Plasmonic nanoparticle sensors: current progress, challenges, and future prospects.

Plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) have played a significant role in the evolution of modern nanoscience and nanotechnology in terms of colloidal synthesis, general understanding of nanocrystal growth mechanisms, and their impact in a wide range of applications. They exhibit strong visible colors due to localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) that depends on their size, shape, composition, and the surrounding dielectric environment. Under resonant excitation, the LSPR of plasmonic NPs leads to a strong field enhancement near their surfaces and thus enhances various light-matter interactions.

Bacterial Cellulose as a UVB Filter to Protect the Skin Microbiota.

Certain aerobic bacteria produce bacterial cellulose (BC) to protect themselves from UV radiation. Inspired by this natural function, the UV-filtering capacity of wet BC film (BC) and dried BC (BC-Dried) is evaluated and it is concluded that both samples hardly filter UVA, but filter UVB to some extent, especially BC-Dried. Moreover, this filtering capacity does not diminish but significantly increases with time, with efficiencies in the 145-160 min time range equal to or greater than most UV filters of the market.

Silver-based bimetallic nanozyme fabrics with peroxidase-mimic activity for urinary glucose detection.

The enhanced catalytic properties of bimetallic nanoparticles have been extensively investigated. In this study, bimetallic Ag-M (M = Au, Pt, or Pd) cotton fabrics were fabricated using a combination of electroless deposition and galvanic replacement reactions, and improvement in their peroxidase-mimicking catalytic activity compared to that of the parent Ag fabric was studied. The Ag-Pt bimetallic nanozyme fabric, which showed the highest catalytic activity and ability to simultaneously generate hydroxyl (•OH) and superoxide (O) radicals, was assessed as a urine glucose sensor.

Defect-Free, Few-Atomic-Layer Thin ZnO Nanosheets with Superior Excitonic Properties for Optoelectronic Devices.

Two-dimensional (2D) wide bandgap materials are gaining significant interest for next-generation optoelectronic devices. However, fabricating electronic-grade 2D nanosheets from non-van der Waals (n-vdW) oxide semiconductors poses a great challenge due to their stronger interlayer coupling compared with vdW crystals. This strong coupling typically introduces defects during exfoliation, impairing the optoelectronic properties.

Photoinduced Stitching of Self-Assembled Triangular Silver Nanoprisms at the Air-Water Interface.

This study investigates the influence of optical excitation on the self-assembly of triangular nanoprisms of silver into a continuous monolayer at the air-water interface. Langmuir monolayers of octadecylamine (ODA) have been used to electrostatically assemble citrate-capped silver triangular nanoprisms (AgTNPs) in the presence and absence of light. Under optical excitation, the nanoprisms were observed to assemble into a well-ordered monolayer through plasmon-mediated stitching, whereas the particles were merely in close contact during assembly in the dark.

Cr-Detector: A simple chemosensing system for onsite Cr (VI) detection in water.

Due to the increase in urbanization and industrialization, the load of toxicants in the environment is alarming. The most common toxicants, including heavy metals and metalloids such as hexavalent Chromium, have severe pathophysiological impacts on humans and other aquatic biotas. Therefore, developing a portable rapid detection device for such toxicants in the aquatic environment is necessary.

Utilising the Nanozymatic Activity of Copper-Functionalised Mesoporous C N for Sensing Biomolecules.

Designing unique nanomaterials for the selective sensing of biomolecules is of significant interest in the field of nanobiotechnology. In this work, we demonstrated the synthesis of ordered Cu nanoparticle-functionalised mesoporous C N that has unique peroxidase-like nanozymatic activity for the ultrasensitive and selective detection of glucose and glutathione. A nano hard-templating technique together with the in-situ polymerisation and self-assembly of Cu and high N-containing CN precursor was adopted to introduce mesoporosity as well as high N and Cu content in mesoporous C N .

Repairing and Preventing Photooxidation of Few-Layer Black Phosphorus with β-Carotene.

Few-layer black phosphorus (FLBP), a technologically important 2D material, faces a major hurdle to consumer applications: spontaneous degradation under ambient conditions. Blocking the direct exposure of FLBP to the environment has remained the key strategy to enhance its stability, but this can also limit its utility. In this paper, a more ambitious approach to handling FLBP is reported where not only is FLBP oxidation blocked, but it is also repaired postoxidation.

Differential interactions of α-synuclein conformers affect refolding and activity of proteins.

The accumulation of protein aggregates as intracellular inclusions interferes with cellular protein homeostasis leading to protein aggregation diseases. Protein aggregation results in the formation of several protein conformers including oligomers and fibrils, where each conformer has its own structural characteristic and proteotoxic potential. The present study explores the effect of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) conformers on the activity and spontaneous refolding of firefly luciferase.

Label-Free Electrochemiluminescence Nano-aptasensor for the Ultrasensitive Detection of ApoA1 in Human Serum.

A molybdenum sulfide/zirconium oxide/Nafion (MoS/ZrO/Naf) based electrochemiluminescence (ECL) aptasensor for the selective and ultrasensitive detection of ApoA1 is proposed, with Ru(bpy) as the luminophore. The chitosan (CS) modification on the nanocomposite layer allowed glutaraldehyde (GLUT) cross-linking, resulting in the immobilization of ApoA1 aptamers. Scanning electron microscopy, tunneling electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to characterize the nanocomposite, while electrochemiluminescence (ECL), cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to analyze the aptasensor assembly.

Bovine and human endometrium-derived hydrogels support organoid culture from healthy and cancerous tissues.

Organoid technology has provided unique insights into human organ development, function, and diseases. Patient-derived organoids are increasingly used for drug screening, modeling rare disorders, designing regenerative therapies, and understanding disease pathogenesis. However, the use of Matrigel to grow organoids represents a major challenge in the clinical translation of organoid technology.

Aptamer-based NanoBioSensors for seafood safety.

Chemical and biological contaminants are of primary concern in ensuring seafood safety. Rapid detection of such contaminants is needed to keep us safe from being affected. For over three decades, immunoassay (IA) technology has been used for the detection of contaminants in seafood products.

Reactive Oxygen Species Sequestration Induced Synthesis of β-PbO and Its Polymorphic Transformation to α-PbO at Atomically Thin Regimes.

The emergence of attractive properties in materials at atomically thin regimes has seen an ongoing interest in two-dimensional (2D) materials. An aspect that has lacked focused attention is the effect of 2D material thickness on its crystal structure. As several layered materials naturally exist in mixed metastable phases, it raises an important question of whether a specific polymorph of these mixed-phase materials will be favored at atomically thin limits.

Bimetallic nanozyme mediated urine glucose monitoring through discriminant analysis of colorimetric signal.

The ability to detect glucose concentrations in human urine offers a non-invasive approach to monitor changes in blood glucose, kidney health and vascular complications associated with diabetes. We show the potential of employing catalytically active nanoparticles directly grown on textiles to produce a dose-dependent colorimetric sensor for glucose. We use a galvanic replacement (GR) reaction for the synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticles.

Tuning the enzyme-like activities of cerium oxide nanoparticles using a triethyl phosphite ligand.

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeNPs) exhibit excellent and antioxidant properties, determined by the redox switching of surface cerium ions between their two oxidation states (Ce and Ce). It is known that ligands such as triethyl phosphite (TEP) can tune the redox behavior of CeNPs and change their biological enzyme-mimetic activities; however, the corresponding mechanism for such a behavior is completely unknown. Herein, we have studied the effect of TEP in promoting the SOD-enzyme-like activity in CeNPs with high and low Ce/Ce ratio, which were synthesized by wet chemical and thermal hydrolysis methods, respectively, and incubated with varying concentrations of TEP.

Classification of COVID-19 from chest x-ray images using deep features and correlation coefficient.

COVID-19 is a viral disease that in the form of a pandemic has spread in the entire world, causing a severe impact on people's well being. In fighting against this deadly disease, a pivotal step can prove to be an effective screening and diagnosing step to treat infected patients. This can be made possible through the use of chest X-ray images.

Excess iron promotes emergence of foamy macrophages that overexpress ferritin in the lungs of silicosis patients.

Background And Objective: Inhalation of high concentrations of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) can lead to silicosis. RCS contains varying levels of iron, which can cause oxidative stress and stimulate ferritin production. This study evaluated iron-related and inflammatory markers in control and silicosis patients.

Functionalized Concave Cube Gold Nanoparticles as Potent Antimicrobial Agents against Pathogenic Bacteria.

Gold (Au) is an inert metal in a bulk state; however, it can be used for the preparation of Au nanoparticles (i.e., AuNPs) for multidimensional applications in the field of nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology.

Erratum: Hussain et al. Increased Crystallization of CuTCNQ in Water/DMSO Bisolvent for Enhanced Redox Catalysis. 2021, , 954.

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Computational Intelligence Enabled Student Performance Estimation in the Age of COVID-19.

The sudden advent of COVID-19 pandemic left educational institutions in a difficult situation for the semester evaluation of students; especially where the online participation was difficult for the students. Such a situation may also happen during a similar disaster in the future. Through this work, we want to study the question: can the deep learning methods be leveraged to predict student grades based on the available performance of students.

AI-based diagnosis of COVID-19 patients using X-ray scans with stochastic ensemble of CNNs.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious disease and has a significant social and economic impact. The main challenge in fighting against this disease is its scale. Due to the outbreak, medical facilities are under pressure due to case numbers.

Copper Tetracyanoquinodimethane (CuTCNQ): A Metal-Organic Semiconductor for Room-Temperature Visible to Long-Wave Infrared Photodetection.

Mid-wave and long-wave infrared (MWIR and LWIR) detection play vital roles in applications that include health care, remote sensing, and thermal imaging. However, detectors in this spectral range often require complex fabrication processes and/or cryogenic cooling and are typically expensive, which motivates the development of simple alternatives. Here, we demonstrate broadband (0.

L-Cysteine as an Irreversible Inhibitor of the Peroxidase-Mimic Catalytic Activity of 2-Dimensional Ni-Based Nanozymes.

The ability to modulate the catalytic activity of inorganic nanozymes is of high interest. In particular, understanding the interactions of inhibitor molecules with nanozymes can bring them one step closer to the natural enzymes and has thus started to attract intense interest. To date, a few reversible inhibitors of the nanozyme activity have been reported.