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Information sharing has been regarded as a major way to promote collaboration or to optimize overall supply chain performance. Most of the literature has focused on unilateral information sharing in a supply chain with single or substitutable products. This paper investigates bilateral information sharing in two supply chains with complementary products, and formulates four decision models based on different information sharing patterns. Our results show that (i) information sharing always benefits the manufacturer, and benefits the retailer and the whole supply chain under certain conditions; (ii) information sharing increases/decreases the positive effect of the retailer’s/manufacturer’s forecast on the optimal pricing strategies in its own supply chain; however, its impact depends on the parameter conditions in the other complementary supply chain.

Stem cell-like memory T cells (Tscm), are a newly defined memory T cell subset with characteristics of long life span, consistent self-renewing, rapid differentiation into effector T cells, and apoptosis resistance. These features indicate that Tscm have great therapeutic or preventive purposes, including being applied in chimeric Ag receptor-engineered T cells, TCR gene-modified T cells, and vaccines. However, the little knowledge about Tscm development restrains their applications. Strength and duration of TCR signaling, cytokines and metabolism in the T cells during activation all influence the Tscm development via regulating transcriptional factors and cell signaling pathways. Here, we summarize the molecular and cellular pathways involving Tscm differentiation, and its clinical application for cancer immunotherapy and prevention.

Background: Human glypican-3 (hGPC3) is a protein highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) but limited in normal tissues, making it an ideal target for immunotherapy. The adoptive transfer of hGPC3-specific chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells for HCC treatment has been conducted in clinical trials. Due to the rigid construction, conventional CAR-T cells have some intrinsic limitations, like uncontrollable overactivation and inducing severe cytokine release syndrome. Methods: We redesigned the hGPC3-specific CAR by splitting the traditional CAR into two parts. By using coculturing assays and a xenograft mouse model, the in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity and cytokine release of the split anti-hGPC3 CAR-T cells were evaluated against various HCC cell lines and compared with conventional CAR-T cells. Results: In vitro data demonstrated that split anti-hGPC3 CAR-T cells could recognize and lyse hGPC3+ HepG2 and Huh7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Impressively, split anti-hGPC3 CAR-T cells produced and released a significantly lower amount of proinflammatory cytokines, including IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-6, and GM-CSF, than conventional CAR-T cells. When injected into immunodeficient mice inoculated subcutaneously with HepG2 cells, our split anti-hGPC3 CAR-T cells could suppress HCC tumor growth, but released significantly lower levels of cytokines than conventional CAR-T cells. Conclusions: We describe here for the first time the use of split anti-hGPC3 CAR-T cells to treat HCC; split anti-hGPC3 CAR-T cells could suppress tumor growth and reduce cytokine release, and represent a more versatile and safer alternative to conventional CAR-T cells treatment.

Supplemental material, Table_S1 for Split chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells targeting glypican-3 suppress hepatocellular carcinoma growth with reduced cytokine release by Xuan Liu, Jianyun Wen, Honglei Yi, Xiaorui Hou, Yue Yin, Guofu Ye, Xuedong Wu and Xiaotao Jiang in Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology

This paper studies the manufacturer's and retailer's integration strategies in a supply chain with complementary products and examines the effects of downstream, upstream and vertical integrations ...

This paper investigates the pricing problem of complementary products in a supply chain with two manufacturers and one retailer, one of the two manufacturers uses dual channels including an online channel and a traditional retail channel to sell its product. We formulate four pricing game models through considering different market power structures of channel members, and derive the corresponding optimal pricing strategies. Based on the theoretical and numerical analysis, we study the effects of consumer channel loyalty, the level of complementarity, and the market power structures on the pricing strategies and the maximal profits of two complementary products. Some interesting and valuable managerial insights are obtained.

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a major component of the cell wall of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), is not generally considered as an ideal vaccine candidate since it is a thymus-independent antigen. In this study, we screened a 12-mer phage peptide library and identified a series of peptide sequences that can mimic the epitope of LTA. A tetra-branched multiple antigenic peptide, named MAP2-3, comprising one of the positive peptide sequences (GHKEDRQWCQHS), was synthesized. Immunization with MAP2-3 induced LTA-specific IgG antibodies, prolonged the survival time, and decreased the bacterial burden in organs of mice infected with S. aureus. Moreover, passive immunization with polyclonal anti-MAP2-3 sera reduced bacterial load in organs of mice with bacteremia, alleviated acute lung injury in mice with pneumonia, and decreased the size of lesions in mice with skin infection. The number of LTA-specific antibody-secreting cells in the spleen of MAP2-3 immunized mice were significantly higher than that in the control mice. In summary, as a surrogate of LTA, vaccination with MAP2-3 elicited humoral immune response and protected mice from S. aureus infection. This study provides a new option to design vaccines against S. aureus.

Pam3CSK4 is a synthetic tripalmitoylated lipopeptide that acts as a ligand of TLR1/TLR2 by mimicking the acetylated amino terminus of bacterial lipoproteins. Here we found that pretreatment of Pam3CSK4 protected mice from systemic infection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and enhanced the bacterial clearance in bacteremia model. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1 and IFN-γ were significantly decreased in serum from Pam3CSK4-treated mice. Besides, upon PamCSK4 treatment, the TLR2 expression was down-regulated, IRAK1 phosphorylation was inhibited, and the expression of IRAK-M and Tollip, two negative regulators of NF-κB pathway, was up-regulated. All of these indicated that Pam3CSK4 attenuated inflammation via inhibiting TLR1/TLR2 and the downstream NF-κB pathways, and suggested that Pam3CSK4 could be a potential immune modulator for MRSA systemic infection.

The paper reports the use of La 2 O 3 and ZrO 2 co-doping as a composite sintering aid for the fabrication of Tm:Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramics. Two groups of experiments were conducted for investigating the influences of composite sintering aids on the microstructures and the optical properties of Tm:Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramics in contrast to single La 3+ and single Zr 4+ doped Tm:Y 2 O 3 . Samples with composite sintering aids could realize fine microstructures and good optical properties at relatively low sintering temperatures. Grain sizes around 10 μm and transmittances close to theoretical value at wavelength of 2 μm were achieved for the 9 at.% La 3+ , 3 at.% Zr 4+ co-doped samples sintered at 1500–1600 °C. The influences of the composite sintering aids on the emission intensities and the phonon energies of Tm:Y 2 O 3 ceramics were also investigated.

RE/Yb co-doped Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramics (RE=Er, Ho, Pr, Tm) were fabricated and characterized from the point of up-conversion luminescence. All the samples exhibit high transparence not only in near-infrared band (NIR) band but also in visible region, which ensures the output of the up-conversion luminescence. Under 980 nm excitation, green and red emissions were observed in Er, Yb:Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramic, while green emission was detected in Ho, Yb and Pr, Yb co-doped Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramics. In Tm, Yb co-doped Y 2 O 3 ceramic, very intense blue up-conversion luminescence was detected. The dependence of up-conversion emission intensity on the pumping power was measured for each RE/Yb co-doped Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramic, and the up-conversion mechanism was discussed in detail. Meanwhile, the energy transfer efficiency was calculated.

Y2O3 transparent ceramics with different Nd concentration (0.1–7.0at%) were fabricated using ZrO2 as additive. All the samples exhibit high transparency over a broad spectral region. The elements (Y, O and Nd) are uniformly distributed in the ceramic body, and the average grain size increases with Nd content. Based on the absorption spectrum, the Judd–Ofelt intensity parameters are calculated (Ω2=4.364×10−20 cm2, Ω4=3.609×10−20 cm2 and Ω6=2.919×10−20 cm2). The absorption coefficients increase linearly with Nd3+ doping concentration. The absorption cross-section at 804 nm and stimulated emission cross-section at 1078 nm are calculated to be 1.54×10−20 and 7.24×10−20 cm2, respectively. All the emission bands exhibit the highest emission intensities with 1.0at% Nd3+ ion content, while the lifetime decreases dramatically from 321.5 μs (0.1at% Nd) to 17.9 μs (7.0at% Nd). According to the emission spectra and measured lifetime, the optimum doping concentration of Nd3+ ion in Y2O3 transparent ceramic might be around 1.0at%.

ZrO2 nanotube arrays were prepared by the anodization method in a mixture of formamide and glycerol (volume ratio = 1:1) containing 1 wt% NH4F and 1 wt% H2O. The catalysts were obtained through the impregnation of zirconia nanotubes with zirconium sulfate aqueous solution followed by calcinating in air at high temperature. The morphology and structure of the nanotubes and catalysts were characterized through scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and infrared spectra analysis. Various factors that affect the catalytic activity were investigated in detail. An esterification conversion percentage of 97.6% was achieved for the catalyst prepared with zirconia supports which were pretreated at 500 °C, followed by loading 65% Zr(SO4)2 and calcinating at 400 °C.

Yb doped (Y 0.97 Zr 0.03 ) 2 O 3 transparent ceramics were fabricated by solid state reaction and vacuum sintering. The microstructure, thermal and mechanical properties of Y 2 O 3 ceramic, as well as the effect of Yb doping concentration on these properties were investigated in detail. The lattice parameter and unit cell volume decrease with the increasing of Yb content, whereas thermal expansive coefficient increases. With Yb content increasing from 0 to 8 at.%, the mean grain size increases from 15.82 μm to 26.54 μm, and the thermal conductivity at room temperature (RT) decreases from 11.97 to 6.39 W/m/K. The microhardness decreases with Yb content, and the microhardness and fracture toughness of (Y 0.97 Zr 0.03 ) 2 O 3 transparent ceramic is 11.11 GPa and 1.29 MPa m 1/2 , respectively.

A-plane gallium nitride (GaN) layers were grown on gamma-LiAlO2 (3 0 2) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The structural properties of the layers were characterized by high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD). The structural and optical properties of a-plane GaN films are studied. The growth conditions with V/III ratios of 143 and 300 mbar may help produce a-GaN film with high quality and in a more isotropic shape. The polarization ratio of the near band emission of sample A (81.13%) was higher than sample B (54.65%), due to the improved crystallinity.

Tm3+/Er3+/Yb3+ triply doped Y2O3 transparent ceramics were fabricated by solid state reaction and characterized from the point of view of white light upconversion luminescence. All the samples exhibited high transparency not only in near-infrared band but also in visible region. Strong red (Er3+: 4F9/2 → 4I15/2), green (Er3+: 2H11/2, 4S3/2 → 4I15/2) and blue (Tm3+: 1G4 → 3H6) upconversion emissions have been observed under 980 nm excitation at room temperature. By varying the concentration of Er3+ ion, various colors of upconversion luminescence (pure blue, bluish green, pure green and yellowish green), including white light with CIE-X = 0.295 and CIE-Y = 0.312, can be easily achieved.

A-plane GaN films are deposited on (302) \gamma-LiAlO2 substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the in-plane orientation relationship between GaN and LAO substrates is [010]LAO//[0001]GaN and [203]LAO//[1100]GaN with 0.03% and 2.85% lattice mismatch, respectively. Raman scattering results indicate that the strain in the films decreases along with the increase in the thickness of the films. In addition to the band edge emission at 3.42 eV, defects-related luminescence at 3.35 eV is observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra indicate that the 3.35-eV emission is related to the V pits.

(Tm0.01Y0.99)2O3 transparent ceramics have been fabricated in a vacuum condition using high-purity Y2O3 and Tm2O3 powders as raw materials, and ZrO2 and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as additives. Effects of ZrO2 and TEOS on controlling the growth of grain size were investigated to obtain high-optical-quality transparent ceramics. Self-compensation of ZrO2 at high temperature offers vacancies, which promote the diffusion and densification rate. Meanwhile, the solid solution formed by substitution and interstice mechanism improves the optical quality of transparent ceramics significantly. The growth of grain size under different criteria was observed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The spectroscopic properties were also investigated. The result indicates that ZrO2 is necessary for the sintering of yttrium-transparent ceramics, but TEOS fails to contribute in the yttrium system.

Transparent Y2O3 ceramics were fabricated by solid-state reaction using high purity Y2O3 and ZrO2 powder as starting material. The results indicated that ZrO2 additive can improve the transparency of Y2O3 ceramic greatly. The best transmittance appears with 3 at.% ZrO2 doped Y2O3 transparent ceramic with transmittance at 1100 nm of 83.1%, which is up to 98.6% of the theoretical value. The microstructure is uniform and no secondary phase is observed in the ceramic with the average grain size of 15 μm. The mechanism of ZrO2 improving the transparency of Y2O3 ceramic is analyzed in detail. On this basis, Yb3+ doped Y2O3 transparent ceramic was also fabricated and spectroscopic properties were investigated.

(Y 0.97− x Zr 0.03 Yb x ) 2 O 3 ( x = 0–0.15) transparent ceramics were fabricated by solid-state reaction. As ZrO 2 was introduced as additive, the transmittance of yttria ceramic was improved greatly. The optical measurements such as absorption, fluorescence spectrum and lifetime of Yb 3+ ion were carried out at room temperature. The intensities of the absorption peaks (904 and 973 nm) increase linearly with Yb 3+ ion concentration. The absorption cross-section at 973 nm and stimulated emission cross-section at 1032 nm are calculated to be 1.175 × 10 −20 and 1.767 × 10 −20 cm 2 , respectively. The lifetime of 5.0 at.% Yb:Y 2 O 3 ceramic is measured to be 0.93 ms. According to the emission spectra and measured lifetime, the optimum doping concentration of Yb 3+ ion in Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramic is in the range of 5.0–8.0 at.%. Meanwhile the up-conversion luminescence is also investigated.

Tm:Y2O3 transparent ceramics were obtained by sintering at 1850 °C for 25 h. Effect of different dispersants and binders to the quality of ceramics were studied. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used as dispersant. Mixture of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glycerol were added as binders. Dispersants are useful to promote the optical properties of transparent ceramics dramatically. And binders can increase the transmittance in infrared range of ceramics, but it will decrease the transmittance in visible range. The 2 μm emission bands were observed under laser diode excitation at 780 nm in the doped sample with 1 at.% of Tm3+.

Ce/Nd co-doped YAG transparent ceramics were fabricated by solid-state reaction and vacuum sintering method for the first time. By comparison of the samples for various Ce 3+ concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 1 at%, it was shown that the 0.3 at%Ce:1.0 at%Nd:YAG ceramic exhibited the strongest near-infrared (NIR) luminescence as well as a good transparency. The intense 1064 nm emission due to the Nd 3+ 4 F 3/2 → 4 I 11/2 was observed upon the excitation of 5d level of Ce 3+ . The energy transfer from Ce 3+ to Nd 3+ consists of non-radiative and radiative parts. The efficient energy transfer from Ce 3+ to Nd 3+ could make the NIR luminescence in Ce/Nd co-doped YAG easily excited by GaN LED. Therefore, the Ce/Nd co-doped transparent ceramics have the potential to be a new efficient NIR luminophor or a low threshold, high efficiency laser grain medium.

1 at.% Nd:YAG transparent ceramics were fabricated by solid-state reaction and vacuum sintering method using commercial Al2O3, Y2O3 and Nd2O3 as raw materials, TEOS, MgO and TEOS combined with MgO were used as additives. When using TEOS or MgO as sintering aids separately, the optimum dosage is 0.5 and 0.2 wt%, respectively. But residual second phases in the grain boundaries and pores are easily generated by adding excessive TEOS or MgO. The maximum transmittance at 1064 nm of the sintered Nd:YAG ceramics is doped 0.4 wt% TEOS combined with 0.08 wt% MgO, nearly pore-free microstructure with the average grain size of more than 30 μm was obtained in this highest transparent sample. All samples sinter to near full density (>99.8%) at 1700 °C and the sample with 0.4 wt% TEOS combined with 0.08 wt% MgO has the highest densification rate. The excellent feature of using compound additives is to make the intensified liquid sintering start at a lower temperature in vacuum sintering, promoting the densification rate and obtaining the uncontaminated crystalline grains.

(Yb 0.05 Y 0.95 ) 2 O 3 transparent ceramics were fabricated by vacuum sintering technique using high purity Y 2 O 3 powder as starting material and ZrO 2 as additive. The results indicated that the introduce of ZrO 2 can improve the transmittance of yttria ceramics greatly and the mechanism was also analyzed. 3.0 at.% ZrO 2 doped (Yb 0.05 Y 0.95 ) 2 O 3 transparent ceramics sintered at 1800 °C for 20 h had the optimum transmittance. The microstructure is uniform and no secondary phase is observed in the ceramics with the average grain size of 15 μm. The relative density is 99.68% and the transmittance in near-infrared band is as high as 83.7% (up to 98.5% of theoretical value). The spectroscopic properties of 3.0 at.% ZrO 2 doped (Yb 0.05 Y 0.95 ) 2 O 3 ceramics were also investigated. The absorption, emission cross-section and fluorescence lifetime have been estimated as 1.175 × 10 −20 , 1.767 × 10 −20 cm 2 and 0.93 ms, respectively. All the results indicate that Yb 3+ doped Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramic is promising laser material.

Er3+/Yb3+-codoped Y2O3 transparent ceramics were fabricated and characterized from the point of up-conversion luminescence. All the samples exhibit high transparency not only in the near-infrared band but also in the visible region. Under 980 nm excitation, the ceramics gave up-conversion luminescence with very intense green (525–560 nm), red (around 660 nm), and considerably intense blue (405 nm) emissions. It is worthwhile to point out that the blue emission, which only appears in halide, was clearly observed in Y2O3 transparent ceramic. The emission bands at 405, 525, 560, and 660 nm are attributed to the transitions from excited states 2H9/2, 2H11/2, 4S3/2, and 4F9/2 to the ground state 4I15/2 of Er3+ ions, respectively. For nearly all samples, the green emissions were stronger than red emissions, and the maximal emission intensities were obtained with (Er0.025Yb0.05Y0.938Zr0.01)2O3 ceramic (Yb/Er=20). The red and green luminescence result from a two-photon process, while the blue emission is due to a three-photon process.

Nano-sized yttria (Y2O3) powders were successfully synthesized by co-precipitation method. The structure and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All the powders were well crystallized and the grains were almost spherical with good dispersibility. The relationship between optical properties and the content of Eu3+ and Li+ ions was studied. The quenching concentration of Eu3+ ions is 9 mol% which is much higher than the micro-scaled powders. The results also showed that the incorporation of Li+ ions can greatly improve the luminescence intensity. The highest emission intensity was observed with 4 mol% Li+ doped Y2O3:Eu powder ((Y0.87Eu0.09Li0.04)2O3) and the fluorescence intensity was increased by as much as 79%.

C-axis preferred oriented ZnO thin films were prepared on quartz substrates by RF sputtering. Photoconductive ultraviolet detector with planar interdigital electrodes was fabricated on ZnO thin film by the lift off technique. Linear I-V characteristic was observed under dark or 365 nm UV light illumination and has obvious difference. The photoresponsivity of 365 nm at 5 V bias is 18 A/W. The response time measure set mainly contains KrF excimer laser with the pulse width of 30 ns and the oscillograph with the bandwidth of 200 MHz. The result shows fast photoresponse with a rise time of 100 ns and fall time of 1.5 mu s. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Down-conversion from blue to near infrared (NIR) has been demonstrated in Tm3+-Yb3+ codoped Y2O3 transparent ceramics. Upon the 464-nm excitation, the energy transfer (ET) mechanisms consisted of the Tm3+ : 1G4 → 2Yb3+ : 2F5/2 cooperative down-conversion and the phonon assisted Tm3+ : 1G4 + Yb3+ : 2F7/2 → Tm3+ : 3H5 + Yb3+ : 2F5/2 cross relaxation. The low quantum yield of the latter process, together with the low absorption cross section of Tm3+ at 464 nm and the low quenching concentration of Yb3+ in the Y2O3 host, made the Yb3+ 1030-nm NIR emission too weak for practical application.

( 1 0 1 ¯ 0 ) m-plane ZnO film was epitaxially deposited on (1 0 0) γ-LiAlO2 by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition at 600 °C with a GaN buffer layer. The epitaxial relationships between ZnO and GaN, GaN and (1 0 0) γ-LiAlO2 were determined by X-ray diffraction Φ-scans. There exhibits very small decrease for the E2 mode shift (0.3 cm−1) of ZnO in the Raman spectrum, which indicates the epitaxial ZnO film was under a slight tensile stress (5.77 × 107 Pa). Unlike the highly strained a-plane ZnO, temperature dependent photoluminescence spectra show that the free A exiton emission was observed with the temperature ≤138 K.

The last process of the (1 0 0) γ-LiAlO 2 (LAO) wafer polishing has been investigated by adopting two different sizes (20 nm and 40 nm) SiO 2 suspension. Atomic force microscopy images show that the suspension with 20 nm SiO 2 particles tends to introduce a set of parallel trenches to the wafer surface and the suspension with 40 nm SiO 2 particles can provide a relative smooth surface. The following epitaxial ZnO films grown on the two as-prepared wafers demonstrate that the trench structure of the wafer surface will lead to mixed orientations of the ZnO film and single phase m -plane ZnO film can be obtained on the (1 0 0) LAO with a smooth surface.

ZrO2nanotube arrays were prepared by anodization method in aqueous electrolyte containing (NH4)2SO4and NH4F. The morphology and structure of nanotube arrays were characterized through scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and infrared spectra analysis. The zirconia nanotube arrays were used as catalyst in esterification reaction. The effects of calcination temperature and electrolyte concentration on catalytic esterification activity have been investigated in detail. Experiments indicate that nanotube arrays have highest catalytic activity when the concentration of (NH4)2SO4is 1 mol/L, the concentration of NH4F is 1 wt%, and the calcination temperature is 400°C. Esterification reaction yield of as much as 97% could be obtained under optimal conditions.

The high prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) despite widely available Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination may be associated with Mycobacterium avium (M. avium), which may influence the host response to MTB. In this study, we demonstrate that pretreatment of murine macrophages with low-dose Mycobacterium avium-derived lipids (MALs), but not Escherichia coli-derived lipids (ELs), attenuates the clearance of intracellular Mycobacterium bovis BCG (M. bovis BCG) and the production of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-12 and nitric oxide (NO) following stimulation with purified protein derivatives (PPD) or heat-inactivated M. bovis BCG in vitro. Furthermore, a significant decrease in NF-κB activity was observed in MALs-pretreated RAW264.7 cells that were co-transfected with pSV-β-galactosidase and pGL4.32[luc2P/NF-κB-RE/Hygro] prior to stimulation with PPD or heat-inactivated M. bovis BCG. In contrast, IRAK-M, an inhibitor of NF-κB activation, was increased in these cells. This observed hyporesponsiveness is not related to the expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). In conclusion, pretreatment with low-dose MALs can induce hyporesponsiveness to MTB components in murine macrophages.

Zirconia nanotubes with a length of 25 μm, inner diameter of 80 nm, and wall thickness of 35 nm were prepared by anodization method in mixture of formamide and glycerol (volume ratio = 1:1) containing 1 wt% NH 4 F and 1 wt% H 2 O. Experiments showed that zirconia nanotubes and ultrasonic wave had synergistic degradation effect for methyl orange and the efficiency of ultrasonic wave increased by more than 7 times. The decolorization percentage was influenced by pH value of the solution. Methyl orange was easy to be degraded in acidic solution. The decolorization percentage of methyl orange reached 97.6% when degraded for 8 h in 20 mg/L methyl orange solution with optimal pH value 2. The reason of synergistic degradation effect for methyl orange might be that adsorption of methyl orange onto zirconia nanotubes resulted in the easy degradation of the methyl orange through ultrasonic wave.

Near infrared (NIR) quantum cutting involving the conversion of an absorbed blue photon into two NIR photons emission has been realized in heavy Yb doped Ce0.03Yb3xY(2.97−3x)Al5O12 (x=0.1, 0.25, and 0.5) transparent ceramics. Upon the 467 nm excitation, the energy transfer process was dominated by the cooperative downconversion from the 5d1 state of one Ce3+ ion to the F25/2 state of two Yb3+ ions. The influence of the Ce4+–Yb2+ charge transfer state (CTS) should not contribute much to the energy transfer process for the large energy gap between Ce3+:5d1 and the CTS. The calculated quantum yield of Yb3+ for the x=0.25 sample without concentration quenching was 175.4%.