Ultra-high thermally stable gold nanorods/radial mesoporous silica and their application in enhanced chemo-photothermal therapy.

In this work, gold nanorods embedded in ultra-thick silica shells with radial mesopores (AuNR/R-SiO) were successfully synthesized in an ethanol/water solution. By optimizing the concentration of CTAB and the volume of ethanol, a shell thickness up to 83 nm was realized. Taking advantage of the ultra-thick silica shell, AuNR/R-SiO exhibited ultra-high thermal stability-could retain the integrity and photothermal effects even after 800 °C thermal annealing, providing inspiring sights into the application under some extreme conditions.

Covalent sortase A inhibitor ML346 prevents infection of .

The housekeeping sortase A (SrtA), a membrane-associated cysteine transpeptidase, is responsible for anchoring surface proteins to the cell wall peptidoglycan in Gram-positive bacteria. This process is essential for the regulation of bacterial virulence and pathogenicity. Therefore, SrtA is considered to be an ideal target for antivirulence therapy.

NIR-II cell endocytosis-activated fluorescent probes for high-contrast bioimaging diagnostics.

Fluorescence probes have great potential to empower bioimaging, precision clinical diagnostics and surgery. However, current probes are limited to high-contrast diagnostics, due to the substantial background interference from tissue scattering and nonspecific activation in blood and normal tissues. Here, we developed a kind of cell endocytosis-activated fluorescence (CEAF) probe, which consists of a hydrophilic polymer unit and an acid pH-sensitive small-molecule fluorescent moiety that operates in the "tissue-transparent" second near-infrared (NIR-II) window.

The dome of gold nanolized for catalysis.

Gold is noble in bulk but turns out to be a superior catalyst at the nanoscale when supported on oxides, in particular titania. The critical thickness for activity, namely two-layer gold particles on titania, observed two decades ago represents one of the most influential mysteries in the recent history of heterogeneous catalysis. By developing a Bayesian optimization controlled global potential energy surface exploration tool with machine learning potential, here we determine the atomic structures of gold particles within ∼2 nm on a TiO surface.

Light-intensity switch enabled nonsynchronous growth of fluorinated raspberry-like nanoparticles.

Raspberry-like (RB) nanoparticles hold potential for diverse applications due to their hierarchical morphology. Here we developed a novel tandem synthetic approach of nonsynchronous growth based on photo-mediated reversible-deactivation radical polymerization, enabling simple, efficient and bottom-up synthesis of RB nanoparticles of uniform sizes at quantitative conversions of fluorinated monomers. Chain transfer agents of different chain lengths, concentrations and chemical compositions were varied to tune the diameter of RB particles.

Thermodynamic rules for zeolite formation from machine learning based global optimization.

While the [TO] tetrahedron packing rule leads to millions of likely zeolite structures, there are currently only 252 types of zeolite frameworks reported after decades of synthetic efforts. The subtle synthetic conditions, the structure-directing agents, pH and the feed ratio, were often blamed for the limited zeolite types due to the complex kinetics. Here by developing machine learning global optimization techniques, we are now able to establish the global potential energy surface of a typical zeolite system, Si Al P OH with 12 T atoms (T: Si, Al and P) that is the general formula shared by CHA, ATS, ATO and ATV zeolite frameworks.

Designing composite solid-state electrolytes for high performance lithium ion or lithium metal batteries.

Solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) are capable of inhibiting the growth of lithium dendrites, demonstrating great potential in next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, poor room temperature ionic conductivity and the unstable interface between SSEs and the electrode block their large-scale applications in LIBs. Composite solid-state electrolytes (CSSEs) formed by mixing different ionic conductors lead to better performance than single SSEs, especially in terms of ionic conductivity and interfacial stability.

A Dimension Reduction Approach for Energy Landscape: Identifying Intermediate States in Metabolism-EMT Network.

Dimension reduction is a challenging problem in complex dynamical systems. Here, a dimension reduction approach of landscape (DRL) for complex dynamical systems is proposed, by mapping a high-dimensional system on a low-dimensional energy landscape. The DRL approach is applied to three biological networks, which validates that new reduced dimensions preserve the major information of stability and transition of original high-dimensional systems.

Drug Repurposing of Itraconazole and Estradiol Benzoate against COVID-19 by Blocking SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein-Mediated Membrane Fusion.

SARS-CoV-2 caused the emerging epidemic of coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19). To date, there are more than 82.9 million confirmed cases worldwide, there is no clinically effective drug against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Ultrabright NIR-II Emissive Polymer Dots for Metastatic Ovarian Cancer Detection.

Intraoperative diagnosis of metastatic tumors is of significant importance to the treatment of ovarian cancer. NIR-II fluorescence imaging holds great promise for facile detection of tumor in situ with high sensitivity and resolution. Herein, a kind of NIR-II fluorescent polymer dots (NIR-II Pdots) with high brightness is developed for real-time detection of metastatic ovarian cancer via NIR-II fluorescence imaging.

Luminescence mechanism in hydrogenated silicon quantum dots with a single oxygen ligand.

Though photoluminescence (PL) of Si quantum dots (QDs) has been known for decades and both theoretical and experimental studies have been extensive, their luminescence mechanism has not been elaborated. Several models have been proposed to explain the mechanism. A deep insight into the origin of light emissions in Si QDs is necessary.

Materials, Devices, and Systems of On-Skin Electrodes for Electrophysiological Monitoring and Human-Machine Interfaces.

On-skin electrodes function as an ideal platform for collecting high-quality electrophysiological (EP) signals due to their unique characteristics, such as stretchability, conformal interfaces with skin, biocompatibility, and wearable comfort. The past decade has witnessed great advancements in performance optimization and function extension of on-skin electrodes. With continuous development and great promise for practical applications, on-skin electrodes are playing an increasingly important role in EP monitoring and human-machine interfaces (HMI).

Characterization of NucPNP and NucV involved in the early steps of nucleocidin biosynthesis in .

Nucleocidin 1 produced by is one of five characterized natural products containing fluorine. It was discovered in 1956, but its biosynthesis is not yet completely resolved. Recently, the biosynthetic gene cluster of 1 was identified.

Potential Applications of Mobile and Wearable Devices for Psychological Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review.

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic that has been raging in 2020 does affect not only the physical state but also the mental health of the general population, particularly, that of the healthcare workers. Given the unprecedented large-scale impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital technology has gained momentum as invaluable social interaction and health tracking tools in this time of great turmoil, in part due to the imposed state-wide mobilization limitations to mitigate the risk of infection that might arise from in-person socialization or hospitalization. Over the last five years, there has been a notable increase in the demand and usage of mobile and wearable devices as well as their adoption in studies of mental fitness.

Nanoscale growth of a Sn-guided SiGeSn alloy on Si (111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy.

Here, SiGeSn nanostructures were grown molecular beam epitaxy on a Si (111) substrate with the assistance of Sn droplets. Owing to the thermal effect and the compressive strain induced by a lattice mismatch, Si and Sn atoms were successfully incorporated into the Ge matrix during the Sn-guided Ge deposition process. A low growth temperature of 350 °C produced a variety of SiGeSn nanostructures of different sizes, attributed to the variation of the initial Sn droplet size.

A Logic-Memory Transistor with the Integration of Visible Information Sensing-Memory-Processing.

To meet the demands of future intelligent application scenarios, the time-efficient information acquisition and energy-efficient data processing capabilities of terminal electronic systems are indispensable. However, in current commercial visual systems, the visible information is collected by image sensors, converted into digital format data, and transferred to memory units and processors for subsequent processing tasks. As a result, most of the time and energy are wasted in the data conversion and movement, which leads to large time latency and low energy efficiency.

Excite Spoof Surface Plasmons with Tailored Wavefronts Using High-Efficiency Terahertz Metasurfaces.

Spoof surface plasmons (SSPs) play crucial roles in terahertz (THz) near-field photonics. However, both high-efficiency excitation and wavefront engineering of SSPs remain great challenges, which hinder their wide applications in practice. Here, a scheme is proposed to simultaneously achieve these two goals efficiently using a single ultracompact device.

Cavin1 Deficiency Causes Disorder of Hepatic Glycogen Metabolism and Neonatal Death by Impacting Fenestrations in Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells.

It has been reported that Cavin1 deficiency causes lipodystrophy in both humans and mice by affecting lipid metabolism. The ablation of Cavin1 in rodents also causes a significant deviation from Mendelian ratio at weaning in a background-dependent manner, suggesting the presence of undiscovered functions of Cavin1. In the current study, the results show that Cavin1 deficiency causes neonatal death in C57BL/6J mice by dampening the storage and mobilization of glycogen in the liver, which leads to lethal neonatal hypoglycemia.

Catalytic/magnetic assemblies of rolled-up tubular nanomembrane-based micromotors.

Nano/-micromotors self-assembling into static and dynamic clusters are of considerable promise to study smart, interactive, responsive, and adaptive nano/-micromaterials that can mimic spatio-temporal patterns, swarming, and collective behaviors widely observed in nature. Previously, the dynamic self-assembly of bubble-propelled catalytic micromotors initiated by capillary forces has been reported. This manuscript shows novel self-assembly modes of magnetic/catalytic Ti/FeNi/Pt tubular micromotors.

embedding dual-Fe nanoparticles in synchronously generated carbon for the synergistic integration of magnetic resonance imaging and drug delivery.

incorporating versatile magnetic iron nanoparticles into ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) by means of synthetic methodology for functional integration is a great challenge. Inspired by the phenomenon of uniovular twins in nature, a homometallic [Fe(μ-O)(OPPh)(OCCMe)] ({FeP}) cluster was synthesized and used as the ovulum to produce dual-Fe nanoparticle (γ-FeO and Fe(PO))-functionalized OMC (dual-Fe/OMC). magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies showed a longitudinal relaxation ( ) and transverse relaxation ( ) of 9.

Alcohol amine-catalyzed CO conversion for the synthesis of quinazoline-2,4-(1,3)-dione in water.

The conversion of CO to high value-added chemicals in water using environment-friendly and cost-effective catalysts is a very significant topic. In this work, a green method for the conversion of CO catalyzed by alcohol amines has been developed. Alcohol amines showed considerable activating ability to CO in the cyclization with 2-aminobenzonitrile to quinazoline-2,4(1,3)-dione in water.

Chirally Reversed Graphene Oxide Liquid Crystals.

Colloidal liquid crystals (LCs) formed by nanoparticles hold great promise for creating new structures and topologies. However, achieving highly ordered hierarchical architectures and stable topological configurations is extremely challenging, mainly due to the liquid-like fluidity of colloidal LCs in nature. Herein, an innovative synchronous nanofluidic rectification (SNR) technique for generating ultralong graphene oxide (GO) liquid crystal (GOLC) fibers with hierarchical core-skin architectures is presented, in which the GO sheet assemblies and hydrogel skin formation are synchronous.

Heterogeneous Responses to Mechanical Force of Prostate Cancer Cells Inducing Different Metastasis Patterns.

The physical cues in the extracellular environment play important roles in cancer cell metastasis. However, how metastatic cancer cells respond to the diverse mechanical environments of metastatic sites is not fully understood. Here, substrates with different mechanical properties are prepared to simulate the extracellular mechanical environment of various human tissues.

Transition-metal and oxidant-free approach for the synthesis of diverse N-heterocycles by TMSCl activation of isocyanides.

A highly efficient TMSCl-mediated addition of N-nucleophiles to isocyanides has been achieved. This transition-metal and oxidant-free strategy has been applied to the construction of various N-heterocyles such as quinazolinone, benzimidazole and benzothiazole derivatives by the use of distinct amino-based binucleophiles. The notable feature of this protocol includes its mild reaction condition, broad functional group tolerance and excellent yield.

Synthesis of magnetic core-shell FeO@PDA@Cu-MOFs composites for enrichment of microcystin-LR by MALDI-TOF MS analysis.

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is a toxin released from cyanobacteria in eutrophicated water. MC-LR is the most abundant and the most toxic among microcystins. In this work, core-shell structured copper-based magnetic metal-organic framework (FeO@PDA@Cu-MOFs) composites were synthesized a solvothermal reaction and a sol-gel method.