Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: a half-century historical perspective.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has evolved significantly over fifty years into a powerful analytical technique. This review aims to achieve five main goals. (1) Providing a comprehensive history of SERS's discovery, its experimental and theoretical foundations, its connections to advances in nanoscience and plasmonics, and highlighting collective contributions of key pioneers.

Size-, shape-, facet- and support-dependent selectivity of Cu nanoparticles in CO reduction through multiparameter optimization.

This study investigates the limited selectivity of the Cu111 surface for C-C bond formation during CO reduction and explores the factors influencing selectivity using Cu nanoparticles smaller than 2 nm. The optimal nanoparticle size for C-C bond formation on the 111 facet with minimal overpotential is determined using density functional theory. A suitable supporting surface to enhance the stability and catalytic performance of the Cu-based nanoparticles is identified.

Optimizing Dielectric Rod Antenna Performance with Spoof Surface Plasmon Polariton-Based Feeding Method.

This study investigates the use of spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) as an effective feeding mechanism for antennas functioning within the extremely high-frequency (EHF) range. A novel method is proposed for feeding a dielectric rod antenna with SSPPs, featuring a simple design made from FR-4 material with a relative permittivity of 4.3.

A tomato ethylene-resistant mutant displays altered growth and higher β-carotene levels in fruit.

The mutants resistant to ethylene are helpful in deciphering the role of ethylene in plant development. We isolated an ethylene-resistant tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) mutant by screening for acetylene-resistant (atr-1) seedlings. The atr-1 mutant displayed resistance to kinetin, suggesting attenuation of the ethylene sensing response.

A Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Enhanced Structural Damage Detection: Integrating ResNet50, GoogLeNet, and Attention Mechanisms.

Quick and accurate structural damage detection is essential for maintaining the safety and integrity of infrastructure, especially following natural disasters. Traditional methods of damage assessment, which rely on manual inspections, can be labor-intensive and subject to human error. This paper introduces a hybrid deep learning model that combines the capabilities of ResNet50 and GoogLeNet, further enhanced by a convolutional block attention module (CBAM), proposed to improve both the accuracy and performance in detecting structural damage.

A comprehensive review of lignin-reinforced lignocellulosic composites: Enhancing fire resistance and reducing formaldehyde emission.

The rising environmental concerns and the growing demand for renewable materials have surged across various industries. In this context, lignin, being a plentiful natural aromatic compound that possesses advantageous functional groups suitable for utilization in biocomposite systems, has gained notable attention as a promising and sustainable alternative to fossil-derived materials. It can be obtained from lignocellulosic biomass through extraction via various techniques, which may cause variability in its thermal, mechanical, and physical properties.

Mixed Perovskite Phases of BaTiO/BaTiO for Efficient Electrochemical Reduction of CO to CO.

One of the most promising approaches in solving the energy crisis and reducing atmospheric CO emissions is artificial photosynthetic CO reduction. The electrochemical method for CO reduction is more appealing since it can be operated under ambient conditions, and the product selectivity strongly depends on the applied potential. Perovskites with ferroelectric properties strongly adsorb linear CO molecules.

Sequestration of gene products by decoys enhances precision in the timing of intracellular events.

Expressed gene products often interact ubiquitously with binding sites at nucleic acids and macromolecular complexes, known as decoys. The binding of transcription factors (TFs) to decoys can be crucial in controlling the stochastic dynamics of gene expression. Here, we explore the impact of decoys on the timing of intracellular events, as captured by the time taken for the levels of a given TF to reach a critical threshold level, known as the first passage time (FPT).

Organic BODIPY based gels: Optical, electrochemical and self-assembly properties.

Two novel BODIPY dyes, BOC3 and BC12, were synthesized with variable alkyl chains at terminal amide functional units. BC12, featuring a longer alkyl chain (-C12H25), formed a gel compared to BOC3, which has a shorter alkyl chain (-CH2OCH3), due to supra molecular self-assembly in film. Both dyes exhibited absorption peaks around 530 nm in the visible region, with a red shift of about 30 nm in the film state, essential for organic electronic applications.

Aqueous based ultra-small magnetic Cr-doped CdSe quantum dots as a potential dual imaging probe in biomedicine.

The substitution of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) by a small number of transition-metal ions with magnetic properties gives rise to magnetic-doped semiconductors. With a balance of optical and magnetic properties, these magnetic semiconductors are widely used in spintronics, bioimaging and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications. To facilitate their usage in bio-applications, it is critical to synthesize water-soluble magnetic QDs with a stabilized structure while maintaining their optical and magnetic properties.

Integrated formic acid and deep eutectic solvent mediated sustainable synthesis of cellulose nanocrystals from shells.

The present study reports the green synthesis of cellulose nanocrystals from the shells of (SFS) cellulose. Three different methods, alkali, acid and organic acid, were screened for the maximum cellulose extraction. A maximum cellulose yield, 30.

An Extensive Atlas of Proteome and Phosphoproteome Turnover Across Mouse Tissues and Brain Regions.

Understanding how proteins in different mammalian tissues are regulated is central to biology. Protein abundance, turnover, and post-translational modifications like phosphorylation, are key factors that determine tissue-specific proteome properties. However, these properties are challenging to study across tissues and remain poorly understood.

Cutting-Edge Applications of Cellulose-Based Membranes in Drug and Organic Contaminant Removal: Recent Advances and Innovations.

The increasing environmental challenges caused by pharmaceutical waste, especially antibiotics and contaminants, necessitate sustainable solutions. Cellulose-based membranes are considered advanced tools and show great potential as effective materials for the removal of drugs and organic contaminants. This review introduces an environmentally friendly composite membrane for the elimination of antibiotics and dye contaminants from water and food, without the use of toxic additives.

Probing the Molecular Interactions of A22 with Prokaryotic Actin MreB and Eukaryotic Actin: A Computational and Experimental Study.

Actin is a major cytoskeletal system that mediates the intricate organization of macromolecules within cells. The bacterial cytoskeletal protein MreB is a prokaryotic actin-like protein governing the cell shape and intracellular organization in many rod-shaped bacteria, including pathogens. MreB stands as a target for antibiotic development, and compounds like A22 and its analogue, MP265, are identified as potent inhibitors of MreB.

Leveraging Soft Acid-Base Interactions Alters the Pathway for Electrochemical Nitrogen Oxidation to Nitrate with High Faradaic Efficiency.

Electrocatalytic nitrogen oxidation reaction (NOR) offers a sustainable alternative to the conventional methods such as the Haber-Bosch and Ostwald oxidation processes for converting nitrogen (N) into high-value-added nitrate (NO ) under mild conditions. However, the concurrent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and inefficient N absorption/activation led to slow NOR kinetics, resulting in low Faradaic efficiencies and NO yield rates. This study explored oxygen-vacancy induced tin oxide (SnO-O) as an efficient NOR electrocatalyst, achieving an impressive Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 54.

Photolytic -Selective Amino Pyridylation of Aryl Isocyanates with -Amino Pyridinium Ylides for the Synthesis of -Arylsulfonyl Ureas.

Herein, we report an expedient synthesis of aryl sulfonyl ureas and from -amino pyridinium ylides and aryl isocyanates. -Aminopyridinium ylides are synthesized via blue light-emitting diode irradiation of pyridine/isoquinoline and appropriate iminoiodinanes. The strategy involved a hitherto unknown carboamination of imine moieties (of aryl isocyanates) via a three-component reaction of pyridine derivatives/isoquinoline , -aryl sulfonyl iminoiodinanes , and numerous aryl isocyanates at room temperature in 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran to afford the target compounds in moderate to excellent yields.

A novel cleanroom-free technique for simultaneous electrodeposition of polypyrrole onto array of IDuEs: Towards low-cost, stable and accurate point-of-care TBI diagnosis without trained manpower.

Drop-casted polypyrrole (PPY) nanomaterial-based point-of-care Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) immunosensing platforms reported previously demand trained manpower at field-test, due to poor adhesion between nanomaterial and electrode surface, limiting the point-of-care purpose. The usage of conventional clean-room-based physical and chemical vapor deposition techniques in creating strong adhesion is limited on account of cost and process complexity. Addressing this technical gap, we report a novel low-cost clean-room-free technique that can effectively electrodeposit the PPY simultaneously onto the working areas of array of Interdigitated microelectrodes (IDμEs) from the precursor solution.