Defining a metrologically traceable and sustainable calibration hierarchy of international normalized ratio for monitoring of vitamin K antagonist treatment in accordance with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17511:2020 standard: communication from the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine-SSC/ISTH working group on prothrombin time/international normalized ratio standardization.

Calibration of prothrombin time (PT) in terms of international normalized ratio (INR) has been outlined in "Guidelines for thromboplastins and plasmas used to control oral anticoagulant therapy" (World Health Organization, 2013). The international standard ISO 17511:2020 presents requirements for manufacturers of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) medical devices (MDs) for documenting the calibration hierarchy for a measured quantity in human samples using a specified IVD MD. The objective of this article is to define an unequivocal, metrologically traceable calibration hierarchy for the INR measured in plasma as well as in whole blood samples.

Controlling the Interfacial Environment in the Electrosynthesis of MnO Nanostructures for High-Performance Oxygen Reduction/Evolution Electrocatalysis.

High-performance, nonprecious metal bifunctional electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER, respectively) are of great importance for rechargeable metal-air batteries and regenerative fuel cells. A comprehensive study based on statistical design of experiments is presented to investigate and optimize the surfactant-assisted structure and the resultant bifunctional ORR/OER activity of anodically deposited manganese oxide (MnO) catalysts. Three classes of surfactants are studied: anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS), non-ionic (t-octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol, Triton X-100), and cationic (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB).

Understanding the wettability of rough surfaces using simultaneous optical and electrochemical analysis of sessile droplets.

The interaction of a droplet with a solid surface is characterized by two parameters, the contact angle and the wetted area under the droplet. The Cassie-Baxter and the Wenzel modes make predictions on the interfacial area by comparing the contact angles on smooth surfaces (the intrinsic wettability) with those on rough surfaces (the apparent wettability). In these models, the actual wetted area is used as a fitting parameter.

Exocyst-Positive Organelles and Autophagosomes Are Distinct Organelles in Plants.

Autophagosomes are organelles that deliver cytosolic proteins for degradation in the vacuole of the cell. In contrast, exocyst-positive organelles (EXPO) deliver cytosolic proteins to the cell surface and therefore represent a form of unconventional protein secretion. Because both structures have two boundary membranes, it has been suggested that they may have been falsely treated as separate entities.