Cells of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus 6301 were grown under illumination whose spectral composition favoured absorption either by the phycobilisome (PBS) light-harvesting antenna of photosystem II (PS II) or by the chlorophyll (Chi) a light-harvesting antenna of photosystem I (PS I). Cells grown under PS I-light developed relatively high PS II/PS I and PBS/Chl ratios. Cells grown under PS I...

Lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs) have been applied in the biomedical area because they offer an excellent platform for theragnostic applications. In order to comprehensively evaluate the biocompatibility of PbS QDs in human cells, we analyzed the exosomes secreted from cells because exosomes are released during cellular stress to convey signals to other cells and serve as a reservoir of en...

In cyanobacteria such as Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, large antenna complexes called phycobilisomes (PBS) harvest light and transfer the energy to the photosynthetic reaction centers. Modification of the light harvesting machinery in cyanobacteria has widespread consequences, causing changes in cell morphology and physiology. In the current study, we investigated the effects of PBS truncation on...

We report on the fabrication of PbS-CdS (core-shell) quantum dot (QD)-sensitized solar cells by direct adsorption of core-shell QDs on mesoporous TiO2 followed by 3-mercaptopropionic acid ligand exchange. PbS-CdS QD-sensitized solar cells show 4 times higher efficiency with respect to solar cells sensitized with PbS QDs. The significantly enhanced mean electron lifetime and electron diffusion l...

This article provides a commentary, from a community pharmacy perspective, on the policy environment for the pharmacy sector in Australia, with a particular focus on present challenges arising from proposals to achieve substantial PBS cost savings from an anticipated surge of new generic drugs. Some $2 billion of medicines currently on the PBS will come off patent in the next 4 years. This grow...

We propose an ultracompact broadband polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on a combined hybrid plasmonic waveguide (HPW). The proposed PBS separates transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) modes using a bent lower HPW with vertical nanoscale gaps and a straight upper HPW with a horizontal nanoscale gap, respectively, without relying on an additional coupling region. This design ...

Eukaryotic cells possess several distinct mismatch repair pathways. A mismatch can be introduced in retroviral double-stranded DNA by a pre-existing mutation within the primer binding site (PBS) of the viral RNA genome. In order to evaluate mismatch repair of retroviral double-stranded DNA, Moloney leukemia virus (MLV)-based vectors with a mutation in their PBS were used to infect mismatch repa...

Although studies indicate that alveolar macrophages participate in host defense against Pneumocystis carinii, their role in organism degradation and clearance from the lung has not yet been established. We, therefore, quantified the uptake and degradation of 35S-labeled P. carinii by cultured macrophages, demonstrating significant degradation of P. carinii over 6 h. We further evaluated the rol...

To investigate the effects of two widely used anticoagulants and storage on the in vitro osmotic fragility of erythrocytes, haematocrit (Hct) and plasma osmolality of ostriches, blood was collected by venipuncture from 8 birds (90-110 kg) into vacutainer tubes containing either EDTA (k3) or lithium heparin. The osmotic fragility of the erythrocytes was determined by measuring the release of hae...

This article demonstrates a versatile method to prepare the hollow PbS nanospheres via the template method. First, the latex poly (vinyl benzyl chloride) (PVBC) nanoparticles were synthesized by the radical polymerization, followed by the atom transfer reversible polymerization of lead (II) dimethacrylate (Pb (MA)2) on the surfaces of the latex nanoparticles. Then, the ethanethioamide was react...