cDNA cloning, characterization and mRNA expression of a pacifastin light chain gene from the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis

The pacifastin family, characterized by several conserved arrays of six cysteine residues, is a newly identified serine protease inhibitor (SPI) family discovered uniquely in arthropods and plays important roles in multiple biological processes. In the present study, the full-length cDNA of a pacifastin light chain (designated ESPLC) was cloned from the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis by expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and PCR techniques. The 1036 bp ESPLC cDNA contained an 831 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a putative pacifastin-related peptide of 276 amino acids, a 5'-untranslated region (UTR) of 67 bp, and a 3'-UTR of 138 bp. Six putative conserved domains sharing a characteristic cysteine array (Cys-Xaa(9-12)-Cys-Asn-Xaa-Cys-Xaa-Cys-Xaa(2-3)-Gly-Xaa(3-4)-Cys-Thr-Xaa(3)-Cys) were identified in the deduced amino acid sequence of ESPLC. The conservation of these PLDs (pacifastin light chain domains) and the relative higher similarity of ESPLC to other pacifastin-related precursors suggested that ESPLC was a member of pacifastin family. The mRNA transcripts of ESPLC were found to be higher expressed in hepatopancreas, gill and haemolymph than in gonad, muscle and heart, with the highest expression level in hepatopancreas. The ESPLC mRNA expression in haemolymph of Chinese mitten crab was up-regulated at 2 h and 12 h after challenged with Listonella anguillarum. The tissue distribution and temporal characteristics of ESPLC mRNA expression, similar to that of prophenoloxidase gene in E. sinensis, suggested that ESPLC was potentially involved in the response against invading bacteria, with the possibility that it functioned in the prophenoloxidase system in E sinensis. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular structure and expression patterns of flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) Myf-5, a myogenic regulatory factor

Myf-5, a member of the myogenic regulatory factors (MRF), has been shown to be expressed in muscle precursors in early stage zebrafish embryos. The MRFs, including MyoD, Myf-5, Myogenin and MR-F4, belong to the basic Helix-Loop-Helix transcription factors that contain a conserved basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) domain. To better understand the role of Myf-5 in the development of fish muscles, we have isolated the Myf-5 genomic sequence and cDNA from Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), and analyzed its structures and patterns of expression. Promoter analysis identified several putative transcription factor binding sites such as an E-box, NF-Y sites that might confer muscle-specific expression. Myf-5 transcripts were first detected in the paraxial mesoderm that gives rise to slow muscles. During somitogenesis, Myf-5 expression was found in developing somites. Myf-5 expression decreased gradually in somites in the anterior region, but remained strong in the newly formed somites. In the hatching stage, the expression was also detected in other muscle cells such as head muscle and fin muscle. In the growing fish, RT-PCR results showed that Myf-5 was expressed in the skeletal muscle and intestine. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

胸苷酸合成酶和二氢叶酸还原酶mRNA亲和肽的发现及mRNA体外展示技术的优化

胸苷酸合成酶（thymidylate synthase，简称TS）和二氢叶酸还原酶（dihydrofolate reductase, 简称DHFR）都是叶酸依赖性酶，在维持DNA合成和DNA修复上发挥关键作用，并且多年来一直是肿瘤研究和化疗的重要靶点。我们前期的研究发现，TS和DHFR在翻译水平上存在负反馈调控机制。人TS和DHFR可以与其自身的mRNA结合，从而抑制mRNA的表达，化疗药物可以与TS或者DHFR相互作用，形成的复合物不能与TS mRNA结合， 使负反馈机制丧失。因此深入研究TS和DHFR的翻译调控机理，对阐明肿瘤抗药性机制，对发现新的抗肿瘤药物和肿瘤的治疗都具有十分重要的意义。 本论文利用mRNA体外展示技术，构建多肽库（约10万亿种多肽分子），利用多种实验手段将mRNA体外展示技术进行优化，提高了多肽库融合肽的产量，提高了mRNA体外展示技术筛选的特异性。将TS mRNA分子上的顺式因子TS30 RNA固定于磁珠上，将融合肽库与顺式因子作用，经过6轮循环，由多肽库中获得了与TS mRNA高度亲和的多肽序列，体外结合实验证明亲和肽可以与TS全长mRNA结合，体外翻译实验证明多肽可以抑制TS mRNA的翻译。并且利用phage display技术由噬菌体肽库（12个氨基酸随机肽库）经过四轮筛选，分别筛选到TS和DHFR的亲和肽，凝胶阻滞实验证明它们分别能与TS和DHFR mRNA结合。 本论文利用的展示技术可以广泛应用于特异靶点的蛋白质筛选，并且本论文筛选到的TS和DHFR亲和肽可以作为TS和DHFR的抑制剂，从而为获得新型的抗肿瘤药物奠定基础。

华北克拉通孔玆岩系中石榴子石花岗岩的成因：熔体与残留相混合机制的研究

The most widespread rock associations in the Western Block of North China Craton are khondalites distributed mainly in Jining, Liangcheng and Datong. A large quantitiy of garnet-bearing granites are contained in the khondalites. A great deal of research has been carried out on them by previous researchers. Studies of these garnet-bearing granites consist essentially of structural characteristics, petrography and geochemistry, and finally geochronological determinations. Summing up these researches, it will not be difficult to see that all of these authors have regarded these large numbers of garnets (up to 20%) contained in granites as crystallized products from magmas, but they have not proved this from petrological perspective. Theoretically, there are possibly three kinds of petrogenesis as to these garnets. The first one is that they have been transferred to the granites from khondalites by melt when anatexis happened to khondalites, and they, in essence, are residual metamorphic garnets; The second one is that when the khondalites were being melted, these garnets were produced from biotite dehydration melting, and the newly formed garnets intruded together with the melt and eventually molded the garnet-bearing granites. Garnets of this possible kind either showed independent crystals, or garnets from khondalites took place secondary growth under favorable temperature and pressure conditions for their crystallization; The last possibility is that these garnets were crystallized from magmas in which suitable pressure, temperature and composition were available. These garnets, generally, should be fine-grained. The aim of this study is, through examining the mineral chemistry of the garnets and the whole rock chemistry, to ascertain under which kind of mechanism, in the world, did these garnets form? Besides, we try to calculate the temperatures under which khondalites began melting and reactions of the garnets and the cooled melts happened by garnet-biotite thermometry. The whole rock chemistry analyses of the garnet-bearing granites tell us that all the samples are strongly peraluminous (A/CNK greater than 1.1) on the A/NK vs. A/CNK plot. On the SiO2-K2O plot, the granites are mainly constrained to be high-K calc-alkaline and calc-alkaline series, consistent with previous researches. On the ACF（（Al2O3-Na2O-K2O）-FeO(T)-CaO） discrimination plot, all the six garnet-bearing granite samples drop into the area of S-type granites. The relationship between CaO/Na2O and SiO2 shows that the overwhelming majority of garnet-bearing granites have a CaO/Na2O value over 0.3, revealing that they probably come from metagreywacke precursors or mediate-felsic orthogeneisses compositionally similar to them. Detailed EPMA analyses conducted on the garnets contained in the garnet-bearing granites show that all the garnets are dominated by almandine and pyrope, which occupy 92-96% (Weight Percentage) of each garnet analyzed, typical of granulite facies. Their chemical composition is entirely different from those crystallized in magmas, but extremely similar to those of typical granulite facies metapelites in khondalites and typical granulites, indicating all the garnets to be metamorphogenic. In addition, REEs distribution patterns of the garnets are totally different from typical biotite granites and peraluminous granites. In other words, both LREE and HREE of our garnets are evidently lower than those from these two kinds of rocks. Moreover, compared to the REE pattern of the garnets from typical amphibolites, LREE content of our garnets is obviously higher and HREE content is a little lower. However, REE patterns of our garnets are completely in harmony with those of garnets from typical granulites. So, the REE patterns of garnets, again, prove that all the garnets we studied are metamorphogenic. Biotites appear in two forms, being as inclusions in the garnet and as selvages immediately adjacent to the garnet, respectively. Two reactions and their corresponding temperatures, with the help of petrography and Garnet-Biotite geothermometers, could be obtained, which are Bt+ Pl+ Qtz→Kfs+ Opx+ Grt+ melt as positive reaction and Kfs+ Grt+ melt→Bt+ Pl+ Qtz as reverse reaction, respectively. Summing up the discussion above, we declare that the garnet-bearing granites distributed in the Western Block of North China Craton are the mixture of melts and restites resulted from biotite dehydration melting. The garnets contained in the restites are the products from biotite dehydration melting and restites from the khondalites, respectively.

中国大陆及邻区地震活动背景、环境触发与地震预测研究

This dissertation that includes most of the P. PH.D research work during 2001~2002 covers the large-scale distribution of continental earthquakes in mainland China, the mechanism and statistic features of grouped strong earthquakes related to the tidal triggering, some results in earthquake prediction with correlativity analysis methods, and the flushes from the two strong continental earthquakes in South Asia in 2001. Mainland China is the only continental sub-plate that is compressed by collision boundaries at its two sides, within which earthquakes are dispersive and distributed as seismic belts with different widths. The control capability of the continental block boundaries on the strong earthquakes and seismic hazards is calculated and analyzed in this dissertation. By mapping the distribution of the 31282 ML:3s2,0 earthquakes, I found that the depth of continental earthquakes depend on the tectonic zonings. The events on the boundaries of relatively integrated blocks are deep and those on the new-developed ruptures are shallow. The average depth of earthquakes in the West of China is about 5km deeper than that in the east. The western and southwestern brim of Tarim Basin generated the deepest earthquakes in mainland China. The statistic results from correlation between the grouped M7 earthquakes and the tidal stress show that the strong events were modulated by tidal stress in active periods. Taking Taiwan area as an example, the dependence of moderate events on the moon phase angles (￡>) is analyzed, which shows that the number of the earthquakes in Taiwan when D is 50° ,50° +90° and 50° +180° is more than 2 times of standard deviation over the average frequency at each degree, corresponding to the 4th, 12th and 19th solar day after the new moon. The probability of earthquake attack to the densely populated Taiwan island on the 4th solar day is about 4 times of that on other solar days. On the practice of earthquake prediction, I calculated and analyzed the temporal correlation of the earthquakes in Xinjinag area, Qinghai-Tibet area, west Yunnan area, North China area and those in their adjacent areas, and predicted at the end of 2000 that it would be a special time interval from 2001 to 2003, within which moderate to strong earthquakes would be more active in the west of China. What happened in 2001 partly validated the prediction. Within 10 months, there were 2 great continental earthquakes in south Asia, i.e., the M7.8 event in India on Jan 26 and M8.1 event in China on Nov. 14, 2001, which are the largest earthquake in the past 50 years both for India and China. No records for two great earthquakes in Asia within so short time interval. We should speculate the following aspects from the two incidences: The influence of the fallacious deployment of seismic stations on the fine location and focal mechanism determination of strong earthquakes must be affronted. It is very important to introduce comparative seismology research to seismic hazard analysis and earthquake prediction research. The improvement or changes in real-time prediction of strong earthquakes with precursors is urged. Methods need to be refreshed to protect environment and historical relics in earthquake-prone areas.

A novel method to synthesize amorphous silica-alumina materials with mesoporous distribution without using templates and pore-regulating agents

In this study, a novel sol-gel method is used to synthesize amorphous silica-alumina materials with a narrow mesoporous distribution and various Si/Al molar ratios without using any templates and pore-regulating agents. During the preparation procedure, only inexpensive inorganic salts were used as raw materials, instead of expensive and harmful alkoxides. The precursor sol was dried at room temperature in a vacuum box kept at 60 mmHg until it began to form the gel. The results of a nitrogen sorption experiment indicate that the synthesized materials with different Si/Al molar ratios have similar mesoporous distributions (within 2-12 nm). Moreover, it was found that the material's pore size distribution remains at a similar value during the heat treatment from room temperature to 550 degreesC. On the basis of the nitrogen sorption, TEM, and AFM characterization results, a formation mechanism of mesopores which accounts for the experimental data is also suggested. This suggested mechanism involves rearrangement of the primary particles during the drying process to form the precursors of the similarly sized mesopores. The synthesized materials were characterized by XRD, thermal analysis (TG/DTA), Al-27 and Si-29 MAS NMR spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, and AFM. The results of Al-27 and 29Si MAS NMR indicate that the distribution of silicon and aluminum in the synthesized materials is more uniform and homogeneous than that in the mixed oxides prepared via the traditional sol-gel method even at high alumina contents. The type and density of the acid sites were studied using pyridine adsorption-desorption FTIR spectroscopy. It was shown that the acidity of the synthesized materials is higher than that of the silica-alumina materials prepared by conventional methods.

Epoxidation of styrene on Si/Ti/SiO2 catalysts prepared by chemical grafting

Titania-silica (Ti/SiO2) and silica-titania-silica (Si/Ti/SiO2) catalysts were:prepared by chemical grafting using TiCl4 and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as precursors and SiO2 as support. The prepared catalysts were characterized by UV Raman and visible Raman spectroscopies, XRD and the epoxidation of styrene; Ti/SiO2: catalyst grafted with only titanium species is not very active for epoxidation using H2O2 (30%), but is active and-selective when one uses tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP). The catalyst grafted at high temperatures shows better epoxide selectivity. Si/Ti/SiO2 catalyst, the titanium-silica grafted further with TEOS, is active and selective for the epoxidation of styrene using either dilute H2O2 or TBHP, possibly due to the fact that the grafting of Ti/SiO2 with TEOS modifies the coordination structure of titanium and makes the titanium sites of Si-O-Ti-O-Si species less hydrophilic. A characteristic band at 1085cm(-1) due to Ti-O-Si species is detected for the grafted catalysts by UV resonance Raman spectroscopy. Reaction between TiCl4 and SiO2 at high temperatures favors the formation of Ti-O-Si species. Better activity and selectivity to epoxide,is found for the catalysts with more Ti-O-Si species. It is assumed that the active sites are the highly isolated Ti-O-Si species. For Si/Ti/SiO2 catalyst, the gas phase O-2 can participate in the catalytic oxidation of styrene when H2O2 is present ana:ii causes the formation of benzaldehyde. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Cobalt boride catalysts for hydrogen generation from alkaline NaBH4 solution

Cobalt boride precursors were synthesized via chemical reaction of aqueous sodium borohydride with cobalt chloride, and followed by heat-treating at various temperatures. The as-prepared Co-B catalysts were characterized and analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption-desorption and catalytic activity test; and were adopted to help accelerating hydrolysis reaction of NaBH4 alkaline solution. The Co-B catalyst treated at 500 degrees C exhibits the best catalytic activity, and achieves an average H, generation rate of 2970 ml/min/g, which may give a successive H, supply for a 481 W proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) at 100% H-2 utilization. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hybrid organic-inorganic phenyl monolithic column for capillary electrochromatography

A novel hybrid organic-inorganic silica-based monolithic column possessing phenyl ligands for reversed-phase (RP) capillary electrochromatography (CEC) is described. The monolithic stationary phase was prepared by in situ co-condensation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) with phenyltriethoxysilane (PTES) via a two-step catalytic sol-gel procedure to introduce phenyl groups distributed throughout the silica matrix for chromatographic interaction. The hydrolysis and condensation reactions of precursors were chemically controlled through pH variation by adding hydrochloric acid and dodecylamine, respectively. The structural property of the monolithic column can be easily tailored through adjusting the composition of starting sol solution. The effect of PTES/TEOS ratios on the morphology of the created stationary phases was investigated. A variety of neutral and basic analytes were used to evaluate the column performance. The CEC columns exhibited typical RP chromatographic retention mechanism for neutral compounds and had improved peak shape for basic solutes.

Preparation of supported PtRu/C electrocatalyst for direct methanol fuel cells

In this work, high-surface supported PtRu/C were prepared with Ru(NO)(NO3)(3) and [Pt(H2NCH2CH2NH2)(2)]Cl-2 as the precursors and hydrogen as a reducing agent. XRD and TEM analyses showed that the PtRu/C catalysts with different loadings possessed small and homogeneous metal particles. Even at high metal loading (40 wt.% Pt, 20 wt.% Ru) the mean metal particle size is less than 4 nm. Meanwhile, the calculated Pt crystalline lattice parameter and Pt (220) peak position indicated that the geometric structure of Pt was modified by Ru atoms. Among the prepared catalysts, the lattice parameter of 40-20 wt.% PtRu/C contract most. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), CO stripping and single direct methanol fuel cell tests jointly suggested that the 40-20 wt.% PtRu/C catalyst has the highest electrochemical activity for methanol oxidation. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Morphology transcription process from CMC micelles to inorganogel and its effect on the properties of alumina particle

In this study, a carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-mediated sol-gel process was developed to synthesize the alumina hydoxide whiskers. During the process, inexpensive inorganic salts were used as precursors and supercritical drying method was used to extract the water in hydrogel. The influences of CMC on the gel formation and the particle morphology were investigated. The results show that the formation of CMC-aluminium hydroxide organic-inorganic hybridgels led to a morphology transcription process from CMC micelles to aluminium hydroxide gel, as a result, the precursor with whiskerious morphology was obtained.

Buland al-Ḥaydarī – poeta pokolenia prekursorów współczesnej poezji arabskiej. Interpretacja twórczości

Głównym celem dysertacji jest interpretacja twórczości Bulanda al-Ḥaydarīego (iracki poeta kurdyjskiego pochodzenia (1926-1996)). Utwory Al-Ḥaydarīego zawierają w sobie charakterystyczne cechy współczesnego wiersza arabskiego. Opisują ponadto najważniejsze historyczne, społeczne i osobiste doświadczenia literackiego pokolenia tego poety, jak również innych członków społeczności arabskiej w okresie po II wojnie światowej. Praca doktorska składa się z dwóch części. Pierwszą część poprzedza krótki opis stanu badań nad liryką Al-Ḥaydarīego. W pierwszym jej rozdziale przedstawiono życiorys i biografię literacką poety oraz wyjaśniono pojęcia takie jak: ‘współczesna poezja arabska’, ‘wolna poezja’, ‘poemat prozą’ czy ‘ruch wolnej poezji’. Wspomniano również o głównych nurtach w poezji arabskiej w latach 50. i 60. XX w., jak również ukazano sposób, w jaki modernistyczni poeci postrzegali poezję. Natomiast w drugim rozdziale przedstawiono pokrótce charakterystyczne cechy (stylistyczne, składniowe i melodyczne) współczesnego wiersza arabskiego i zilustrowano je fragmentami utworów Al-Ḥaydarīego. Druga część dysertacji składa się z pięciu rozdziałów. W każdym z nich przedstawiono jeden lub kilka głównych motywów oraz ich różne warianty: w pierwszym rozdziale – motyw miłość, w drugim – motyw istnienia (życie i śmierć), w trzecim – motywy ojczyzny, obczyzny, zaangażowania społecznego twórcy i jego wyobcowania, w czwartym – motyw przestrzeni (np. dom, droga, raj, piekło) oraz w piątym – motyw czasu (przeszłość, teraźniejszość, przyszłość).

α- i β- fluorowane aminofosfoniany – synteza oraz właściwości

Wydział Chemii

Synthetic and mechanistic aspects of the reactions of α-diazosulfoxides

The research described in this thesis focuses, principally, on synthesis of stable α-diazosulfoxides and investigation of their reactivity under various reaction conditions (transition-metal catalysed, photochemical, thermal and microwave) with a particular emphasis on the reactive intermediates and mechanistic aspects of the reaction pathways involved. In agreement with previous studies carried out on these compounds, the key reaction pathway of α-diazosulfoxides was found to be hetero-Wolff rearrangement to give α-oxosulfine intermediates. However, a competing reaction pathway involving oxygen migration from sulfur to oxygen was also observed. Critically, isomerisation of α-oxosulfine stereoisomers was observed directly by 1H NMR spectroscopy in this work and this observation accounts for the stereochemical outcomes of the various cycloaddition reactions, whether carried out with in situ trapping or with preformed solutions of sulfines. Furthermore, matrix isolation experiments have shown that electrocyclisation of α-oxosulfines to oxathiiranes takes place and this verifies the proposed mechanisms for enol and disulfide formation. The introductory chapter includes a brief literature review of the synthesis and reactivity of α-diazosulfoxides prior to the commencement of research in this field by the Maguire group. The Wolff rearrangement is also discussed and the characteristic reactions of a number of reactive intermediates (sulfines, sulfenes and oxathiiranes) are outlined. The use of microwave-assisted organic synthesis is also examined, specifically, in the context of α-diazocarbonyl compounds as substrates. The second chapter describes the synthesis of stable monocyclic and bicyclic lactone derivatives of α-diazosulfoxides from sulfide precursors according to established experimental procedures. Approaches to precursors of ketone and sulfimide derivatives of α-diazosulfoxides are also described. The third chapter examines the reactivity of α-diazosulfoxides under thermal, microwave, rhodium(II)-catalysed and photochemical conditions. Comparison of the results obtained under thermal and microwave conditions indicates that there was no evidence for any effect, other than thermal, induced by microwave irradiation. The results of catalyst studies involving several rhodium(II) carboxylate and rhodium(II) carboxamidate catalysts are outlined. Under photochemical conditions, sulfur extrusion is a significant reaction pathway while under thermal or transition metal catalysed conditions, oxygen extrusion is observed. One of the most important observations in this work was the direct spectroscopic observation (by 1H NMR) of interconversion of the E and Z-oxosulfines. Trapping of the α-oxosulfine intermediates as cycloadducts by reaction with 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene proved useful both synthetically and mechanistically. As the stereochemistry of the α-oxosulfine is retained in the cycloadducts, this provided an ideal method for characterisation of this key feature. In the case of one α-oxosulfine, a novel [2+2] cycloaddition was observed. Preliminary experiments to investigate the reactivity of an α-diazosulfone under rhodium(II) catalysis and microwave irradiation are also described. The fourth chapter describes matrix isolation experiments which were carried out in Rühr Universität, Bochum in collaboration with Prof. Wolfram Sander. These experiments provide direct spectroscopic evidence of an α-oxosulfine intermediate formed by hetero-Wolff rearrangement of an α-diazosulfoxide and subsequent cyclisation of the sulfine to an oxathiirane was also observed. Furthermore, it was possible to identify which stereoisomer of the α-oxosulfine was present in the matrix. A preliminary laser flash photolysis experiment is also discussed. The experimental details, including all spectral and analytical data, are reported at the end of each chapter. The structural interpretation of 1H NMR spectra of the cycloadducts, described in Chapter 3, is discussed in Appendix I.

Nanostructured materials for Lithium-ion battery technology

The Li-ion battery has for several years been at the forefront of powering an ever-increasing number of modem consumer electronic devices such as laptops, tablet PCs, cell phones, portable music players etc., while in more recent times, has also been sought to power a range of emerging electric and hybrid-electric vehicle classes. Given their extreme popularity, a number of features which define the performance of the Li-ion battery have become a target of improvement and have garnered tremendous research effort over the past two decades. Features such as battery capacity, voltage, lifetime, rate performance, together with important implications such as safety, environmental benignity and cost have all attracted attention. Although properties such as cell voltage and theoretical capacity are bound by the selection of electrode materials which constitute its interior, other performance makers of the Li-ion battery such as actual capacity, lifetime and rate performance may be improved by tailoring such materials with characteristics favourable to Li+ intercalation. One such tailoring route involves shrinking of the constituent electrode materials to that of the nanoscale, where the ultra-small diameters may bestow favourable Li+ intercalation properties while providing a necessary mechanical robustness during routine electrochemical operation. The work detailed in this thesis describes a range of synthetic routes taken in nanostructuring a selection of choice Li-ion positive electrode candidates, together with a review of their respective Li-ion performances. Chapter one of this thesis serves to highlight a number of key advancements which have been made and detailed in the literature over recent years pertaining to the use of nanostructured materials in Li-ion technology. Chapter two provides an overview of the experimental conditions and techniques employed in the synthesis and electrochemical characterisation of the as-prepared electrode materials constituting this doctoral thesis. Chapter three details the synthesis of small-diameter V2O5 and V2O5/TiO2 nanocomposite structures prepared by a novel carbon nanocage templating method using liquid precursors. Chapter four details a hydrothermal synthesis and characterisation of nanostructured β-LiVOPO4 powders together with an overview of their Li+ insertion properties while chapter five focuses on supercritical fluid synthesis as one technique in the tailoring of FeF2 and CoF2 powders having potentially appealing Li-ion 'conversion' properties. Finally, chapter six summarises the overall conclusions drawn from the results presented in this thesis, coupled with an indication of potential future work which may be explored upon the materials described in this work.