• Maloney Lynn posted an update 6 hours, 11 minutes ago

    Membranes modified with zwitterionic brushes show a high potential for application in RED as they not only delay the onset of fouling but they also slow down the growth of the fouling layer, thus retaining higher power density outputs.The serine hydrolase (SH) superfamily is, perhaps, one of the largest functional enzyme classes in all forms of life and consists of proteases, peptidases, lipases, and carboxylesterases as representative members. Consistent with the name of this superfamily, all members, without any exception to date, use a nucleophilic serine residue in the enzyme active site to perform hydrolytic-type reactions via a two-step ping-pong mechanism involving a covalent enzyme intermediate. Given the highly conserved catalytic mechanism, this superfamily has served as a classical prototype in the development of several platforms of chemical proteomics techniques, activity-based protein profiling (ABPP), to globally interrogate the functions of its different members in various native, yet complex, biological settings. While ABPP-based proteome-wide activity atlases for SH activities are available in numerous organisms, including humans, to the best of our knowledge, such an analysis for this superfamily is lacking in any insect model. To address this, we initially report a bioinformatics analysis toward the identification and categorization of nonredundant SHs in Drosophila melanogaster. Following up on this in silico analysis, leveraging discovery chemoproteomics, we identify and globally map the full complement of SH activities during various developmental stages and in different adult tissues of Drosophila. Finally, as a proof of concept of the utility of this activity atlas, we highlight sexual dimorphism in SH activities across different tissues in adult D. melanogaster, and we propose new research directions, resources, and tools that this study can provide to the fly community.Bacterial/fungal biofilm-mediated persistent endodontic infections (PEIs) are one of the most frequent clinical lesions in the oral cavity, resulting in apical periodontitis and tooth damage caused by loss of minerals. The conventional root canal disinfectants are poorly bio-safe and harmful to teeth and tissues, making them ineffective in treating PEIs. The development of nanomaterials is emerging as a promising strategy to eradicate disease-related bacteria/fungi. Herein, glucose oxidase (GOx)-modified magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized via a facile and versatile route for investigating their effects on removing PEI-related bacterial/fungal biofilms. It is found that GOx was successfully immobilized on the MNPs by detecting the changes in the diameter, chemical functional group, charge, and magnetic response. Further, we demonstrate that GOx-modified MNPs (GMNPs) exhibit highly effective antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans. Moreover, the antibacterial/fungal activity of GMNPs is greatly dependent on their concentrations. Importantly, when placed in contact with bacterial/fungal biofilms, the dense biofilm matrix is destructed due to the movement of GMNPs induced by the magnetic field, the formation of reactive oxygen species, and nutrient starvation induced by GOx. Also, the in vitro experiment shows that the as-prepared GMNPs have excellent cytocompatibility and blood compatibility. Thus, GMNPs offer a novel strategy to treat bacteria/fungi-associated PEIs for potential clinical applications.Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offer numerous advantages over silicon-based application in terms of atomically thin geometry, excellent opto-electrical properties, layer-number dependence, band gap variability, and lack of dangling bonds. The production of high-quality and large-scale TMD films is required with consideration of practical technology. However, the performance of scalable devices is affected by problems such as contamination and patterning arising from device processing; this is followed by an etching step, which normally damages the TMD film. Herein, we report the direct growth of MoSe2 films on selective pattern areas via a surface-mediated liquid-phase promoter using a solution-based approach. Our growth process utilizes the promoter on the selective pattern area by enhancing wettability, resulting in a highly uniform MoSe2 film. Moreover, our approach can produce other TMD films such as WSe2 films as well as control various pattern shapes, sizes, and large-scale areas, thus improving their applicability in various devices in the future. Our patterned MoSe2 field-effect transistor device exhibits a p-type dominant conduction behavior with a high on/off current ratio of ∼106. Thus, our study provides general guidance for direct selective pattern growth via a solution-based approach and the future design of integrated devices for a large-scale application.Cu2SnxGe1-xS3 (CTGS) particles were synthesized via a solid-state reaction and assessed, for the first time, as both photocatalysts and photocathode materials for hydrogen evolution from water. Variations in the crystal and electronic structure with the Sn/Ge ratio were examined experimentally and theoretically. selleck chemicals llc The incorporation of Ge was found to negatively shift the conduction band minimum, such that the bandgap energy could be tuned over the range 0.77-1.49 eV, and also increased the driving force for the photoexcited electrons involved in hydrogen evolution. The effects of the Sn/Ge ratio and of Cu deficiency on the photoelectrochemical performance of Cu2SnxGe1-xS3 and CuySn0.38Ge0.62S3 (1.86 less then y less then 2.1) based photocathodes were evaluated under simulated sunlight. Both variations in the band-edge position and the presence of a secondary impurity phase affected the performance, such that a particulate Cu1.9Sn0.38Ge0.62S3 photocathode was the highest performing specimen. This cathode gave a half-cell solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency of 0.56% at 0.18 V vs a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and an incident-photon-to-current conversion efficiency of 18% in response to 550 nm monochromatic light at 0 VRHE. More importantly, these CTGS particles also demonstrated significant photocatalytic activity during hydrogen evolution and were responsive to radiation up to 1500 nm, representing infrared light. The chemical stability, lack of toxicity, and high activity during hydrogen evolution of the present CTGS particles suggest that they may be potential alternatives to visible/infrared light responsive Cu-chalcogenide photocatalysts and photocathode materials such as Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 and Cu2ZnSnS4.