Single-atom catalysts enabled electrochemical sensing for glucose.

Accurate and rapid monitoring of the glucose concentration in blood is essential for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. However, existing glucose sensors still have room for improvement in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, and stability. Benefiting from the fully exposed metal sites and uniform coordination environment, single-atom catalysts (SACs) have exhibited unique electrochemical sensing performances and received extensive attention in blood glucose detection.

Translation and psychometric validation of the Peer Evaluation Scale for Team-based Learning (PES-TBL) for Chinese medical students.

Aim: To translate, culturally adapt and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Peer Evaluation Scale for Team-based Learning (PES-TBL) for students in nursing and medical disciplines.

Background: Effective peer evaluation tools provide a more scientific and objective assessment of collaborative learning. However, there is a lack of peer evaluation instruments designed for group learning in China.

Gain of pancreatic beta cell-specific SCD1 improves glucose homeostasis by maintaining functional beta cell mass under metabolic stress.

Aims/hypothesis: The key pancreatic beta cell transcription factor v-maf musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene homologue A (MafA) is critical for the maintenance of mature beta cell function and phenotype. The expression levels and/or activities of MafA are reduced when beta cells are chronically exposed to diabetogenic stress, such as hyperglycaemia (i.e.

Liquid Metal Encased in Biomimic Polydopamine Armor to Reinforce Photothermal Conversion and Photothermal Stability.

Liquid metal (LM) faces numerous obstacles like spontaneous coalescence, prone oxidizability, and deterioration in photothermal conversion, impeding the potential application as photothermal agent. To tackle these issues, several studies have focused on surface engineering strategy. Developing a feasible and efficient surface engineering strategy is crucial to prevent the aggregation and coalescence of LM, while also ensuring exceptional photothermal conversion and biosecurity.

Precise arrangement of metal atoms at the interface by a thermal printing strategy.

The kinetics and pathway of most catalyzed reactions depend on the existence of interface, which makes the precise construction of highly active single-atom sites at the reaction interface a desirable goal. Herein, we propose a thermal printing strategy that not only arranges metal atoms at the silica and carbon layer interface but also stabilizes them by strong coordination. Just like the typesetting of Chinese characters on paper, this method relies on the controlled migration of movable nanoparticles between two contact substrates and the simultaneous emission of atoms from the nanoparticle surface at high temperatures.

Cell-inspired design of cascade catalysis system by 3D spatially separated active sites.

Cells possess isolated compartments that spatially confine different enzymes, enabling high-efficiency enzymatic cascade reactions. Herein, we report a cell-inspired design of biomimetic cascade catalysis system by immobilizing Fe single atoms and Au nanoparticles on the inner and outer layers of three-dimensional nanocapsules, respectively. The different metal sites catalyze independently and work synergistically to enable engineered and cascade glucose detection.

Solid Migration to Assemble a Flower-like Nanozyme with Highly Dense Single Copper Sites for Specific Phenol Oxidation.

Nanozymes with high catalytic stability and sustainability have emerged as powerful competitors to natural enzymes for diverse biocatalytic applications. However, constructing a nanozyme with high specificity is one of their biggest challenges. Herein, we develop a facile solid migration strategy to access a flower-like single copper site nanozyme (Cu SSN) via direct transformation of copper foam activated by 2-methylimidazole.

New macronarian from the Middle Jurassic of Chongqing, China: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for neosauropod dinosaur evolution.

Macronaria is a clade of gigantic body-sized sauropod dinosaurs widely distributed from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous globally. However, its origin, early diversification, and dispersal are still controversial. Here, we report a new macronarian gen.

Facet Engineering of Nanoceria for Enzyme-Mimetic Catalysis.

Nanomaterials with natural enzyme-mimicking characteristics have aroused extensive attention in various fields owing to their economical price, ease of large-scale production, and environmental resistance. Previous investigations have demonstrated that composition, size, shape, and surface modification play important roles in the enzymelike activity of nanomaterials; however, a fundamental understanding of the crystal facet effect, which determines surface energy or surface reactivity, has rarely been reported. Herein, fluorite cubic CeO nanocrystals with controllably exposed {111}, {100}, or {110} facets are fabricated as proof-of-concept candidates to study the facet effect on the peroxidase-mimetic activity.

Dual confinement of high-loading enzymes within metal-organic frameworks for glucose sensor with enhanced cascade biocatalysis.

The intrinsically fragile nature and leakage of the enzymes is a major obstacle for the commercial sensor of a continuous glucose monitoring system. Herein, a dual confinement effect is developed in a three dimensional (3D) nanocage-based zeolite imidazole framework (NC-ZIF), during which the high-loading enzymes can be well encapsulated with unusual bioactivity and stability. The shell of NC-ZIF sets the first confinement to prevent enzymes leakage, and the interior nanocage of NC-ZIF provides second confinement to immobilize enzymes and offers a spacious environment to maintain their conformational freedom.

Tailoring Unsymmetrical-Coordinated Atomic Site in Oxide-Supported Pt Catalysts for Enhanced Surface Activity and Stability.

The catalytic properties of supported metal heterostructures critically depend on the design of metal sites. Although it is well-known that the supports can influence the catalytic activities of metals, precisely regulating the metal-support interactions to achieve highly active and durable catalysts still remain challenging. Here, the authors develop a support effect in the oxide-supported metal monomers (involving Pt, Cu, and Ni) catalysts by means of engineering nitrogen-assisted nanopocket sites.

Integrating single-cobalt-site and electric field of boron nitride in dechlorination electrocatalysts by bioinspired design.

The construction of enzyme-inspired artificial catalysts with enzyme-like active sites and microenvironment remains a great challenge. Herein, we report a single-atomic-site Co catalyst supported by carbon doped boron nitride (BCN) with locally polarized B-N bonds (Co SAs/BCN) to simulate the reductive dehalogenases. Density functional theory analysis suggests that the BCN supports, featured with ionic characteristics, provide additional electric field effect compared with graphitic carbon or N-doped carbon (CN), which could facilitate the adsorption of polarized organochlorides.

Construction of highly accessible single Co site catalyst for glucose detection.

The development of high-performance glucose sensors is an urgent need, especially for diabetes mellitus diagnosis. However, the glucose monitoring is conventionally operated in an invasive finger-prick manner and their noninvasive alternatives largely suffered from the relatively poor sensitivity, selectivity, and stability, resulted from the lack of robust and efficient catalysts. In this paper, we design a concave shaped nitrogen-doped carbon framework embellished with single Co site catalyst (Co SSC) by selectively controlling the etching rate on different facet of carbon substrate, which is beneficial to the diffusion and contact of analyte.

Single Iron Site Nanozyme for Ultrasensitive Glucose Detection.

Nanomaterials with enzyme-mimicking characteristics have engaged great awareness in various fields owing to their comparative low cost, high stability, and large-scale preparation. However, the wide application of nanozymes is seriously restricted by the relatively low catalytic activity and poor specificity, primarily because of the inhomogeneous catalytic sites and unclear catalytic mechanisms. Herein, a support-sacrificed strategy is demonstrated to prepare a single iron site nanozyme (Fe SSN) dispersed on the porous N-doped carbon.

A Supported Nickel Catalyst Stabilized by a Surface Digging Effect for Efficient Methane Oxidation.

A surface digging effect of supported Ni NPs on an amorphous N-doped carbon is described, during which the surface-loaded Ni NPs would etch and sink into the underneath carbon support to prevent sintering. This process is driven by the strong coordination interaction between the surface Ni atoms and N-rich defects. In the aim of activation of C-H bonds for methane oxidation, those sinking Ni NPs could be further transformed into thermodynamically stable and active metal-defect sites within the as-generated surface holes by simply elevating the temperature.

Broadband, polarization insensitive low-scattering metasurface based on lossy Pancharatnam-Berry phase particles.

In this paper, a novel composite metasurface (MS) with diffuse scattering and absorbing characteristics is proposed to reduce the radar cross section (RCS) of a metal target in a broad band. The combination of absorption and diffusion is realized based on lossy Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) phase particles. The units are arranged according to a coding sequence which is obtained by an optimization algorithm based on simulated annealing algorithm.

Unraveling the enzyme-like activity of heterogeneous single atom catalyst.

Herein, we report a heterogeneous single iron atom catalyst exhibiting excellent peroxidase, oxidase and catalase enzyme-like activities (defined as single atom enzymes, SAEs), exceeding those of Fe3O4 nanozymes by a factor of 40. Our findings open up a new family of artificial materials that mimic natural enzymes.

Risk factors for intraoperative pressure injuries in patients undergoing digestive surgery: A retrospective study.

Aim And Objective: To investigate the incidence of intraoperative blanchable erythema and pressure injuries in patients undergoing digestive surgery and to explore potential risk factors.

Background: Pressure injuries pose significant economic and healthcare burden to patients and are used as one of the key indicators of nursing in the operation room with high incidence.

Design: A retrospective observational study.

Highly sensitive solution-gated graphene transistor based sensor for continuous and real-time detection of free chlorine.

The concentration of free chlorine used for sterilizing drinking water, recreational water, and food processing water is critical for monitoring potential environmental and human health risks, and should be strictly controlled. Here, we report a highly efficient solution-gated graphene transistor (SGGT) device, for the detection of free chlorine in a real-time and convenient manner with excellent selectivity and high sensitivity. The detection mechanism of the SGGT with Au gate electrode is attributed to two combined effects: the reduction of the free chlorine on Au gate electrode; and the direct oxidization of graphene by the free chlorine in solution.

Detection of Bisphenol A Using DNA-Functionalized Graphene Field Effect Transistors Integrated in Microfluidic Systems.

Bisphenol A (BPA) detection has attracted much attention recently for its importance to food safety and environment. The DNA-functionalized solution-gated graphene transistors are integrated in microfluidic systems and used for recycling detections of BPA for the first time. In the presence of BPA, both single- and double-stranded DNA molecules are detached and released from the graphene surface in aqueous solutions, leading to the change of device electrical performance.

Chirality detection of amino acid enantiomers by organic electrochemical transistor.

Chiral recognition of α-amino acids is attracting increasing interest due to the importance of α-amino acids in protein metabolism as well as in food products and pharmaceuticals. Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) with gate electrodes modified with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) films were fabricated and successfully used as highly selective and sensitive chiral recognition biosensors for d/l-tryptophan (d/l-Trp) and d/l-tyrosine (d/l-Tyr). The MIP films, which can specifically recognize and has an electrocatalytic effect on the oxidation of Trp and Tyr, together with the amplification function of an OECT, provide a highly sensitive and selective OECT biosensor.

ZIF-67 derived porous CoO hollow nanopolyhedron functionalized solution-gated graphene transistors for simultaneous detection of glucose and uric acid in tears.

Biomarkers in tears have attracted much attention in daily healthcare sensing and monitoring. Here, highly sensitive sensors for simultaneous detection of glucose and uric acid are successfully constructed based on solution-gated graphene transistors (SGGTs) with two separate Au gate electrodes, modified with GOx-CHIT and BSA-CHIT respectively. The sensitivity of the SGGT is dramatically improved by co-modifying the Au gate with ZIF-67 derived porous CoO hollow nanopolyhedrons.

Highly selective and sensitive sensor based on an organic electrochemical transistor for the detection of ascorbic acid.

In this study, an organic electrochemical transistor sensor (OECT) with a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-modified gate electrode was prepared for the detection of ascorbic acid (AA). The combination of the amplification function of an OECT and the selective specificity of MIPs afforded a highly sensitive, selective OECT sensor. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements were carried out to monitor the stepwise fabrication of the modified electrodes and the adsorption capacity of the MIP/Au electrodes.

Can mean platelet volume play a role in evaluating the severity of acute pancreatitis?

Aim: To investigate serum mean platelet volume (MPV) levels in acute pancreatitis (AP) patients and assess whether MPV effectively predicts the disease severity of AP.

Methods: We included 117 consecutive patients with AP as the AP group and 34 consecutive patients with colorectal polyps (before endoscopic treatment) as the control group. Complete blood counts, liver function, platelet indices (MPV), coagulation parameters, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured on days 1, 2, 3 and 7 after admission.