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Dermatology 2021 May 4:1-11. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Dermatology, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been shown to provide non-invasive diagnosis of common skin neoplasms, especially basal cell carcinoma. OCT produces a cross-sectional view of the tissue, similar to a traditionally sectioned histopathological view, but the resolution of conventional OCT is low and thus limits clinical application.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the application ability of a full-field (FF)OCT system which was newly developed to scan the skin at the cellular level. Read More

J Phys Condens Matter 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, 202 Nicholson Hall, Tower Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4001, USA, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803-2804, UNITED STATES.

Dislocations often occur in thin films with large misfit strain as a result of strain energy accumulation and can drastically change the film properties. Here the structure and dislocations in oxide heterostructures with large misfit strain are investigated on atomic scale. When grown on SrTiO3 (001), the dislocations in both the monolithic BaTiO3 thin film and its superlattices with SrIrO3 appear above a critical thickness around 6 nm. Read More

J Phys Condens Matter 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakechom Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502 , JAPAN.

Unconventional superconductivity and magnetism are intertwined on a microscopic level in a wide class of materials, including high-cuprates, iron pnictides, and heavy-fermion compounds. Interactions between superconducting electrons and bosonic fluctuations at the interface between adjacent layers in heterostructures provide a new approach to this most fundamental and hotly debated subject. We have been able to use a recent state-of-the-art molecular-beam-epitaxy technique to fabricate superlattices consisting of different heavy-fermion compounds with atomic thickness. Read More

J Neural Eng 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University School of Electrical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, CHINA.

Objective: Task-related component analysis (TRCA) is a representative subject-specific training algorithm in steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Task-related components (TRCs), extracted by the TRCA-based spatial filtering from EEG signals through maximizing the reproducibility across trials, may contain some task-related inherent noise that is still trial-reproducible.

Approach: To address this problem, this study proposed a similarity-constrained TRCA (scTRCA) algorithm to remove the task-related noise and extract TRCs maximally correlated with SSVEPs for enhancing SSVEP detection. Read More

J Photochem Photobiol B 2021 Apr 27;219:112202. Epub 2021 Apr 27.

Department of Chemistry, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan.

This article reports the synthesis of a novel ternary Visible-Light-Driven (VLD) photocatalyst and antibacterial agent. The two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (g-CN NSs) and 7% molybdenum doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (Mo doped ZnO NPs) were used for the synthesis of the 65% g-CN hybridized with 7% Mo doped ZnO novel ternary nanocomposite (Mo doped ZnO/g-CN ternary NC). The synthesis process, as well as the structures, morphologies, photocatalytic and antibacterial properties of the synthesized ternary NC and constituents, were investigated by using several spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2021 Apr 21;599:291-299. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

Laboratory of Polymer Materials and Engineering, NingboTech University, No.1 Qianhu South Road, Ningbo 315100, China. Electronic address:

With using Sn as tin source, l-cysteine as sulphur source and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP, M = 1300000) as surfactant, a novel three-dimensional and crescent-like SnS nanocrystal (NCs) was successfully synthesized in a one-pot hydrothermal method. The as-prepared SnS NCs displayed uniform crescent-like morphological structure, and demonstrated excellent efficiency for the adsorption of cationic dyes such as rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB). Kinetic analysis indicated that the adsorption process followed the pseudo second-order model, and the maximum capacity of the SnS NCs to adsorb MB was determined by Langmuir equation to be 252 mg⋅g at 298 K. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2021 Apr 21;599:280-290. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

School of Applied Physics and Materials, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China; Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, China. Electronic address:

Electrospinning is an effective technique to fabricate one-dimensional materials. In this study, cobalt-embedded carbon nanofibers (Co@CNFs) are obtained via carbonization of electrospun cobalt Prussian blue analogue (Co-Co PBA) under nitrogen atmosphere. The Co@CNFs have metallic cobalt surrounded by graphitic carbon shells and possess high specific surface area, rich porosity, high graphitic degree, and rational nitrogen doping. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2021 Apr 16;599:271-279. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Key Laboratory for Biobased Materials and Energy of Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Optical Agriculture, College of Materials and Energy, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address:

Metal compounds (e.g., metal phosphides/sulfides/selenides) coupled with carbon materials have recently drawn great attraction for boosting the electrochemical performances because of their appealing synergistic effect and valuable structural stability. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2021 Apr 24;599:262-270. Epub 2021 Apr 24.

School of Civil Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, People's Republic of China.

Herein, coralloid core-shell structure NiS/NiS@PPy@MoS nanowires were elaborately designed and successfully synthesized through a three-step route to obtain exceptional microwave absorption (MA) properties. Ni nanowires were first fabricated, and then used as the substrate to be coated with a layer of PPy. Ni chalcogenides were obtained by using Ni nanowire as sacrificial templates while growing MoS nanorods by hydrothermal method. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2021 Apr 14;599:255-261. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Electronic address:

We propose a set of simple formulae for interpreting "mercury cyclic porosimetry" measurements where multiple intrusion-extrusion cycles are carried out. By employing two parameters α∈[0,1] and κ∈[0,1], our theory quantitatively breaks down any hysteresis observed in cyclic porosimetry data into contributions due to connectivity effects and contact-angle hysteresis, respectively. In particular, the parameter α, called "pore-space accessivity", characterizes any serial connectivity between different-size pores. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2021 Apr 17;599:245-254. Epub 2021 Apr 17.

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China.

Photo-chemical conversion of CO into solar fuels by photocatalysts is a promising and sustainable strategy in response to the ever-increasing environmental problems and imminent energy crisis. However, it is unavoidably impeded by the insufficient active site, undesirable inert charge transfer and fast recombination of photogenerated charge carriers on semiconductor photocatalysts. In this work, all these challenges are overcome by construction of a novel defect-engineered Z-scheme hybrid photocatalyst, which is comprised of three-dimensional (3D) BiOBr nanoflowers assembled by nanosheets with abundant oxygen vacancies (BiOBr-V) and two-dimensional (2D) HNbO nanosheets (HNbO NS). Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2021 Apr 20;599:227-244. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Sohag University, 82524 Sohag, Egypt. Electronic address:

The current study provides a novel insight into the role of synergism of the changes in Mg/ Al in the best catalytic activity of indol-3-yl derivatives. A series of Co-Mg-Al layered triple hydroxides (LTHs) catalysts were produced by altering the Al/Mg ratio with respect to Co. The physicochemical properties of LTHs were well characterized by ICP-AES, XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM, BET, Zeta-sizer, and VSM. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2021 Apr 20;599:219-226. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

College of Geography and Environmental Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China. Electronic address:

Stable and recyclable catalysts are crucial to the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) based advanced oxidation process (AOPs) for wastewater treatment. Herein, nitrogen-rich carbon wrapped FeC (FeC@CN) on carbon felt (CF) substrate was synthesized by using Prussian blue (PB) loaded CF as the precursors. The obtained FeC@CN/CF catalyst was applied for degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) via the heterogeneous catalytic activation of PMS. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2021 Apr 17;599:198-206. Epub 2021 Apr 17.

São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, São Carlos 13560-970, Brazil. Electronic address:

Synthetic biology pursues the understanding of biological processes and their possible mimicry with artificial bioinspired materials. A number of materials have already been used to mimic the active site of simple redox proteins, including nanosized iron oxides due to their redox properties. However, the mimicry of membrane redox protein complexes is still a challenge. Read More

Ergonomics 2021 May 4:1-39. Epub 2021 May 4.

Engineering Design, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.

Gathering information for an early, proactive integration of ergonomic user requirements is challenging due to the unstructured character of available knowledge. Knowledge acquisition and processing is therefore costly and time-consuming. This contribution presents and evaluates InProCo, an approach for structured ergonomic guidance that aims to improve accessibility and clarity of ergonomic requirements in early design phases by providing interaction-based ergonomic properties. Read More

J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7908, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7908, United States.

Light-duty gasoline vehicle (LDGV) tailpipe emission rates can be quantified based on pollutant concentrations measured using portable emission measurement systems (PEMS). Emission rates depend on exhaust flow. For simplified and micro-PEMS, exhaust flow is inferred from engine mass air flow (MAF) and air-to-fuel ratio. Read More

J Med Chem 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Instituto de Química Médica (IQM-CSIC), c/ Juan de la Cierva 3, E-28006 Madrid, Spain.

Inhibition of trypanothione disulfide reductase (TryR) by disruption of its homodimeric interface has proved to be an alternative and unexploited strategy in the search for novel antileishmanial agents. Proof of concept was first obtained by peptides and peptidomimetics. Building on previously reported dimerization disruptors containing an imidazole-phenyl-thiazole scaffold, we now report a new 1,2,3-triazole-based chemotype that yields noncompetitive, slow-binding inhibitors of TryR. Read More

Inorg Chem 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea.

Metal-air batteries will serve as renewable and ecofriendly energy-storage systems in the future because of their high theoretical energy-density performance and unlimited resources, using oxygen as fuel materials compared with commercial lithium-ion batteries. However, the unsuitable inactive reactions at the air-electrode interface (the oxygen reduction reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction) in the metal-air battery are major challenges. In this study, we report nitrogen (N)-doped iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) bimetallic catalysts with a hollow structure (Fe-Ni nanocage) as outstanding bifunctional catalysts, which have not been reported previously. Read More

J Am Chem Soc 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan.

Prior to the practical application of rechargeable aprotic Li-O batteries, the high charging overpotentials of these devices (which inevitably cause irreversible parasitic reactions) must be addressed. The use of redox mediators (RMs) that oxidatively decompose the discharge product, LiO, is one promising solution to this problem. However, the mitigating effect of RMs is currently insufficient, and so it would be beneficial to clarify the LiO reductive growth and oxidative decomposition mechanisms. Read More

Chem Res Toxicol 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Chemistry Department, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon.

In late 2019, hundreds of users of electronic products that aerosolize a liquid for inhalation were hospitalized with a variety of respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms. While some investigations have attributed the disease to the presence of vitamin E acetate in liquids that also contained tetrahydrocannabinol, some evidence suggests that chronic inhalation of two common solvents used in electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG), can interfere with the lipid components of pulmonary surfactant and cause or exacerbate pulmonary injury. The interaction between PG, VG, and lung surfactant is not yet understood. Read More

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Department, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.

Laser additive manufacturing has led to a paradigm shift in the design of next-generation customized porous implants aiming to integrate better with the surrounding bone. However, conflicting design criteria have limited the development of fully functional porous implants; increasing porosity improves body fluid/cell-laden prepolymer permeability at the expense of compromising mechanical stability. Here, functionally gradient porosity implants and scaffolds designed based on interconnected triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) are demonstrated. Read More

Psychophysiology 2021 May 4:e13832. Epub 2021 May 4.

Institute of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.

While decades of research have investigated and technically improved brain-computer interface (BCI)-controlled applications, relatively little is known about the psychological aspects of brain-computer interfacing. In 35 healthy students, we investigated whether extrinsic motivation manipulated via monetary reward and emotional state manipulated via video and music would influence behavioral and psychophysiological measures of performance with a sensorimotor rhythm (SMR)-based BCI. We found increased task-related brain activity in extrinsically motivated (rewarded) as compared with nonmotivated participants but no clear effect of emotional state manipulation. Read More

Med Biol Eng Comput 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

The Machine Intelligence Research Group (MInG), Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi, Pakistan.

Electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain computer interface (BCI) enables people to interact directly with computing devices through their brain signals. A BCI typically interprets EEG signals to reflect the user's intent or other mental activity. Motor imagery (MI) is a commonly used technique in BCIs where a user is asked to imagine moving certain part of the body such as a hand or a foot. Read More

Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, 110029, India.

Emerg Microbes Infect 2021 May 4:1-48. Epub 2021 May 4.

Bioland Laboratory, Guangdong Laboratory of Computational Biomedicine, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) encoded by IGHV3-53 (VH3-53) targeting the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) have been isolated from different COVID-19 patients. However, the existence and prevalence of shared VH3-53-encoded antibodies in the antibody repertoires is not clear. Using antibody repertoire sequencing, we found that the usage of VH3-53 increased after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Read More

Environ Technol 2021 May 4:1-31. Epub 2021 May 4.

School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China.

In this study, red mud (RM) was modified with titanate coupling agent (Triisostearoyl isopropoxy titanate, KR-TTS), and then the modified RM was melted blending with high density polyethylene (HDPE) to prepare HDPE-based composite. The action mechanism of KR-TTS on the properties of HDPE composites was analyzed combining with the movement mode of polyethylene macromolecular chain segments. The entanglement and mechanical interlocking of long alkyl chains of titanate coupling agent and the polyethylene molecular chains occurs in modified RM/HDPE composite, reflected by fracture morphology within tension process. Read More

J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 2021 May 4:1-8. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Medicine Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.

Objective: To investigate the expression and sources of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein in the maternal-fetal interface of patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA), and further to verify the role of HMGB1 in the etiology of URSA.

Methods: 55 women at early pregnancy with URSA and 55 women undergoing selective termination of normal early pregnancy as control were included. The abortion tissues including villi and decidua were collected. Read More

Langmuir 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, United States.

The relationship between the interfacial rheology of nanoparticle (NP) laden air-brine interfaces and NP adsorption and interparticle interactions is not well understood, particularly as a function of the surface chemistry and salinity. Herein, a nonionic ether diol on the surface of silica NPs provides steric stabilization in bulk brine and at the air-brine interface, whereas a second smaller underlying hydrophobic ligand raises the hydrophobicity to promote NP adsorption. The level of NPs adsorption at steady state is sufficient to produce an interface with a relatively strong elastic dilational modulus ' = dγ/d ln . Read More

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Chemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan.

Heterojunction catalysts have drawn increasing interest for the visible light-driven Fenton reaction and bring tremendous opportunities for environmental remediation. Herein, a BiOI/MIL-53(Fe) Z-scheme heterojunction (named BMFe) was synthesized for the first time via a facile strategy. Compared with pristine BiOI and MIL-53(Fe) catalysts, the two-dimensional/three-dimensional (2D/3D) heterojunction catalyst manifested remarkable catalytic performance toward degradation of phenol, bisphenol A, methylene blue, and carbamazepine, which is attributed mainly to the interfacial integration and efficient charge separation. Read More

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Materials, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China.

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) as artificial synaptic devices are promising candidates for the building block of nonvolatile data storage devices. However, a small ON/OFF ratio of FTJs limits their application in low-temperature operations. In this work, the influence of quantum interference effects on tunneling electroresistance in the LaSrMnO/BaTiO/Nb:SrTiO (ferromagnetic metal/ferroelectric/semiconductor) FTJ at low temperatures is investigated. Read More