IgG4-related kidney disease complicated with retroperitoneal fibrosis: A case report.

BACKGROUND: IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a chronic fibrotic disease mediated by immunity recognized by clinicians in recent years. When the kidney is involved, it is called IgG4-related kidney disease (IgG4-RKD). IgG4-related tubulointerstitial nephritis (IgG4-TIN) is a representative manifestation of IgG4-RKD. IgG4-TIN can cause obstructive nephropathy complicated by retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF). Cases of IgG4-TIN complicated with RPF are rare. Glucocorticoids are the first-line therapeutic medication for IgG4-RD and can significantly improve renal function. CASE SUMMARY: Herein, we report the case of a 56-year-old man with IgG4-RKD complicated with RPF. The patient presented to the hospital with complaints of elevated serum creatinine (Cr), nausea, and vomiting. During hospitalization, Cr was 1448.6 µmol/L, and serum IgG4 was increased. A total abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan and enhanced CT scan obviously indicated RPF. Although this patient had a long course and renal insufficiency, we performed a kidney biopsy. Renal biopsy showed that the renal tubulointerstitium had focal plasma cell infiltration and increased lymphocyte infiltration accompanied by fibrosis. After combining the biopsy results with immunohistochemistry, it was found that the absolute number of positive IgG4+ cells per high power field exceeded 10, and the ratio of IgG4/IgG was over 40%. Finally, the patient was diagnosed with IgG4-TIN complicated with RPF and given glucocorticoids as long-term maintenance therapy, helping him keep out of dialysis. After a follow-up of 19 mo, the patient had recovered well. Previous literature on IgG4-RKD and RPF was retrieved from PubMed to characterize the clinical and pathological features and to identify the diagnosis and treatment of IgG4-RKD. CONCLUSION: Our case report demonstrates the clinical characteristics of IgG4-RKD complicated with RPF. Serum IgG4 is a favorable indicator for screening. Performing renal biopsy actively plays a vital role in diagnosis and treatment, even if the patient has a long course and manifests with renal insufficiency. It is remarkable to treat IgG4-RKD with glucocorticoids. Hence, early diagnosis and targeted therapy are essential for reversing renal function and improving extrarenal manifestations in patients with IgG4-RKD.

One-Pot Fabrication of TiO2 Rutile Nanorods/Anatase Nanoparticles: Mixed Crystal Phase and Morphology-Control for Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance.

The formation of nanocrystals with a controlled composition and desirable nanostructure is a prominent challenge in many science and technology fields. In this study, rutile TiO2 nanorods coexisting with anatase TiO2 nanoparticles were fabricated via a mild one-pot hydrothermal process. Results indicate an interesting phenomenon wherein adding an appropriate amount of oxalic acid can realize proportional regulation of anatase and the rutile phase. An increasing quantity of oxalic acid changes the crystalline phase from rutile to anatase accompanied by morphological changes from TiO2 nanorods to nanoparticles. The optimized anatase/rutile crystalline phase and TiO2 nanorods/nanoparticles morphology enhance the light-scattering and electron transfer ability. When the percentage of anatase phase increased to 67%, the composite architecture grew by 60% in photoelectric conversion efficiency and 0.1 V in open-circuit voltage. This study opens a door to the fabrication of the controllable mixed crystal composition and the designed micro-nano structure for the improvement on the photovoltaic performance.

Microsphere assembly of TiO2 mesoporous nanosheets with highly exposed (101) facets and application in a light-trapping quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell.

The morphology of nano-titania has a significant effect on the photoelectric properties of dye-sensitized solar cells. In this study, microsphere assembly of a TiO2 mesoporous nanosheet constructed by nanocuboids was conducted via a simple hydrothermal process. The XRD pattern indicated that the hierarchical mesoporous microspheres are anatase phase with decreased (004) peaks. Raman spectrum shows enhanced Eg peaks at 143 and 638 cm(-1) caused by the symmetric stretching vibration of O-Ti-O of the (101) crystalline facet in anatase TiO2. FESEM and TEM images show that well monodispersed TiO2 microspheres with a diameter of 2 µm are assembled by TiO2 mesoporous nanosheets with exposed (101) facets. The oriented attachment of TiO2 nanocuboids along the (101) direction leads to the formation of mesoporous titania nanosheets. The UV-Vis spectrum shows that the mesoporous TiO2 nanosheets have high scattering ability and light absorption by dye. Quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells that incorporate these microspheres into the top scattering layers exhibit a prominent improvement in the power conversion efficiency of 7.51%, which shows a 45.8% increase in the overall conversion efficiency when compared with the spine hierarchical TiO2 microspheres (5.15%). There is the potential application for microsphere assembly of mesoporous TiO2 nanosheets in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with excellent stability.

D-D-π-A organic dyes containing 4,4'-di(2-thienyl)triphenylamine moiety for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are currently under intense academic and industrial investigations, because of their environmentally-friendly, efficient, and low-cost features. The photosensitizer plays a key role in determining DSSCs' performance. The 4,4'-di(2-thienyl)triphenylamine moiety, included in dye TTC102, has been demonstrated before as a novel and efficient electron donor fragment. In this paper, the oversimple π-conjugated bridge of TTC102 was replaced by a 9-ethyl-3,6-di(2-thiophenyl)carbazole moiety. Two new D-D-π-A sensitizers, named TTC104 and TTC105, were synthesized and fully characterized. After anchoring on TiO(2) nanoparticle film, the absorption band of TTC104 is broader by 30 nm than that of TTC102. Under AM 1.5G irradiation, the energy conversion efficiency (η) of a DSSC based on TTC104 reaches 6.36%, which is 21.6% higher than that of TTC102 (5.24%). The results above demonstrate that the photovoltaic performance can be improved after introducing the 9-ethyl-3,6-di(2-thiophenyl)carbazole moiety to TTC102 when employed in DSSCs. Dye TTC105, containing a pyridyl group as the electron acceptor, showed only 1.88% conversion efficiency (η) when used in DSSCs. The huge different performances of TTC104 and TTC105 are proved to be partly due to the smaller dye loading amount, higher dark current and charge recombination rate of TTC105.

Construction of hollow and mesoporous ZnO microsphere: a facile synthesis and sensing property.

Mesoporous and hollow structure have been attracting increasing attention for their special properties and potential applications. Here we show a facile fabrication of hollow and mesoporous ZnO microsphere via a one-step wet chemical process using polyethylene glycol (PEG, MW 200) as the solvent and soft template. The morphology and structure of the products were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction techniques. Thermal analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy techniques were also performed to show the properties of the precursor and annealed product. A possible growth mechanism of hollow and mesoporous ZnO microsphere was also proposed. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of ZnO microsphere is 28.5 m(2)g(-1) and the size of mesopores is about 10 nm. The Photoluminescence spectra of the as-synthesized ZnO hollow microspheres were also presented. The mesoporous and hollow structure enhance the gas sensitivity of ZnO microsphere, and the obtained ZnO microspheres based sensor has an excellent performance for precision detection of ethanol and acetone with low concentration.

Improvement of dye-sensitized solar cells' performance through introducing suitable heterocyclic groups to triarylamine dyes.

Dye-sensitized solar cells are currently under intense academic and industrial investigation, owing to their great potential to serve as a low-cost alternative to existing photovoltaic technologies. This paper puts forward a method, which adopts heterocyclic substituted triarylamine units as electronic donor moieties, to design triarylamine dyes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. Three novel triarylamine dyes named TTC101, TTC102 and TTC103, were synthesized economically through modification of the structure of a simple triarylamine dye (TC105) using three kinds of heterocyclic groups (4-pyridyl, 2-thienyl and 1-pyrazolyl). The crystal structure of TTC103 indicates that the heterocyclic groups would partly delocalize the positive charge after photooxidation. The overall solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiencies (η) of TTC102 and TTC103 are 4.92% and 5.21% respectively under AM1.5G irradiation, reaching ∼82.3% and ∼77.7% of a N719-based reference cell under the same conditions. Besides, the energy conversion efficiencies (η) of TTC102 and TTC103 are 1.29 and 1.37 times the efficiency of TC105 respectively. All of the results above demonstrate that photovoltaic performance can be improved by introducing suitable heterocyclic groups to triarylamine dyes. A series of properties were investigated to explain the results, with a special emphasis on the geometric structures, energetics, and charge transfer processes at the dye/titania/electrolyte interface.

Synergistic manipulation of micro-nanostructures and composition: anatase/rutile mixed-phase TiO2 hollow micro-nanospheres with hierarchical mesopores for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications.

The construction of nanocrystals with controllable composition and desirable micro-nanostructures is a well-known challenge. A combination of favorable composition and optimized micro-nanostructures can enhance the performance of a material significantly. Using TiO(2) as an example, we demonstrate here a facile approach to prepare anatase/rutile mixed-phase TiO(2) hollow micro-nanospheres with hierarchical mesopores. Our strategy relies on polymer-assisted assembly of ∼ 5 nm nano-building blocks into three-dimensional hierarchical hollow micro-nanospheres in a mixed alcohol-water solution. This superior micro-nanostructure endows the sample with hierarchical mesopores and a high surface area of 106 m(2) g(-1). We also show that, due to the synergetic effects of the mixed-phase composition and the micro-nanostructures, the sample exhibited significantly improved photovoltaic performance and similar photocatalytic performance compared with the commercial Degussa P25. These results suggested that our sample has great potential for future photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications.

Fabrication of rutile TiO2 tapered nanotubes with rectangular cross-sections via anisotropic corrosion route.

We demonstrate here for the first time the fabrication of a novel morphology of rutile TiO(2) tapered nanotubes with rectangular cross-sections via a facile hydrothermal method using TiO(2) nanorod as the precursor. A plausible anisotropic corrosion mechanism for the formation of TiO(2) nanotubes is also proposed.

Temperature-induced solid-phase oriented rearrangement route to the fabrication of NaNbO3 nanowires.

We proposed here a temperature-induced solid-phase oriented rearrangement route to the fabrication of NaNbO(3) nanowires by using sandia octahedral molecular sieves (SOMS) Na(2)Nb(2)O(6) x H(2)O as a precursor. The SOMS precursor was prepared by using metal Nb powder as a raw material through the hydrothermal approach.

Mechanistic investigations of PEG-directed assembly of one-dimensional ZnO nanostructures.

Mechanistic investigation on spherical assembly of the unique one-dimensional ZnO nanorods, solid nanocones, or hollow prisms with the closed -c end, directed by poly ethylene glycol (PEG) with different molecular weights, has been carried out using spectroscopic methods. The single crystalline ZnO nanoprisms, hollow along the c axis but closed at the -c end, aggregate to urchin-type globules in the microscale when PEG 2000 is used as directing reagent, while spherical aggregates of single crystalline ZnO nanocones are obtained under the direction of PEG 200. Studies reveal that both the PEG molecules aggregate to globules by interacting with zinc species in suitable solvents and englobe the zinc species. By the short time of ultrasonic pretreatment on the solution, a kind of flagellum structure is induced around the globules, in long tubular shapes for PEG 2000 but as shorter wedges for PEG 200. The globules with flagellums are templates for the assembly of the ZnO nanotubes or ZnO nanocones in the hydrothermal treatment. The tiny ZnO crystallites, produced in the hydrothermal process, stack to the templates and amalgamate to single crystalline nanotubes or nanocones, similar to the oriented attachment mechanism. The PEG 2000 template is included in the ZnO cavity of nanotubes, while PEG 200 is excluded from the ZnO nanocones due to the different intertwist properties between the two PEG molecules. Both the urchin-type assemblies, possessing the same external crystalline plane, compose a isotropic powder and emit very strong yellow light, centered at approximately 2.1 eV, under the excitation of the He-Cd laser at 325 nm, which has been correlated to the specific crystal plane. The special powders will be easily coated onto any type of surface for the decoration of a large area of surfaces for future applications.

Microsphere organization of nanorods directed by PEG linear polymer.

We demonstrate the sphere organization of ZnO, Bi2S3, MnO2, and La(OH)3 nanorods directed by PEG linear polymer. Our study shows that zinc, bismuth, manganese, or lanthanum species added to PEG solutions, in which PEG molecules are well dissolved in a coil state, convert the polymer coils to aggregate structures, which further aggregate into micrometer-sized M(n+)-PEG globules. The concentration of metallic species is higher in the globules than in bulk solutions. The surfaces of the globules act as soft templates for the initial nucleation and thereafter the growth of the nanorods. Finally, echinus-type assemblies of single-crystalline nanorods form by the metallic species hydrolyzing or reacting with deposition agents. This approach opens the possibility of using polymers as soft templates to control the organization of nano building units into designed structures.