| 1. |
- Sun, Kai, et al.
(author)
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Size-Dependent Property and Cell Labeling of Semiconducting Polymer Dots
- 2014
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In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 6:13, s. 10802-10812
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) represent a new class of fluorescent nanoparticles for biological applications. In this study, we investigated their size-dependent fluorescence and cellular labeling properties. We demonstrate that the polymer conformation in solution phase largely affects the polymer folding and packing during the nanoparticle preparation process, resulting in solution-phase control over the fluorescence properties of semiconducting polymer nanoparticles. The resulting Pdots exhibit apparent size dependent absorption and emission, a characteristic feature of different chain packing behaviors due to the preparation conditions. Single-particle fluorescence imaging was employed to perform a side-by-side comparison on the Pdot brightness, indicating a quadratic dependence of single-particle brightness on particle size. Upon introducing a positively charged dye Nile blue, all the three type of Pdots were quenched very efficiently (K-sv greater than 1 x 10(7) M-1) in an applied quenching process at low dye concentrations, but exhibit apparent difference in quenching efficiency with increasing dye concentration. Furthermore, Pdots of different sizes were used for cell uptake and cellular labeling involving biotin-streptavidin interactions. Fluorescence imaging together with flow cytometry studies clearly showed size dependent labeling brightness. Small-sized Pdots appear to be more effective for immunolabeling of cell surface, whereas medium-sized Pdots exhibit the highest uptake efficiency. This study provides a concrete guidance for selecting appropriate particle size for biological imaging and sensing applications.
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| 2. |
- Wang, Yawei, et al.
(author)
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Quantitative structure-activity relationship for prediction of the toxicity of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners
- 2006
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In: Chemosphere. - : Elsevier BV. - 0045-6535 .- 1879-1298. ; 64:4, s. 515-524
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Levels of Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs) are increasing in the environment due to their use as flame retardants. The similarities of structure to polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners suggest that they may share similar toxicological properties, such as hepatic enzyme induction. In this work, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models were constructed based on 406 descriptors for the logarithm of toxicology index (aryl hydrocarbon receptor relative binding affinities, AhR, I) of 18 PBDE congeners. The method used for building model is the Heuristic method, which is included in comprehensive descriptors for structural and statistical analysis (CODESSA) software. The best regression model involved four descriptors, which were related to the conformational changes, atomic reactivity, molecular electrostatic field, and non-uniformity of mass distribution in a molecule of PBDEs, etc. The high square of the correlation coefficient R(2)(0.903) showed the model was satisfactory.
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| 3. |
- Wu, Haimei, et al.
(author)
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Effects of the Isomerized Thiophene-Fused Ending Groups on the Performances of Twisted Non-Fullerene Acceptor-Based Polymer Solar Cells
- 2020
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In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 12:21, s. 23904-23913
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recently, benefiting from the merits of small-molecule acceptors (NFAs), polymer solar cells (PSCs) have achieved tremendous advances. From the perspective of the structural characteristics of the pi-conjugated acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) type of organic molecules, the backbones planarity and the terminal groups and their substituents have strong influences on the performances of the constructed NFAs. Through enlarging the dihedral angle of the conjugated main chain of NFAs, a certain degree of enhancement of photovoltaic parameters has been achieved. To further probe the influences of ending groups on the performances of nonplanar NFAs, we synthesized two new NFAs i-cc23 and i-cc34 with isomerized thiophene-fused ending groups and a twisted pi-conjugated main chain. Compared to i-cc23 containing the 2-(6-oxo-5,6-dihydro-4H-cyclopenta[b]thiophen-4-ylidene)malononitrile ending group, the acceptor i-cc34 containing 2-(6-oxo-5,6-dihydro-4H-cyclopenta[c]thiophen-4-ylidene)malononitrile has a relatively higher molar extinction coefficient, bathochromic-shifted absorption spectrum, and deepened energy levels. When mixed with PBDB-T in solar cells, the i-cc23-based device achieved an excellent open-circuit voltage (V-OC) of 1.10 V and a moderate power conversion efficiency of 7.34%. Although the V-OC of the i-cc34-related device was decreased to 0.96 V, the short-circuit current density and fill factor were improved, giving rise to an enhanced efficiency of 9.51%. Apart from the distinct photovoltaic performances, the two isomer-based devices exhibit a high radiative efficiency of 8 x 10(-4), leading to a very small nonradiative loss of 0.19 V. Our results emphasize the importance of the isomerized thiophene-fused ending groups on the performances of nonplanar NFA-based PSCs.
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| 4. |
- Cho, Yoon Shin, et al.
(author)
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Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies eight new loci for type 2 diabetes in east Asians.
- 2012
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 44:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We conducted a three-stage genetic study to identify susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in east Asian populations. We followed our stage 1 meta-analysis of eight T2D genome-wide association studies (6,952 cases with T2D and 11,865 controls) with a stage 2 in silico replication analysis (5,843 cases and 4,574 controls) and a stage 3 de novo replication analysis (12,284 cases and 13,172 controls). The combined analysis identified eight new T2D loci reaching genome-wide significance, which mapped in or near GLIS3, PEPD, FITM2-R3HDML-HNF4A, KCNK16, MAEA, GCC1-PAX4, PSMD6 and ZFAND3. GLIS3, which is involved in pancreatic beta cell development and insulin gene expression, is known for its association with fasting glucose levels. The evidence of an association with T2D for PEPD and HNF4A has been shown in previous studies. KCNK16 may regulate glucose-dependent insulin secretion in the pancreas. These findings, derived from an east Asian population, provide new perspectives on the etiology of T2D.
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| 5. |
- Dong, Lili, et al.
(author)
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Effects of different forms of nitrogen addition on microbial extracellular enzyme activity in temperate grassland soil
- 2022
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In: Ecological Processes. - : Springer. - 2192-1709. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Nitrogen (N) deposition alters litter decomposition and soil carbon (C) sequestration by influencing the microbial community and its enzyme activity. Natural atmospheric N deposition comprises of inorganic N (IN) and organic N (ON) compounds. However, most studies have focused on IN and its effect on soil C cycling, whereas the effect of ON on microbial enzyme activity is poorly understood. Here we studied the effects of different forms of externally supplied N on soil enzyme activities related to decomposition in a temperate steppe. Ammonium nitrate was chosen as IN source, whereas urea and glycine were chosen as ON sources. Different ratios of IN to ON (Control, 10:0, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, and 0:10) were mixed with equal total amounts of N and then used to fertilize the grassland soils for 6 years. Results Our results show that IN deposition inhibited lignin-degrading enzyme activity, such as phenol oxidase (POX) and peroxidase (PER), which may restrain decomposition and thus induce accumulation of recalcitrant organic C in grassland soils. By contrast, deposition of ON and mixed ON and IN enhanced most of the C-degrading enzyme activities, which may promote the organic matter decomposition in grassland soils. In addition, the beta-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG) activity was remarkably stimulated by fertilization with both IN and ON, maybe because of the elevated N availability and the lack of N limitation after long-term N fertilization at the grassland site. Meanwhile, differences in soil pH, soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and microbial biomass partially explained the differential effects on soil enzyme activity under different forms of N treatments. Conclusions Our results emphasize the importance of organic N deposition in controlling soil processes, which are regulated by microbial enzyme activities, and may consequently change the ecological effect of N deposition. Thus, more ON deposition may promote the decomposition of soil organic matter thus converting C sequestration in grassland soils into a C source.
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| 6. |
- Flannick, Jason, et al.
(author)
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Data Descriptor : Sequence data and association statistics from 12,940 type 2 diabetes cases and controls
- 2017
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In: Scientific Data. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2052-4463. ; 4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To investigate the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) to high resolution, the GoT2D and T2D-GENES consortia catalogued variation from whole-genome sequencing of 2,657 European individuals and exome sequencing of 12,940 individuals of multiple ancestries. Over 27M SNPs, indels, and structural variants were identified, including 99% of low-frequency (minor allele frequency [MAF] 0.1-5%) non-coding variants in the whole-genome sequenced individuals and 99.7% of low-frequency coding variants in the whole-exome sequenced individuals. Each variant was tested for association with T2D in the sequenced individuals, and, to increase power, most were tested in larger numbers of individuals (> 80% of low-frequency coding variants in similar to ~82 K Europeans via the exome chip, and similar to ~90% of low-frequency non-coding variants in similar to ~44 K Europeans via genotype imputation). The variants, genotypes, and association statistics from these analyses provide the largest reference to date of human genetic information relevant to T2D, for use in activities such as T2D-focused genotype imputation, functional characterization of variants or genes, and other novel analyses to detect associations between sequence variation and T2D.
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| 7. |
- Fuchsberger, Christian, et al.
(author)
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The genetic architecture of type 2 diabetes
- 2016
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 536:7614, s. 41-47
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The genetic architecture of common traits, including the number, frequency, and effect sizes of inherited variants that contribute to individual risk, has been long debated. Genome-wide association studies have identified scores of common variants associated with type 2 diabetes, but in aggregate, these explain only a fraction of the heritability of this disease. Here, to test the hypothesis that lower-frequency variants explain much of the remainder, the GoT2D and T2D-GENES consortia performed whole-genome sequencing in 2,657 European individuals with and without diabetes, and exome sequencing in 12,940 individuals from five ancestry groups. To increase statistical power, we expanded the sample size via genotyping and imputation in a further 111,548 subjects. Variants associated with type 2 diabetes after sequencing were overwhelmingly common and most fell within regions previously identified by genome-wide association studies. Comprehensive enumeration of sequence variation is necessary to identify functional alleles that provide important clues to disease pathophysiology, but large-scale sequencing does not support the idea that lower-frequency variants have a major role in predisposition to type 2 diabetes.
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| 8. |
- Wang, Ji, et al.
(author)
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Microstructure investigations of Fe50Mn30Co10Cr10 dual-phase high-entropy alloy under Fe ions irradiation
- 2021
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In: Journal of Nuclear Materials. - : ELSEVIER. - 0022-3115 .- 1873-4820. ; 552
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An Fe50Mn30Co10Cr10 dual-phase high-entropy alloy (DP-HEA) was irradiated at room temperature with 3 MeV Fe ions to a dose of 50 displacement per atom (dpa). Potentials of special elemental designed DP-HEAs with low stacking fault energy (SFE) as promising candidate materials for future nuclear energy systems are evaluated. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis finds that FCC gamma-gamma, HCP epsilon-epsilon twinning structures and FCC gamma-HCP epsilon co-existed structures of the DP-HEA, which correlate with the combined high strength and high ductility featured by this alloy, remain stable under a displacement damage of 50 dpa. No elemental segregation after irradiation was detected by energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results indicate that TWIP and TRIP mechanisms, owned by many other DP-HEAs, may still work effectively, and the materials still possess the merits of combined high strength and ductility brought by TWIP and TRIP mechanisms under irradiation conditions. Defects free channels (DFCs) and abundant Lomer-Cottrell (L-C) locks are observed in the irradiated samples after tensile deformation. The immobile L-C locks restrict DFCs growth, prevent the pile-up of dislocation along grain boundaries, thus sustaining dislocations in the grain interior. This study provides a new strategy to improve simultaneously the irradiation resistance and mechanical properties of structural materials by introducing the TWIP and TRIP mechanisms. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Wang, Ji, et al.
(author)
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Xe-ion-irradiation-induced structural transitions and elemental diffusion in high-entropy alloy and nitride thin-film multilayers
- 2022
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In: Materials & design. - : Elsevier Science Ltd. - 0264-1275 .- 1873-4197. ; 219
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The study aims to understand the irradiation behavior of multilayer coatings composed of high-entropy materials. Here, we report the structural stability and elemental segregation of high-entropy TiNbZrTa/CrFeCoNi metallic and nitride multilayer coatings under 3-MeV Xe20+ ion-irradiation at room temperature and 500 degrees C, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy analysis shows that the microstructure of nanocrystalline CrFeCoNi high-entropy-alloy sublayers are not stable and readily transforms into amorphous state at 500 degrees C and/or under irradiation conditions. The elemental distribution, acquired by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy under scanning transmission electron microscopy mode, shows preferential diffusion of Co and Ni into TiNbZrTa sublayers, while Fe and Cr preferentially remain within the previous CrFeCoNi sublayers. TiNbZrTaN/CrFeCoNiNx nitride multilayers exhibit a higher crystallinity and structural stability as well as resistance to diffusion at high-temperature and/or irradiation conditions than their TiNbZrTa/CrFeCoNi metallic multilayer counterparts. These findings are explained by atomic size differences, the difference in Gibbs free energy of the mixing system, and interstitial-solute-induced chemical heterogeneity. Our findings thus provide a design strategy of high entropy nitride for nuclear fuel cladding. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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| 10. |
- Xu, Lin, et al.
(author)
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Methyl siloxanes in environmental matrices around a siloxane production facility, and their distribution and elimination in plasma of exposed population
- 2012
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In: Environmental Science and Technology. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0013-936X .- 1520-5851. ; 46:21, s. 11718-26
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this study, we systematically investigated methyl siloxanes (D4-D6, L3-L16) exposure to workers from and residents living near a siloxanes manufacturing facility by measuring their concentrations in both environmental matrices (air, dust/soil, n = 62) and human plasma samples (n = 201). For the seventeen target compounds, the average concentrations in indoor matrixes from six workshops of the facility ranged from 0.6 μg/m(3) to 2.7 mg/m(3) in air samples and from 0.36 μg/g to 1.16 mg/g in dust samples, which were 3-5 orders of magnitudes higher than those levels at the reference zone. In plasma samples from the current workers in six workshops and residents living near the facility, the average concentrations of methyl siloxanes were 5.61-451 and 4.56-13.5 ng/g, respectively, which were 1-2 magnitudes higher than those in the reference group. Plasma methyl siloxanes concentrations of people from different workshops were positively correlated with their exposure levels, indicating that high occupational exposure in siloxane production process elevated human plasma concentrations. However, there was no significant correlation between human plasma concentrations with their duration of occupation. These methyl siloxanes were eliminated from human plasma with half-lives ranging from 2.34 to 9.64 days, which increased with the increasing number of Si-O bonds for most analogues.
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| 11. |
- Yang, Xin, et al.
(author)
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Tribo-corrosion resistance of Ti-Nb-Cr-Mo-Al refractory high-entropy alloys in molten aluminum
- 2023
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In: Corrosion Science. - 0010-938X. ; 224
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ti40Nb25Cr15Mo10Al10 and Ti40Nb20Cr20Mo10Al10 refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) were designed and fabricated, aiming at investigating their mechanical properties, corrosion and tribo-corrosion behavior in molten aluminum. Compared with H13 steel, these RHEAs exhibit significantly better combinations of high-temperature mechanical properties, corrosion and tribo-corrosion resistance. Low solubility of constituent elements in molten aluminum along with slow diffusion of Al atoms in RHEAs’ matrices, are responsible for the outstanding corrosion resistance of RHEAs. Exceptional tribo-corrosion resistance of RHEAs derives from their outstanding combinations of corrosion resistance and high-temperature mechanical properties. Additionally, higher content of Cr in RHEAs would lead to worse tribo-corrosion resistance.
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| 12. |
- Yoo, Seungyeul, et al.
(author)
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A community effort to identify and correct mislabeled samples in proteogenomic studies
- 2021
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In: Patterns. - : Elsevier BV. - 2666-3899. ; 2:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sample mislabeling or misannotation has been a long-standing problem in scientific research, particularly prevalent in large-scale, multi-omic studies due to the complexity of multi-omic workflows. There exists an urgent need for implementing quality controls to automatically screen for and correct sample mislabels or misannotations in multi-omic studies. Here, we describe a crowdsourced precisionFDA NCI-CPTAC Multi-omics Enabled Sample Mislabeling Correction Challenge, which provides a framework for systematic benchmarking and evaluation of mislabel identification and correction methods for integrative proteogenomic studies. The challenge received a large number of submissions from domestic and international data scientists, with highly variable performance observed across the submitted methods. Post-challenge collaboration between the top-performing teams and the challenge organizers has created an open-source software, COSMO, with demonstrated high accuracy and robustness in mislabeling identification and correction in simulated and real multi-omic datasets.
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