This study investigated a new film-deposition technique, ultrasonic spray-coating, for use in the production of a photoactive layer of perovskite solar cells. Stable atomization and facile fabrication of perovskite thin films by ultrasonic spray-coating were achieved in a one-step method through manipulating the ink formulation (e.g., solution concentration, precursor composition, and mixing solvent ratio) and the drying kinetics (e.g., post-annealing temperature). The performance of the perovskite solar cells was mainly influenced by the intrinsic film morphology and crystalline orientation of the deposited perovskite layer. By suitable optimization of the spreading and drying conditions of the ink, ultrasonic spray-coated perovskite photovoltaic devices were obtained with a maximum power conversion efficiency of 11.30 %, a fill factor of 73.6 %, a short-circuit current of 19.7 mA cm , and an open-circuit voltage of 0.78 V, respectively. Notably, the average power efficiency reached above 10 %, attributed to the large flower-like perovskite crystal with orientation along the (1 1 2)/(2 0 0) and (2 2 4)/(4 0 0) directions. Thus, the ultrasonic spray-coating method for perovskite photoactive layers, combining advantages of good photovoltaic performance results and benefits from cost and processing, has the potential for large-scale commercial production.

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BackgroundChicken anemia virus (CAV), the causative agent chicken anemia, is the only member of the genus Gyrovirus of the Circoviridae family. CAV is an immune suppressive virus and causes anemia, lymph organ atrophy and immunodeficiency. The production and biochemical characterization of VP1 protein and its use in a subunit vaccine or as part of a diagnostic kit would be useful to CAV infection prevention.ResultsSignificantly increased expression of the recombinant full-length VP1 capsid protein from chicken anemia virus was demonstrated using an E. coli expression system. The VP1 gene was cloned into various different expression vectors and then these were expressed in a number of different E. coli strains. The expression of CAV VP1 in E. coli was significantly increased when VP1 was fused with GST protein rather than a His-tag. By optimizing the various rare amino acid codons within the N-terminus of the VP1 protein, the expression level of the VP1 protein in E. coli BL21(DE3)-pLysS was further increased significantly. The highest protein expression level obtained was 17.5 g/L per liter of bacterial culture after induction with 0.1 mM IPTG for 2 h. After purification by GST affinity chromatography, the purified full-length VP1 protein produced in this way was demonstrated to have good antigenicity and was able to be recognized by CAV-positive chicken serum in an ELISA assay.ConclusionsPurified recombinant VP1 protein with the gene's codons optimized in the N-terminal region has potential as chimeric protein that, when expressed in E. coli, may be useful in the future for the development of subunit vaccines and diagnostic tests.

A.D.) . 1) Depending on the therapeutic application, the same plant material can be processed differently. The processing of materials is thought to have the following functions: reduction of toxicity and side effects, to potentiate biological effects, to change properties or functions, to preserve the active constituents, to facilitate the administration, to correct an unpleasant taste or to increase its purity by reduction of contaminations such as soil.2) In current TCM practice, all the materials are strictly required to be properly processed before using for therapeutic application. Understanding the metabolic changes during processing is of great important for quality control Chinese medicinal herbal materials.Rehmannia glutinosa LIBOSCH. (Scrophulariaceae) is one of the most popular medicinal plants whose roots used in TCM for treating of metabolic related disorders. According to the traditional uses, Rehmanniae radix has curing activity on disorders of liver and kidneys, hectic fever, night sweat and dizziness.3) It has been reported that Rehmanniae radix has a wide range of clinical activities including haemostatic, promoting blood coagulation, cardiotonic, diuretic and antiinflammatory activities.4) Hypoglycemic effects, 5,6) anti-tumor activity, 7,8) immediate type allergic reaction inhibition, 9) and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) secretion inhibiting activity 3) were also found in the extracts of R. glutinosa roots.In addition, Rehmanniae radix stimulates the proliferation and activities of osteoblasts, suggesting a potential to treat osteoporosis by enhancing the metabolism. 10)There are two types of Rehmanniae radix used as medicinal herb, a non-processed (dried root) and a processed one. They are used in quite different therapeutic applications and the choice is strictly defined in TCM theory and practice. The dried, non-processed Rehmanniae radix has a "cold" property according to TCM theory. It means that Rehmanniae radix is able to cure "heat" symptoms. In the modern literature, these non-processed roots have reported to have the following major pharmacological effects such as the effects on plasma corticosterone concentration and preventing the adrenal cortex from atrophy in rabbits 11); a cardiac effect in the isolated frog heart model 12); anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects in rat 12) and an hypoglycemic activity in spontaneous diabetic mice.13) However, the processed Rehmanniae radix treated by steaming and drying for several cycles (generally nine times) have a slightly "warm" property that means Rehmanniae radix is good for treatment of "cold" symptoms. The major pharmacological effect has been reported to prevent an induction of impediment in the peripheral microcirculation against various chronic diseases through the improvement of hemorheology, 14,15) Recently, three 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) derivates have been found in processed Rehmanniae radix only. 5-Hydroxymethyl-2-furfural, one of three 5-HMF derivates which obtained by thermal degradation of saccharine is a...

Metabolite profiling in combination with multivariate statistics is a sophisticated method for quality assessment of natural products. For the development of a quality control strategy in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we have measured the metabolite fingerprints of Rehmannia glutinosa by GC-MS. Plants were grown under different climate and soil conditions in a phytotron and were processed by a variable number of repetitive steps to investigate the effects on both growth conditions and processing for material medica of R. glutinosa. The GC-MS data have been analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and the new approach of the ANOVA-simultaneous component analysis (ASCA) which can combine the information from a structured data design with multivariate analysis. The results clearly show the effect of the different factors and indicate directions for process improvement. When plants were grown under various temperatures, humidity and light intensities for a short period (3 weeks), no significant changes on studied metabolites were observed. However, significant changes were found between different processing cycles. The present data clearly indicate the importance of strictly controlling processing in R. glutinosa and illustrate the impact of growth conditions. This is the first report on the metabolite profile of R. glutinosa that provides a base for the establishment of a quality control strategy.