Challenges remain in precisely diagnosing the progress of liver fibrosis in a noninvasive way. We here synthesized small (4 nm) heterogeneous iron oxide/dysprosium oxide nanoparticles (IO-DyO NPs) as a contrast agent (CA) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to precisely diagnose liver fibrosis in vivo at both 7.0 and 9.4 T field strength. Our IO-DyO NPs can target the liver and show an increased T2 relaxivity along with an increase of magnetic field strength. At a ultrahigh magnetic field, IO-DyO NPs can significantly improve spatial/temporal image resolution and signal-to-noise ratio of the liver and precisely distinguish the early and moderate liver fibrosis stages. Our IO-DyO NP-based MRI diagnosis can exactly match biopsy (a gold standard for liver fibrosis diagnosis in the clinic) but avoid the invasiveness of biopsy. Moreover, our IO-DyO NPs show satisfactory biosafety in vitro and in vivo. This work illustrates an advanced T2 CA used in ultrahigh-field MRI (UHFMRI) for the precise diagnosis of liver fibrosis via a noninvasive means.The combination of photothermal therapy and chemical drug therapy shows good prospects in cancer treatment, but there are also some limitations such as low permeability of therapeutic agents and uneven photothermal therapy. Here, we synthesized a walnut-shaped polydopamine (PDA) nanomotor driven by near infrared (NIR) light. The nanomotor was modified by methoxy polyethylene glycol amine (mPEG-NH2) for improving water solubility. PDA-PEG loaded adriamycin through π-π accumulation and hydrogen bonding. The experimental results showed that the PDA nanomotors had good biocompatibility and photothermal effect. Further, the NIR light irradiation and tumor cell microenvironment are conducive to drug release. In addition, under the irradiation of an NIR laser, the asymmetry of walnut-shaped nanoparticles makes the particles obtain the ability of autonomous movement, which can improve the permeability of particles in 3D tumor balls, which can provide support for drug penetration and heat dispersion. This strategy offers potential innovative materials for photothermal/chemotherapy synergistic therapy of tumors.Magnesium ion batteries have potential for large-scale energy storage. However, the high charge density of Mg2+ ions establishes a strong intercalation energy barrier in host materials, causing sluggish diffusion kinetics and structural degradation. Here, we report that the kinetic and dissolution issues connected to cathode materials can be resolved simultaneously using a tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME)-water hybrid electrolyte. The lubricating and shielding effect of water solvent could boost the swift transport of Mg2+, contributing to a high diffusion coefficient within the sodium vanadate (NaV8O20·nH2O) cathode. Meanwhile, the organic TEGDME component can coordinate with water to diminish its activity, thus providing the hybrid electrolyte with a broad electrochemical window of 3.9 V. More importantly, the TEGDME preferentially amassed at the interface, leading to a robust cathode electrolyte interface layer that suppresses the dissolution of vanadium species. Consequently, the NaV8O20·nH2O cathode achieved a specific capacity of 351 mAh g-1 at 0.3 A g-1 and a long cycle life of 1000 cycles in this hybrid electrolyte. A mechanism study revealed the reversible interaction of Mg2+ during cycles. This organic water hybrid electrolyte is effective for overcoming the difficulty of multivalent ion storage.Plasmon rulers relate the shift of resonance wavelength, λl, of gold agglomerates to the average distance, s, between their constituent nanoparticles. These rulers are essential for monitoring the dynamics of biomolecules (e.g., proteins and DNA) by determining their small ( less then 10 nm) coating thickness. However, existing rulers for dimers and chains estimate coating thicknesses smaller than 10 nm with rather large errors (more than 200%). Here, the light extinction of dimers, 7- and 15-mers of gold nanoparticles with diameter dp = 20-80 nm and s = 1-50 nm is simulated. Such agglomerates shift λl up to 680 nm due to plasmonic coupling, in excellent agreement with experimental data by microscopy, dynamic light scattering, analytical centrifugation, and UV-visible spectroscopy. Subsequently, a new plasmon ruler is derived for gold nanoagglomerates that enables the accurate determination of sub-10 nm coating thicknesses, in excellent agreement also with tedious microscopy measurements.High-resolution scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM), synchronously visualizing the topography and electrochemical activity, could be used to directly correlate the structure and activity of materials nanoscopically. However, its topographical measurement is largely restricted by the size and stability of the meniscus droplet formed at the end of the nanopipette. In this paper, we report a scheme that could reliably gain several tens nanometer resolution (≥65 nm) of SECCM using homemade ∼50 nm inner diameter probes. Furthermore, the topography and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of ∼45 nm self-assembled Au nanoparticles monolayer were simultaneously recorded successfully. This scheme could make mapping of both topologic and chemical properties of samples in the nanometer regime with SECCM routinely, which potentially can largely expand the field of SECCM applications.Combination therapies have emerged to mitigate Plasmodium drug resistance, which has hampered the fight against malaria. M5717 is a potent multistage antiplasmodial drug under clinical development, which inhibits parasite protein synthesis. The combination of M5717 with pyronaridine, an inhibitor of hemozoin formation, displays potent activity against blood stage Plasmodium infection. However, the impact of this therapy on liver infection by Plasmodium remains unknown. Here, we employed a recently described 3D culture-based hepatic infection platform to evaluate the activity of the M5717-pyronaridine combination against hepatic infection by P. berghei. This effect was further confirmed in vivo by employing the C57BL/6J rodent Plasmodium infection model. Collectively, our data demonstrate that pyronaridine potentiates the activity of M5717 against P. berghei hepatic development. These preclinical results contribute to the validation of pyronaridine as a suitable partner drug for M5717, supporting the clinical evaluation of this novel antiplasmodial combination therapy.The Vienna Peedee Belemnite (VPDB) isotope reference defines the zero point of the carbon stable isotope scale that is used to describe the relative abundance of 13C and 12C. An accurate and precise characterization of this isotope reference is valuable for interlaboratory comparisons and conducting robust carbon stable isotope analyses in a vast array of fields, such as chemical forensics, (bio)geochemistry, ecology, or (astro)biology. Here, we report an absolute 13C/12C ratio for VPDB that has been obtained, for the first time, using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR). Four different NMR instruments were used to determine 13C/12C ratios in a set of glycine reference materials from the US Geological Survey (USGS64, USGS65, and USGS66) and a set of formate samples that were characterized by isotope ratios mass spectrometry (IRMS). Intercalibration of the NMR-derived 13C/12C ratios with relative abundance (δ13CVPDB) measurements from IRMS yields a value of 0.011100 for the absolute 13C/12C ratio in VPDB, with an expanded uncertainty of ±0.000026 (2σ, n = 114). This is significantly different from the value of 0.011180 that is commonly used but falls within the range of values recently revised using IRMS and infrared absorption measurements. 1H NMR was found to be an effective method for measuring absolute 13C/12C ratios due to its ability to simultaneously detect signals associated with 12C and 13C. Results provide a new and independent measure of the carbon isotope composition of VPDB, improving our understanding of this important isotope reference.With the ability to design their sequences and structures, peptides can be engineered to realize a wide variety of functionalities and structures. Herein, computational design was used to identify a set of 17 peptides having a wide range of putative charge states but the same tetrameric coiled-coil bundle structure. Calculations were performed to identify suitable locations for ionizable residues (D, E, K, and R) at the bundle's exterior sites, while interior hydrophobic interactions were retained. The designed bundle structures spanned putative charge states of -32 to +32 in units of electron charge. The peptides were experimentally investigated using spectroscopic and scattering techniques. Thermal stabilities of the bundles were investigated using circular dichroism. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/i-bet151-gsk1210151a.html Molecular dynamics simulations assessed structural fluctuations within the bundles. The cylindrical peptide bundles, 4 nm long by 2 nm in diameter, were covalently linked to form rigid, micron-scale polymers and characterized using transmission electron microscopy. The designed suite of sequences provides a set of readily realized nanometer-scale structures of tunable charge that can also be polymerized to yield rigid-rod polyelectrolytes.The enhanced interest in quantum-related phenomena has provided new opportunities for chemists to push the limits of detection and analysis of chemical processes. As some have called this the second quantum revolution, a time has come to apply the rules learned from previous research in quantum phenomena toward new methods and technologies important to chemists. While there has been great interest recently in quantum information science (QIS), the quest to understand how nonclassical states of light interact with matter has been ongoing for more than two decades. Our entry into this field started around this time with the use of materials to produce nonclassical states of light. Here, the process of multiphoton absorption led to photon-number squeezed states of light, where the photon statistics are sub-Poissonian. In addition to the great interest in generating squeezed states of light, there was also interest in the formation of entangled states of light. While much of the effort is still in foundational phthe presence of a resonant organic sample placed in one arm of the interferometer. In addition, parameters such as the dephasing time have been obtained with the opportunity for even more advanced phenomenology in the future.Electronic skin (E-skin) is a crucial seamless human-machine interface (HMI), holding promise in healthcare monitoring and personal electronics. Liquid metal (LM) has been recognized as an ideal electrode material to fabricate E-skins. However, conventional sealed LM electrodes cannot expose the LM layer for direct contact with the skin resulting in the low performance of electrophysiological monitoring. Furthermore, traditional printed LM electrodes are difficult to transfer or recycle, and fractures easily occur under stretching of the substrate. Here, we report a kind of LM electrode that we call a kirigami-structured LM paper (KLP), which is self-supporting, conductor-exposing, stretchable, ultrathin, and recyclable for multifunctional E-skin. The KLP is fabricated by the kirigami paper cutting art with three types of structures including uniaxial, biaxial, and square spiral. The KLP can act as an E-skin to acquire high-quality electrophysiological signals, such as electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and electromyogram (EMG).