Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: a half-century historical perspective.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has evolved significantly over fifty years into a powerful analytical technique. This review aims to achieve five main goals. (1) Providing a comprehensive history of SERS's discovery, its experimental and theoretical foundations, its connections to advances in nanoscience and plasmonics, and highlighting collective contributions of key pioneers.

Key intermediates and Cu active sites for CO electroreduction to ethylene and ethanol.

Electrochemical reduction of CO (CORR) to multi-carbon products is a promising technology to store intermittent renewable electricity into high-added-value chemicals and close the carbon cycle. Its industrial scalability requires electrocatalysts to be highly selective to certain products, such as ethylene or ethanol. However, a substantial knowledge gap prevents the design of tailor-made materials, as the properties ruling the catalyst selectivity remain elusive.

High-Energy Fluidic Microfluidizer Produced Whole Germinant Oat Milk: Effects on Physical Properties and Nutritional Quality.

Whole oat milk (WOM) was prepared from germinated oat by an innovatively designed high-energy fluidic microfluidizer (HEFM). The results indicated that germination treatment significantly raised the content of total protein, γ-aminobutyric acid, total phenolics, and reducing sugar, while it decreased the content of total starch and β-glucan. Oat with a germination time of 48 h had the best nutritional quality for producing WOM.

Long-term follow-up of the treatment for severe COVID-19 with qigong exercise and acupressure: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Most clinical trials have reported significant short-term effects of traditional medicine therapies on COVID-19 patients. However, there is no clinical trial to determine the long-term effects of traditional medicine therapies on severe COVID-19 patients.

Methods: A total of 128 patients with severe COVID-19, who were recruited in our previous clinical trial following hospital discharge, were monitored at months 14 and 28.

Effect of Iron Doping in Ordered Nickel Oxide Thin Film Catalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Water splitting has emerged as a promising route for generating hydrogen as an alternative to conventional production methods. Finding affordable and scalable catalysts for the anodic half-reaction, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), could help with its industrial widespread implementation. Iron-containing Ni-based catalysts have a competitive performance for the use in commercial alkaline electrolyzers.

Nab-paclitaxel plus S-1 followed by gemcitabine-oxaliplatin as first-line alternating sequential treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Background: Alternating sequential administration of drugs may be a promising approach to overcome chemotherapy resistance in advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Methods: This study was an open-label, single-arm, and prospective trial included patients with untreated advanced PDAC. They received 2 cycles of NS regimen (nab-paclitaxel:125 mg/m2, intravenously injected on days 1 and 8, plus S-1:40-60 mg, orally twice per day for 1-14 days) followed by 2 cycles of GemOx regimen (gemcitabine, intravenously injected on days 1 and 8, and oxaliplatin: 130 mg/m2, intravenously injected on day 1).

Integrated monitoring and prediction of thermal discharge from nuclear power plants using satellite, UAV, and numerical simulation.

Global nuclear power is surging ahead in its quest for global carbon neutrality, eyeing an anticipated installed capacity of 436 GW for coastal nuclear power plants by 2040. As these plants operate, they emit substantial amounts of warm water into the ocean, known as thermal discharge, to regulate the temperature of their nuclear reactors. This discharge has the potential to elevate the temperature of the surrounding seawater, potentially influencing the marine ecosystem in the discharge vicinity.

Uncovering Photoelectronic and Photothermal Effects in Plasmon-Mediated Electrocatalytic CO Reduction.

Plasmon-mediated electrocatalysis that rests on the ability of coupling localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and electrochemical activation, emerges as an intriguing and booming area. However, its development seriously suffers from the entanglement between the photoelectronic and photothermal effects induced by the decay of plasmons, especially under the influence of applied potential. Herein, using LSPR-mediated CO reduction on Ag electrocatalyst as a model system, we quantitatively uncover the dominant photoelectronic effect on CO reduction reaction over a wide potential window, in contrast to the leading photothermal effect on H evolution reaction at relatively negative potentials.

Organic Thin Films Enable Retaining the Oxidation State of Copper Catalysts during CO Electroreduction.

A key challenge in electrocatalysis remains controlling a catalyst's structural, chemical, and electrical properties under reaction conditions. While organic coatings showed promise for enhancing the selectivity and stability of catalysts for CO electroreduction (CORR), their impact on the chemical state of underlying metal electrodes has remained unclear. In this study, we show that organic thin films on polycrystalline copper (Cu) enable retaining Cu species at reducing potentials down to -1.

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Drought-Responsive Pathways and Key Genes of Two Oat () Varieties.

To cope with the yield loss caused by drought stress, new oat varieties with greater drought tolerance need to be selected. In this study, two oat varieties with different drought tolerances were selected for analysis of their phenotypes and physiological indices under moderate and severe soil drought stress. The results revealed significant differences in the degree of wilting, leaf relative water content (RWC), and SOD and CAT activity between the two oat genotypes under severe soil drought stress; moreover, the drought-tolerant variety exhibited a significant increase in the number of stomata and wax crystals on the surface of both the leaf and guard cells; additionally, the morphology of the guard cells was normal, and there was no significant disruption of the grana lamella membrane or the nuclear envelope.

Comparative study of CoO(111), CoFeO(111), and FeO(111) thin film electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction.

Water electrolysis to produce 'green H' with renewable energy is a promising option for the upcoming green economy. However, the slow and complex oxygen evolution reaction at the anode limits the efficiency. CoO with added iron is a capable catalyst for this reaction, but the role of iron is presently unclear.

Pan-cancer analysis of SYNGR2 with a focus on clinical implications and immune landscape in liver hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Synaptogyrin-2 (SYNGR2), as a member of synaptogyrin gene family, is overexpressed in several types of cancer. However, the role of SYNGR2 in pan-cancer is largely unexplored.

Methods: From the TCGA and GEO databases, we obtained bulk transcriptomes, and clinical information.

Degradation of soybean meal proteins by wheat malt endopeptidase and the antioxidant capacity of the enzymolytic products.

This study investigated the hydrolysis effect of the endopeptidase from wheat malt on the soybean meal proteins. The results indicated that the endopeptidase broke the peptide bonds of soybean meal proteins and converted the alcohol- and alkali-soluble proteins into water-soluble and salt-soluble proteins. In addition, wheat malt endopeptidase did not break the disulfide bonds between proteins but affected the conformation of disulfide bonds between substrate protein molecules, which were changed from the gauche-gauche-trans (g-g-t) vibrational mode to the trans-gauche-trans (t-g-t) vibrational mode.

Plasmon-Enhanced C-C Bond Cleavage toward Efficient Ethanol Electrooxidation.

Ethanol, as a sustainable biomass fuel, is endowed with the merits of theoretically high energy density and environmental friendliness yet suffers from sluggish kinetics and low selectivity toward the desired complete electrooxidation (C1 pathway). Here, the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect is explored as a manipulating knob to boost electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation reaction in alkaline media under ambient conditions by appropriate visible light. Under illumination, Au@Pt nanoparticles with plasmonic core and active shell exhibit concurrently higher activity (from 2.

Effectiveness of Liu-zi-jue exercise on coronavirus disease 2019 in the patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of Liu-zi-jue exercise on the respiratory symptoms, quality of life, and mental health of patients with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: A single-center randomized controlled trial was conducted with 104 patients with mild COVID-19. The patients were randomly assigned to the Liu-zi-jue plus conventional therapy group and conventional therapy group.

Magnetic responses for heavy metal pollution recorded by the sediments from Bohai Sea, Eastern China.

The Bohai Sea is facing multidirectional pressure from economic development and pollutant emissions. Magnetic minerals and heavy metal concentrations in the sediments of core M5 from the Bohai Sea were performed. The results of concentration-related magnetic parameters, heavy metal contents, and PLI (Tomlinson pollution load index) illustrate there are essential linkages of the sources, migration, and deposition.

Bioinformatic-based mechanism identification of -related ceRNA and immunoassays in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: is an important transcription factor. Previous studies have shown that the overexpression of is closely related to the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the current research on the regulatory mechanism of is still insufficient.

Substantial transition to clean household energy mix in rural China.

The household energy mix has significant impacts on human health and climate, as it contributes greatly to many health- and climate-relevant air pollutants. Compared to the well-established urban energy statistical system, the rural household energy statistical system is incomplete and is often associated with high biases. Via a nationwide investigation, this study revealed high contributions to energy supply from coal and biomass fuels in the rural household energy sector, while electricity comprised ∼20%.

Plasmonic Photoelectrochemical Coupling Reactions of -Aminobenzoic Acid on Nanostructured Gold Electrodes.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) bridges photonics and photoelectrochemistry by providing an effective interaction between absorption and confinement of light to surface electrons of plasmonic metal nanostructures (PMNs). SPR enhances the Raman intensity enormously in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and leads to the plasmon-mediated chemical reaction on the surface of nanostructured metal electrodes. To observe variations in chemical reactivity and selectivity, we studied the SPR photoelectrochemical reactions of -aminobenzoic acid (PABA) on nanostructured gold electrodes.

Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography with Sonazoid for Diagnosis of Microvascular Invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the imaging features observed in pre-operative Sonazoid contrast-enhanced ultrasound (SZ-CEUS) and the correlations with the presence of microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. In this single-center retrospective study, 31 patients with surgically and histopathologically confirmed HCC lesions were included. Patients were classified according to the presence of MVI into the MVI-positive group (n = 15) and MVI-negative group (n = 16).

Effect of qigong exercise and acupressure rehabilitation program on pulmonary function and respiratory symptoms in patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: There are several effective complementary and integrative therapies for patients with severe COVID-19. The trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and advantages of the qigong exercise and acupressure rehabilitation program (QARP) for treating patients with severe COVID-19.

Methods: A total of 128 patients with COVID-19 aged 20 to 80 years were recruited and randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to receive QARP plus standard therapies or standard therapies alone.

A telerehabilitation programme in post-discharge COVID-19 patients (TERECO): a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: To investigate superiority of a telerehabilitation programme for COVID-19 (TERECO) over no rehabilitation with regard to exercise capacity, lower limb muscle strength (LMS), pulmonary function, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and dyspnoea.

Design: Parallel-group randomised controlled trial with 1:1 block randomisation.

Setting: Three major hospitals from Jiangsu and Hubei provinces, China.

NEU4 inhibits motility of HCC cells by cleaving sialic acids on CD44.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an extremely metastatic tumor. Sialic acids (SAs) are associated with cancer development and metastasis. NEU4 is a sialidase that removes SAs from glycoconjugates, while the function of the NEU4 in HCC has not been clearly explored.

Revealing the CO Coverage-Driven C-C Coupling Mechanism for Electrochemical CO Reduction on CuO Nanocubes Raman Spectroscopy.

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CORR) is an attractive route to close the carbon cycle and potentially turn CO into valuable chemicals and fuels. However, the highly selective generation of multicarbon products remains a challenge, suffering from poor mechanistic understanding. Herein, we used Raman spectroscopy to track the potential-dependent reduction of CuO nanocubes and the surface coverage of reaction intermediates.