β-Lactoglobulin Amyloid Fibrils-Poly(vinyl alcohol)-AgNPs Hydrogel as a Surface-Enhanced Raman Substrate for All-in-One Rapid Separation, Enrichment, and Detection of Small Molecules in Food Samples.

A β-lactoglobulin amyloid fibrils-poly(vinyl alcohol)-Ag nanoparticles (β-LAFs-PVA-AgNPs) hydrogel was prepared as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with adsorbent β-lactoglobulin amyloid fibrils (β-LAFs) structured into the network structure of the hydrogel using the immersion reduction method. Due to the high swelling and contraction properties of the hydrogel in different states and the "sieving" nature of its network cavities, small molecular target analytes can more easily enter the space-confined hydrogel and rapidly bind with the amide bonds of the protein structure. During the contraction process of the hydrogel, the target analytes are enriched, and the Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) come closer together to form Raman "hot spots", generating stronger SERS signals.

Simultaneous and instrument-free detection of quinine and crystal violet based on a dual-emissive Eu-functionalized metal-organic framework.

Simultaneous detection and quantification of multi-targets is a challenge using one single sensor in the complicated environment of real samples. Herein, we developed a dual-emissive sensor (EuUCHNA) that selectively and rapidly responds to crystal violet (CV) and quinine (QN), two commonly used anti-infective drugs for fungi, bacteria, and parasites, through distinct responsive modes. CV can effectively quench the blue and red fluorescent emission bands of EuUCHNA.

Development and Evaluation of a Rapid Visualisation Detection Method for Ameson portunus Based on RPA-LFD.

The Ameson portunus is a prevalent pathogen affecting Portunus trituberculatus, which can infect P. trituberculatus and cause albinism, seriously damaging its economic value. Therefore, there is a pressing need for an efficient detection platform to rapidly and sensitively identify A.

Developing a competency scale for selecting and assessing psychological peer counselors in ethnic-area colleges: a pilot study in Guizhou Province, China.

Introduction: Psychological peer counselors play a crucial role in the mental health education of college students, especially in ethnic regions. The study zeroes in on developing a tool for selecting and assessing psychological peer counselors in ethnic-area colleges and universities, using Guizhou Province as a case study.

Materials And Methods: Focusing on psychological peer counselors in ethnic-area higher education institutions, this study amalgamates open-ended questionnaire surveys, interviews, and literature analysis to construct a competency characteristics questionnaire.

Intestinal epithelial cells of Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) as an in vitro model for studying intestine immune function based on transcriptome analysis.

Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) is an economically crucial marine species, but diseases like hemorrhagic septicemia caused by Edwardsiella tarda have resulted in significant economic losses. E. tarda infects various hosts, and its pathogenicity in fish is not fully understood.

Forensic characteristics and genetic structure of the Chinese Tibetan population revealed by 38 X-chromosomal InDel loci.

With the increasing importance of X-chromosome (Chr-X) genotyping in kinship identification, the exploitation of X chromosome genetic marker multiplex kits is increasing. The Human X-InDels amplification kit is a novel developed system which contained 38 X-chromosomal Insertion/deletion markers (X-InDels) and Amelogenin. Herein, we investigated the genetic diversity of the 38 X-InDels in the Tibetan ethnic minority (n = 792) from seven regions and evaluated the application potential of this novel panel.

A highly sensitive fluorescence probe for on-site detection of nerve agent mimic diethylchlorophosphonate DCP.

Nerve agents are the most toxic chemical warfare agents that pose severe threat to human health and public security. In this work, we developed a novel fluorescent probe NZNN based on naphthylimide and -phenylenediamine to detect nerve agent mimic diethylchlorophosphonate (DCP). DCP underwent a specific nucleophilic reaction with the -phenylenediamine group of NZNN to produce a significant fluorescence turn-on response with high selectivity, exceptional linearity, bright fluorescence, rapid response (<6 s) and a low detection limit (30.

A practical chromogenic and fluorogenic dual-mode sensing platform for rapid quantification of sulfite in food.

Sulfur dioxide (SO) and its derivatives (HSO and SO) are widely used in food-processing. Whereas excessive consumption of sulfur dioxide and its derivatives (>0.70 mg·kgday) severely endangers human health.

Oxidant-Free Electrochemical Direct Oxidative Benzyl Alcohols to Benzyl Aldehydes Using Three-Dimensional Printing PPAR Polyoxometalate.

The oxidation of benzyl alcohols is an important reaction in organic synthesis. Traditional methods for benzyl alcohol oxidation have not been widely utilized due to the use of significant amounts of precious metals and environmentally unfriendly reagents. In recent years, electrocatalytic oxidation has gained significant attention, particularly electrochemical anodic oxidation, which offers a sustainable alternative for oxidation without the need for external oxidants or reducing agents.

CmVCall: An automated and adjustable nanopore analysis pipeline for heteroplasmy detection of the control region in human mitochondrial genome.

Genetic associations between human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) heteroplasmy and mitochondrial diseases, aging, and cancer have been elaborated, contributing a lot to the further understanding of mtDNA polymorphic spectrum in anthropology, population, and forensic genetics. In the past decade, heteroplasmy detection using Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing (NGS) was hampered by the former's inefficiency and the latter's inherent bias due to amplification and mapping of short reads, respectively. Nanopore sequencing stands out for its ability to yield long contiguous segments of DNA, providing a new insight into heterogeneity authentication.

Ligand-protected metal nanoclusters as low-loss, highly polarized emitters for optical waveguides.

Photoluminescent molecules and nanomaterials have potential applications as active waveguides, but such a use has often been limited by high optical losses and complex fabrication processes. We explored ligand-protected metal nanoclusters (LPMNCs), which can have strong, stable, and tunable emission, as waveguides. Two alloy LPMNCs, PtAg and AuAg (7 ≤ ≤ 9), were synthesized and structurally determined.

Bright near-infrared circularly polarized electrochemiluminescence from AuAg nanoclusters.

Metal nanoclusters are excellent electrochemiluminescent luminophores owing to their rich electrochemical and optical properties. However, the optical activity of their electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is unknown. Herein, we achieved, for the first time, the integration of optical activity and ECL, , circularly polarized electrochemiluminescence (CPECL), in a pair of chiral AuAg metal nanocluster enantiomers.

Massively parallel sequencing of 74 microhaplotypes and forensic characteristics in three Chinese Sino-Tibetan populations.

Microhaplotype (MH), as an emerging type of forensic genetic marker in recent years, has the potential to support multiple forensic applications, especially for mixture deconvolution and biogeographic ancestry inference. Herein, we investigated the genotype data of 74 MHs included in a novel MH panel, the Ion AmpliSeq MH-74 Plex Microhaplotype Research Panel, in three Chinese Sino-Tibetan populations (Han, Tibetan, and Yi) using the Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing. The sequencing performance, allele frequencies, effective number of alleles (A), informativeness (I), and forensic parameters were subsequently estimated and calculated.

Impact of the metal core on the electrochemiluminescence of a pair of atomically precise Au nanocluster isomers.

Although the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of metal nanoclusters has been reported, revealing the correlation between structure and ECL at an atomic level is highly challenging. Here, we reported the impact of the metal core of Au(SAdm)(CHT) (Au-AC for short; SAdm = 1-adamantanethiolate; CHT= cyclohexanethiol) and its isomer Au(TBBT) (TBBT = 4-tert-butylthiophenol) on their solution-state and solid-state electrochemiluminescence. In self-annihilation ECL experiments, Au-AC showed a strong cathodic ECL but a weak anodic ECL, while the ECL signal of Au(TBBT) was weak and barely detectable.

Exploring rare differences in mitochondrial genome between MZ twins using Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing.

Monozygotic (MZ) twins are considered to be genetically identical in that they have the same genomic DNA sequences in theory, and thus cannot be differentiated using forensic standard STR-based DNA profiling. However, a recent study employed deep sequencing to explore extremely rare mutations in the nuclear genome and reported that the mutation analysis could be applied to differentiate between MZ twins. Compared with the nuclear genome, the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) exhibits higher mutation rates due to fewer DNA repair mechanisms in the mitochondrial genome (mtGenome) and the lack of proofreading capability of the mtDNA polymerase.

Molecular engineering of fluorescence probe for real-time non-destructive visual screening of meat freshness.

Spoiled meat poses a great challenge to food security and human health, which should be addressed by the early monitoring and warning of the meat freshness. We herein exploited a molecular engineering strategy to construct a set of fluorescence probes (PTPY, PTAC, and PTCN) with phenothiazine as fluorophore and cyanovinyl as recognition site for the facile and efficient monitoring of meat freshness. These probes produce an obvious fluorescence color transition from dark red to bright cyan in response to cadaverine (Cad) through the nucleophilic addition/elimination reaction.

Design and fabrication of a differential-pressure optical fiber grating sensor for monitoring the flow rate of fluid.

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) flow sensor is designed and fabricated, in which two FBGs are fixed on the front and other side of the metal diaphragm, and differential pressure is used to monitor the flow rate of fluid. The temperature sensitivity of these two FBGs is 0.030 and 0.

Development and validation of a custom panel including 256 Y-SNPs for Chinese Y-chromosomal haplogroups dissection.

Y-chromosomal haplogroups determined by Y-chromosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (Y-SNPs) allow paternal lineage identification and paternal biogeographic ancestry inference, which has attracted a lot of interest in the forensic community. Recently, a comprehensive Y-SNP tool with dominant markers targeting haplogroups in R, E and I branches has been reported, which allows the inference of 640 Y haplogroups. It had a very good performance and could provide a high level of Y haplogroup resolution in most populations.

Applying resonance Rayleigh scattering and spectrofluorimetric techniques for the selective determination of neomycin sulfate using Congo red as a probe: Applications for wastewater analysis.

Two simple, sensitive, and low-cost fluorescence spectroscopy methods for neomycin (NEO) detection were developed. Both methods were based on the interaction between NEO and Congo red (CR) in acidic buffer medium to form an ion-association complex. The quenching effect of the formed ion-association complex on the fluorescence of CR at 421 nm is a basic principle of fluorescence analysis, whilst the resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) method was used to enhance the resonance Rayleigh scattering spectrum at 384 nm by adding NEO.

Enhancement of Congo Red-Neomycin Resonance Rayleigh Scattering by Dodecyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide and its Application.

A simple, rapid, and convenient method for the determination of neomycin based on the ion association method was proposed. In Britton-Robinson buffer solution, neomycin could react with Congo red to form an ionic association, which in turn reacted with dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide to form a ternary ionic association. The three were combined in a 1 : 1 : 1 ratio, which significantly enhanced the resonant Rayleigh scattering intensity at 468 nm.

Versatile Superatom Complex Nanocluster for the Construction of Framework Materials.

Accurately controlling the assembly of nanometer-sized building blocks presents an important but significant challenge for the construction of functional framework materials, which requires the development of highly stable versatile nanosized assembly modules with multiple coordination sites. In this study, [Ag(SAdm)] (, in which SAdm = 1-adamantanethiol, i.e.

Development and validation of a forensic multiplex InDel assay: The AGCU InDel 60 kit.

Marker sets based on insertion/deletion polymorphisms (InDels) combine the characteristics of both short tandem repeats (STRs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms and have served as effective complementary or stand-alone systems for human identification in forensics. We developed a novel multiplex amplification detection system, designated the AGCU InDel 60 kit, containing 57 autosomal InDels, 2 Y-chromosomal InDels, and the amelogenin locus and validated the kit in a series of studies, which included tests of the PCR conditions; tests for sensitivity, species specificity, reproducibility, stability, and mock case samples; degradation studies; and a population study. The results indicated that the AGCU InDel 60 kit was accurate, specific, reproducible, stable, and robust.