Nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots: a multifaceted carbon nanomaterial that interferes in an amyloid-forming trajectory.

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are a versatile class of carbon-based nanomaterial frameworks that have previously been used as a diagnostic device, in sensing for environmental applications, in bioimaging, and for drug delivery systems. Their versatility stems from their ability to be chemically tailored functionalization to optimize properties for specific applications. In this study, we have synthesized lactic acid-derived nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots (LAdN-CQDs) and examined their ability to intervene in the conversion of soluble, monomeric hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) into mature fibrils.

Photochemistry of microplastics-derived dissolved organic matter: Reactive species generation and organic pollutant degradation.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) originating from microplastics (MPs-DOM) is increasingly recognized as a substantial component of aquatic DOM. The photochemistry of MPs-DOM, essential for understanding its environmental fate and impacts, remains largely unexplored. This study investigates the photochemical behaviors of MPs-DOM derived from two common plastics: polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which represent aromatic and aliphatic plastics, respectively.

Sociocultural, Behavioral, and Physical Correlates of Excessive Social Media Use, Addiction, and Motivation Toward Reduction in a Hispanic College Student Sample.

Social media use has been associated with adverse health consequences. However, there is limited research assessing correlates of social media use, addiction, failure to control use, and motivation to reduce use in a Hispanic sample. This study aimed to fill this gap by assessing factors within the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework.

Social Media Use, Emotional Investment, Self-Control Failure, and Addiction in Relation to Mental and Sleep Health in Hispanic University Emerging Adults.

The number of social media users has increased dramatically in recent years. Common correlates of social media use may be poor mental and sleep health which are pressing issues among emerging adults and Hispanic groups. This study investigated the relationships between five different forms of social media use and mental and sleep health in Hispanic university emerging adults.

Materials Characterization of Stereolithography 3D Printed Polymer to Develop a Self-Driven Microfluidic Device for Bioanalytical Applications.

Stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing is a rapid prototyping technique and reproducible manufacturing platform, which makes it a useful tool to develop advanced microfluidic devices for bioanalytical applications. However, limited information exists regarding the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the photocured polymers printed with SLA. This study demonstrates the characterization of a commercially available SLA 3D printed polymer to evaluate the potential presence of any time-dependent changes in material properties that may affect its ability to produce functional, capillary-action microfluidic devices.

Graphene acid quantum dots: A highly active multifunctional carbon nano material that intervene in the trajectory towards neurodegeneration.

Carbon dots (CDs) are carbon nano materials (CNMs) that find use across several biological applications because of their water solubility, biocompatible nature, eco-friendliness, and ease of synthesis. Additionally, their physiochemical properties can be chemically tuned for further optimization towards specific applications. Here, we investigate the efficacy of C70-derived Graphene Acid Quantum Dots (GAQDs) in mitigating the transformation of soluble, monomeric Hen Egg-White Lysozyme (HEWL) to mature fibrils during its amyloidogenic trajectory.

Probing Alzheimer's pathology: Exploring the next generation of FDDNP analogues for amyloid β detection.

Fluorescent probes are a powerful tool for imaging amyloid β (Aβ) plaques, the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Herein, we report the synthesis and comprehensive characterization of 21 novel probes as well as their optical properties and binding affinities to Aβ fibrils. One of these dyes, 1Ae, exhibited several improvements over FDDNP, an established biomarker for Aβ- and Tau-aggregates.

Deciphering the role of brainstem glycinergic neurons during startle and prepulse inhibition.

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the auditory startle response, a key measure of sensorimotor gating, diminishes with age and is impaired in various neurological conditions. While PPI deficits are often associated with cognitive impairments, their reversal is routinely used in experimental systems for antipsychotic drug screening. Yet, the cellular and circuit-level mechanisms of PPI remain unclear, even under non-pathological conditions.

Towards structurally versatile mesoionic N-heterocyclic olefin ligands and their coordination to palladium, gold, and boron hydride.

We have developed an efficient and versatile approach for the synthesis of a family of 1,2,3-triazole-based mesoionic N-heterocyclic olefin (mNHO) ligands and investigated their coordination to palladium, gold, and boron hydride experimentally and computationally. We reacted mNHOs obtained through deprotonation of the corresponding methylated and ethylated 1,3,4-triaryl-1,2,3-triazolium salts with [Pd(allyl)Cl] to give the corresponding [Pd(η-allyl)Cl(mNHO)] coordination complexes. C NMR data revealed the strong σ-donor character of the mNHO ligands, consistent with the calculated bond orders and atom-condensed charges.

Symmetry breaking and self-interaction correction in the chromium atom and dimer.

Density functional approximations to the exchange-correlation energy can often identify strongly correlated systems and estimate their energetics through energy-minimizing symmetry-breaking. In particular, the binding energy curve of the strongly correlated chromium dimer is described qualitatively by the local spin density approximation (LSDA) and almost quantitatively by the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation (PBE-GGA), where the symmetry breaking is antiferromagnetic for both. Here, we show that a full Perdew-Zunger self-interaction-correction (SIC) to LSDA seems to go too far by creating an unphysical symmetry-broken state, with effectively zero magnetic moment but non-zero spin density on each atom, which lies ∼4 eV below the antiferromagnetic solution.

Sustainable Alternatives to Petroleum-Derived Excipients in Pharmaceutical Oil-in-Water Creams.

Recently, vast efforts towards sustainability have been made in the pharmaceutical industry. In conventional oil-in-water (O/W) cream formulations, various petroleum-based excipients, namely mineral oil and petrolatum, are commonly used. Natural or synthetic excipients, derived from vegetable sources, were explored as alternatives to petroleum-based excipients in prototype topical creams, with 1% (w/w) lidocaine.

Cultural Considerations and Response to Trauma for Displaced Children at the Border.

The United States has long been the leading destination for Latin Americans seeking refuge. However, in the last 7 years, many children from Mexico and northern Central America, composed of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, have joined this migratory flow. The experience of forced migration is intense, chronic, and complex for children in their home countries, during their journey, and on arrival in the United States.

3D-bioprinted cardiac tissues and their potential for disease modeling.

Heart diseases cause over 17.9 million total deaths globally, making them the leading source of mortality. The aim of this review is to describe the characteristic mechanical, chemical and cellular properties of human cardiac tissue and how these properties can be mimicked in 3D bioprinted tissues.

Big is not better: Comparing two alpha-Gal-bearing glycotopes in neoglycoproteins as biomarkers for Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis infection.

The protozoan parasite Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis is among Latin America's most widespread Leishmania species and is responsible for tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL). This disease has multiple clinical presentations, with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) being the most frequent. It manifests as one or a few localized skin ulcers, which can spread to other body areas.

Expression of Concern: The controlled synthesis and DFT investigation of novel (0D)-(3D) ZnS/SiO heterostructures for photocatalytic applications.

Expression of Concern for 'The controlled synthesis and DFT investigation of novel (0D)-(3D) ZnS/SiO heterostructures for photocatalytic applications' by Mohamed F. Sanad , , 2021, , 22352-22364, https://doi.org/10.

Seed Priming with Reactive Oxygen Species-Generating Nanoparticles Enhanced Maize Tolerance to Multiple Abiotic Stresses.

Climate change-induced extreme weather events (heat, cold, drought, and flooding) will severely affect crop production. Increasing the resilience of crops to fluctuating environmental conditions is critically important. Here, we report that nanomaterials (NMs) with reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating properties can be used as seed priming agents to simultaneously enhance the tolerance of maize seeds and seedlings to diverse and even multiple stresses.

Advocating the Use of Bayesian Network in Analyzing the Modes of Occurrence of Elements in Coal.

Modes of occurrence of elements in coal are important because they can be used not only to understand the origin of inorganic components in coal but also to determine the impact on the environment and human health and the deposition process of coal seams as well. Statistical analysis is one of the commonly used indirect methods used to analyze the modes of occurrence of elements in coal, among which hierarchical clustering is widely used. However, hierarchical clustering may lead to misleading results due to its limitation that it focuses on the clusters of elements rather than a single element.

Ecosystem and soil respiration radiocarbon detects old carbon release as a fingerprint of warming and permafrost destabilization with climate change.

The permafrost region has accumulated organic carbon in cold and waterlogged soils over thousands of years and now contains three times as much carbon as the atmosphere. Global warming is degrading permafrost with the potential to accelerate climate change as increased microbial decomposition releases soil carbon as greenhouse gases. A 19-year time series of soil and ecosystem respiration radiocarbon from Alaska provides long-term insight into changing permafrost soil carbon dynamics in a warmer world.

Triepoxide formation by a flavin-dependent monooxygenase in monensin biosynthesis.

Monensin A is a prototypical natural polyether polyketide antibiotic. It acts by binding a metal cation and facilitating its transport across the cell membrane. Biosynthesis of monensin A involves construction of a polyene polyketide backbone, subsequent epoxidation of the alkenes, and, lastly, formation of cyclic ethers via epoxide-opening cyclization.

Synthesis of Novel Pyrazole-Oxindole Conjugates with Cytotoxicity in Human Cancer Cells via Apoptosis.

A novel series of pyrazole-oxindole conjugates were prepared and characterized as potential cytotoxic agents by FT-IR, NMR and HR-MS. The cytotoxic activity of these compounds was tested in the Jurkat acute T cell leukemia, CEM acute lymphoblastic leukemia, MCF10 A mammary epithelial and MDA-MB 231 triple negative breast cancer cell lines. Among the tested conjugates, 5-methyl-3-((3-(1-phenyl)-3-(p-tolyl)-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)methylene)indolin-2-one 6h emerged as the most cytotoxic with a CC of 4.

Psychosocial and personality trait associates of phubbing and being phubbed in hispanic emerging adult college students.

Unlabelled: Phubbing is when one uses their smartphone in a social interaction instead of interacting with the other individual(s) in their presence. Phubbing and being phubbed are growing concerns as the number of smartphones and frequency of smartphone use increases. This study assessed the relationships between phubbing, being phubbed, psychosocial constructs, and socially adverse personality traits among Hispanic emerging adult college students.

Mechanistic Insight into the Internalization, Distribution, and Autophagy Process of Manganese Nanoparticles in L.: Evidence from Orthogonal Microscopic Analysis.

Orthogonal techniques were used to track manganese nanoparticles (MnNPs) in L. leaf tissue and cell compartments and subsequently to explain the mechanism of uptake, translocation, and cellular interaction. L was cultivated and foliarly exposed to MnNPs (100 mg/L, 50 mL/per leaf) before analysis by using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) as well as dark-field hyperspectral and two-photon microscopy.

Single-atomic platinum on fullerene C surfaces for accelerated alkaline hydrogen evolution.

The electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is one of the most studied and promising processes for hydrogen fuel generation. Single-atom catalysts have been shown to exhibit ultra-high HER catalytic activity, but the harsh preparation conditions and the low single-atom loading hinder their practical applications. Furthermore, promoting hydrogen evolution reaction kinetics, especially in alkaline electrolytes, remains as an important challenge.