protection with a dose- and time-dependent relationship against lethal challenge by CA16 strain (GenBank no. JX481738). At day 1 post-infection, administering more than 0.1 μg/g of NA11F12 could protect 100% newborn mice from mobility and mortality challenged by CA16. With dose of 10 μg/g of NA11F12, a single administration fully protected mice against CA16-associated disease within 4 days post-infection. And there were 80% and 60% mice protected by administering NA11F12 at day 5 post-infection and day 6 post-infection when the control mice had shown clinical symptoms for 1- and 2-day, respectively. Immunohistochemical and histological analysis confirmed that NA11F12 significantly prohibited CA16 VP1 expression in various tissues and prevented CA16-induced necrosis. In conclusion, a CA16-specific MAb NA11F12 with high cross-neutralization activity was identified, which could effectively protect lethal CA16 challenge in mice. It could be a potential therapeutic MAb against CA16 in the future.

ABSTRACTCoxsackievirus A6 (CV-A6) is one of pathogens causing hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and becomes a new challenge to HFMD control. In this study, we first built a single-round pseudovirus infection system for CV-A6, and then developed a pseudovirus luciferase assay (PVLA) for anti-CV-A6 neutralizing antibody (NtAb) quantification. Since cytopahtic effect (CPE) is considered as the gold standard test for anti-enterovirus NtAb detection, a comparison study has been performed using 318 clinical serum samples, as measured both by PVLA and CPE. The sensitivity and specificity of PVLA was 94.9% (95% CI between 90.8–97.5%) and 92.7% (95% CI between 86.6–96.6%), respectively. Statistical analysis revealed that PVLA and CPE were highly correlated (spearman r = 0.931, P < 0.0001) and in good agreement (94.0%, 95% CI between 90.8–96.4%), showing that PVLA could be used as a surrogate assay for anti-CV-A6 NtAb detection and served as a valuable tool for CV-A6 vaccine evaluation and CV-A6 epidemiological surveillance.

ABSTRACTCoxsackievirus B5 (CV-B5) is associated with various human diseases such as viral encephalitis, aseptic meningitis, paralysis, herpangina, and hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). However, there is currently no effective vaccine against CV-B5.The seroepidemiologic characteristics of CV-B5 remained unknown. A cohort study was carried out in 176 participants aged 6–35 months from January 2012 to January 2014. The serum samples were collected and tested for CV-B5 neutralizing antibodies (NtAbs) four times during these two years. The confirmed enterovirus cases were recorded through the surveillance system, and their throat or rectal swabs were collected for pathogen detection. According to the changes of CV-B5 NtAbs, two CV-B5 epidemics were detected among these participants during the two-year follow-up. Sixty-seven cases out of all participants had seroconversion in CV-B5 NtAbs. During the first epidemic from March 2012 to September 2012, CV-B5 seropositivity rate increased significantly (6.8%, 12/176 vs. 21.6%, 38/176, P = 0.000). The seroconversion rate and geometric mean fold-increase (GMFI) were 18.2% (32/176) and 55.7, respectively; During the second epidemic from September 2012 to January 2014, CV-B5 seropositivity rate also increased (21.6%, 38/176 vs. 38.6%, 68/176, P = 0.000), and the seroconversion rate and GMFI were 19.9% (35/176) and 46.5, respectively. Only one case had CV-B5 associated HFMD during the two-year follow-up, and CV-B5 from the throat swab isolate was GI.D3 subtype, which belonged to the major pandemic strain in mainland China. CV-B5 infection was common in infants and children in Jiangsu province, China. Therefore, it's necessary to strengthen the surveillance on CV-B5 and to understand the epidemic characteristics of CV-B5 infection.

Enterovirus 71(EV71) has caused severe epidemics of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in the Asia Pacific in recent years, particularly in infants and pre-school children. It has become a serious public health threat, as currently there are no approved vaccines or antiviral drugs for EV71 infection. Many EV71 vaccines have been under development worldwide, however the main focus is inactivated EV71 vaccines. For example, the inactivated EV71 vaccine has recently finished phase III clinical trial in Mainland China. There have been very few studies on EV71 virus like particles (VLPs). In this study, the immunogenicity and protective potency of the EV71 VLPs produced in insect cells were evaluated in mice with different dosages. Our results showed that EV71 VLPs could elicit high titers of neutralizing antibodies (NTAbs) in a dose-dependent manner and NTAbs were sustained after the second injection with an average GMT (geometric mean titer) level from 19 to 2960 in immunized mice. Survival rates were 100%, 100%, 85%, and 40% after challenge with 15 LD50(median lethal dose) of EV71 in these newborn mice, respectively. ED50(50% effective dose) of VLPs was 0.20 μg/dose in newborn mice, while NTAb titer under this dosage was about 50. Passive protection was determined with 2 methods and demonstrated that the survival rates were positively correlated with NTAb titers, which at 24 and 54 induced 50% survival rates in experimental animals. The ED50of VLP vaccines and the passive NTAb titers were also analyzed. The maternal NTAb titer was similar as the passive NTAb titer in the mouse model challenged with our lethal mouse EV71 strain. Hence, our work has provided preliminary data on the protection potency of VLPs as a vaccine candidate and would facilitate future VLP vaccine development.

In this paper, cinobufagin and resibufogenin were found to inhibit enterovirus 71(EV71) infection in vitroin cell viability and plaque reduction assays. The 50% inhibitory concentrations(IC50) of cinobufagin and resibufogenin were (10.94±2.36) and (218±31) nmol/L, respectively, the 50% cytotoxic concentrations(CC50) of them were (1277±223) and (1385±254) nmol/L, respectively, and the anti-EV71 selectivity index(SI50) of cinobufagin was 116.7, which are promisingly developed into drug. Using a VP1 detection assay and a constructed reporter luciferase, we found that cinobufagin and resibufogenin disrupted the synthesis of EV71 protein. However, neither of them inhibited EV71 RNA replication. Our study suggests that cinobufagin and resibufogenin are the promising candidates that should be further investigated for the treatment of EV71 caused disease.

Enterovirus71 (EV71) and CoxsackievirusA16 (CVA16) have caused severe epidemics of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in the Asia Pacific in recent years, particularly in infants and young children. This disease has become a serious public health problem, as no vaccines or antiviral drugs have been approved for EV71 and CA16 infections. In this study, we compared four monovalent vaccines, including formalin-inactivated EV71 virus (iEV71), EV71 virus-like particles (VLPs) (vEV71), formalin-inactivated CVA16 virus (iCVA16) and CVA16 VLPs (vCVA16), along with two bivalent vaccines, including equivalent doses of formalin-inactivated EV71+CVA16 virus (iEV71+iCVA16) and EV71+CVA16 VLPs (vEV71+vCVA16). The IgG titers and neutralization antibodies titers demonstrated that there are no immune interference exists between the two immunogens of EV71 and CVA16. IgG subclass isotyping revealed that IgG1 and IgG2b were induced primarily in all vaccine groups. Furthermore, cross-neutralization antibodies were elicited in mouse sera against other sub-genotypes of EV71 and CVA16. In vivo challenge experiments showed that the immune sera from vaccinated animals could confer passive protection to newborn mice against lethal challenge with 14 LD50of EV71 and 50 LD50of CVA16. Our results indicated that bivalent vaccination is promising for HFMD vaccine development. With the advantage of having a better safety profile than inactivated virus vaccines, VLPs should be used to combine both EV71 and CVA16 antigens as a candidate vaccine for prevention of HFMD virus transmission.

AbstractThe influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) of tomato paste wastewater changes with the quality of the raw material without any evident trend. The required aeration also changes irregularly during treatment. If the actual aeration rate is set at maximum and does not change, the treating cost increases. Thus, an adaptable aeration strategy based on simple data, such as the removal of COD and mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS), must be established. The plug-flow activated sludge system of Shihezi Tianye Tomato Products Co., Ltd., was used to establish the relationship between the theoretical aeration rates and the removal of COD and MLSS in different regions. The calculation bases of the theoretical aeration rates at different COD loadings were determined. A flexible aeration strategy based on the removal of COD and MLSS was used to analogically calculate and compare the actual aeration patterns from 2010. The proposed method can decrease aeration rate by 8%.

The influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) of tomato paste wastewater changes with the quality of the raw material without any evident trend. The required aeration also changes irregularly during treatment. If the actual aeration rate is set at maximum and does not change, the treating cost increases. Thus, an adaptable aeration strategy based on simple data, such as the removal of COD and mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS), must be established. The plug-flow activated sludge system of Shihezi Tianye Tomato Products Co., Ltd., was used to establish the relationship between the theoretical aeration rates and the removal of COD and MLSS in different regions. The calculation bases of the theoretical aeration rates at different COD loadings were determined. A flexible aeration strategy based on the removal of COD and MLSS was used to analogically calculate and compare the actual aeration patterns from 2010. The proposed method can decrease aeration rate by 8%.

An artificial solid electrolyte interface (SEI) of a graphene composite lithium salt can inhibit the growth of dendrites by driving the lithium deposition behavior on the surface of the lithium metal anode. The first-principles method was used to calculate the graphene/lithium nitride SEI, including the structural form and stability of intrinsic (G-Li3N), single-vacancy defect (SVG-Li3N), and double-vacancy defect (DVG-Li3N) graphene heterostructure. The adsorption and migration behavior of lithium ions on the heterostructure surface and the interface were also calculated. This study was showed that the modification of double-vacancy defect graphene improved the stability of the heterostructure, and the adhesion work of the composite SEI is the highest. The modification of defective graphene increases the adsorption energy of lithium atoms on the surface and interface of the heterostructure. The strongest adsorption of Li atoms on the single vacancy defect region of the heterostructure. The opposition migration pathway of Li atoms on the surface and interface of the DVG-Li3N heterostructure. The decrease diffusion energy of Li atom on the surface and interface of the DVG-Li3N heterostructure. A composite layered SEI of graphene and Li3N was constructed to inhibit dendritic growth by adjusting the deposition behavior of lithium atoms.

Focal adhesion complexes function as the mediators of cell-extracellular matrix interactions to sense and transmit the extracellular signals. Previous studies have demonstrated that cardiomyocyte focal adhesions can be modulated by surface topographic features. However, the response of focal adhesions to dynamic surface topographic changes remains underexplored. To study this dynamic responsiveness of focal adhesions, we utilized a shape memory polymer-based substrate that can produce a flat-to-wrinkle surface transition triggered by an increase of temperature. Using this dynamic culture system, we analyzed three proteins (paxillin, vinculin and zyxin) from different layers of the focal adhesion complex in response to dynamic extracellular topographic change. Hence, we quantified the dynamic profile of cardiomyocyte focal adhesion in a time-dependent manner, which provides new understanding of dynamic cardiac mechanobiology.