Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is widely recognized as a powerful analytical technique, offering molecular identification by amplifying characteristic vibrational signals, even at the single-molecule level. While SERS has been successfully applied for a wide range of targets including pesticides, dyes, bacteria, and pharmaceuticals, it has struggled with the detection of molecules with inherently low Raman scattering cross-sections. Urea, a key nitrogen-containing biomolecule and the diamide of carbonic acid, is a prime example of such a challenging target.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Evaluating the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in patients with hypertension and diabetes is vital for improving treatment adherence and outcomes.
Objective: This study assessed HRQoL and its influencing factors among patients with both type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension at Can Tho Hospital, Vietnam.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 310 outpatients at the polyclinic, using the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) between July 2021 and July 2022.
In the past, unsanitary landfills were a common method for municipal solid waste disposal in developing countries. Although many nations have closed these landfills, the environmental pollution risks and impacts persist. This study introduces a new multi-criteria risk assessment framework specifically designed for closed, unsanitary landfills.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prevention of drug-resistant tuberculosis is a global health priority. However, trials evaluating the effectiveness of treating infection among contacts of persons with drug-resistant tuberculosis are lacking.
Methods: We conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial comparing 6 months of daily levofloxacin (weight-based doses) with placebo to treat infection.
1,4-Dihydronicotinamide derivatives, including 1-methyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide (MNAH), are derivatives of the active center of nicotinamide coenzyme (NADH) and are therefore potent radical scavengers. MNAH serves as a useful model of NADH that allows for modeling studies to address the activity of this important biomolecule. In this work, MNAH activity was evaluated against typical free radicals using quantum chemical calculations in physiological environments, with a secondary aim of comparing activity against two physiologically relevant radicals of markedly different stability, HO˙, and HOO˙, to establish which of these is a better model for assessing antioxidant capacity in physiological environments.
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