Munchorr9341

Fluorescent nanoaggregates (FNAs) based on phenanthroline-based amphiphiles show changes in solution color from colorless to yellow upon addition of both Hg2+ (LOD ∼4 ppb) and CH3Hg+ (LOD ∼18 ppb). However, the extent of fluorescence quenching is more prominent with Hg2+ (∼12 fold) than with CH3Hg+ (∼4 fold). Also, unlike Hg2+, the interaction of CH3Hg+ needs more time, ∼10 min at room temperature. Experimental evidence indicates that both mercury species coordinate with the phenanthroline unit and facilitate the charge transfer interaction while destabilizing the nanoassembly. The lower charge density on CH3Hg+ along with its large size compared to Hg2+ may be the reason for such observations. Interestingly, FNAs show a selective response towards CH3Hg+ when pre-treated with EDTA. Further, analysis of heavy metal pollutants in drinking water and biological samples was performed. High recovery values ranging from 96% to 103.0% were estimated along with relatively small standard deviations ( less then 3%). Low-cost, reusable test strips were designed for rapid, on-site detection of mercury species. Further, the in situ formed metal complexes are allowed to interact with thiol-containing amino acids. As expected, CH3Hg+, being less thiophillic, endures less interaction with cysteine. Mechanistic investigations indicate that thiolated amino acids can bind with the metal ion center and form a tertiary complex (cooperative interaction).β-Conglycinin, composed of three subunits (α', α and β), is the main allergen of soy protein which can cause severe allergic reactions, such as diarrhea, decreased growth performance and even death. Among them, the β subunit is more stable and difficult to remove, being one of the main nutritional inhibitors, which can be used to evaluate the concentration of β-conglycinin. However, there is no effective, accurate method for its β subunit rapid detection. Herein, we have successfully selected a high affinity β subunit aptamer (Kd = 6.9 nM) and developed a highly sensitive aptasensor. The aptasensor displayed high specificity and the β subunit at a concentration of 70-350 nM could be detected with a detection limit of 4.48 nM (3S/N). In addition, the recoveries of β subunit were more than 90%, demonstrating its practical properties for complicated conditions such as food quality control and disease diagnosis, without requiring expensive and sophisticated equipment.Neuroinflammation plays a key role in the progression of brain injury induced by stroke, and has become a promising target for therapeutic intervention for stroke. Monitoring this pivotal process of neuroinflammation is highly desirable to guide specific therapy. However, there is still a lack of a satisfactory nanoprobe to selectively monitor neuroinflammation. As endothelial cell activation is a hallmark of neuroinflammation, it would be clinically relevant to develop a non-invasive in vivo imaging technique to detect the endothelial activation process. Herein, inspired by the specific neutrophil-endothelium interaction, we designed neutrophil-camouflaged magnetic nanoprobes (NMNPs) that can be used to target activated endothelial cells for improved neuroinflammation imaging. NMNPs are composed of an inner core of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles and a biomimetic outer shell of a neutrophil membrane, which maintained the biocompatibility and targeting ability of neutrophils and the excellent contrast effects of SPIO. Moreover, we demonstrated that NMNPs can successfully bind to inflamed cerebral vasculature using the intravital imaging of live cerebral microvessels in transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) mice. After that, NMNPs could further accumulate in the brain vasculature and exhibit excellent contrast effects for stroke-induced neuroinflammation and biosafety. We believe that the neutrophil-camouflaged magnetic nanoprobe could serve as a highly safe and selective nanoprobe for neuroinflammation imaging and has alluring prospects for clinical application.Alkali ion insertion into Prussian blue from aqueous electrolytes is characterized with operando AFM and EQCM, showing coupling of current with deformation and mass change rates. Stable cycling occurs only with K+, attributed to its lower hydration energy. The (de)insertion of K+ results in reversible deformation even in the open framework structure.Acetaminophen is one of the most commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs worldwide. However, due to the increasing popularity of this drug, overdosing and the contamination of ambient waterways have emerged as major issues. Here, we report on a reliable, ultrasensitive, and easy-to-use sensor for the electrochemical detection of acetaminophen. This sensor employs a gold wire electrode with a unique three-dimensional hierachical nanoporous structure, fabricated using a dissolution, disproportion and deposition procedure. In consideration of optimal sensitivity and reproducibility, the most suitable nanoporous gold electrode was employed for the detection of acetamiophen among a set of nanoporous electrodes made under different reaction times. It was found that the pore size, film thickness, and electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) played major roles in the fouling resistance of the developed sensor. The ECSA of the selected sensor was increased by 15.8 times after the post-treatment. The 3D nanoporous electrode demonstrated excellent performance for the detection of acetaminophen with a low detection limit of 3.37 nM, and a strong anti-interference capability. The developed nanoporous Au electrode proved effective for the detection of acetaminophen in real sheep serum, which confirmed its promising application for medical diagnostics and pollutant surveilliance in source waters.Histone lysine methylation and acetylation are important posttranslational modifications that regulate gene expression in humans. Due to the interplay of these two modifications, new chemical methods to study lysine posttranslational modifications are highly desired. Here, we report the use of γ-difluorolysine as a lysine mimic and 19F NMR probe for examinations of histone methylation and acetylation.Taking advantage of activatable and imaging-guided properties, stimuli-activated molecular photothermal agents (MPTAs) have drawn great attention in photothermal therapy (PTT) over the past decades. In this review, the recent progress in the study of stimuli-activated MPTAs is summarized from different stimuli, including pH, bioactive small molecules, and enzymes. The features and challenges of stimuli-activated MPTAs are also discussed. This review aims to motivate readers to design and synthesise more efficient MPTAs.We report the straightforward synthesis of ATP-responsive nanoscale metal azolate framework-7 (MAF-7) for gene/drug codelivery. The MAF-7 functions as (i) the armour to preserve DNAzymes, (ii) an ATP scavenger to lower the intracellular ATP level, and (iii) a built-in Zn2+ arsenal to initiate the biocatalysis of DNAzymes, ultimately inhibiting P-gp expression to enhance chemotherapy.The digestion properties of sturgeon myofibrillar protein (MF) treated by low temperature vacuum heating (LTVH) at different processing temperatures (50, 60 and 70 °C) and times (15 and 30 min) were studied and compared with those of sturgeon MF treated by traditional cooking (TC). The results showed that as the temperature and time increased, the protein digestibility decreased, whereas the particle size and protein aggregation increased. It was observed that the band intensity of myosin heavy chain and myosin heavy chain 7 weakened; however, the band intensity of actin showed little change. MALDI-TOF-MS analysis revealed that the digested products of the samples treated by LTVH had a larger proportion of 750-1000 Da peptides than those treated by TC, which was consistent with the trend of the number of unique peptides identified in each group. Folinic Fourier transmission infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy showed that the contents of α-helices and β-sheets exhibited negative and positive correlations with the temperature, respectively. Overall, compared to TC, LTVH can relieve the heat stress of protein conformation, reduce protein aggregation to improve the accessibility of the protein to digestive protease, and increase digestibility.A series of ruthenium photosensitizers incorporating a β-diketonate non-innocent ligand were synthesized, characterized, and implemented in dye-sensitized solar cells. Electrochemical studies exhibited well behaved reversible oxidations and reductions for all β-diketonate complexes. The acac- and Ph2acac- based photosensitizers possess limited delocalization across the ligand π*-manifold, which is significant for exhibition of respectable power conversion efficiencies in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) device. As the π-orbital network was extended on the flavone and curcumin inspired NILs, increased molar absorptivity was observed, however this ultimately proved detrimental to DSC performance consistent with exhibition of negligible photocurrent.Thermoelectric energy conversion is an all solid-state technology that relies on exceptional semiconductor materials that are generally optimized through sophisticated strategies involving the engineering of defects in their structure. In this review, we summarize the recent advances of defect engineering to improve the thermoelectric (TE) performance and mechanical properties of inorganic materials. First, we introduce the various types of defects categorized by dimensionality, i.e. point defects (vacancies, interstitials, and antisites), dislocations, planar defects (twin boundaries, stacking faults and grain boundaries), and volume defects (precipitation and voids). Next, we discuss the advanced methods for characterizing defects in TE materials. Subsequently, we elaborate on the influences of defect engineering on the electrical and thermal transport properties as well as mechanical performance of TE materials. In the end, we discuss the outlook for the future development of defect engineering to further advance the TE field.Diacyl peroxides, which can be easily synthesized from corresponding carboxylic acids, are commonly utilized as radical initiators and one electron oxidants. Under thermal, transition-metal catalysis or irradiation conditions the cleavage of relatively weak O-O bonds would occur followed by CO2 extrusion to generate the corresponding aryl or alkyl radicals. Thus, diacyl peroxides can be employed as ideal arylating and alkylating reagents in organic synthesis, including C-H/N-H arylation/alkylation, aryl/alkyl radical addition to unsaturated bonds, hetero arylation/alkylation, eliminative arylation/alkylation, perfluoroalkylation etc. Moreover, these arylation/alkylation protocols have been successfully utilized in the synthesis and late-stage functionalization of natural products as well as bioactive molecules. In this review, recent advances on arylation and alkylation using diacyl peroxides as aryl and alkyl radical sources are summarized and discussed.New bioorthogonal cycloaddition of 5-arylidene derivatives of 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid as 1-oxa-1,3-butadienes and vinyl thioether as a dienophile has been applied to imaging inside living cells. The reaction is high yielding, selective, and fast in aqueous media. The proposed 1-oxa-1,3-butadiene derivative conjugated to a FITC fluorochrome selectively and rapidly labels the cancer cells pretreated with the dienophile-taxol. The second order rate constants k2 for various proposed bioorthogonal cycloadditions were estimated to be in the range from 0.9 × 10-2 M-1 s-1 to 1.4 M-1 s-1, which is much better than in the case of the first generation TQ-ligation (o-quinolinone quinone methide and vinyl thioether ligation, k2 = 1.5 × 10-3 M-1 s-1) and comparable or better to that for the second generation TQ-ligation (k2 = 2.8 × 10-2 M-1 s-1). The reaction rate constants k2 of proposed ligation reactions are in the range of the rate constants k2 for tetrazines and norbornenes or tetrazines and cyclopropenes. These findings indicate that this chemistry is suitable for in vitro imaging experiments.