Self-Catalyzed Hydrogenated Carbon Nano-Onions Facilitates Mild Synthesis of Transparent Nano-Polycrystalline Diamond.

Transparent nano-polycrystalline diamond (t-NPD) possesses superior mechanical properties compared to single and traditional polycrystalline diamonds. However, the harsh synthetic conditions significantly limit its synthesis and applications. In this study, a synthesis routine is presented for t-NPD under low pressure and low temperature conditions, 10 GPa, 1600 °C and 15 GPa, 1350 °C similar with the synthesis condition of organic precursor. Self-catalyzed hydrogenated carbon nano-onions (HCNOs) from the combustion of naphthalene enable synthesis under nearly industrial conditions, which are like organic precursor and much lower than that of graphite and other carbon allotropes. This is made possible thanks to the significant impact of hydrogen on the thermodynamics, as it chemically facilitates phase transition. Ubiquitous nanotwinned structures are observed throughout t-NPD due to the high concentration of puckered layers and stacking faults of HCNOs, which impart a Vickers hardness about 140 GPa. This high hardness and optical transparency can be attributed to the nanocrystalline grain size, thin intergranular films, absence of secondary phase and pore-free features. The facile and industrial-scale synthesis of the HCNOs precursor, and mild synthesis conditions make t-NPD suitable for a wide range of potential applications.

Advancements in lipid-based delivery systems for functional foods: a comprehensive review of literature and patent trends.

Lipid-based delivery systems (LDS) have emerged as cornerstone techniques for bolstering the bioavailability of lipophilic bioactive compounds, addressing challenges related to solubility, stability, and absorption. This critical review examined a substantial dataset of 6,907 scientific articles and 3,021 patents from 2001-2023, elucidating the multifaceted evolution of LDS, with a particular focus on its industrial and patent-driven perspective. Notably, there were pronounced surges in functional food patent applications in 2004, 2011, and 2019. The trajectory revealed a shift from foundational nanoemulsions to more complex structures, such as double/multiple emulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles, Pickering emulsions, and bigels. The review further identified the top 10 leading institutions shaping this domain. Technologies like spray-drying, microfluidics, and phase gelation had revolutionized the landscape, resulting in refined sensory experiences, innovative reduced-fat formulations, enriched beverages, tailor-made infant nutrition, and nuanced release mechanisms for flavors. The review also spotlighted current research frontiers, notably Pickering emulsions, bigels, and multiple emulsions. These emerging technologies not only exemplified the ongoing innovation in the field but also underscored their potential in reshaping the future landscape of value-added functional foods.

Observation of Enhanced Long-Range Ferromagnetic Order in B-Site Ordered Double Perovskite Oxide Cd2CrSbO6.

A B-site ordered double perovskite oxide Cd2CrSbO6 was synthesized under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions. The compound crystallizes to a monoclinic structure with a space group of P21/n. The charge configuration is confirmed to be that of Cd2+/Cr3+/Sb5+. The magnetic Cr3+ ions form a tetrahedral structural frustrated lattice, while a long-range ferromagnetic phase transition is found to occur at TC = 16.5 K arising from the superexchange interaction via the Cr-O-Cd-O-Cr pathway. Electrical transport measurements indicate that Cd2CrSbO6 is an insulator that can be described by the Mott 3D variable range hopping mechanism. First-principles calculations reproduce well the ferromagnetic and insulating ground state of Cd2CrSbO6 with an energy band gap of 1.55 eV. The intrinsic ferromagnetic insulating nature qualifies Cd2CrSbO6 as a promising candidate for possible spintronics applications.

Discovery of flavonoid-containing compound Lupalbigenin as anti-NSCLC cancer agents via suppression of EGFR and ERK1/2 pathway.

Epidermal growth factor receptor exon 20 insertions (EGFR Ex20ins) driver mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is insensitive to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Therefore, it is necessary to develop more novel strategy to address the limitations of existing therapies targeting EGFR-mutated NSCLC. Lupalbigenin (LB), a flavonoid compound extracted from Derris scandens, has shown preclinical activity in lung cancer. However, the activity of LB in Ex20ins-driven tumors has not yet been elucidated. In this study, a series of stable BaF/3 cell-line that contains a high proportion (>90 %) of EGFR-eGFP Ex20ins were generated using an IL3-deprivation method. Ba/F3 cell models harboring dissimilar Ex20ins were used to characterize the antineoplastic mechanism of LB. Molecular docking confirmed that the LB could effectively bind to key target EGFR. The in vitro anticancer activity of LB was investigated in engineered Ba/F3 cells bearing diverse uncommon EGFR mutations. LB was shown to be more potent in inhibiting the viability of various uncommon EGFR-mutated cell lines. Mechanistic studies disclosed that LB repressed EGFR phosphorylation and downstream survival pathways in Ba/F3 cells expressing EGFR Ex20ins, resulting in caspase activation by activating the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Further analyses showed that LB significantly induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in cells. LB also reduced the protein expression levels of CDK4, CDK6, CDK8, cyclin D1, cyclin A2, and Bcl2 and promoted the expression of cytochrome C, p27, and p53. In summary, we explored the possible potential targets of LB through network pharmacology and verified the target using in vitro experiments. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that LB showed potential anti-Ex20ins cancer activity through suppression of the EGFR and ERK1/2 signaling pathway in Ba/F3 cells bearing two to three amino acid insertion mutations. These findings suggested that LB might be valuable for further investigation as a potential candidate in the treatment of associated diseases.

Self-Assembled Homopolymeric Spherulites from Small Molecules in Solution.

Polymeric spherulites are typically formed by melt crystallization: spherulitic growth in solution is rare and requires complex polymers and dilute solutions. Here, we report the mild and unique formation of luminescent spherulites at room temperature via the simple molecule benzene-1,4-dithiol (BDT). Specifically, BDT polymerized into oligomers (PBDT) via disulfide bonds and assembled into uniform supramolecular nanoparticles in aqueous buffer; these nanoparticles were then dissolved back into PBDT in a good solvent (i.e., dimethylformamide) and underwent chain elongation to form spherulites (rPBDT) in 10 min. The spherulite geometry was modulated by changing the PBDT concentration and reaction time. Due to the step-growth polymerization and reorganization of PBDT, these spherulites not only exhibited robust structure but also showed broad clusterization-triggered emission. The biocompatibility and efficient cellular uptake of the spherulites further underscore their value as traceable drug carriers. This system provides a new pathway for designing versatile superstructures with value for hierarchical assembly of small molecules into a complicated biological system.

Boronate Avidity Assisted by Dendrimer-like Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes for a Microfluidic Platform for Selective Enrichment of Ubiquitination and Glycosylation.

A new strategy of improving boronate avidity with good accessibility of sites was suggested by utilizing a dendrimer-like structure of boron materials based on octavinyl-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (Ov-POSS). 3-(Acrylamido)phenylboronic acid (AAPBA) was used as a functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) and Ov-POSS as cross-linkers. The resulting Ov-POSS cross-linked boron monolith exhibited 27 times stronger affinity for glycoproteins than the Ov-POSS-free monolith. Importantly, the bonding strength of the poly(AAPBA-co-Ov-POSS-co-EDMA) monolith to the glycoproteins with multiple sugars, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was 4 orders of magnitude higher than that of the single cis-diol-containing compound. The resulting monolith was used as a part of a microfluidic platform for online processing of the protein extracts from mouse liver, which integrated five functions, including protein grading, denaturation, enzymatic hydrolysis, and enrichment of glycopeptides and ubiquitin-modified peptides. The sample processing time can be reduced by nearly half compared to the offline method. Moreover, 86.7% of glycopeptides and 75% of glycoproteins were newly identified after treatment. All of the results indicated that the synergistic strategy of Ov-POSS cross-linking can significantly improve trace glycosylation's binding capacity and enrichment performance. The microfluidic platform developed may provide a promising technical tool for automated, high-efficiency, high-throughput analysis for post-translational modification proteomics.

Sympathetic ß2-adrenergic receptor blockade overcomes docetaxel resistance in prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: Due to the limited effective therapies, resistance to docetaxel is ordinarily fatal and remains a critical clinical challenge.ß2-adrenergic receptor(ß2-AR)can promote the metastasis and invasion of prostate cancer, but the role in chemotherapy-resistant prostate cancer remains unclear. METHODS: By downloading the GEO database in NCBI, the expression of ß2-AR in different prostate tissues was analyzed. We constructed docetaxel-resistant prostate cancer cell lines by the method of dose-escalation. LC3B-labeled stable cells and shAtg5 knockdown stable cells were constructed by lentivirus infection. The molecular mechanism of ß2-AR affecting docetaxel sensitivity through apoptosis and autophage were investigated by flow cytometry, mitochondrial membrane potential and western blot. Then we detected the interaction between autophagy and apoptotic by performing immunoprecipitation assay. RESULTS: We show that restraining the activity of ß2-AR sensitized the cell response and reduced the resistance to docetaxel. The mechanism involves the regulation of ß2-AR in the cellular response to docetaxel through apoptosis and autophagy via caspase signaling and Atg5/AMPK/mTOR pathway as well as the effect of ß2-AR on the crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy via p38 MAPK and JNK/c-Jun/FOXO3a signaling pathways. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that ß2-AR inhibitor-induced autophagy and apoptosis contribute to the effectiveness responses to docetaxel in castration-resistant prostate cancer, and in combination with pharmacological agents of ß2-AR and autophagy inhibitors may provide a potential therapeutic strategy to enhance the limited capacity of docetaxel to control castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Synthesis of Cu2-x Se-MoSe2 Edge-Epitaxial Heterostructure for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

The exposure of active edge sites of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) in TMD-based heterostructures is essential to enhance the catalytic activity toward electrochemical catalytic hydrogen evolution (HER). The construction of TMD-based edge-epitaxial heterostructures can maximally expose the active edge sites. However, owing to the 2D crystal structures, it remains a great challenge to vertically align layered TMDs on non-layered metal chalcogenides. Herein, the synthesis of Cu2-x Se-MoSe2 edge-epitaxial heterostructure is reported by a facile one-pot wet-chemical method. A high density of MoSe2 nanosheets grown vertically to the <111>Cu2-xSe on the surface of Cu2-x Se nanocrystals is observed. Such edge-epitaxial configuration allows the exposure of abundant active edge sites of MoSe2 and enhances the changer transfer between MoSe2 and Cu2-x Se. As a result, the obtained Cu2-x Se-MoSe2 epitaxial heterostructures show excellent HER performance as compared to that of Cu2-x Se@1T/2H-MoSe2 core@shell heterostructure with similar size. This work not only offers a novel approach for designing efficient electrochemical catalysis but also enriches the diversity of TMD-based heterostructures, holding promise for various applications in the future.

Risk factors of non-sentinel lymph node metastasis in breast cancer with 1-2 sentinel lymph node macrometastases underwent total mastectomy: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: The randomized trials which include ACOSOG Z0011 and IBCSG 23-01 had found that the survival rates were not different in patients with cT1/2N0 and 1-2 sentinel lymph node (SLN)-positive, macro/micrometastases who underwent breast-conserving therapy, and micrometastases who underwent total mastectomy (TM), when axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) was omitted. However, for patients with cT1/2N0 and 1-2 SLN macrometastases who underwent TM; there was still insufficient evidence from clinical studies to support whether ALND can be exempted. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors of non-sentinel lymph node (nSLN) metastasis in breast cancer patients with 1-2 SLN macrometastases undergoing TM. METHODS: The clinicopathological data of 1491 breast cancer patients who underwent TM and SLNB from January 2017 to February 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to analyze the risk factors for nSLN metastasis. RESULTS: A total of 273 patients with 1-2 SLN macrometastases who underwent TM were enrolled. Postoperative pathological data showed that 35.2% patients had nSLN metastasis. The results of multivariate analysis indicated that tumor size (TS) (P = 0.002; OR: 1.051; 95% CI: 1.019-1.084) and ratio of SLN macrometastases (P = 0.0001; OR: 12.597: 95% CI: 4.302-36.890) were the independent risk factors for nSLN metastasis in breast cancer patients with 1-2 SLN macrometastases that underwent TM. The ROC curve analysis suggested that when TS ≤22 mm and ratio of SLN macrometastases ≤0.33, the incidence of nSLN metastasis could be reduced to 17.1%. CONCLUSIONS: The breast cancer patients with cT1/2N0 stage, undergoing TM and 1-2 SLN macrometastases, when the TS ≤22 mm and macrometastatic SLN does not exceed 1/3 of the total number of detected SLN, the incidence of nSLN metastasis is significantly reduced, but whether ALND can be exempted needs further exploration.

An EGCG Derivative in Combination with Nimotuzumab for the Treatment of Wild-Type EGFR NSCLC.

Inhibiting the tyrosine kinase activity of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) using small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) or monoclonal antibodies is often ineffective in treating cancers harboring wild-type EGFR. Given the fact that EGFR possesses a kinase-independent pro-survival function, more effective inhibition of EGFR-mediated signals is therefore necessary. In this study, we investigated the effects of using a combination of low-dose nimotuzumab and theasinensin A to evaluate whether the inhibitory effect of nimotuzumab on NCI-H441 cancer cells was enhanced. Here, theasinensin A, a novel epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) derivative, was identified and its potent anticancer activity against wild-type EGFR NSCLC was demonstrated in vitro; the anticancer activity was induced through degradation of EGFR. Mechanistic studies further revealed that theasinensin A bound directly to the EGFR extracellular domain, which decreased interaction with its ligand EGF in combination with nimotuzumab. Theasinensin A significantly promoted EGFR degradation and repressed downstream survival pathways in combination with nimotuzumab. Meanwhile, treatment with theasinensin A and nimotuzumab prevented xenograft growth, whereas the single agents had limited effect. Thus, the combination therapy of theasinensin A with nimotuzumab is a powerful candidate for treatment of wild-type EGFR cancers.

Improving the Identification of Lysine-Acetylated Peptides Using a Molecularly Imprinted Monolith Prepared by a Deep Eutectic Solvent Monomer.

To overcome the identification challenge of low-abundance lysine acetylation (Kac), a novel approach based on a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was developed to improve the extraction capacity of Kac peptides in real samples. Green deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were introduced and used as one of the synergistic functional monomers with zinc acrylate (ZnA). Glycine-glycine-alanine-lysine(ac)-arginine (GGAKacR) was chosen as a template and N,N'-methylenbisacrylamide (MBAA) was used as a cross-linker. The obtained GGAKacR-MIP had excellent selectivity for the template with an imprinting factor (IF) of up to 21.4. The histone digest addition experiment demonstrated that GGAKacR-MIP could successfully extract GGAKacR from a complex sample. Finally, the application to the extraction of Kac peptides from mouse liver protein digestion was studied in detail. The number of Kac peptides and Kac proteins identified was 130 and 110, which were 3.71-fold and 3.93-fold higher than those of the untreated sample. In addition, the number of peptides and proteins identified after treatment increased from 5535 and 1092 to 17 149 and 4037 (3.10-fold and 3.70-fold, respectively). The results showed that the obtained MIP may provide an effective technical tool for the identification of Kac-modification and peptide fractionation, as well as a potential approach for simultaneously identifying post-translational-modified proteomic and proteomic information.

Molecular Dynamics Study on the Wettability of the Lithium Droplet and Tungsten Surface.

In this paper, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was used to study the wettability of lithium and tungsten. The surface energy barrier and evaporation control the static contact angle with increasing temperature. The effects of 4 different sizes of droplets and 10 different tungsten sections were evaluated. Moreover, it was found that the different arrangements of atoms on the solid surface will affect the wettability, but the size of the droplet has little effect. In addition, the situation of the droplets driven by six different external forces was evaluated. When the force increases, the two states of the droplet and stream will have different properties. Finally, we studied the phase behavior between lithium and tungsten. For example, lithium overflows from the tungsten plate. The tungsten phase is separated in the lithium plate. Lithium is faster than tungsten when it aggregates in the gas phase, and wettability will drive the effects of engulfing and spitting.

Improved Cooling Performance of Hydrogel Wound Dressings via Integrating Thermal Conductivity and Heat Storage Capacity for Burn Therapy.

Burn injury has become a crucial public health issue worldwide. It is necessary to explore new methods to reduce heat damage and improve healing efficiency during burn injury treatment. In this study, a kind of hydrogel combining heat storage capacity and thermal conductivity was fabricated via a one-pot method for burn therapy. The novel hydrogel was easily prepared by in situ cross-linking polymerization, using poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) derivatives, oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate and 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethyl methacrylate, as thermally responsive base materials and hydroxylated multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNT-OH) as thermally conductive fillers. By dispersing CNT-OH, a thermally conductive network was formed in the hydrogel, leading to an increase in the thermal conductivity. The cooling performance, thermal conductivity, heat storage property, swelling performance, rheological and mechanical properties, biocompatibility, in vivo cooling effect, and wound healing properties of the prepared hydrogel were systematically investigated. The hydrogel consisted of thermally responsive PEG derivatives, and CNT-OH performed a function of rapid heat absorption, further reduced thermal damage, and promoted wound healing. The improved cooling performance of the hydrogel was ascribed to the improved thermal conductivity, enhanced heat storage capacity, and good adhesive ability. Thus, the hydrogel has great potential to be practically applied in burn therapy, laser treatment, cooling fabrics, heat-protective clothing, and other emergency scenarios.

Host adaptation of codon usage in SARS-CoV-2 from mammals indicates potential natural selection and viral fitness.

SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, has expanded across various animal hosts, and the virus can be transmitted particularly efficiently in minks. It is still not clear how SARS-CoV-2 is selected and evolves in its hosts, or how mutations affect viral fitness. In this report, sequences of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from human and animal hosts were analyzed, and the binding energy and capacity of the spike protein to bind human ACE2 and the mink receptor were compared. Codon adaptation index (CAI) analysis indicated the optimization of viral codons in some animals such as bats and minks, and a neutrality plot demonstrated that natural selection had a greater influence on some SARS-CoV-2 sequences than mutational pressure. Molecular dynamics simulation results showed that the mutations Y453F and N501T in mink SARS-CoV-2 could enhance the binding of the viral spike to the mink receptor, indicating the involvement of these mutations in natural selection and viral fitness. Receptor binding analysis revealed that the mink SARS-CoV-2 spike interacted more strongly with the mink receptor than the human receptor. Tracking the variations and codon bias of SARS-CoV-2 is helpful for understanding the fitness of the virus in virus transmission, pathogenesis, and immune evasion.

Oxidized tea polyphenol (OTP-3) targets EGFR synergistic nimotuzumab at inhibition of non-small cell lung tumor growth.

Aberrant activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays a pivotal role in cancer initiation and progression and has gained attention as an anticancer drug target. EGFR monoclonal antibodies have been canonically used in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment. However, a basal level of ligand-independent EGFR signaling pro-survival properties limit the clinical efficacy of EGFR monoclonal antibodies. Therefore, targeting EGFR by inducing degraders is a promising approach towards improving therapeutic efficacy and augmenting the effect of nimotuzumab. Here we describe rational discovery of OTP-3, an oxidized (-)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) derivative that elicits potent anticancer activity in EGFR wild type NSCLC. Mechanistic studies disclosed that OTP-3 directly binds to EGFR extracellular domain decreases EGF and EGFR binding affinities by combination with nimotuzumab. Molecular docking studies revealed that OTP-3-EGFR is a very stable complex. Further analyses showed that nimotuzumab combined with OTP-3 resulted in significantly promoted EGFR degradation and repressed downstream survival pathways. Accordingly, OTP-3 combined with nimotuzumab significantly inhibits tumor growth through degrading EGFR in vivo. Thus, OTP-3 can also serve as an effective therapeutic agent in NSCLC where it can augment the effects of nimotuzumab, a valuable property for combination agents.

Improving sorption performance of a molecularly imprinted monolithic column by doping mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15.

For the first time a hybrid molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) doped with 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (γ-MPS)-modified mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 for target peptide recognition has been developed. Zinc acrylate and methacrylic acid were used as binary functional monomers, and ethylene dimethacrylate was used as cross-linking agent to prepare an imprinted monolith against Val-Tyr-Ala-Leu-Lys(glutarylation) (VYALKglu). The morphology of the polymers was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and 1H NMR. The SBA-15-MPS MIP showed high recovery of 87.1% and the IF of 12.9 for the enrichment of the template peptide. When the template peptide concentration ranged from 5 to 90 µg mL-1, the correlation coefficients (R2) for the calibration function obtained was better 0.999. The limit of detection (LOD, 0.30 µg mL-1) and limit of quantification (LOQ, 1.0 µg mL-1) were achieved for signal-to-noise ratios of 3:1 and 10:1, respectively. When other kinds of synthetic peptides were used as analogs, the selectivity of the SBA-15-MPS MIP was much better than the SBA-15-MPS NIP (without template peptides) with relative selectivity coefficients of 52.8-265. In contrast, little quinolones and biogenic amines are adsorbed with the SBA-15-MPS MIP. The SBA-15-MPS MIP could enrich VYALKglu from spiked histone digestion with the average recovery of 87.8% and the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.99%. As a conclusion, doping of SBA-15 is an effective approach to the improvement of performance of molecularly imprinted monolith.

Chiral Nematic Coatings Based on Cellulose Nanocrystals as a Multiplexing Platform for Humidity Sensing and Dual Anticounterfeiting.

The need for a precise regulation of the properties of chiral nematic structures in response to external stimuli is addressed. Self-assembled iridescent coatings are produced under the effect of electrostatic interactions between cellulose nanocrystals and poly(acrylic acid), endowing a high anisotropic dissymmetry (>0.3) and sensitivity to environmental humidity (13.1 nm/1% at 68-75% relative humidity, RH). The phenomena associated with shifts in selective light reflection (green to orange) and polarization, facilitate tunable transmitted colors (blue to orange) at given rotation angles (RA). Such properties are conveniently integrated into a "RH-RA-color" ternary code that is introduced as an anticounterfeiting technology, taking advantage of multicolor patterns that conveniently track with changes in RH and RA. The proposed charge-driven assembly opens new opportunities for chiral nematic materials that enable precise optical sensing and information encryption.

Cancer and stress: NextGen strategies.

Chronic stress is well-known to cause physiological distress that leads to body balance perturbations by altering signaling pathways in the neuroendocrine and sympathetic nervous systems. This increases allostatic load, which is the cost of physiological fluctuations that are required to cope with psychological challenges as well as changes in the physical environment. Recent studies have enriched our knowledge about the role of chronic stress in disease development, especially carcinogenesis. Stress stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), resulting in an abnormal release of hormones. These activate signaling pathways that elevate expression of downstream oncogenes. This occurs by activation of specific receptors that promote numerous cancer biological processes, including proliferation, genomic instability, angiogenesis, metastasis, immune evasion and metabolic disorders. Moreover, accumulating evidence has revealed that ß-adrenergic receptor (ADRB) antagonists and downstream target inhibitors exhibit remarkable anti-tumor effects. Psychosomatic behavioral interventions (PBI) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) also effectively relieve the impact of stress in cancer patients. In this review, we discuss recent advances in the underlying mechanisms that are responsible for stress in promoting malignancies. Collectively, these data provide approaches for NextGen pharmacological therapies, PBI and TCM to reduce the burden of tumorigenesis.

Mesoporous Palladium-Boron-Sulfur Alloy Nanospheres for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution.

Ternary noble metal-metalloid-nonmetal PdBS alloy mesoporous nanospheres (MSs) with three-dimensional central-radial pore channels were prepared for an electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. The synthesis was performed via precise control in the reduction and nucleation growth of ternary PdBS alloy MSs along confined cylinder mesophases assembled by amphiphilic dioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride. The resultant PdBS alloy MSs disclosed a remarkably improved electrocatalytic performance due to their structural and compositional synergies. This finding extended our knowledge on the rational design and targeted synthesis of novel noble metal-metalloid-nonmetal alloys with desired structures and morphologies for catalysis and other applications.

Wrinkle and near-resonance effects on the vibrational and electronic properties in compressed monolayer MoSe2.

Pressure has been considered as an effective technique to modulate the structural, electronic, and optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDs) materials. Here, by performing in situ high pressure Raman, photoluminescence (PL) and absorption measurements, we systematically investigated the vibrational and electronic properties evolution of monolayer MoSe2 grown on a SiO2/Si substrate under high pressure. When the pressure increased up to 4.84 GPa, an unexpected phonon mode at 367 cm-1 appeared, which was identified as the Raman-inactive A2'' mode and was activated under high pressure. Combined with the analysis of absorption spectroscopy, this phenomenon can be attributed to the pressure-induced wrinkle and near-resonance effects in compressed monolayer MoSe2. Subsequently, A1' split into two peaks after 7.44 GPa, providing further distinct evidence for the pressure-induced wrinkle effect in compressed monolayer MoSe2. Moreover, this wrinkle effect can also lead to a rapid quenching of photoluminescence in monolayer MoSe2. These results suggest that the substrate plays an important role in determining the vibrational and electronic properties of compressed monolayer MoSe2, and can provide valuable information on the electronic and optoelectronic applications of monolayer MoSe2 under extreme conditions.