Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major cause of global kidney failure. While histological kidney biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis, it primarily reveals tissue morphology. In contrast, near-infrared (NIR) microscopy offers a label-free method for detailed molecular characterization of kidney tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an age-related disorder that is a global public health problem. The non-enzymatic Maillard reaction results in the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Accumulation of AGEs in drusen plays a key role in AMD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAttenuated total reflection (ATR) microscope Fourier transform infrared (micro-FTIR) spectroscopy was used to investigate the dinosporin composition in the walls of modern, organic-walled dinoflagellate resting cysts (dinocysts). Variable cyst wall compositions were observed, which led to the erection of four spectrochemical groups, some with striking similarities to other resistant biomacromolecules such as sporopollenin and algaenan. Furthermore, possible proxies derivable from the spectrochemical composition of modern and fossil dinocysts were discussed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCovalent organic frameworks (COFs) are emerging as a new class of photoactive organic semiconductors, which possess crystalline ordered structures and high surface areas. COFs can be tailor-made toward specific (photocatalytic) applications, and the size and position of their band gaps can be tuned by the choice of building blocks and linkages. However, many types of building blocks are still unexplored as photocatalytic moieties and the scope of reactions photocatalyzed by COFs remains quite limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFour highly porous covalent organic frameworks (COFs) containing pyrene units were prepared and explored for photocatalytic H O production. The experimental studies are complemented by density functional theory calculations, proving that the pyrene unit is more active for H O production than the bipyridine and (diarylamino)benzene units reported previously. H O decomposition experiments verified that the distribution of pyrene units over a large surface area of COFs plays an important role in catalytic performance.
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