Description: ABSTRACT The wing of a dragonfly is thin and light, but can bear high frequent alternating stress and present excellent antifatigue properties. The surface morphology and microstructure of the wings of dragonfly Pantala flavescens were observed using SEM in this study. Based on the biological analysis method, the configuration, morphology, and structure of the vein were studied, and the antifatigue properties of the wings were investigated. The analytical results indicated that the longitudinal veins, cross veins, and membrane of dragonfly wing form a optimized network morphology and spacially truss-like structure which can restrain the formation and propagation of the fatigue cracks. The veins with multilayer structure present high strength, flexibility, and toughness, which are beneficial to bear alternating load during the flight of dragonfly. Through tensile-tensile fatigue failure tests, the results were verified and indicate that the wings of dragonfly P. flavescens have excellent antifatigue properties which are the results of the biological coupling and synergistic effect of morphological and structural factors. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2014 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Description: The voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) interacting peptide is of special interest for both basic research and pharmaceutical purposes. In this study, we established a yeast-two-hybrid based strategy to detect the interaction(s) between neurotoxic peptide and the extracellular region of VGSC. Using a previously reported neurotoxin JZTX-III as a model molecule, we demonstrated that the interactions between JZTX-III and the extracellular regions of its target hNav1.5 are detectable and the detected interactions are directly related to its activity. We further applied this strategy to the screening of VGSC interacting peptides. Using the extracellular region of hNav1.5 as the bait, we identified a novel sodium channel inhibitor SSCM-1 from a random peptide library. This peptide selectively inhibits hNav1.5 currents in the whole-cell patch clamp assays. This strategy might be used for the large scale screening for target-specific interacting peptides of VGSCs or other ion channels. Scientific Reports 4 doi: 10.1038/srep04569

Description: Background: Existing standard non-molecular diagnostic methods such as viral culture andimmunofluorescent (DFA) are time-consuming, labor intensive or limited sensitivity. Severalmultiplex molecular assays are costly. Therefore, there is a need for the development of arapid and sensitive diagnosis of respiratory viral pathogens. Methods: A GeXP-based multiplex RT-PCR assay (GeXP assay) was developed to detectsimultaneously sixteen different respiratory virus types/subtypes. Seventeen sets of chimericprimers were used to initiate the RT-PCR, and one pair of universal primers was used for thesubsequent cycles of the RT-PCR. The specificity of the GeXP assay was examined withpositive controls for each virus type/subtype. The sensitivity was evaluated by performing theassay on serial ten-fold dilutions of in vitro-transcribed RNA of all RNA viruses and theplasmids containing the Adv and HBoV target sequence. GeXP assay was further evaluatedusing 126 clinical specimens and compared with Luminex xTAG RVP Fast assay. Results: The GeXP assay achieved a sensitivity of 20-200 copies for a single virus and 1000 copieswhen all of the 16 pre-mixed viral targets were present. Analyses of 126 clinical specimensusing the GeXP assay demonstrated that GeXP assay and the RVP Fast assay were incomplete agreement for 109/126 (88.51 %) of the specimens. GeXP assay was more sensitivethan the RVP Fast assay for the detection of HRV and PIV3, and slightly less sensitive for thedetection of HMPV, Adv, RSVB and HBoV. The whole process of the GeXP assay for thedetection of 12 samples was completed within 2.5 hours. Conclusions: In conclusion, the GeXP assay is a rapid, cost-effective, sensitive, specific and highthroughput method for the detection of respiratory virus infections.

Description: Analytical Chemistry DOI: 10.1021/ac302853y

Description: Background: Radiation-induced skin injury is a common complication of radiotherapy. The RHIZOMA COPTIDIS and COPTIS CHINENSIS extract (RCE) can ameliorate radiation-induced skin injury in our clinical observation. But, the protective mechanism of RHIZOMA COPTIDIS and COPTIS CHINENSIS in radiation-induced skin injury remains unclear. Methods: In this experiment, we developed a radiation-induced skin injury rat model to study the mechanism. The animals were randomly divided into control group, treatment group, radiation group, and treatment and radiation group. 5 rats in each group were separately executed on 2 d and 49 d post-radiation. The semi-quantitative skin injury score was used to measure skin reactions by unblinded observers, and hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to evaluate the damage areas by irradiation. The MDA content, SOD activity of skin and serum were measured to detect the oxidative stress. Results: Acute skin reactions were caused by a single dose of 45 Gy of beta-ray irradiation, and the skin injury could be found in all rats receiving irradiation based on the observation of HE staining of skin at different time-points, while RCE could significantly ameliorate those changes. TheMDA content in serum and skin of control rats was 4.13 +/- 0.12mmol/ml and 4.95 +/- 0.35mmol/mgprot on 2 d post-radiation. The rats receiving radiation showed an increased content of MDA (5.54 +/- 0.21mmol/ml and 7.10 +/- 0.32mmol/mgprot), while it was 4.57 +/- 0.21mmol/ml and 5.95 +/- 0.24mmol/mgprot after treated with RCE (p 〈 0.05). Similarchanges of the MDA content could be seen on 49 d post-radiation. However, the SOD activity of rats receiving radiation decreased compared with control group on both time-points, which was inhibited by RCE (p 〈 0.05). Meanwhile, no valuable changes could befound between control group and treatment group on 2 d and 49 d. Conclusions: Our study provides evidences for the radioprotective role of RCE against radiation-induced skin damage in rats by modulating oxidative stress in skin, which may be a useful therapy for radiation-induced skin injury.

Description: Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgoaceae), originating from China, now distributes all over the world. Wide application of Ginkgo biloba extracts is determined by the main active substances, flavonoids and terpenoids, which indicates its extracts suitable to be used as an effective corrosion inhibitor. The extracts of Ginkgo biloba leave have been investigated on the corrosion inhibition of Q235A steel with weight loss and potentiodynamic polarisation techniques. The inhibition efficiency of the extracts varies with extract concentration. The extracts inhibit corrosion mainly by adsorption mechanism. Potentiodynamic polarisation studies show that extracts are mixed type inhibitors. The antibacterial activity of the extracts against oil field microorganism (SRB, IB and TGB) was also investigated.

Description: The structural properties of the uranium-encapsulated nano-cage U@Au14 are predicted using density functional theory. The presence of the uranium atom makes the Au14 structure more stable than the empty Au14-cage, with a triplet ground electronic state for U@Au14. Analysis of the electronic structure shows that the two frontier single-occupied molecular orbital electrons of U@Au14 mainly originate from the 5f shell of the U atom after charge transfer. Meanwhile, the bonding orbitals and charge population indicate that the designed U@Au14 nano-cage structure is stabilized by ionocovalent interactions. The current findings provide theoretical basis for future syntheses and further study of actinide doped gold nanoclusters, which might subsequently facilitate applications of such structure in radio-labeling, nanodrug carrier and other biomedical applications. Scientific Reports 4 doi: 10.1038/srep05862

Description: The Journal of Organic Chemistry DOI: 10.1021/jo500931e

Description: A film comprising randomly distributed metal/dielectric/metal sandwich nanopillars with a distribution of cross-sectional diameters, displayed extremely low reflectance over the blue-to-red regime, when coated on glass and illuminated normally. When it is illuminated by normally incident light, this sandwich film (SWF) has a low extinction coefficient, its phase thickness is close to a negative wavelength in the blue-to-red spectral regime, and it provides weakly dispersive forward and backward impedances, so that reflected waves from the two faces of the SWF interfere destructively. Broadband reflection-reduction, over a wide range of incidence angles and regardless of the polarization state of the incident light, was observed when the SWF was deposited on polished silicon. Scientific Reports 3 doi: 10.1038/srep01672