In this report, a novel fluorescent sensing platform using nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) as probes for fluorescence signal transmission has been designed for the detection of significant ...biomolecules pyrophosphate (PPi) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The high fluorescent N-CDs could be selectively quenched by Cu
, and recovered by the addition of PPi because PPi preferentially binds to Cu
. Once ALP was introduced into the system, ALP can specifically hydrolyze PPi into Pi, the intense fluorescence of N-CDs could be quenched again due to the recombination of the as-released Cu
with N-CDs. So, fluorescence of N-CDs is regulated by an ALP-triggered reaction. Based on this strategy, we demonstrated that N-CDs could serve as a very effective fluorescent sensing platform for label-free, sensitive and selective detection of PPi and ALP with low detection limit of 0.16 μM and 0.4 U/L for PPi and ALP, respectively. Moreover, the assay time is just around 0.5 min for PPi and 30 min for ALP. This developed strategy shows remarkable advantages including sensitive, rapid, simple, convenient, and low-cost and so forth. Furthermore, this method was also successfully applied to monitor ALP in human serum, which indicates its great potential for practical applications in biological and clinical diagnosis.
Single-atom catalysts have received widespread attention for their fascinating performance in terms of metal atom efficiency as well as their special catalysis mechanisms compared to conventional ...catalysts. Here, we prepared a high-performance catalyst of single-Cu-atom-decorated boron nitride nanofibers (BNNF-Cu) via a facile calcination method. The as-prepared catalyst shows high catalytic activity and good stability for converting different nitro compounds into their corresponding amines both with and without photoexcitation. By combined studies of synchrotron radiation analysis, high-resolution high-angle annular dark-field transmission electron microscopy studies, and DFT calculations, dispersion and coordination of Cu atoms as well as their catalytic mechanisms are explored. The BNNF-Cu catalyst is found to have a record high turnover frequency compared to previously reported non-precious-metal-based catalysts. While the performance of the BNNF-Cu catalyst is only of the middle range level among the state-of-the-art precious-metal-based catalysts, due to the much lower cost of the BNNF-Cu catalyst, its cost efficiency is the highest among these catalysts. This work provides a choice of support material that can promote the development of single-atom catalysts.
Giant, cystic renal tumors are generally considered relatively contraindicated for laparoscopic surgery. We report on a 19-year-old male, where polycystic lesions in the left kidney were accidentally ...noted by enhanced computed tomography (CT) by focusing on the diagnostic, clinical, and surgery to the patient.
Enhanced CT scan revealed solid component in multiple cystic lesions of Bosniak IV, which was enhanced after injection of contrast agent and the left kidney lost normal profile and enlarged with maximal diameter more than 18cm. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) showed SUVmax 4.8 of the lesion and suggested malignant disease. A retroperitoneal laparoscopic radical left nephrectomy was performed successfully without cyst burst and the lesion was 17×17×18 cm in size. Pathological examination revealed that the lesions were consistent with papillary renal cell carcinoma (type 2, WHO grade II), no renal capsule invasion, no renal pelvis and renal sinus fat involvement, no abnormality in ureter and renal arteriovenous end, no abnormality in a few adrenal tissues, chronic inflammation of hilar lymph nodes (0/1). After surgery, no specific treatment was initiated and at a follow-up visit 1 year after surgery, no local recurrence or metastasis was found.
It is the largest cystic renal cell carcinoma that has ever been reported for laparoscopic resection. The selection of surgery for giant cystic renal cell carcinoma should be individualized. Retroperitoneal laparoscopy may be an option for such lesions.
MXenes, a new family of two-dimensional materials, are also known as transition metal carbides and nitride, with a general formula of M
(
= 1–3). Their inherent metallic conductivity and hydrophilic ...nature endow MXenes with fascinating physicochemical properties (optical, electronic, magnetic, light-to-heat conversion. etc.). The ultrathin layer structure and photothermal property attract many interests in biomedical applications, especially as phototherapeutic agents for cancer treatment. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of MXenes in the field of photothermal therapy and highlight the crucial biotic index for their preparation and evaluation. First, we introduce the main strategies for the preparation and surface modifications of biologically applied MXenes. Then, representative cases in the field of MXene-based photothermal application, such as photothermal therapy, synergistic therapy, and targeting treatments, are reviewed. Finally, the cytotoxicity and
long-term biosafety are introduced. We also propose the underlying challenges and perspectives for MXene applications in terms of photothermal therapy.
Chaotic systems are widely used in various aspects such as information security, signal processing, and synchronous control. The structural complexity and the chaotic behavior of chaotic systems are ...two significant factors affecting their practical applications. In this paper, we propose a universal two-dimensional (2D) absolute-cosine chaotic model (ACCM). The 2D-ACCM is composed of a nonlinear bounded cosine function and an absolute value function. It can construct new chaotic maps with simple structures and complex chaotic behaviors on the basis of existing chaotic systems. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed system, we first choose two existing one-dimensional (1D) chaotic maps and one existing 2D chaotic map as the seed maps of the 2D-ACCM to generate two new maps, respectively. The results of chaotic behavior analysis show that these two new maps have more complex chaotic behavior and wider chaotic ranges than seed maps and some advanced chaotic maps. Then a hardware experiment platform based on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is used for the hardware implementation of the new maps. Finally, a simple chaos-based pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) is introduced to show the practical application. The experimental results show that the new maps can be easily implemented on the FPGA and the chaos-PRNGs can generate pseudo-random numbers with excellent randomness.
In this paper, a new two-dimensional sine-cosine coupling chaos map(2D-SCCM) is proposed. The performance of the proposed two-dimensional chaotic system is analysed by using trajectory distribution ...maps, Lyapunov exponents, sample entropy and sequence sensitivity, etc. The results show that the 2D-SCCM has better randomness and ergodicity, as well as a wider hyperchaotic range than the existing partial two-dimensional chaos maps. To verify its application in practice, a 2D-SCCM-based color image encryption algorithm is proposed. First, the plain image is used to combine with hash function to generate the key. Then, we construct S-Boxes using the random sequence generated by 2D-SCCM combined with Arnold map. Finally, a color image encryption algorithm is proposed by using the constructed S-Boxes and the chaotic map combined with hash function. Experimental simulations and security tests show that the proposed encryption algorithm has high encryption efficiency and strong security, and can effectively protect images from various attacks.
A new electrochemical sensor for organophosphate pesticide (methyl-paraoxon) detection based on bifunctional cerium oxide (CeO2) nanozyme is here reported for the first time. Methyl-paraoxon was ...degraded into p-nitrophenol by using CeO2 with phosphatase mimicking activity. The CeO2 nanozyme-modified electrode was then synthesized to detect p-nitrophenol. Cyclic voltammetry was applied to investigate the electrochemical behavior of the modified electrode, which indicates that the signal enhancement effect may attribute to the coating of CeO2 nanozyme. The current research also studied and discussed the main parameters affecting the analytical signal, including accumulation potential, accumulation time, and pH. Under the optimum conditions, the present method provided a wider linear range from 0.1 to 100 μmol/L for methyl-paraoxon with a detection limit of 0.06 μmol/L. To validate the proof of concept, the electrochemical sensor was then successfully applied for the determination of methyl-paraoxon in three herb samples, i.e., Coix lacryma-jobi, Adenophora stricta and Semen nelumbinis. Our findings may provide new insights into the application of bifunctional nanozyme in electrochemical detection of organophosphorus pesticide.
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•A new electrochemical method for methyl-paraoxon detection by using bifunctional nanozyme was presented.•The cerium oxide nanozyme modified glassy carbon electrode was prepared to improve the sensitivity.•The developed method has been successfully applied in three herbal plant samples.
Solar water evaporation has been considered as a promising technique to harvest solar energy for practicable water evaporation. While different classes of materials have been exploited as solar ...absorbers, to date there is no report on using small organic molecules because of their narrow optical absorption spectra. We show here for the first time that full solar spectrum absorption can be conveniently achieved with commercially available small molecules via the formation of charge-transfer complex (CTC) cocrystals between the suitable donor and acceptor molecules. We demonstrate that a porous polymer scaffold loaded with suitable CTC cocrystal can show efficient full solar photothermal conversion leading to a high water evaporation rate of 1.67 kg m–2 h–1 via 90.3% solar conversion under 1 Sun, with practical multiple wastewater purification. This is the first report of a high-performance solar absorber using small organic molecules, suggesting CTC is a promising new class of solar absorbers deserving more attention.
Abstract
With artificial intelligence continuing to change people’s everyday life in profound ways, the desire to endow vehicles with the ability to drive autonomously has emerged for years. Thus, ...autonomous driving has become a popular field. The autonomous driving task can be divided into three general procedures: perception, planning, and locomotion. The first and foremost part of these general procedures is the perception task. Among those perception methods, the most prevailing one is semantic segmentation, which is annotating and predicting the object located at the pixel level, meaning nearly all pixels should be classified into certain categories. However, this method provides enough accuracy while bringing a considerable computational burden. Thus, implementing real-time road semantic segmentation on autonomous driving vehicles is still a costly task. In this paper, an adapted model improved upon the Poly-YOLO baseline model is proposed, which is a well-developed object detection algorithm providing bounding polygons to enclose the target object, forming a polygon mask similar to that of semantic segmentation. This paper endeavors to enhance the model’s accuracy in detecting variously sized targets greatly and to fine-tune the model to generate more proximate enclosing polygons. The adapted model has experienced a leap in performance compared to the baseline Poly-YOLO model.
Background/Aims: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression by repressing translation or cleaving RNA transcripts in a sequence-specific manner. ...Downregulated microRNAs and their roles in cancer development have attracted much attention. A growing body of evidence showed that microRNA-133a (miR-133a) has inhibitory effects on cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis of osteosarcoma. Methods: MiR-133a expression in human osteosarcoma cell lines and human normal osteoblastic cell line hFOB was investigated by real-time PCR (RT-PCR). The role of miR-133a in human osteosarcoma growth and invasion was assessed in cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Then, luciferase reporter assay validated IGF-1R as a downstream and functional target of miR-133a, and functional studies revealed that the anti-tumor effect of miR-133a was probably due to targeting and repressing of IGF-1R expression. Results: MiR-133a was lower expressed in human osteosarcoma cell lines than human normal osteoblastic cell line hFOB and its effect on inhibiting proliferation, invasion and metastasis is mediated by its direct interaction with the IGF-1R. Furthermore, the tumour-suppressive function of miR-133a probably contributed to inhibiting the activation AKT and ERK signaling pathway. Conclusion: MiR-133a suppresses osteosarcoma progression and metastasis by targeting IGF-1R in human osteosarcoma cells, providing a novel candidate prognostic factor and a potential anti-metastasis therapeutic target in osteosarcoma.
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