Nanoscopic Supercapacitance Elucidations of the Graphene-Ionic Interface with Suspended/Supported Graphene in Different Ionic Solutions.

Graphene-based supercapacitors have gained significant attention due to their exceptional energy storage capabilities. Despite numerous research efforts trying to improve the performance, the challenge of experimentally elucidating the nanoscale-interface molecular characteristics still needs to be tackled for device optimizations in commercial applications. To address this, we have conducted a series of experiments using substrate-free graphene field-effect transistors (SF-GFETs) and oxide-supported graphene field-effect transistors (OS-GFETs) to elucidate the graphene-electrolyte interfacial arrangement and corresponding capacitance under different surface potential states and ionic concentration environments.

Engineered Perfluorochemical Cancer-Derived Exosomes Loaded with Indocyanine Green and Camptothecin Provide Targeted Photochemotherapy for Effective Cancer Treatment.

Background: Cancer treatments are still limited by various challenges, such as off-target drug delivery, posttreatment inflammation, and the hypoxic conditions in the tumor microenvironment; thus, the development of effective therapeutics remains highly desirable. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles with a size of 30-200 nm that have been widely applied as drug carriers over the last decade. In this study, melanoma-derived exosomes were used to develop a perfluorocarbon (PFC) drug nanocarriers loaded with indocyanine green (ICG) and camptothecin (CPT) (ICFESs) for targeted cancer photochemotherapy.

AI-Driven Enhancement of Skin Cancer Diagnosis: A Two-Stage Voting Ensemble Approach Using Dermoscopic Data.

Background: Skin cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, with melanoma being the deadliest type, though it accounts for less than 5% of cases. Traditional skin cancer detection methods are effective but are often costly and time-consuming. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have improved skin cancer diagnosis by helping dermatologists identify suspicious lesions.

Experimental-design-based optimization of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-negative-ion chemical ionization-mass spectrometry for the determination of pyrethroids in agricultural products and drinks.

Pyrethroids are synthetic chemicals that account for 16% of the international insecticide market and have been shown to be of varying toxicity to different species. There are various methods available for detecting pyrethroids in agricultural products, but these products must be pre-treated to remove interference from the food matrix, such as through dispersion liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME). This study employed two experimental design methods to optimize the continuous and discontinuous experimental parameters of DLLME and investigated whether DLLME combined with GC-NICI-MS is effective for detecting pyrethroids in agricultural products.

Impact of PM, relative humidity, and temperature on sleep quality: a cross-sectional study in Taipei.

Introduction: TWe investigated impacts of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM), relative humidity (RH), and temperature on sleep stages and arousal.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional analysis involving 8,611 participants was conducted at a sleep center in Taipei.

Oscillatory Transcranial Electrical Stimulation and the Amplitude-Modulated Frequency Dictate the Quantitative Features of Phosphenes.

Previous research demonstrated that transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can induce phosphene perception. However, tACS involves rhythmic changes in the electric field and alternating polarity (excitatory vs. inhibitory phases), leaving the precise mechanism behind phosphene perception unclear.

Serial Examination of Platelet Function Tests Might Predict Prognosis of Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke-A Cohort Study.

Background: This study investigated whether point-of-care platelet function measurements could predict favorable outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Antiplatelet agents, such as aspirin, are known to reduce the risk of recurrent stroke by 20-30%. However, identifying nonresponders to therapy remains a clinical challenge.

A deep learning-based ADRPPA algorithm for the prediction of diabetic retinopathy progression.

As an alternative to assessments performed by human experts, artificial intelligence (AI) is currently being used for screening fundus images and monitoring diabetic retinopathy (DR). Although AI models can provide quasi-clinician diagnoses, they rarely offer new insights to assist clinicians in predicting disease prognosis and treatment response. Using longitudinal retinal imaging data, we developed and validated a predictive model for DR progression: AI-driven Diabetic Retinopathy Progression Prediction Algorithm (ADRPPA).

Nocturnal sentry duty and cardiometabolic characteristics in armed forces personnel.

Background: Sleep deprivation can lead to increased body weight and blood pressure (BP), but the latent effects of partial sleep deprivation related to required night sentry duties within a short-term period on cardiometabolic characteristic changes in military personnel are unclear.

Aim: To investigate the association between night sentry duty frequency in the past 3 months and cardiometabolic characteristics in armed forces personnel.

Methods: A total of 867 armed forces personnel who were aged 18-39 years and did not take any antihypertensive medications in Taiwan in 2020 were included.

Cacao agroforestry adoption by smallholder farmers and forest loss prevention in the Maya Golden Landscape, Belize.

Unsustainable land use practices have led to increased forest loss rates. Implementing cacao agroforestry can reduce forest loss by preventing the clear-cutting of forests for monoculture plantations. However, research is needed on its effectiveness in preventing forest loss and the factors influencing its adoption between full-time and part-time farmers.

Bithiophene Imide-Based Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAMs) on NiOx for High-Performance Tin Perovskite Solar Cells Fabricated Using a Two-Step Approach.

Three new bithiophene imide (BTI)-based organic small molecules, (), (), and (), with varied alkyl side chains, were developed and employed as self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) applied to NiOx films in tin perovskite solar cells (TPSCs). The NiOx layer has the effect of modifying the hydrophilicity and the surface roughness of ITO for SAM to uniformly deposit on it. The side chains of the SAM molecules play a vital role in the formation of a high-quality perovskite layer in TPSCs.

Cross-facility absolute charge calibration of scintillating screens for laser wakefield accelerated beam diagnostics.

Scintillation screens are widely used to diagnose high-charge density, low-average current electron beams from laser wakefield accelerators (LWFAs). However, the absolute response between emitted photons and electron charge has only been calibrated at a limited number of facilities, and there have been discrepancies between these calibrations. In this report, we comprehensively revised the absolute charge calibration of two high relative brightness scintillating screens of LANEX Regular (Carestream) and PI200 (Mitsubishi) by employing the high-brightness photoinjector at the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), which provides electron beams with variable charges (50-350 pC per pulse) and energies (26.

A functional eutectogel based on ultrahigh-molecular weight polymers: Physical entanglements in deep eutectic solvent.

Eutectogels have emerged as a promising material for wearable devices due to its superior ionic conductivity, non-volatility, and low cost. Despite numerous efforts, only a limited number of polymers and gelling mechanisms have been successfully employed in the fabrication of eutectogels. In this study, an effective three-dimensional network is developed based on the entanglements of polymer chains, facilitating the formation of an entangled eutectogel.

Enhancing Amperometric Ozone Gas Sensing with Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids and Platinum-Based Electrodes.

Ozone (O) poses serious health risks, prompting numerous countries to implement regulations that establish exposure limits and emission controls, for example, the air quality index (AQI) for O ranging from 50 to 150 parts per billion (ppb), with natural levels at around 30 ppb. Electrochemical sensors are favored for detecting pollutant gases due to their high sensitivity, low cost, portability, energy efficiency, and capability for selective detection. In this study, we developed an O sensor employing carbon-supported Pt-based binary and ternary nanorods (NRs) combined with room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) as electrolytes, aiming at highly sensitive and selective detection of O at ppb levels.

Structural evolution and nanodomain formation in blend films of a block copolymer and homopolymer.

This study explores the concurrent formation of surface perforations, parallel cylinders, and double gyroids in symmetric PS--PMMA/hPS blend films during isothermal annealing at 205 and 240 °C. By controlling the weight fraction ratio of PS--PMMA to hPS at 75/25, we systematically examined the impact of film thickness and annealing temperature on nanodomain development. Using GISAXS and SEM, we observed that thin films rapidly formed surface perforations and underlying parallel cylinders at both annealing temperatures.

Formation and Microfilamentation of Spiral Density Waves in Plasmas Induced by Circularly Polarized Field Ionization.

The formation and subsequent self-organization of a spiral electron density modulation initialized in a plasma produced by optical-field ionization of various gas species is studied. Our analytical model predicts that the spiral density modulation results from space-dependent drift velocities of the ionized electrons due to the spatial and temporal intensity distributions of the circularly polarized ionizing laser. The spiral topology of the electron density has been validated by three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations.

Long-Range Temporal Correlations in Electroencephalography for Parkinson's Disease Progression.

Background: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) present progressive deterioration in both motor and non-motor manifestations. However, the absence of clinical biomarkers for disease progression hinders clinicians from tailoring treatment strategies effectively.

Objectives: To identify electroencephalography (EEG) biomarker that can track disease progression in PD.

Evolution of aluminum aminophenolate complexes in the ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone: electronic and amino-chelating effects.

A series of aluminum complexes bearing phenolate (O-Al and O2-Al), biphenolate (OO-Al type), aminophenolate (ON-Al), aminobiphenolate (ONO-Al), bis(phenolato)bis(amine) (NNOO-Al), and Salan (ONNO-Al) type ligands were synthesized. ε-Caprolactone (CL) polymerization using these aluminum complexes as catalysts was investigated. The overall polymerization rates of Al catalysts with different ligands were found to be in the following order ( values): ONBr-Al (0.

Molecular structure of enzyme-synthesized amylose-like chimeric isomaltomegalosaccharides and their encapsulation of the sulfasalazine prodrug.

The glucoconjugation between linear chimeric α-(1→4)- and α-(1→6)-glucosidic segments exhibits functional properties throughout their structure. In this study, we enzymatically synthesized three new series of chimeric nonreducing isomaltomegalosaccharides (N-IMS-n/m), each featuring a constant n, α-(1→4)-segment (average degree of polymerization, DP = 22-25) at the nonreducing terminal, and varying m, α-(1→6)-main chain lengths (DP = 7-53). The synthesized compounds-N-IMS-25/7, N-IMS-24/19, and N-IMS-22/53-were compared to amylose (DP = 28) and previous samples of N-IMS-15/35 and D-IMS-28.

Quantifying the effects of the microphysical hygroscopic restructuring of soot on ensemble optical properties and satellite aerosol optical depth retrievals.

Black carbon, or soot, significantly contributes to atmospheric light absorption due to its low single scattering albedo (SSA). This study investigates the impact of soot's hygroscopic restructuring on satellite remote sensing, focusing on radiative forcing, top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance, and aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals. We characterized soot aging using relative humidity (RH) growth factor functions and modeled fresh and aging soot aggregates using a cluster-cluster aggregation algorithm.