Thermal lamination and laser cut (TLLC) method for enclosed Micro-fluidic paper analytical devices (μPADs) by controlled ablation

Waste wood-derived dual Z-scheme WO3/ZnIn2S4/biochar heterojunctions design: Renewable biomass transition for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Monitoring photochemical reactions catalyzed by nano-titanium dioxide using electrospray laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry.

A high-order unconditionally stable two-step LCDI-FDTD method with complying divergence and its numerical study

Ureteral stents are among the most frequently used devices in urology, yet their high susceptibility to biofilm and encrustation continues to evade current surface-coating strategies. The development of emerging coatings faces significant challenges due to the complex physiological environment of the urinary tract, featuring high salinity, continuous shear stress, fluctuating pH, and microbial contamination. Here, we report an effective anti-fouling and anti-encrustation surface-engineering strategy by developing a coating from intrinsically disordered protein condensates of fused in sarcoma (FUS) protein (IDPFUS) and applying it to ureteral stents via a polydopamine-assisted two-step modified method. The IDPFUS-modified surface exhibited markedly enhanced hydrophilicity and demonstrated strong resistance to nonspecific protein adsorption, urinary tract infection-related bacteria adhesion, and ureteral epithelial cell attachment, significantly outperforming the benchmark polyethylene glycol (PEG) coating. In a rat model of infection-induced urolithiasis, the IDPFUS coating reduced stent encrustation by over 80% compared to clinical polyurethane and Percuflex™ stents, and markedly mitigated local tissue inflammation. Mechanistically, IDPFUS is thought to form a hydrating, densely entangled network through coacervation, which can help minimize surface contamination. This dynamic network could also inhibit stone nucleation near the stent surfaces by regulating local pH and ionic strength through charge neutralization and non-ionic interactions. These findings address the long-standing challenge of biofilm and encrustation on urinary implants by leveraging the integrated capabilities of IDPFUS condensate, including strong hydration, fouling resistance, and dynamic buffering, highlighting its translational potential for use in complex biofluids. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Ureteral stent encrustation remains a major clinical problem that is inadequately addressed by current hydrophilic coatings in the challenging urinary environment. This work introduces a bioinspired anti-encrustation coating made from intrinsically disordered proteins that forms highly hydrated, tightly tangled networks. Unlike conventional materials, this protein-based layer can spontaneously coacervate and locally regulate pH and ionic strength, preventing the initial attachment of proteins, bacteria and cells, while reducing stone formation. By demonstrating over 80% reduction of infection-induced encrustation compared with clinical stents, this study establishes intrinsically disordered proteins as a promising class of functional biomaterials with broad potential for improving urinary implants and other medical devices exposed to harsh biological environments.

KPF6-assisted two-step hybrid evaporation-solution method for large-area scalable and efficient perovskite solar cells

Fe3O4/ZnTCPP heterojunction for rapid treatment of bacteria-infected wounds.

Effects of implementing universal dysphagia screening at admission in a university hospital.

Zinc (Zn) is an attractive electrocatalyst for converting CO2 to carbon monoxide (CO) via the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR), but its application is limited by poor selectivity and stability. In contrast to conventional crystalline modifiers or bulk buffers, we report a bifunctional strategy using an amorphous phosphate layer to simultaneously enhance proton transfer and stabilize Zn active sites. Amorphous phosphate-modified zinc nanoflakes (Zn-HPO4 NF) were synthesized through a simple two-step method. At -1.3 V versus RHE, the Zn-HPO4 catalyst delivers a CO Faradaic efficiency (FECO) of 86.4%. The catalyst exhibits exceptional durability at -1.4V versus RHE, sustaining a stable current of ~17 mA over 20 h with an average FECO exceeding 80% and negligible current decay, significantly outperforming pure Zn. In situ spectroscopy and operando electrochemical impedance spectroscopy reveal that amorphous hydrogen phosphate (HPO4 2-) modification promotes the adsorption of key intermediates (*CO3 2- and *COOH), facilitates efficient proton transfer through the establishment of an ordered hydrogen-bonding network (consistent with the Grotthuss mechanism), and stabilizesZn active sites by acting as a buffer to regulate the local pH environment. These effects collectively enhance the stability and catalytic performance of the catalyst during CO2RR.

Developing highly efficient and durable bifunctional electrocatalysts for large-scale alkaline water and seawater electrolysis remains a major challenge. In this work, we synthesized core-shell Co9S8-MnO2@MoS2/NF with ternary heterojunction interfaces via a two-step hydrothermal method. This ternary structure modulates the electronic structure at the interface, improves the adsorption of HER/OER intermediates, and enhances overall catalytic activity and stability. The MoS2 overlayer acts as a protective and electronic-modulation layer. Consequently, the Co9S8-MnO2@MoS2/NF exhibits outstanding bifunctional performance in alkaline freshwater, simulated seawater, and natural seawater, requiring overpotentials of only 64/87/97 mV for HER and 181/191/215 mV for OER at 10 mA cm-2. In a two-electrode configuration, the symmetric electrolyzer achieves 10 mA cm-2 at cell voltages of 1.46/1.51/1.52 V in the three electrolytes, outperforming most reported electrocatalysts. Moreover, it maintains stable operation for 210 h under multicurrent step testing in natural seawater. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that the MoS2 incorporation increases the density of states near the Fermi level and upshifts the d-band center, which significantly optimizes the Gibbs free energy for hydrogen adsorption (ΔGH*) and reduces the energy barrier of the OER rate-determining step (ΔGRDS). This work demonstrates that heterojunction engineering and electronic modulation provide an effective strategy for designing high-performance, corrosion-resistant bifunctional electrocatalysts for practical water-splitting and seawater-splitting applications.

High-dimensional cytometry, such as mass cytometry (CyTOF), measures protein expression in single cells. When paired with AI-enhanced data analytics, it facilitates the discovery of immune biomarkers that can assist in diagnosing and treating immune-related diseases. However, fluctuating instrument readouts, known as batch effects, can obscure biological patterns. To enhance our previously reported EPIC immune atlas platform, we developed the ImmuneMapBuilder app to integrate, annotate, and cluster CyTOF data. To evaluate biological stratification and batch effects in clustering results, we created a two-step visualization method, called Group Similarity Analysis (GSA). First, multidimensional immune profiles are projected into two-dimensional embeddings to reveal similarities between samples. Second, silhouette analysis of embedding coordinates quantifies cohesion within technical and biological groups. We illustrate the scope and effectiveness of GSA using six batch normalization methods across three datasets, demonstrating that batch-effect correction enhances the separation of age groups and tissue types. The goals of batch normalization are increased biological and decreased technical GSA scores, both of which correlate with decreased Earth Mover's Distance (EMD), an alignment indicator of signal distributions. To dissect the contributions of individual marker misalignments to batch effects, we introduce a mix-and-match strategy that combines normalized and raw channels. GSA also helps to compare meta-clustering outputs. In a case study, we confirmed the significance of CD62L expression in T cells for age-based stratification. Overall, GSA is a versatile method to evaluate clustering results from cytometry data.

Electrocatalytic semi-hydrogenation (ECSH) of alkynes using water as a hydrogen source is expected to provide a revolutionary solution for upgrading the traditional hydrogenation process. An ingenious design of the electrocatalyst is required to break the tradeoff between activity, selectivity, and Faradaic efficiency (FE). Herein, a non-noble metal catalytic system, containing well-defined Ni-Fe atom pairs and Ni clusters on N-doped carbon, is constructed by a two-step annealing method for energy-efficient ECSH of alkynols. The optimized catalyst with collaborative Ni-Fe pairs and Ni clusters effectively suppresses hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) competition and C═C over-hydrogenation, and simultaneously accomplishes three critical objectives at ultra-low applied potential (-0.125V vs. RHE): nearly 100% conversion, 100% selectivity, and high FE of up to 98% (for 2 h). Joint experiments and theoretical calculations demonstrate that adjacent Ni-Fe pairs electronically tune the neighboring Ni clusters, and the resulting synergy enables complementary functions of the two sites: Ni-Fe pairs accelerate H2O dissociation, whereas Ni clusters regulate alkynol/alkenol adsorption for selective semi-hydrogenation. The excellent stability, wide substrate universality, ultrahigh TOF, and low energy consumption of this low-cost catalyst distinguish it from noble-metal-based systems with poor FE, offering a promising strategy for designing efficient polymorphic component catalysts.

PurposeImmunotherapy has attracted increasing attention in cancer treatment, but its efficacy is greatly limited due to the low immunogenicity of tumors and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). To address this, we constructed a biomimetic M1 macrophage membrane-Camouflaged nanoplatform (M1@CTP) for the co-delivery of the natural antitumor compound Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) and the immunogenic cell death (ICD) inducer Copper-diethyldithiocarbamate (CuET) to enhance antitumor immunity.MethodsCuET/Tan IIA/PLGA (CTP) nanoparticles were synthesized using a previously reported two-step emulsification method. Subsequently, these nanoparticles were then coated with induced M1 macrophage membranes to obtain M1@CTP. We systematically characterized their morphology, physicochemical properties, and environmental stability. In vitro studies assessed cytotoxicity, immune activation, and tumor-targeting capability. Subsequently, the antitumor efficacy and modulation of the TME were assessed in vivo. Finally, the biosafety of the nanoplatform was evaluated via histopathological and biochemical analyses.ResultsEndowed by M1 macrophage membran coating, M1@CTP enables immune evasion and tumor homing, thereby prolonging systemic circulation time and achieving efficient tumor accumulation. Our study demonstrates that M1@CTP synergistically induces potent ICD, promotes dendritic cell maturation, and remodels the TME, leading to the infiltration of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. This process effectively converts “cold” tumors into “hot” ones and elicits a robust systemic antitumor immune response with favorable safety profiles. In addition, M1@CTP significantly enhanced the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cold tumor models.ConclusionThis study provides an innovative and precise immunotherapy nanoplatform that coordinately modulates the TME and induces robust antitumor immunity, offering a promising strategy to overcome current limitations in immunotherapy.

Strong adhesion of polymer coatings to aluminium is essential for aerospace and marine applications, but conventional treatments use hazardous chemicals. This research investigates atmospheric pressure plasma treatment (APPT) using oxygen gas as an eco-friendly alternative for activating the surfaces of AA7075 aluminium alloy. This surface modifications contribute to enhanced coating adhesion, and greater corrosion resistance. APPT introduced polar groups (–OH, –COOH), increasing surface free energy from 43.5 ± 2.1 to 78.63 ± 1.6 mJ·m−2. In parallel, graphene oxide (GO) nanoflakes were synthesized via a simple two-step method and incorporated into an epoxy matrix to form a GO-reinforced epoxy composite coating. This composite was applied onto the plasma-activated aluminium surface to study the synergistic effects of plasma activation boosts substrate-epoxy interfacial polarity and covalent interactions. Adhesion tape tests demonstrated excellent adhesion performance, confirming the efficacy of APPT in improving coating adherence. APPT using O2 proves to be a highly effective and sustainable approach for enhancing aluminium surface properties, leading to improved durability of polymer coatings. Potentiodynamic polarization results revealed significantly enhanced corrosion resistance with (Ecorr) shifting from − 1.4 V to − 1.1 V after APPT. Coating applied on APPT specimens showed further improvement, with (icorr) decreasing from 6.3 × 10−6 to 1.2 × 10−7 A/cm2. Furthermore, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) data confirmed that the EP/GO coating on APPT specimens exhibited superior corrosion resistance relative to untreated samples, reinforcing the protective benefits of this treatment.

Towards a rapid diagnosis of highly decomposed bodies in PMCT: The QuickRAI.

Abstract This article explores thermophysical properties along with the tribological behavior of graphene oxide (GO) based nanofluids and evaluates their potential applications in solar thermal systems. The experiments were designed using the Taguchi method to optimize the performance parameters, respective models developed. GO nanofluids samples (S1, S2, S3, etc.) of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5% volume concentration ratios were prepared via two-step method. GO nanoparticles dispersed in the distilled water followed by magnetic stirring and sonication which ensured uniform dispersion of nanoparticles. The Raman spectroscopy analysis confirmed the good crystallography and structural properties of the GO nanoparticles. Zeta potential measurements indicated that the prepared GO nanofluids remained highly stable up to the 41st day, with some samples maintaining moderate to good stability even on the 95th day. The stability also confirmed after 155th day by UV- Vis spectroscopy, demonstrating the superior stability of GO-based nanofluids compared to other nanofluids. The thermal conductivity test results reported an enhancement in thermal conductivity from 5.35% to 39.11% with variation of nanoparticle concentration over a temperature range of 25 °C to 65 °C. Notably, nanoparticle concentration exhibited a stronger influence on thermal conductivity, particularly at lower temperature regimes. Rheological analysis revealed that the viscosity of GO nanofluids increased by 155.62% as the GO concentration roses from 0.1% to 0.5% at ambient temperature. Additionally, a slight reduction in specific heat capacity as increase in concentration ratio and a marginal increase in density were observed compared to the base fluid. Based on experimental studies regression model developed. ANOVA confirms that confidence level higher than 95% satisfy, with larger F value and P < 0.001, MSE < 5% and noted that the regression models are robust, reliable, and suitable for prediction and inference.

Developing efficient and stable catalysts remains a significant challenge for the degradation of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs). In this work, a novel one-pot method was developed to synthesize the HZSM5@Co series of catalysts, aiming to combine the high redox properties of Co3O4 derived from zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) with the excellent acidity of HZSM-5 to achieve enhanced activity and stability for dichloromethane degradation. The optimized 0.5HZSM5@Co-N500A350 catalyst, synthesized via a two-step pyrolysis method using N2 and air, exhibited excellent catalytic activity, low CH3Cl selectivity, and outstanding stability. Characterization results revealed that this superior performance stems from a dual synergistic effect: the ZIF-67 pyrolysis strategy inhibits the coverage of acidic sites in HZSM-5 by Co3O4, thus preserving more active acid centers. Concurrently, the two-step pyrolysis yields highly dispersed Co3O4 nanoparticles with smaller particle sizes and more abundant oxygen vacancy defects, which significantly boosts the redox capacity. This study provides valuable insights into the design of efficient, environmentally friendly catalysts for removing CVOCs.

Exploring the influence of multiple metal ions in electrochemistry of nanostructured Cu6MoSnS8/Cu2S and rust-derived Fe2O3/Fe3O4 electrodes for asymmetric supercapacitors and oxygen evolution reaction.

The two-step sequential deposition method for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is often limited by the dense PbI2 film morphology, leading to incomplete conversion, residual PbI2, and high defect density. This review consolidates research showing that engineering a porous PbI2 architecture is a universal and transformative solution. We categorize the key strategies: (1) Solvent Engineering: Using solvent extraction, vapor treatment, or anti-solvent methods to create rapid nanoporosity; (2) Molecular Additives: Lewis bases or volatile amines that coordinate with Pb2+, disrupting crystallization and forming porous scaffolds; (3) Ionic Liquids and Salts: Multi-functional agents templating porosity while passivating defects and boosting stability; (4) Sacrificial Agents and Frameworks: Pore-forming compounds or MOFs/COFs that provide predefined porous structures; (5) Interfacial Engineering: Substrate modifications or low-dimensional seeds guiding favorable PbI2 porosity. A porous PbI2 scaffold enhances organic salt diffusion, ensuring complete conversion to high-quality perovskite films with larger grains, improved crystallinity, and lower trap densities. This consistently yields PSCs with efficiencies >25%-26% and outstanding stability, often retaining >90% performance after thousands of hours. Controlling PbI2 morphology thus offers a scalable route to enhance perovskite photovoltaic performance and commercial viability.

The device performance of efficient regular n-i-p perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is closely related to the SnO2/perovskite buried interface, yet the buried interface often suffers from defects that cause interfacial recombination and hinder charge extraction. Here, we first introduced l-α-glycerophosphocholine (GPC), a "Super-Choline" molecule, as a bifunctional modifier at the SnO2/perovskite interface. The glycerol group of GPC passivates oxygen vacancies on SnO2, while the phosphocholine moiety coordinates with Pb2+ and I- defects, forming a molecular bridge that suppresses recombination and enhances charge transport. Moreover, we also used 4-tert-butylpyridine as an additive in perovskite precursor to reduce PbI2 secondary phase and improve crystallinity. As a result, the optimized PSCs exhibited a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.31% and an impressive open-circuit voltage of 1.213 V, which is one of the smallest "Voc loss" values (0.347 V) for the hybrid PSCs using a two-step method. Furthermore, the unencapsulated devices maintain 83% of their original PCE after being aged in N2 for 1300 h. This work highlights GPC's "Super-Choline" functionality as an effective approach for buried interface engineering toward high-performance PSCs.