Label-free turn-on electrochemiluminescence assay of β-glucuronidase at single-electrode.

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) has achieved significant commercial success over the past few decades across various fields, particularly in the healthcare industry. The measurement scheme oftentimes involves target recognition elements (e.g.

Gold nanocube-enhanced SERS biosensor based on heated electrode coupled with exonuclease III-assisted cycle amplification for sensitive detection of flap endonuclease 1 activity.

The flap endonuclease 1 (FEN1) plays a key role in DNA replication and repair, its aberrant expression is associated with tumor development, so it has been recognized as a promising biomarker for a variety of cancers. Here, a novel "turn on" mode gold nanocube-enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) biosensor was constructed by combining a heated Au electrode (HAuE), exonuclease III (Exo III)-assisted cycle amplification, and gold nanocube (AuNC)-based SERS enhancement to achieve highly sensitive detection of FEN1 activity. The SERS tag was prepared using the Raman reporter modified on the AuNC surface, and the high electromagnetic field provided by the sharp geometric feature of AuNC greatly enhanced the SERS signal.

A nanoporous electrochemical aptamer-based sensors for rapid detection of cardiac troponin I in blood.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the top contributors to global disease mortality. AMI biomarkers, such as cardiac troponin I (cTnI), are often detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that suffers from several well-known drawbacks such as poor stability and slow and cumbersome operation. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new analytical technique that can rapidly analyse and detect cTnI for early screening of AMI.

Construction of an electrochemical aptamer-based sensors for rapid quantification of the anticancer drug imatinib in blood to improve drug bioavailability at microdoses.

Imatinib (Ima), as a commonly used anticancer drug for the clinical treatment of leukemia and gastrointestinal mesenchymal stromal tumour, requires timely monitoring of patients' blood concentration to ensure efficacy while reducing complications and achieving precision medicine due to its narrow therapeutic window (1-5 μM) and the varying sensitivity and resistance of different patients to Ima. However, traditional assays are slow and cumbersome, so improved and innovative platforms for monitoring Ima in the clinic are necessary. In this work, a nanoporous electrochemical aptamer-based (E-AB) sensor was designed for the detection of Ima and imatinib mesylate (Ima-Mes) in blood.

Cold-hot Janus electrochemical aptamer-based sensor for calibration-free determination of biomolecules.

Real-time, high-frequency measurements of pharmaceuticals, metabolites, exogenous antigens, and other biomolecules in biological samples can provide critical information for health management and clinical diagnosis. Electrochemical aptamer-based (EAB) sensor is a promising analytical technique capable of achieving these goals. However, the issues of insufficient sensitivity, frequent calibration and lack of adapted portable electrochemical device limit its practical application in immediate detection.

Rapid nanomolar detection of cocaine in biofluids by electrochemical aptamer-based sensor with low-temperature effect for drugged driving screening.

Cocaine is one of the most abused illicit drugs, and its abuse damages the central nervous system and can even lead directly to death. Therefore, the development of simple, rapid and highly sensitive detection methods is crucial for the prevention and control of drug abuse, traffic accidents and crime. In this work, an electrochemical aptamer-based (EAB) sensor based on the low-temperature enhancement effect was developed for the direct determination of cocaine in bio-samples.

Rapid nanomolar detection of Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol in biofluids via electrochemical aptamer-based biosensor.

Background: The fabrication of sensors capable of achieving rapid, sensitive, and highly selective detection of target molecules in complex fluids is key to realizing their real-world applications. For example, there is an urgent need in drugged driving roadside screening scenarios to develop a method that can be used for rapid drug detection and that avoids interference from the matrix in the sample. How to minimize the interference of complex matrices in biofluids at the electrode interface is the key to improve the sensitivity of the sensor.

Heating promoted super sensitive electrochemical detection of p53 gene based on alkaline phosphatase and nicking endonuclease Nt.BstNBI-assisted target recycling amplification strategy at heated gold disk electrode.

An ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for detecting p53 gene was fabricated based on heated gold disk electrode coupling with endonuclease Nt.BstNBI-assisted target recycle amplification and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)-based electrocatalytic signal amplification. For biosensor assembling, biotinylated ssDNA capture probes were first immobilized on heated Au disk electrode (HAuDE), then combined with streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase (SA-ALP) by biotin-SA interaction.

Cadmium ions mediated turn-on electrogenerated chemiluminescence of ZnS nanoparticles for highly selective cadmium detection in seafood.

Cd is one of the most toxic heavy metal ions that can be easily accumulated in human body via food chain. Thus, the onsite detection of Cd in food is very important. However, present methods for Cd detection either require the use of large equipment, or suffer from the severe interference from other analogical metal ions.

Plasmonic Au nanocube enhanced SERS biosensor based on heated electrode and strand displacement amplification for highly sensitive detection of Dam methyltransferase activity.

In this work, a novel "turn-on" mode Au nanocubes (AuNCs) enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) biosensing platform coupled with heated Au electrode (HAuE) and strand displacement amplification (SDA) strategy was proposed for highly sensitive detection of DNA adenine methylation (Dam) Methyltransferase (MTase) activity. The Dam MTase and DpnI enzyme activities were significantly increased by elevating the HAuE surface temperature, resulting in the rapid production of template DNA for later SDA. During the SDA process, the released single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) could be amplified exponentially, and its concentration was positively related to the Dam MTase activity.

Real-Time Tunable Dynamic Range for Calibration-Free Biomolecular Measurements with a Temperature-Modulated Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensor in an Unprocessed Actual Sample.

The sensing technologies for monitoring molecular analytes in biological fluids with high frequency and in real time could enable a broad range of applications in personalized healthcare and clinical diagnosis. However, due to the limited dynamic range (less than 81-fold), real-time analysis of biomolecular concentration varying over multiple orders of magnitude is a severe challenge faced by this class of analytical platforms. For the first time, we describe here that temperature-modulated electrochemical aptamer-based sensors with a dynamically adjustable calibration-free detection window could enable continuous, real-time, and accurate response for the several-hundredfold target concentration changes in unprocessed actual samples.

Temperature-Alternated Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Biosensor for Calibration-Free and Sensitive Molecular Measurements in an Unprocessed Actual Sample.

Frequently calibrating electrochemical biosensors (ECBs) to obtain acceptable accuracy can be cumbersome for the users. Thus, the achievement of calibration-free operation would effectively lead to commercial applications for ECBs in the real world. Herein, we fabricated a temperature-alternated electrochemical aptamer-based (TAEAB) sensor, producing a cycle of "enhanced-responsive and ∼nonresponsive" state at rapidly alternated interface temperatures (5 and 30 °C, respectively).

Monitoring colorless electroactive chemicals in complex background based on electrochemical difference absorption spectroscopy with twin flow cells.

Conventional UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy is an economical and user-friendly technique for online monitoring, however, by which some electroactive chemicals are hardly determined in the presence of fluctuating background due to the formation of colored chemicals. Here, we propose an electrochemical difference absorption spectroscopy (EDAS) to accurately quantify colorless chemicals based on visible color change via electrolysis with strong variation in the background. EDAS is realized by twin spectroelectrochemical flow cells system, replacing the two cuvette cells of a dual beam spectrophotometer.

Ligand-Free Fabrication of Ag Nanoassemblies for Highly Sensitive and Reproducible Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensing of Antibiotics.

The assemblies of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) are the universal methods for enhancing their surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities. However, the present methods suffer from the problems of poor reproducibility, complicated fabrication, or the adsorption of ligands on the surface, which limit their practical applications. In this work, by using a facile freeze-thaw method, we are able to fabricate the assemblies of Ag NPs with highly reproducible SERS activity without the use of ligands.

Clinical outcomes of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in Shanghai, China.

Background: Numerous studies have focused on lymphoma among patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, little is known about the treatment options and survival rate of lymphoma in the Chinese people living with HIV (PLHIV). Our study aimed to investigate the prognosis and compare outcome of dose-adjusted etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and rituximab (DA-EPOCH-R) with standard cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone and rituximab(R-CHOP) as front line therapy for PLHIV with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) receiving modern combined antiretroviral therapy (cART).

Clinical features and treatment outcomes of human immunodeficiency virus-associated cryptococcal meningitis: a 2-year retrospective analysis.

Background: Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is one of the most common opportunistic infections caused by Cryptococcus neoformans in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, and is complicated with significant morbidity and mortality. This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical features, characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of first-diagnosed HIV-associated CM after 2-years of follow-up.

Methods: Data from all patients (n = 101) of HIV-associated CM hospitalized in Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center from September 2013 to December 2016 were collected and analyzed using logistic regression to identify clinical and microbiological factors associated with mortality.

Spatial Information Encoding across Multiple Neocortical Regions Depends on an Intact Hippocampus.

There has been considerable research showing populations of neurons encoding for different aspects of space in the brain. Recently, several studies using two-photon calcium imaging and virtual navigation have identified "spatially" modulated neurons in the posterior cortex. We enquire here whether the presence of such spatial representations may be a cortex-wide phenomenon and, if so, whether these representations can be organized in the absence of the hippocampus.

Efficacy and Safety of Direct Oral Anticoagulants in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Liver Disease: a Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

Background: Liver disease is associated with increased bleeding risk. The efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) is a subject of contention in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with liver disease.

Methods: Electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library) were searched to retrieve studies on the efficacy and safety of DOACs versus warfarin in AF patients with liver disease from January 1980 to April 2020.

AuNanostar@4-MBA@Au Core-Shell Nanostructure Coupled with Exonuclease III-Assisted Cycling Amplification for Ultrasensitive SERS Detection of Ochratoxin A.

The "turn-on" mode surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) aptasensor for ultrasensitive ochratoxin A (OTA) detection was developed based on the SERS "hot spots" of AuNanostar@4-MBA@Au core-shell nanostructures (AuNS@4-MBA@Au) and exonuclease III (Exo III)-assisted target cycle amplification strategy. Compared with conventional gold nanoparticles, AuNS@4-MBA@Au provides a much higher SERS enhancement factor because AuNS exhibits a larger surface roughness and the lightning rod effect, as well as an excellent electromagnetic field between the AuNS core and the Au shell, which contribute to the superstrong SERS signal. Meanwhile, Exo III-assisted target cycle amplification can be used as an effective method for the further amplified detection of OTA.

[Study on protective effect of vanillic acid from Astragalus membranaceus on hypertensive cardiac remodeling based on network pharmacology screen].

To identify and verify the active ingredients from Astragalus membranaceus on hypertensive cardiac remodeling based on network pharmacology and heart RNA-sequencing data. The monomers of A. membranaceus and their intervention target database were established by using network pharmacology.

Unveiling the size effect of Pt-on-Au nanostructures on CO and methanol electrooxidation by in situ electrochemical SERS.

In situ monitoring of electrocatalytic processes at solid-liquid interfaces is essential for the fundamental understanding of reaction mechanisms, yet quite challenging. Herein, Pt-on-Au nanocatalysts with a Au-core Pt-satellite superstructure have been fabricated. In such Pt-on-Au nanocatalysts, the Au cores can greatly amplify the Raman signals of the species adsorbed on Pt, allowing the in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) study of the electrocatalytic reactions on Pt.

Temperature controllable electrochemical sensors based on horseradish peroxidase as electrocatalyst at heated Au disk electrode and its preliminary application for HO detection.

In this paper, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was successfully immobilized on heated Au disk electrode (HAuDE) by biotin-streptavidin specific interaction through HS-ssDNA-biotin self-assembled on HAuDE for investigation the electrocatalytic activity of HRP. With elevated electrode temperature, the significant temperature effect of the electrocatalytic activity of HRP for HO reduction was demonstrated by using this bio-sensing platform. With an electrode temperature of 40 °C, a detection limit of 1.

Self-Reference Analysis Based on Temperature Difference Absorption Spectra.

The direct qualitative identification of pure liquids in laboratories and in security checks is generally performed by the detection of the refractive index or the permittivity. However, refractive indices are strongly influenced by temperature, while the permittivities of some organics are difficult to differentiate. On the other hand, the quantitative monitoring of samples with high concentration in plating baths and in chemical production lines are generally performed via a "Sampling-Dilution-Analysis" approach because of significant deviations from the linear range at high concentration, which makes the real-time monitoring of concentrated samples difficult.

Protective effect of RNA interference targeting Ikkβ on hepatic fibrosis in rats.

Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is an important regulatory factor in cells. NF-κB has a wide range of biological activities. After activation, it participates in the transcription and regulation of many genes and plays a role in infection, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, cell multiplication, and apoptosis.