Combination of XEOL, TR-XEOL and HB-T interferometer at the TPS 23A X-ray nanoprobe for exploring quantum materials.

In this study, a combination of X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL), time-resolved XEOL (TR-XEOL) and the Hanbury-Brown and Twiss (HB-T) interferometer at the Taiwan Photon Source (TPS) 23A X-ray nanoprobe beamline for exploring quantum materials is demonstrated. On the basis of the excellent spatial resolution rendered using a nano-focused beam, emission distributions of artificial micro-diamonds can be obtained by XEOL maps, and featured emission peaks of a selected local area can be obtained by XEOL spectra. The hybrid bunch mode of the TPS not only provides a sufficiently high peak power density for experiments at each beamline but also permits high-quality temporal domain (∼200 ns) measurements for investigating luminescence dynamics. From TR-XEOL measurements, the decay lifetime of micro-diamonds is determined to be approximately 16 ns. Furthermore, the XEOL spectra of artificial micro-diamonds can be investigated by the HB-T interferometer to identify properties of single-photon sources. The unprecedented strategy of combining XEOL, TR-XEOL and the HB-T interferometer at the X-ray nanoprobe beamline will open new avenues with significant characterization abilities for unraveling the emission mechanisms of single-photon sources for quantum materials.

Polyphenol-assisted assembly of Au-deposited polylactic acid microneedles for SERS sensing and antibacterial photodynamic therapy.

3D SERS microneedles with self-assembled AuNPs were fabricated with tannic acid (chemical glue and reductant) on polylactic acid microneedles for in-depth chemical and biomolecular analysis, with LOD values below 200 ppb for small molecules and 102 CFU cm-2 for bacteria. The MB/Au-microneedles were used for photodynamic therapy with SERS-monitored photosensitizer degradation.

Novel metal peroxide nanoboxes restrain Clostridioides difficile infection beyond the bactericidal and sporicidal activity.

Clostridioides difficile spores are considered as the major source responsible for the development of C. difficile infection (CDI), which is associated with an increased risk of death in patients and has become an important issue in infection control of nosocomial infections. Current treatment against CDI still relies on antibiotics, which also damage normal flora and increase the risk of CDI recurrence. Therefore, alternative therapies that are more effective against C. difficile bacteria and spores are urgently needed. Here, we designed an oxidation process using H2O2 containing PBS solution to generate Cl- and peroxide molecules that further process Ag and Au ions to form nanoboxes with Ag-Au peroxide coat covering Au shell and AgCl core (AgAu-based nanoboxes). The AgAu-based nanoboxes efficiently disrupted the membrane structure of bacteria/spores of C. difficile after 30-45 min exposure to the highly reactive Ag/Au peroxide surface of the nano structures. The Au-enclosed AgCl provided sustained suppression of the growth of 2 × 107 pathogenic Escherichia coli for up to 19 days. In a fecal bench ex vivo test and in vivo CDI murine model, biocompatibility and therapeutic efficacy of the AuAg nanoboxes to attenuate CDI was demonstrated by restoring the gut microbiota and colon mucosal structure. The treatment successfully rescued the CDI mice from death and prevented their recurrence mediated by vancomycin treatment. The significant outcomes indicated that the new peroxide-derived AgAu-based nanoboxes possess great potential for future translation into clinical application as a new alternative therapeutic strategy against CDI.

Surfactant-Free Green Synthesis of Au@Chlorophyll Nanorods for NIR PDT-Elicited CDT in Bladder Cancer Therapy.

The facile and straightforward fabrication of NIR-responsive theranostic materials with high biocompatibility is still an unmet need for nanomedicine applications. Here, we used a natural photosensitizer, iron chlorophyll (Chl/Fe), for the J-aggregate template-assisted synthesis of Au@Chl/Fe nanorods with high stability. The assembly of a high amount of Chl/Fe J-aggregate onto the Au surface enabled red-NIR fluorescence for monitoring and tracking residential tumor lesions. The Chl/Fe moieties condensed on the nanorods could change the redox balance by the photon induction of reactive oxygen species and attenuate iron-mediated lipid peroxidation by inducing a Fenton-like reaction. After conjugation with carboxyphenylboronic acid (CPBA) to target the glycoprotein receptor on T24 bladder cancer (BC) cells, the enhanced delivery of Au@Chl/Fe-CPBA nanorods could induce over 85% cell death at extremely low concentrations of 0.16 ppm[Au] at 660 nm and 1.6 ppm[Au] at 785 nm. High lipid peroxidation, as shown by BODIPY staining and GSH depletion, was observed when treated T24 cells were exposed to laser irradiation, suggesting that preliminary photodynamic therapy (PDT) can revitalize Fenton-like reaction-mediated chemodynamic ferroptosis in T24 cells. We also manipulated the localized administration of Au@Chl-Fe combined with PDT at restricted regions in orthotopic tumor-bearing mice to cure malignant BC successfully without recurrence. By intravesical instillation of the Au@Chl/Fe-CPBA nanorods, this localized treatment could prevent the material from entering the systemic circulation, thus minimizing systemic toxicity. Upon activating NIR-PDT-elicited chemodynamic therapy, ultrasound imaging revealed almost complete tumor remission. Anti-tumor efficacy and survival benefit were achieved with a green photosensitizer.

Bone-conduction threshold and air-bone gap may predict frequency-specific air-conduction threshold after tympanoplasty.

Postoperative hearing improvement is one of the main expectations for patients receiving tympanoplasty. The capacity to predict postoperative hearing may help to counsel a patient properly and avoid untoward expectations. It is difficult to predict postoperative hearing without knowing the disease process in the middle ear, which can only be assessed intraoperatively. However, the duration and extent of the underlying pathologies may represent in bone-conduction threshold and air-bone gap. Here in patients undergoing tympanoplasty without ossiculoplasty, we sorted and separated the surgery dates into the first group to build the predicting models and the second group to test the predictions. There were 87 and 30 ears, respectively. No specific enrollment or exclusion criteria were based on underlying pathologies such as the perforation size of the tympanic membrane or the middle ear conditions. The results show that bone-conduction threshold and air-bone gap together predicted air-conduction threshold after the surgery, including each frequency of 0.5k, 1k, 2k, and 4k Hz. The discrepancies between the predictions and recordings did not differ among these four frequencies. Of the variance in mean postoperative air-conduction threshold, 56.7% was linearly accounted for by these two preoperative predictors in this sample. The results suggest a trend that, the higher the frequency, the larger the part was accounted for by these two preoperative predictors. These together may help a surgeon to estimate frequency-specific hearing outcome after the surgery, answer patients' questions with quantitative statistics, and counsel patients with proper expectations.

Shifting from postauricular to transcanal microscopic tympanoplasty may have similar frequency-specific improvements with better air-bone-gap closure at low frequencies and a minimal learning-curve effect.

The shift from postauricular to transcanal microscopic tympanoplasty brings potential advantages of minimal morbidity, less postoperative pain, patient comfort, and surgical ease and speed, but also uncertainties of unfamiliar grafting material, an inadequate operation view, and an uncertain learning curve. These challenges might affect the successful repair rate and the frequency-specific hearing outcome, which is important for hearing perception. Rare studies reported frequency-specific hearing outcome with the learning curve for shifting from postauricular to transcanal microscopic tympanoplasty. Here, from Jul. 2013 to Nov. 2018, we compared patients in a shift from postauricular approach (35 ears) to transcanal approach (35 ears) of microscopic type-1 tympanoplasty. The results show that both of postauricular and transcanal microscopic tympanoplasties reduced the mean air-bone gap, 0.5k Hz gap, and 1k Hz gap after the surgery. The further analyses on gap change as a function of frequency (0.5, 1, 2, and 4k Hz) show that both of postauricular and transcanal tympanoplasties improved postoperative air-bone gap among the levels of frequency. The post hoc comparisons display a common gap reduction difference between 0.5k and 4k Hz. The successful repair rate did not differ between the 2 groups. There was no correlation between the postoperative mean gap change and the surgery date, suggesting a minimal learning-curve effect. The results of similar frequency-specific improvements and a minimal learning-curve effect may help to ease the concerns of those uncertainties before the shift.

Extended Graphite Supported Flower-like MnO2 as Bifunctional Materials for Supercapacitors and Glucose Sensing.

A simple, efficient, and cost-effective extended graphite as a supporting platform further supported the MnO2 growth for the construction of hierarchical flower-like MnO2/extended graphite. MnO2/extended graphite exhibited an increase in sp2 carbon bonds in comparison with that of extended graphite. It can be expected to display better electrical conductivity and further promote electron/ion transport kinetics for boosting the electrochemical performance in supercapacitors and glucose sensing. In supercapacitors, MnO2/extended graphite delivered an areal capacitance value of 20.4 mF cm-2 at 0.25 mA cm-2 current densities and great cycling stability (capacitance retention of 83% after 1000 cycles). In glucose sensing, MnO2/extended graphite exhibited a good linear relationship in glucose concentration up to about 5 mM, sensitivity of 43 µA mM-1cm-2, and the limit of detection of 0.081 mM. It is further concluded that MnO2/extended graphite could be a good candidate for the future design of synergistic multifunctional materials in electrochemical techniques.

In Situ Formation of Au-Glycopolymer Nanoparticles for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering-Based Biosensing and Single-Cell Immunity.

Successful synthesis of glyconanoparticles has attracted much attention due to their various biointeractive capabilities, but it is still a challenge to understand different single-cell responses to exogenous particles among cell populations. Herein, we designed polyaniline-containing galactosylated gold nanoparticles (Au@PGlyco NPs) via in situ polymerization of ortho-nitrophenyl-ß-galactoside assisted by Au nucleation. The nanogold-carrying polyaniline block produced electromagnetic enhancement in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The underlying polymerization mechanism of ortho-nitrophenyl compounds via the formation of Au nanoparticles was investigated. Depending on how the galactoside moiety reacted with ß-galactosidase derived from bacteria, the Au@PGlyco NPs-mediated SERS biosensor could detect low amounts of bacteria (∼1 × 102 CFU/mL). In addition, a high accumulation of Au@PGlyco NPs mediated the immune response of tumor-associated M2 macrophages to the immunogenic M1 macrophage transition, which was elicited by reactive oxygen levels biostimulation using single-cell SERS-combined fluorescence imaging. Our study suggested that Au@PGlyco NPs may serve as a biosensing platform with the labeling capacity on galactose-binding receptors expressed cell and immune regulation.

Encapsulation of Au/Fe3O4 nanoparticles into a polymer nanoarchitecture with combined near infrared-triggered chemo-photothermal therapy based on intracellular secondary protein understanding.

The combination of the functions of near infrared-triggered molecule release and chemo-photothermal therapy improved the therapeutic effect, but clarification of the cancer damage pathway in terms of protein molecule levels has yet to be well studied. In this study, we developed a polymer encapsulation synthesis of Au/Fe3O4@polymer nanoparticles as a Swiss army knife to integrate near infrared absorption, magnetism, and doxorubicin (DOX) loading ability into a single package. By exposing to near infrared absorption, the Au/Fe3O4@polymer nanoparticles possessed photothermal therapy, exhibiting anti-tumor growth suppression of HT-29 tumor-bearing nude mice with less body weight loss. To deeply understand the interactions between the drug-loaded nanocarriers and the protein structures of the treated cells, delivering therapeutic DOX agent combined with photothermal therapy with Au/Fe3O4@polymer nanostructures to cancer cells was investigated. Synchrotron-based FTIR imaging and confocal imaging showed direct observation of the efficient photo-chemotherapy impacting MCF7, MCF7/ADR, and HT-29 cells after the near infrared radiation-triggered DOX release. Our demonstration outlines how the cell destruction in the molecular mechanism was initiated by chemo-photothermal combination therapy after the translocation of DOX from the cytosol to the nuclei, leading to altered intracellular secondary proteins. For preclinical application of potential diagnosis to cancer cells, Au/Fe3O4@polymer nanoparticles performed integrated computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging contrast enhancement and near infrared-triggered chemo-photothermal therapy.