Electrochemical detection of uric acid in human serum based on ultrasmall Ta2O5 nanoparticle anchored Pt atom with ultrahigh uricase and catalase activities

The synthesis of ultrasmall Ta₂O₅ nanoparticle anchored Pt atom using aspartic acid-functionalized graphene quantum dot (Asp-GQD) is reported. The Asp-GQD was combined with tantalic acid and chloroplatinic acid to rapidly form water-soluble Ta-Asp-GQD and Pt-Asp-GQD complex. Followed by thermal annealing at 900 °C in N₂ to obtain Ta₂O₅-Asp-GQD-Pt. The study shows that the introduction of Asp-GQD as a chelating agent and p-type semiconductor achieves to the formation of ultrasmall Ta₂O₅ nanoparticle, PN junction at the interface and Pt single atom anchored on the surface of Ta₂O₅ nanocrystals. The unique structure realizes ultrahigh uricase activity and catalase activities of Ta₂O₅-Asp-GQD-Pt. The Ta₂O₅-Asp-GQD-Pt was used as the bifunctional sensing material for the construction of an electrochemical uric acid sensor. The differential pulse voltammetric current at 0.45 V linearly increases with the increase of uric acid concentration in the range 0.001-5.00 mM with the detection limit of 0.41 μM (S/N = 3). The sensor exhibits a much better sensitivity compared with the reported methods for the detection of uric acid. The proposed analytical method has been applied to the electrochemical detection of uric acid in human serum with a spiked recovery of 95-105%. The study also offers one way to design and synthesize multifunctional sensing materials with high catalytic activity.

Network Biology Approaches to Uncover Therapeutic Targets Associated with Molecular Signaling Pathways from circRNA in Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction Pathogenesis

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a cognitive deterioration and dementia that arise after a surgical procedure, affecting up to 40% of surgery patients over the age of 60. The precise etiology and molecular mechanisms underlying POCD remain uncovered. These reasons led us to employ integrative bioinformatics and machine learning methodologies to identify several biological signaling pathways involved and molecular signatures to better understand the pathophysiology of POCD. A total of 223 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) comprising 156 upregulated and 67 downregulated genes were identified from the circRNA microarray dataset by comparing POCD and non-POCD samples. Gene ontology (GO) analyses of DEGs were significantly involved in neurogenesis, autophagy regulation, translation in the postsynapse, modulating synaptic transmission, regulation of the cellular catabolic process, macromolecule modification, and chromatin remodeling. Pathway enrichment analysis indicated some key molecular pathways, including mTOR signaling pathway, AKT phosphorylation of cytosolic targets, MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathway, PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, nitric oxide signaling pathway, chaperones that modulate interferon signaling pathway, apoptosis signaling pathway, VEGF signaling pathway, cellular senescence, RANKL/RARK signaling pathway, and AGE/RAGE pathway. Furthermore, seven hub genes were identified from the PPI network and also determined transcription factors and protein kinases. Finally, we identified a new predictive drug for the treatment of SCZ using the LINCS L1000, GCP, and P100 databases. Together, our results bring a new era of the pathogenesis of a deeper understanding of POCD, identified novel therapeutic targets, and predicted drug inhibitors in POCD.

The effect of maternal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure and methylation levels of CHDs-candidate genes on the risk of congenital heart diseases

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of maternal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and methylation levels of CHDs-candidate genes on the risk of congenital heart diseases (CHDs), and the effect of PAHs exposure on DNA methylation states.

METHODS

A case-control study involving 60 mother -fetus pairs was performed by measuring 1-OHPG concentration in maternal urine and methylation levels of 20 CHDs-candidate genes in cord bloods. Logistic regression models were applied to determine the effect of maternal PAHs exposure and fetal methylation levels on the risk of CHDs. Spearman correlation was performed to correlate PAHs exposure and methylation levels.

RESULTS

Maternal higher PAHs exposure was associated with the risk of CHDs (aOR = 3.245, 95% CI: 1.060, 9.937) or some subtypes. The methylation levels of 23 amplicons within 11 genes exhibited significant differences between CHDs and controls. Higher methylation of NKX2-5_M1 was associated with decreased risk of CHDs (aOR=0.182, 95% CI:0.034, 0.983). No significant correlations were found between 1-OHPG concentration and methylation levels of NKX2-5_M1.

CONCLUSIONS

Maternal PAHs exposure was linked with CHDs. Higher methylation of the upstream sequence of NKX2-5 promoter decreased the risk of CHDs. There was no correlation between maternal PAHs exposure and the methylation level of NKX2-5. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Durable hydrophobic Enteromorpha design for controlling oil spills in marine environment prepared by organosilane modification for efficient oil-water separation

Hydrophobic and oleophilic materials are attractive candidates for efficient oil collection due to their excellent oil-water separation. However, the most of currently reported oil adsorption materials are limited resources or require complicated preparation steps, which causes high energy consumption and not be practical for large-scale application. Herein, we report a facile strategy to modify the wettability of Enteromorpha from hydrophilic to hydrophobic, which not only greatly reduces energy consumption but also shows the outstanding capacity for oil-water separation with the maximum adsorption capacities is 11.4 g/g and the contact angle reaches 137°. The successful modification of the Enteromorpha is achieved by grafting n-octyltriethoxysilane on the surface of the pristine Enteromorpha. The hydrophobic and superoleophilic Enteromorpha guarantee adequate voids in the fibrous bundles only for oil adsorption and the oil floating on the seawater is removed by the formation of hydrogen bonding between oil and modified Enteromorpha. By optimizing test, the optimal adsorption conditions are adsorption time of 60 min, oil-water ratio of 1:10 and pH of 7. Our reported hydrophobic organosilane modified Enteromorpha will open a new avenue to control marine oil pollution and suppress the damage of Enteromorpha to the marine ecology system.

Colorimetric detection of chlorpyrifos in peach based on cobalt-graphene nanohybrid with excellent oxidase-like activity and reusability

Cobalt nanocrystal has been widely used as nano-enzyme for sensing and catalysis due to its high stability and low cost, but poor catalytic activity limits its applications in bioanalysis. The study reports one strategy for synthesis of cobalt-graphene nanohybrid. Histidine-functionalized graphene quantum dot (His-GQD) was bound to graphene sheet via π-π stacking and then combined with cobalt ions in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride to form stable complex and finally reduced under nitrogen to obtain Co-His-GQD-G. The as-synthesized nanohybrid offers well-defined three-dimensional structure and quasi-superparamagnetism. The cobalt nanoparticles were well dispersed on graphene sheets. The unique structure improves oxidase-like activity of Co-His-GQD-G. Further, Co-His-GQD-G was used as the nanozyme for colorimetric detection of chlorpyrifos. Co-His-GQD-G catalyzes oxidization of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine into blue product. Thiocholine produced by hydrolysis of acetylthiocholine under catalysis of acetylcholinesterase inhibits catalytic activity of Co-His-GQD-G and leads to a reduced oxidization rate. Chlorpyrifos inhibits activity of acetylcholinesterase and brings an enhanced absorbance of blue product. The absorbance at 652 nm linearly increases with increasing chlorpyrifos concentration in the range of 2-20 ng mL^-1 with detection limit of 0.57 ng mL^-1 (S/N = 3). The method was successfully applied in determination of chlorpyrifos in peach by preparing Co-His-GQD-G magnetic gel sheet.

Electrochemical detection of carbendazim with mulberry fruit-like gold nanocrystal/multiple graphene aerogel and DNA cycle amplification

An aptasensor for electrochemical detection of carbendazim is reported with mulberry fruit-like gold nanocrystal (MF-Au)/multiple graphene aerogel (MGA) and DNA cycle amplification. HAuCl₄ was reduced by ascorbic acid in a CTAC solution containing KBr and KI and formed trioctahedron gold nanocrystal. The gold nanocrystal underwent structural evolution under enantioselective direction of l-cysteine. The resulting MF-Au shows a mulberry fruit-like nanostructure composed of gold nanocrystals of about 200 nm as the core and many irregular gold nanoparticles of about 30 nm as the shell. The exposure of high-index facets improves the catalytic activity of MF-Au. MF-Au/MGA was used for the construction of an aptasensor for electrochemical detection of carbendazim. The aptamer hybridizes with assistant strand DNA to form duplex DNA. Carbendazim binds with the formed duplex DNA to release assistant strand DNA, triggering one three-cascade DNA cycle. The utilization of a DNA cycle allows one carbendazim molecule to bring many methylene blue–labeled DNA fragments to the electrode surface. This promotes significant signal amplification due to the redox reaction of methylene blue. The detection signal is further enhanced by the catalysis of MF-Au and MGA towards the redox of methylene blue. A differential pulse voltammetric signal, best measured at − 0.32 V vs. Ag/AgCl, increases linearly with the carbendazim concentration ranging from 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁶ to 1.0 × 10⁻¹¹ M with a detection limit of 4.4 × 10⁻¹⁷ M. The method provides ultrahigh sensitivity and selectivity and was successfully applied to the electrochemical detection of carbendazim in cucumber.

Dual amplification in a fluorometric acetamiprid assay by using an aptamer, G-quadruplex/hemin DNAzyme, and graphene quantum dots functionalized with D-penicillamine and histidine

D-penicillamine and histidine-functionalized graphene quantum dot (DPA-GQD-His) was synthesized and applied in a fluorometric method for determination of acetamiprid using a G-quadruplex DNAzyme. At first DNA probe (probe 1) consists of a target-specific aptamer with two arms of DNA segments. Probe 1 was hybridized with DNA probe 2 composed of a single DNA sequence with two split G-rich DNA sequences. This leads to the formation of a triplex-to-G-quadruplex (TPGQ). Next, acetamiprid was hybridized with the aptamer in the TPGQ to release free DNA probe 2. The released probe 2, in the presence of of K⁺, undergoes a structural change into a stem-loop structure (by self-complementary hybridization and Hoogsteen hydrogen bonding) that bears a G-quadruplex structure. This is followed by conjugation with hemin to form the G-quadruplex/hemin DNAzyme. The DNAzyme catalyzes the oxidation of o-phenylenediamine by H₂O₂ to produce a yellow fluorescent product with excitation/emission maxima at 420/560 nm. The oxidation product interacts with DPA-GQD-His to achieve a rapid energy transfer between DPA-GQD-His and oxidation product. This increases the fluorescence of the oxidation product and quenches the fluorescence of DPA-GQD-His. DPA-GQD-His also improves the catalytic activity of DNAzyme towards oxidation of ophenylenediamine oxidization and enhances fluorometric response to acetamiprid. The assay works in the 1.0 fM to 1.0 nM acetamiprid concentration range and has a 0.38 fM detection limit. It was successfully applied to the determination of acetamiprid in tea. Graphical abstractThe study reported one double amplification strategy for ultrasensitive fluorescence detection of acetamiprid in tea with D-penicillamine and histidine-functionalized graphene quantum dots and G-quadruplex/heminDNAzyme. The analtyical method exhibits ultra high sensitivity, selectivity and rapidity of fluorescence response to acetamiprid.

Effects of nonlinear gradient terms on the defect turbulence regime in weakly dissipative systems

We investigate the behavior of traveling waves in a defect turbulence regime with the periodic boundary conditions by using the lowest-order complex Ginzburg-Landau equation (CGLE), and we show the effect of the nonlinear gradient terms in the system. It is found that the nonlinear gradient terms which appear at the same order as the quintic term can change the behavior of the wave patterns. The presence of the nonlinear gradient terms can cause major changes in the behavior of the solution. They can be considered like the stabilizing terms. The system which was initially unstable or chaotic can become stable by including the nonlinear gradient terms.

Time-delay autosynchronization control of defect turbulence in the cubic-quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation

We investigate the effectiveness of a Global time-delay autosynchronization control scheme aimed at stabilizing traveling wave solutions of the cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation in the Benjamin-Feir-Newell unstable regime. Numerical simulations show that a global control can be efficient and also can create other patterns such as spatiotemporal intermittency regimes, standing waves, or uniform oscillations.

Predicting protein solubility with a hybrid approach by pseudo amino acid composition

Protein solubility plays a major role for understanding the crystal growth and crystallization process of protein. How to predict the propensity of a protein to be soluble or to form inclusion body is a long but not fairly resolved problem. After choosing almost 10,000 protein sequences from NCBI database and eliminating the sequences with 90% homologous similarity by CD-HIT, 5692 sequences remained. By using Chou's pseudo amino acid composition features, we predict the soluble protein with the three methods: support vector machine (SVM), back propagation neural network (BP Neural Network) and hybrid method based on SVM and BP Neural Network, respectively. Each method is evaluated by re-substitution test and 10-fold cross-validation test. In the re-substitution test, the BP Neural Network performs with the best results, in which the accuracy achieves 0.9288 and Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) achieves 0.8513. Meanwhile, the other two methods are better than BP Neural Network in 10-fold cross-validation test. The hybrid method based on SVM and BP Neural Network is the best. The average accuracy is 0.8678 and average MCC is 0.7233. Although all of the three methods achieve considerable evaluations, the hybrid method is deemed to be the best, according to the performance comparison.

Cheddar

This paper describes an Ada framework called Cheddar which provides tools to check if a real time application meets its temporal constraints. The framework is based on the real time scheduling theory and is mostly written for educational purposes. With Cheddar, an application is defined by a set of processors, tasks, buffers, shared resources and messages. Cheddar provides feasibility tests in the cases of monoprocessor, multiprocessor and distributed systems. It also provides a flexible simulation engine which allows the designer to describe and run simulations of specific systems. The framework is open and has been designed to be easily connected to CASE tools such as editors, design tools, simulators, ...