Folic acid modified silver nanoparticles promote endothelialization and inhibit calcification of decellularized heart valves by immunomodulation with anti-bacteria property.

Xenogeneic decellularized heart valves (DHVs) have become one of the most commonly used scaffolds for tissue engineered heart valves (TEHVs) due to extensive resources and possessing the distinct three-layer structure similar to native heart valves. However, DHVs as scaffolds face the shortages such as poor mechanical properties, proneness to thrombosis and calcification, difficulty in endothelialization and chronic inflammatory responses etc., which limit their applications in clinic. In this work, we constructed a novel TEHV with immunomodulatory functions by loading folic acid modified silver nanoparticles (FS NPs) on DHVs to overcome these issues. The FS NPs preferentially targeted M1 macrophages and reduced their intracellular H2O2 level, resulting in polarizing them into M2 phenotype. The increased M2 macrophages facilitated to eliminate inflammation, recruit endothelial cells, and promote their proliferation and endothelialization by secreting relative factors. We founded that FS NPs with the size of 80 nm modified DHVs (FSD-80) performed optimally on cytocompatibility and regulating macrophage phenotype ability in vitro. In addition, the FSD-80 had excellent mechanical properties, hemocompatibility and anti-bacteria property. The results of the subcutaneous implantation in rats revealed that the FSD-80 also had good performance in regulating macrophage phenotype, promoting endothelialization, remolding the extracellular matrix and anti-calcification in vivo. Therefore, FS NPs-loaded DHVs possess immunomodulatory functions, which is a feasible and promising strategy for constructing TEHVs with excellent comprehensive performance.

Spaced Digital Education for Health Professionals: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Spaced digital education applies digital tools to deliver educational content via multiple, repeated learning sessions separated by prespecified time intervals. Spaced digital education appears to promote acquisition and long-term retention of knowledge, skills, and change in clinical behavior. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to assess the effectiveness of spaced digital education in improving pre- and postregistration health care professionals' knowledge, skills, attitudes, satisfaction, and change in clinical behavior. METHODS: This review followed Cochrane's methodology and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) reporting guidelines. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, ERIC, PsycINFO, CINAHL, CENTRAL, and ProQuest Dissertation and Theses databases from January 1990 to February 2023. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cluster RCTs, and quasi-RCTs comparing spaced digital education with nonspaced education, spaced nondigital education, traditional learning, or no intervention for pre- or postregistration health care professionals. Study selection, data extraction, study quality, and certainty of evidence were assessed by 2 independent reviewers. Meta-analyses were conducted using random effect models. RESULTS: We included 23 studies evaluating spaced online education (n=17, 74%) or spaced digital simulation (n=6, 26%) interventions. Most studies assessed 1 or 2 outcomes, including knowledge (n=15, 65%), skills (n=9, 39%), attitudes (n=8, 35%), clinical behavior change (n=8, 35%), and satisfaction (n=7, 30%). Most studies had an unclear or a high risk of bias (n=19, 83%). Spaced online education was superior to massed online education for postintervention knowledge (n=9, 39%; standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.32, 95% CI 0.13-0.51, I2=66%, moderate certainty of evidence). Spaced online education (n=3, 13%) was superior to massed online education (n=2, 9%) and no intervention (n=1, 4%; SMD 0.67, 95% CI 0.43-0.91, I2=5%, moderate certainty of evidence) for postintervention clinical behavior change. Spaced digital simulation was superior to massed simulation for postintervention surgical skills (n=2, 9%; SMD 1.15, 95% CI 0.34-1.96, I2=74%, low certainty of evidence). Spaced digital education positively impacted confidence and satisfaction with the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Spaced digital education is effective in improving knowledge, particularly in substantially improving surgical skills and promoting clinical behavior change in pre- and postregistration health care professionals. Our findings support the use of spaced digital education interventions in undergraduate and postgraduate health profession education. Trial Registration: PROSPERO CRD42021241969. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42021241969; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=241969.

Carotid artery stenting versus carotid endarterectomy for symptomatic or asymptomatic extracranial carotid stenosis: A national cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Stroke is now the 5th leading cause of death in the United States, and carotid artery stenosis is the cause of about 20% to 25% of strokes. We hypothesized that CAS may be an alternative to CEA in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with carotid artery stenosis. METHODS: We evaluated the clinical characteristics, adverse events and mortality of patients with carotid artery stenosis comparing CEA vs. CAS using data from a national population-based cohort study from January 1, 2016, to December 30, 2020. RESULTS: We evaluated 374,875 patients with carotid stenosis, of whom 344,020 had asymptomatic carotid stenosis and 30,855 had symptomatic carotid stenosis. CAS was associated with higher mortality in both symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid stenosis, compared to CEA, with the trend slightly decreasing for both interventions from the years 2018-2020. CEA was associated with lower adverse events in both symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid stenosis, compared to CAS. CONCLUSIONS: Our current data suggest a benefit of CEA over CAS for both symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid stenosis with lower complications, lower mortality and a higher rate of discharge. However, this is not a head-to-head comparison as it becomes selection bias for this procedure; therefore, further prospective head-to-head comparison between 2 groups in the same patient population is needed.

In-depth analysis of the roles and mechanisms of sulfate radical and hydroxyl radical in the degradation of metal-cyanide complexes.

Persulfate-based advanced oxidation processes (PS-based AOPs), characterized by the coexistence of SO4•⁻ and HO•, have been proven effective in treating a series of cyanide-bearing pollutants. However, the mechanisms of these reactive species in the degradation of cyanides, especially metal-cyanide complexes, remain unclear or contradictory. The degradation behavior of representative cyanides (including potassium cyanide and potassium ferricyanide) at different pH conditions (2, 7 and 12) in thermally activated persulfate system (T = 60 °C) was explored, and the roles of SO4•⁻ and HO• in cyanide degradation were explored by leveraging the distinct characteristics of reactive species under different pH conditions. The study found that both HO• and SO4•⁻ can react with free cyanide (CN⁻ and HCN). However, the reaction barrier between CN⁻ and HO• is lower than that between HCN and SO4•⁻, resulting in a higher removal rate of free cyanide under alkaline conditions compared to acidic and neutral conditions. For complexed cyanide, the complex bonds in ferricyanide were completely broken within 24 h by thermally activated persulfate at pH 2, releasing free cyanide, indicating the effectiveness of SO4•⁻ in breaking the Fe-C bonds in ferricyanide. In contrast, ferricyanide was barely decomposed at pH 12, implying the inefficacy of HO• in breaking the Fe-C bonds. This study also innovatively found that SO4•⁻ breaks the Fe-C bonds by oxidizing Fe(Ⅲ) in ferricyanide to Fe(Ⅳ) or Fe(Ⅴ), releasing CN⁻, which is then converted to CNO⁻ by SO4•⁻ and HO•. CNO⁻ is further mineralized to NO3⁻, NH4⁺, and N2 through hydrolysis or oxidation reactions. This research clarifies, for the first time, the activity of SO4•⁻ and HO• toward cyanide degradation in PS-based AOPs.

Automated Classification of Coronary Plaque on Intravascular Ultrasound by Deep Classifier Cascades.

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is the gold standard modality for in vivo visualization of coronary arteries and atherosclerotic plaques. Classification of coronary plaques helps to characterize heterogeneous components and evaluate the risk of plaque rupture. Manual classification is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Several machine learning-based classification approaches have been proposed and evaluated in recent years. In the current study, we develop a novel pipeline composed of serial classifiers for distinguishing IVUS images into five categories: normal, calcified plaque, attenuated plaque, fibrous plaque, and echolucent plaque. The cascades comprise densely connected classification models and machine learning classifiers at different stages. Over 100,000 IVUS frames of five different lesion types were collected and labeled from 471 patients for model training and evaluation. The overall accuracy of the proposed classifier is 0.877, indicating that the proposed framework has the capacity to identify the nature and category of coronary plaques in IVUS images. Further, it may provide real-time assistance on plaque identification and facilitate clinical decision-making in routine practice.

Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells with Efficient Charge Mobility and Separation Capabilities Studied by DFT.

The properties of the active layer materials play a decisive role in determining the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs). Chlorophyll and its derivatives are abundant and environmentally friendly functional organic molecular materials. Using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), we have calculated the absorption spectra and their excited state properties based on optimized ground state structures. It was found that bacteriochlorin exhibits superior structural properties, a smaller energy gap and hole reorganization energy, redshifted absorption spectra, and higher hole mobility compared to the donor D18. This suggests that bacteriochlorin exhibits superior donor properties. Comparative studies between o-AT-2Cl and m-AT-2Cl showed that o-AT-2Cl had superior acceptor properties, implying that differences in substitution positions can influence the physicochemical properties of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). Subsequently, six bulk heterojunctions (BHJs) were constructed by combining three donors with nonfused ring electron acceptors, o-AT-2Cl and m-AT-2Cl. The bacteriochlorin-based BHJs performed well among them, with BChl3/o-AT-2Cl and BChl4/o-AT-2Cl having the largest interfacial charge separation rate. The results suggested that BHJs composed of bacteriochlorin and NFAs can improve OSCs' photovoltaic performance, providing a feasible scheme for designing efficient OSCs.

Characteristics of Patients with Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection Presenting with Sudden Cardiac Arrest in the United States and the Potential Role of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Therapy.

Background: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a disease entity that often occurs in young, healthy women and can cause life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest. However, the characteristics and outcomes of SCAD with cardiac arrest are not well characterized. Methods: This study investigated the baseline characteristics of SCAD patients with cardiac arrest using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database between 2016 and 2020. In addition, we also sought to determine the potential impact that implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy had on morbidity and mortality in SCAD patients presenting with cardiac arrest. Results: Our findings showed that the SCAD with cardiac arrest population had significantly higher comorbidities, including cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, pulmonary circulation disorders, liver diseases, solid tumors, coagulopathy, fluid disorders, chronic kidney disease (CKD), anemia secondary to deficiency, psychosis, neurological disorders, carotid artery disease, atrial fibrillation, ventricular arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fibrillation (VF)), and acute myocardial infarction (AMI), compared to the SCAD without cardiac arrest population. Likewise, for SCAD patients who did not have an ICD in place, we found increasing age, fluid and electrolyte disorders, uncomplicated diabetes, neurological disorders, peripheral vascular disease, pulmonary circulatory disorders, cardiac arrhythmias, and congestive heart failure to be associated with greater mortality. Conclusions: SCAD patients with certain comorbidities (e.g., pulmonary diseases, liver diseases, cancers, coagulopathy, and CKD) who presented with AMI or congestive heart failure should be monitored closely for ventricular arrhythmias as they have a higher chance of progressing to cardiac arrest. ICD therapy can be considered for these patients, but data on the success of this treatment option are limited, and more research needs to be performed to determine whether the benefits of this outweigh the risks.

Self-calibrated paper-based nanoarrays for background-free quantitative detection of pesticides using self-assembly and mask-assisted techniques.

Flexible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has received considerable attention in the field of rapid analysis. However, obtaining accurate quantitative SERS results remains challenging. Here, we develop a SERS sensor based on self-assembly and mask-assisted techniques for the precise transfer of Au@PB@Ag nanoarrays onto filter paper. Prussian blue (PB) as an internal standard (IS) is used to calibrate the fluctuations in the SERS signal induced by the microstructure of the filter paper, and can generate a local plasmon resonance under a Raman laser at a wavelength of 633 nm, which enables a dual electromagnetic enhancement of the internal self-calibration and external target molecule signals. The SERS substrate has a low limit of detection of 3.96 × 10-9, a uniformity relative standard deviation (RSD) of 9.94 % (16.85 % uncalibrated), a repeatability RSD of 9.43 % (31.2 % for Au@Ag NPs), and remains stable for more than 45 days. Thiram and thiabendazole in fruit juices can be quantitatively detected using patterned transfer monolayer arrays with a common dropper. The R2 coefficients of the pesticide concentration and Raman intensity fitting curves improved from 0.9659 and 0.9499 to 0.9976 and 0.9928, respectively. Thus, paper-based Au@PB@Ag nanoarrays have facilitated the development of SERS technology for practical applications.

Temporal Trends and Outcomes of Peripheral Artery Disease and Critical Limb Ischemia in the United States.

INTRODUCTION: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a progressive, systemic atherosclerotic disease that is associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), and critical limb ischemia (CLI). CLI represents the most severe stage of PAD, characterized by progressive endothelial dysfunction and arterial narrowing. We hypothesized that the incidence of CLI and PAD would increase over the study period and that the rates of in-hospital mortality and major amputations among patients admitted with CLI would rise correspondingly. METHODS: We utilized the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database from year 2016 to 2021 using the ICD-10-CM codes. Patients with a primary or secondary diagnoses of PAD were initially selected and subsequently hospitalization with CLI were appropriately identified. Cochran Armitage test was used to describe the trend of outcomes across the years. All statistical analyses were conducted using the software Stata version 17.0. RESULTS: From 2016-2021, there were 2,930,639 admissions for critical limb ischemia. 65% of these patients were over the age of 60 and 35.8% of these patients were women. Most of these individuals were white (64.7%), followed by African Americans (15.8%) and Hispanics (12.6%). In-hospital mortality rates varied by revascularization method, with hybrid revascularization showing the highest rate at 2.6%, followed by endovascular revascularization at 1.8%, and surgical revascularization at 1.6%. Additionally, hospitalization costs were highest for patients undergoing hybrid revascularization ($46,257 ± $36,417), compared to endovascular ($36,924 ± $27,945) and surgical revascularization ($35,672 ± $27,127). Endovascular revascularization rates seemed to increase while surgical revascularization rates decreased during this time period. CONCLUSION: PAD is a progressive, systemic atherosclerotic disease that is associated with an increased risk of CAD, CVD, and CLI. Our data showed that the rates of PAD and CLI hospitalizations has remained relatively stable from 2016-2021, but there seems to be a trend towards doing more revascularization via an endovascular approach as compared to a surgical approach.

Optical absorption spectroscopy and electronic properties of D-A dyes and chlorophyll derivatives for co-sensitization in DSSCs.

The photophysical and photochemical processes of the experimental dyes ZS11 and ZS12 containing phenyl-cyanoacrylic acid (PCA) and ethynyl-PCA (EPCA) group were studied by DFT and TD-DFT systems to develop their applications in solar cells. First, their geometry, absorption spectra, chemical reaction parameters, electron transfer and dye activity were systematically studied. The photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) was predicted, and it was found that the PCE of ZS12 (9.974 %) was higher than ZS11 (7.171 %), which was consistent with the experimental trend (the PCE of ZS12 is 10.4 ± 0.3 % and the PCE of ZS11 is 9.0 ± 0.3 %). Secondly, the dye was co-sensitized with the chlorophyll derivative CHL-1c, and the co-sensitization system's interaction force, excited state characteristics, electron transfer mechanism and electron transfer rates were studied. The results show that the JSC of all co-sensitive systems (the JSC of ZS12-CHL is 22.363 mA/cm2 and the JSC of ZS11-CHL is 23.978 mA/cm2) is significantly higher than that of monomers (the JSC of ZS12 is 16.112 mA/cm2 and the JSC of ZS11 is 11.051 mA/cm2). It can be inferred that the optoelectronic performance of co-sensitizing systems is better than that of monomers. This study demonstrates that the use of dye molecules co-sensitized with chlorophyll derivatives can enhance DSSC performance from multiple perspectives, providing insights for further improvements.

Natural Products and Derivatives Targeting Metabolic Reprogramming in Colorectal Cancer: A Comprehensive Review.

Metabolic reprogramming is a critical pathogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC), referring to metabolic disorders that cancer cells make in response to the stimulating pressure. Metabolic reprogramming induces changes in genetic material and promotes CRC progression and has been proven to be an efficient target of CRC. As natural products have garnered interest due to notable pharmacological effects and potential in counteracting chemoresistance, an increasing body of research is delving into the impact of these natural products on the metabolic reprogramming associated with CRC. In this review, we collected published data from the Web of Science and PubMed, covering the period from January 1980 to October 2023. This article focuses on five central facets of metabolic alterations in cancer cells, glucose metabolism, mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), amino acid metabolism, fatty acid synthesis, and nucleotide metabolism, to provide an overview of recent advancements in natural product interventions targeting metabolic reprogramming in CRC. Our analysis underscores the potential of natural products in disrupting the metabolic pathways of CRC, suggesting promising therapeutic targets for CRC and expanding treatment options for metabolic-associated ailments.

Regulation of organic solar cells performance through external electric field: From charge transfer mechanisms to photovoltaic properties.

In organic solar cells (OSCs), comprehending the charge transfer mechanism at D/A interfaces is crucial for photoinduced charge generation and enhancing power conversion efficiency (PCE). The charge transfer mechanism and photovoltaic performance of the parallel stacking interface configuration of the PTQ10 polymer donor and T2EH non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) are systematically studied at the microscopic scale. The analysis of the electron-hole distribution of the PTQ10/T2EH excited states revealed the presence of multiple charge excitation modes and charge transfer pathways. Using Marcus theory, we examine the charge separation rate (KCS) of PTQ10/T2EH under external electric field (Fext) modulation, and it is clarified that reorganization energy (λ) is the main factor that affects the KCS. Our results show that Fext has a positive impact on the photovoltaic properties of PTQ10/T2EH thin films, as evidenced by the modulation of the open circuit voltage (VOC), voltage loss (VLOSS) and fill factor (FF). Overall, this study provides valuable theoretical insights for Fext to accelerate the charge separation process and enhance photovoltaic efficiency.

TESMIN is a Prognostic Biomarker Associated with Immunosuppression and Activated Cell Cycle in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The Testis Expressed Metallothionein Like Protein (TESMIN) gene encodes highly conserved, cysteine-rich, low-molecular proteins that are activated by and have an affinity for heavy metal ions. Previous literature has shown its association with cancer. Nevertheless, no thorough bioinformatics analysis of TESMIN has been done yet in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). METHODS: Differential expression of TESMIN between cancer and normal tissues was confirmed by analyzing databases and immunohistochemistry staining. Enrichment analysis was adopted to explore biological functions. The relationship of TESMIN with immune infiltration was evaluated by ssGSVA, with immunotherapy response predicted by TCIA and TIDE tools, with mutational traits analyzed by R software. Drug sensitivity analysis was implemented via GSCA tool, pRRophetic algorithms, and CellMiner database. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that TESMIN expression was upregulated in tumor tissue and related to Ki67. TESMIN was associated with poor survival and significantly related to age, gender, N stage, M stage, pathological stage, and survival status. TESMIN- related genes (TRGs) were primarily involved in cell division and cancer-related enrichment pathways. TESMIN was associated with high frequencies of somatic mutations and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Interestingly, patients with elevated levels of TESMIN expression benefited more from commonly used chemotherapy drugs such as cisplatin, paclitaxel, vinorelbine, and docetaxel, whereas those with low levels of TESMIN expression showed favorable clinical responses to immunotherapy. CONCLUSION: As a prognostic biomarker associated with the cell cycle and immune infiltration, TESMIN may serve as an effective target for predicting the sensitivity to immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Multiomics analyses decipher intricate changes in the cellular and metabolic landscape of steatotic livers upon dietary restriction and sleeve gastrectomy.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a chronic, progressive liver disease that encompasses a spectrum of steatosis, steatohepatitis (or MASH), and fibrosis. Evidence suggests that dietary restriction (DR) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) can lead to remission of hepatic steatosis and inflammation through weight loss, but it is unclear whether these procedures induce distinct metabolic or immunological changes in MASLD livers. This study aims to elucidate the intricate hepatic changes following DR, SG or sham surgery in rats fed a high-fat diet as a model of obesity-related MASLD, in comparison to a clinical cohort of patients undergoing SG. Single-cell and single-nuclei transcriptome analysis, spatial metabolomics, and immunohistochemistry revealed the liver landscape, while circulating biomarkers were measured in serum samples. Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted image analysis characterized the spatial distribution of hepatocytes, myeloid cells and lymphocytes. In patients and experimental MASLD rats, SG improved body mass index, circulating liver injury biomarkers and triglyceride levels. Both DR and SG attenuated liver steatosis and fibrosis in rats. Metabolism-related genes (Ppara, Cyp2e1 and Cyp7a1) were upregulated in hepatocytes upon DR and SG, while SG broadly upregulated lipid metabolism on cholangiocytes, monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils. Furthermore, SG promoted restorative myeloid cell accumulation in the liver not only ameliorating inflammation but activating liver repair processes. Regions with potent myeloid infiltration were marked with enhanced metabolic capacities upon SG. Additionally, a disruption of periportal hepatocyte functions was observed upon DR. In conclusion, this study indicates a dynamic cellular crosstalk in steatotic livers of patients undergoing SG. Notably, PPARα- and gut-liver axis-related processes, and metabolically active myeloid cell infiltration indicate intervention-related mechanisms supporting the indication of SG for the treatment of MASLD.

Qualitative insights into the effectiveness of a targeted nursing research support program: Understanding and experiences of support recipients and providers.

AIM: The aims of this study were to examine the effectiveness of a targeted nursing research support program for clinical nurses. BACKGROUND: Nursing research capacity is increasingly essential to clinical nurses and currently relatively low. Therefore, effective and systematic nursing research training programs are urgently needed to improve the scientific research abilities of nurses. METHODS: Qualitative research was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of a targeted nursing research support program. The program was formulated by considering the research training requirements of nurses and standard nursing research procedures, through literature review and group deliberations. The program was implemented for 973 nurses using a "plan-action-observation-reflection" learning cycle. The research outcomes achieved by nurses were evaluated and thematic analysis conducted to assess the perspectives of nurses and teachers regarding the research support program. RESULTS: Nurses participating in the targeted nursing research support program collectively accomplished 195 research proposals and authored 332 original research articles. Nurses shared their rich experience as "understanding my needs and achieving my potential", including: (1) systematic procedures and coherence; (2) easy to learn, easy to use; (3) a sense of belonging and mutual support; (4) self-confidence growth; and (5) high expectations. Further, the experiences of teachers were summarized as "helping others is helping myself", including: (1) teaching is learning; (2) the happiness of being needed; and (3) the importance of scientific teaching. CONCLUSION: This study evaluated the experiences of nurses and educators involved in a targeted nursing research support program and assessed its preliminary effectiveness. The findings revealed that the program, grounded in scientific and systematic research principles, was beneficial to both nurses and teachers. Based on our findings, we recommend that nursing educators should prioritize comprehensive, practice-integrated research training programs and create supportive environments, to effectively enhance the research capacity of nurses.

Molecular engineering and structure-property relationship based on D-A chlorophyll derivative and the application in organic solar cells.

The photoactive layer materials of organic solar cells (OSCs) play a critical role in achieving excellent performance. Chlorophyll derivatives are commonly used due to their environmental friendliness, low cost, and easy accessibility. However, the efficiency of OSCs based on chlorophyll is limited by their photoelectric properties. Here, we focused on the D-A structure of chlorophyll derivative ZnChl-1 and designed four molecules through rational molecular engineering. The photoelectric properties at the microscopic level were systematically studied using density functional theory (DFT). Our findings reveal that T-ZnChl-1 with triphenylamine donor unit has a smaller energy gap and ionization energy, as well as a larger spectral red shift and absorption range. This suggests that intramolecular charge transfer will be enhanced, leading to an improvement in short-circuit current. Furthermore, Y6 is used as the acceptor to construct the heterojunction interfaces. The results indicate that the T-ZnChl-1/Y6 interface exhibits more charge transfer states and higher exciton dissociation rate KCS, which will promote charge separation and lead to excellent photovoltaic performance. This work clarifies the structure-property relationship of chlorophyll derivatives and the photo-response mechanism of intermolecular charge transfer, providing a theoretical basis for developing valuable chlorophyll-based OSCs.

Fabrication of core-shell-like bimetallic SERS substrates with inter-coordination effect for catalysis of p-mercaptoaniline.

The present study discusses the core-shell structures of Au@Ag prepared by a seed-growth method. The morphology and composition of Au@Ag nanoparticles were analyzed, indicating that they were successfully prepared. By studying the surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectra (SERS) of p-mercaptoaniline (PATP) molecules adsorbed on Au@Ag substrates, it was found that PATP molecules could be oxidized to form p-mercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) on Au@Ag substrates, indicating that the gold-silver bimetallic nanomaterials could catalyze the PATP molecules with excellent enhancement effect and stability. In order to further study the enhancement effect of the Au@Ag substrate, the electric field strength of Au nanoparticles and Au@Ag nanoparticles was simulated by using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method, which showed that the SERS enhancement effect of Au@Ag nanoparticles was more significant as well as consistent with the experimental results. This work provides a reference for further preparation of efficient and stable bimetallic SERS substrates.

Bioenzymatic detoxification of mycotoxins.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced during the growth, storage, and transportation of crops contaminated by fungi and are physiologically toxic to humans and animals. Aflatoxin, zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin, patulin, and fumonisin are the most common mycotoxins and can cause liver and nervous system damage, immune system suppression, and produce carcinogenic effects in humans and animals that have consumed contaminated food. Physical, chemical, and biological methods are generally used to detoxify mycotoxins. Although physical methods, such as heat treatment, irradiation, and adsorption, are fast and simple, they have associated problems including incomplete detoxification, limited applicability, and cause changes in food characteristics (e.g., nutritive value, organoleptic properties, and palatability). Chemical detoxification methods, such as ammonification, ozonation, and peroxidation, pollute the environment and produce food safety risks. In contrast, bioenzymatic methods are advantageous as they achieve selective detoxification and are environmentally friendly and reusable; thus, these methods are the most promising options for the detoxification of mycotoxins. This paper reviews recent research progress on common mycotoxins and the enzymatic principles and mechanisms for their detoxification, analyzes the toxicity of the degradation products and describes the challenges faced by researchers in carrying out enzymatic detoxification. In addition, the application of enzymatic detoxification in food and feed is discussed and future directions for the development of enzymatic detoxification methods are proposed for future in-depth study of enzymatic detoxification methods.

A High-Throughput Method for Accurate Extraction of Intact Rice Panicle Traits.

Rice panicle traits serve as critical indicators of both yield potential and germplasm resource quality. However, traditional manual measurements of these traits, which typically involve threshing, are not only laborious and time-consuming but also prone to introducing measurement errors. This study introduces a high-throughput and nondestructive method, termed extraction of panicle traits (EOPT), along with the software Panicle Analyzer, which is designed to assess unshaped intact rice panicle traits, including the panicle grain number, grain length, grain width, and panicle length. To address the challenge of grain occlusion within an intact panicle, we define a panicle morphology index to quantify the occlusion levels among the rice grains within the panicle. By calibrating the grain number obtained directly from rice panicle images based on the panicle morphology index, we substantially improve the grain number detection accuracy. For measuring grain length and width, the EOPT selects rice grains using an intersection over union threshold of 0.8 and a confidence threshold of 0.7 during the grain detection process. The mean values of these grains were calculated to represent all the panicle grain lengths and widths. In addition, EOPT extracted the main path of the skeleton of the rice panicle using the Astar algorithm to determine panicle lengths. Validation on a dataset of 1,554 panicle images demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method, achieving 93.57% accuracy in panicle grain counting with a mean absolute percentage error of 6.62%. High accuracy rates were also recorded for grain length (96.83%) and panicle length (97.13%). Moreover, the utility of EOPT was confirmed across different years and scenes, both indoors and outdoors. A genome-wide association study was conducted, leveraging the phenotypic traits obtained via EOPT and genotypic data. This study identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with grain length, width, number per panicle, and panicle length, further emphasizing the utility and potential of this method in advancing rice breeding.