To overcome the poor solubility of the widely 8 used p-type dopant 2, 3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoqui-9 nodimethane (F4TCNQ) 31,32 and 3,6-difluoro-2,5,7,7,8,8-75 In this paper, we first demonstrate a straightforward synthetic 88 route to soluble versions of F4TCNQ-type dopants by 89 substituting the cyano groups with either methyl or n-octyl f1 90 esters (Figure 1). A comprehensive study of the electro-91 chemical properties of these F4TCNQ analogues is performed 92 using cyclic voltammetry. With a combination of optical 93 absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and 94 conductivity measurements, we not only demonstrate the p-95 type doping of P3HT using these new dopants, but also show 96 that comparable doping efficiency can be achieved even with 97 slightly reduced electron affinity. These novel molecular 98 dopants establish that the introduction of solubility control is 99 a successful strategy to tailor the properties of organic p-type 100 dopants. 101 ■ EXPERIMENTAL SECTION 102Materials. 1,4-Bis(chloromethyl)-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzene was 103 purchased from Oakwood Products. Sodium hydride (60% dispersion 104 in mineral oil) was purchased from Alfa Aesar. Bromine, 105 perfluorobenzene, potassium carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, malono-106 nitrile, sodium acetate, sodium hydroxide, and phosphorus tribromide 107 were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Anhydrous dimethyl sulfoxide 108 (DMSO) and dimethylformamide (DMF) were purchased from Acros 109 Organics. Hydrochloric acid (37% aqueous), p-toluenesulfonic acid 110 monohydrate, ethanol, tetrahydrofuran (THF), dichloromethane 111 (DCM), ethyl acetate, toluene, and hexane were purchased from 112 Fisher Scientific. Acetic acid and sodium cyanide were purchased from 113 Fluka. Octanol was purchased from EM Science. Trifluoroacetic acid 114 (TFA) and acetic anhydride were purchased from EMD. P3HT 115 (Regioregular >98%, M n = 54−75 kDa, HOMO 5 eV and LUMO 3 116 eV) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. F4TCNQ (>98%) was 117 purchased from TCI. All chemicals were used as received unless 118 otherwise indicated. All solvents were dried over molecular sieves (3 119 Å) before use. 120Characterization.

Nonsyndromic orofacial cleft (NSOFC) is a severe birth defect that occurs early in embryonic development and includes the subtypes cleft palate only (CPO), cleft lip only (CLO) and cleft lip with cleft palate (CLP). Given a lack of specific genetic factor analysis for CPO and CLO, the present study aimed to dissect the landscape of genetic factors underlying the pathogenesis of these two subtypes using 6,986 cases and 10,165 controls. By combining a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for specific subtypes of CPO and CLO, as well as functional gene network and ontology pathway analysis, we identified 18 genes/loci that surpassed genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10−8) responsible for NSOFC, including nine for CPO, seven for CLO, two for both conditions and four that contribute to the CLP subtype. Among these 18 genes/loci, 14 are novel and identified in this study and 12 contain developmental transcription factors (TFs), suggesting that TFs are the key factors for the pathogenesis of NSOFC subtypes. Interestingly, we observed an opposite effect of the genetic variants in the IRF6 gene for CPO and CLO. Moreover, the gene expression dosage effect of IRF6 with two different alleles at the same single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) plays important roles in driving CPO or CLO. In addition, PAX9 is a key TF for CPO. Our findings define subtypes of NSOFC using genetic factors and their functional ontologies and provide a clue to improve their diagnosis and treatment in the future.

Hole mobility measurementHole mobility was measured according to a similar method described in the literature, using a diode configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/DCN7T/Al by taking current-voltage current in the range of 0-6 V and fitting the results to a space charge limited form, where the SCLC is described bywhere J is the current density, L is the film thickness of active layer, μ h is the hole mobility, ε r is the relative dielectric constant of the transport medium, ε 0 is the permittivity of free space (8.85 × 10 -12 F/m), V is the internal voltage in the device and V = V appl -V r -V bi , where V appl is the applied voltage to the device, V r is the voltage drop due to contact resistance and series resistance across the electrodes, and V bi is the built-in voltage due to the relative work function difference of the two electrodes. The V bi can be determined from the transition between the Ohmic region and the SCLC region and was found to be about 1.2 V. Device fabrication This journal isThe photovoltaic device was fabricated by use of a common process. The ITO-coated glass substrates were cleaned by ultrasonic treatment in detergent, deionized water, isopropyl alcohol, and acetone under ultrasonication for 20 minutes each and subsequently dried in oven for 12 hours. A thin layer of PEDOT:PSS (Baytron PH 500) was spin-coated (4000 rpm, ca. 40nm thick) onto ITO surface. After being baked at 120 o C for 20 min, the active layer was then spin-cast from a varied weight-to-weight (1:1, 1:1.4, 1:1.8, w/w) mixture of DCN7T (8 mg mL -1 ) and PCBM solution in chloroform at 500 rpm for 3 sec. and at 1300 rpm. for 9 sec on the ITO/PEDOT:PSS substrate without further special treatments. The active layer thickness was measured as ca. 110nm using a profilometer (Dektak 6M Stylus Profiler). After the film was transferred into a nitrogen filled glove box (< 0.1 ppm O 2 & H 2 O), 1 nm LiF layer and 70nm Al layer were deposited in sequence on the active layer. The effective area of each cell is ~ 9 mm 2 . Current-Voltage measurementAll current-voltage (J-V) characteristics of the photovoltaic devices were measured in air using a Keithley SMU 2400 unit. A Xenon lamp with a filter (broadpasss GRB-3, Beijing Changtuo Scientific limited company) to simulate AM1.5G conditions was used as the excitation source with a power of 100 mW cm -2 white light illumination from the ITO side. Light source illumination intensity was measured using a calibrated broadband optical power meter (FZ-A, wave length range 400-1000 nm, Photoelectric Instrument Co, Beijing Normal University, China). The fabrication and measurement are conducted in air at room temperature. The calculation of the power conversion efficiency, η, has been performed using the following equation: η = V oc J sc FF/P in where V oc , J sc , FF, and P in are the open circuit voltage, the short circuit current density, the fill factor and the incident light power, respectively. The fill factor FF is determined according to FF = (V m J m )/(V oc J sc ), where V m and J m are the voltag...

The function of Toll pathway defense against bacterial infection has been well established in shrimp, however how this pathway responds to viral infection is still largely unknown. In this study, we report the Toll4-Dorsal-AMPs cascade restricts the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection of shrimp. A total of nine Tolls from Litopenaeus vannamei namely Toll1-9 are identified, and RNAi screening in vivo reveals the Toll4 is important for shrimp to oppose WSSV infection. Knockdown of Toll4 results in elevated viral loads and renders shrimp more susceptible to WSSV. Furthermore, Toll4 could be a one of upstream pattern recognition receptor (PRR) to detect WSSV, and thereby leading to nuclear translocation and phosphorylation of Dorsal, the known NF-κB transcription factor of the canonical Toll pathway. More importantly, silencing of Toll4 and Dorsal contributes to impaired expression of a specific set of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) such as anti-LPS-factor (ALF) and lysozyme (LYZ) family, which exert potent anti-WSSV activity. Two AMPs of ALF1 and LYZ1 as representatives are demonstrated to have the ability to interact with several WSSV structural proteins to inhibit viral infection. Taken together, we therefore identify that the Toll4-Dorsal pathway mediates strong resistance to WSSV infection by inducing some specific AMPs.

No abstract

No abstract

High-efficiency polymer solar cells were made with a hydrophilic graphene oxide (GO) doped in poly(ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS) composites using a structure of indium tin oxide/PEDOT:PSS:GO (40 nm)/poly(3-hexylthiophene-1,3-diyl) (P3HT)-[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) (1:0.6, 100 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (70 nm). The energy conversion efficiency eta was enhanced from 2.1 to 3.8% by doping GO into the PEDOT:PSS buffer layer under AM1.5G 100 mW cm(-2) illumination in air. The pre-annealing of GO makes energy conversion efficiency 1.8 times that of the device based on a pristine PEDOT:PSS buffer layer. Because of the low price and ease of preparation, soluble graphene will be a promising buffer layer used in photovoltaic applications. Furthermore, it can be used in other electronic applications.

With the rapid development of tissue engineering therapies, there is a growing interest in the application of recombinant human growth factors (rhGFs) to regenerate human orofacial bones. However, despite reports of their ability to promote orofacial bone regeneration in animal experiments, their benefits in human clinical treatments remain unclear. Furthermore, the appropriate concentrations or indications of a specific rhGF remain ambiguous. Therefore it is essential to collect data from diverse clinical trials to evaluate their effects more precisely. Here we reviewed randomized clinical trials (RCT) that focused on the utilization of rhGFs in orofacial bone regeneration. Data from included studies were extracted, pooled and then quantitatively analyzed according to a pre-established protocol. Our results indicate that all current concentrations of rhBMP-2 produces insufficient effect on promoting either tooth extraction socket healing, sinus augmentation or reconstruction of alveolar clefts. However, 0.3 mg/ml rhPDGF-BB promotes the healing of tooth extraction sockets, though the effect does not reach a level of statistical significance. Summarily, we recommend concentrations of 0.3 mg/ml rhPDGF-BB only for the healing of tooth extraction sockets.