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The use of biostimulants to enhance microbial activity has been extensively reported. However, their regulatory properties on the ecological security of in situ composting have not yet been fully elucidated. Here, the effects of two biostimulants (fermentation agent [FM] and fulvic acid [FA]) on in situ composting were investigated under field conditions. The abundances of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), as well as those of the microbial communities and the activities of enzymes, were comprehensively investigated. The addition of biostimulants significantly reduced the abundances of streptomycin and sulfonamide resistance genes by 79%–97% and decreased the abundance of Gammaproteobacteria. This was particularly true for species that are members of the Enterobacteriaceae and contain many ARGs. The addition of biostimulants promoted the succession of bacterial communities toward enhancing the solubility of phosphorus, promoting the degradation of aromatic compounds, and reducing the emissions of NO x gas. The application of FA and FM resulted in distinct bacterial network structures, and many negative correlations were associated with ARGs in the temperature subnetwork in the FM treatment. This study provides an effective strategy for the in situ treatment of agricultural waste and underscores the significance of biostimulants in improving the biological safety of medium-temperature in-situ composting. [Display omitted] • Biostimulants significantly optimizes in situ combined composting. • Biostimulations increased the available phosphorus content in the compost. • FM promoted the environmental safety of compost by reducing the abundance of ARGs. • FA resulted in bacterial network integration, and FM in network differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Guanidinium-pillar [5] arene (GP5) may bind proteins to form nanocomplexes. • GP5 facilitates binding of proteins and cellular surface. • GP5 efficiently delivers proteins of different isoelectric points intracellularly. • The bioactivity of intracellularly delivered proteins are well maintained. Guanidinium perfunctionalized pillar[5]arene (GP5) showed excellent potency of binding and delivering proteins of different isoelectric points and sizes into cells, and the bioactivities of the proteins were well maintained after intracellular delivery. The densely pre-organized guanidinium groups on the pillar[5]arene skeleton not only facilitate GP5 to bind proteins via multiple salt bridges, but also promote cellular uptake of GP5 @protein complexes. [Display omitted] Due to membrane impermeability of proteins, intracellular delivery of protein is of significant challenge. Although numerous protein carriers have been reported, it remains difficult to efficiently deliver proteins with different isoelectric points into cells. Herein, guanidinium perfunctionalized pillar[5]arene (GP5) was employed for efficient delivery of proteins with different isoelectric points into different cell lines, and the bioactivities of the proteins were well maintained after intracellular delivery. After comparison with linear cell-penetrating peptides, unsymmetrical guanidinium-macrocycles, primary and quaternary ammonium functionalized pillar[5]arene derivatives, and the monomer of GP5, the high protein delivery potency of GP5 was mainly attributed to the densely pre-organized guanidinium groups on both sides of the pillar[5]arene skeleton, which could not only facilitate GP5 to bind with proteins to form protein nano-aggregates, but also promote cellular uptake of proteins via interactions with cellular surface. This study offers important new insights to the design and development of cell-penetrating peptide mimetic molecules for protein transductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Piezoresistive pressure sensors based on SMART CUT® SOI wafer have been developed, which can be used in extreme high temperature environments. It has been demonstrated that the resistance value of a heavily doped thin film (∼0.34μm) resistor increases monotonically with temperature up to 600°C. This is much higher than the maximum temperature of 330°C normally shown in bulk silicon resistors. An analytical model is developed to explain how to extend the maximum operating temperature range based on doping effects and minority-carrier exclusion effects. Two types of packaging have been developed for different applications; one is for low pressure, high accuracy application, the other is for high pressure, high temperature application. The former is fully characterized across the range of 0.5–25psi and −55 to 300°C and the latter is calibrated across the range of 16–600psi and −55 to 500°C. A digitized curve fitting technique is used to calibrate the sensors by use of on-chip temperature signals. After curve fitting, the accuracy is <0.05% F.S. for the first type of the pressure sensor and <0.25% F.S. for the second type of the pressure sensor. A very low pressure hysteresis (<0.1% FS) at 500°C indicates that the single crystal silicon diaphragm is capable of operating at very high temperature without creep or plastic deformation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) is an ideal therapeutic modality with endogenous H 2 O 2 as stimulus. Most intracellular H 2 O 2 supplement strategies for improving CDT efficiency are strongly rely on oxygen participation, and the hypoxia tumor microenvironment impairs their performance. Here we develop a self-assembled metal-organic coordinated nanoparticle Cu–OCNP/Lap with NIR-II reinforced intracellular cyclic reaction to enhance CDT efficiency. Cu–OCNP/Lap is synthesized using Cu2+ as nodes and 1,4,5,8-tetrahydroxyanthraquinone (THQ) and banoxantrone dihydrochloride (AQ4N) as ligands, with β-lapachone (β-Lap) loading to conduct intracellular cyclic reaction. Cu–OCNP/Lap has good photothermal effect at NIR-II window, and the corresponding local temperature increase speeds blood flow and supplies sufficient oxygen at tumor site to reinforce β-Lap cyclic reaction with abundant H 2 O 2 generation. Cu+ is released from Cu–OCNP/Lap in response to glutathione (GSH) and triggers CDT. Sufficient intracellular H 2 O 2 supply enhances CDT effect and demonstrates good suppressions for tumor growth. This design offers a promising strategy to enhance CDT efficiency. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA interference (RNAi) therapy has become an appealing approach for cancer treatment, while the specificity and efficiency of controlled small interference RNA (siRNA) release remain challenging due to the heterogeneity of tumor environment. Herein, upconversion nano-onions (UCNOs) with stacked polymer coating layers are constructed to decompose sequentially in response to extracellular environment and NIR stimulation. The UCNOs (UCNPs-PEIRB-PEISeSe/siRNA-R8-HA) are composed of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) core functionalized with inner coating layer of photosensitizer rose bengal (RB) conjugated PEI 600, middle coating layer of singlet oxygen (1O 2) sensitive diselenide linked PEI 600 with therapeutic siRNA loading and cell-penetrating peptide R8 modification, and outer coating layer of negatively charged hyaluronic acid (HA). HA prevents siRNA leakage during delivery process and specifically targets tumor cells with overexpressed CD44 membrane receptors, and digested by cell secreted hyaluronidase (HAase). Upon the subsequent irradiation at 808 nm, UCNPs core generates emissions around 540 nm, which activate RB to boost ROS generation for complete PEI-SeSe decompose. The NIR boosted decompose of UCNOs induces a fast and efficient siRNA release, which effectively improves the gene silencing efficiency in vitro and suppresses tumor growth in vivo. The proposed sequentially responsive UCNOs have promising potential application in precision medicine. Upconversion nano-onions sequentially peeled in response to tumor microenvironment and NIR to boost intracellular ROS concentration for efficient siRNA release and therapy. Image 1 • Sequentially responsive UCNOs are proposed with stacked polymer coating layers for gene therapy. • Inner layer PEI-RB boosts ROS generation intracellularly in response to external NIR stimuli. • Middle layer PEI-SeSe completely decomposes in response to ROS for high efficient siRNA release. • Outer layer HA decomposes in tumor microenvironment to provide siRNA delivery specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Silicon quantum dots show excellent selectivity to hydroquinone. • A highly selective and sensitive fluorescent probe for hydroquinone was developed. • The fluorescent probe can eliminate the interference from catechol and resorcinol. • The electron transfer and inner filter effect led to the fluorescence quenching. Abstract Hydroquinone (HQ) is a major phenol compound pollutant derived from industrial wastewater. Its content in environmental water is closely related to the water quality. Thus, it is in great need to develop facile, sensitive and selective detection methods for HQ. In this paper, an effective and selective HQ detection probe was fabricated based on novel silicon quantum dots (SiQDs), which were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method. Such SiQDs exhibited good water solubility and intensely green fluorescence. Interestingly, their fluorescence can be significantly quenched upon addition of HQ, which is attributed to the electron transfer from SiQDs to the generated 1,4-benzoquinone, and the inner filter effect of SiQDs-1,4-benzoquinone complex. This SiQD probe can detect HQ in a wide concentration range from 6 to 100 μM, with a detection limit of 2.63 μM. More importantly, compared with other reported methods, this probe can eliminate the interference from catechol (CC) and resorcinol (RS), and gives new insight on the discrimination HQ from its isomers. Furthermore, this fluorescent probe was also successfully applied for the determination of HQ in real water samples with satisfactory recoveries, indicating the reliability and potential application of this fluorescent probe for monitoring HQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel, sensitive, and stable fluorescent sensor was developed for TET detection. • The synthesized MoS 2 NPs possessed superior solubility and strong blue fluorescence. • A low detection limit of 0.032 μM with good linear relationship was achieved. • This prominent technique could be applied in milk and bovine muscle samples. The wide use of tetracyclines (TCs) for prevention and therapy of animal diseases may result in excessive residues in animal products, which could pose serious risks to human health. A novel molybdenum disulfide nanoplates (MoS 2 NPs)-based fluorescent sensor for tetracycline (TET) is reported. The MoS 2 NPs, synthesized via a facile bottom-up hydrothermal route, showed blue fluorescence at 430 nm in aqueous solution. Interestingly, its fluorescence was quenched significantly upon addition of TET, which is mainly due to a combination of the inner filter effect and electron transfer. Thus, the MoS 2 NPs based fluorescence sensor was delineated for the detection of TET. The methodology here presented showed a low detection limit of 0.032 μM and satisfied recoveries from 88.46% to 108.62% in spiked milk, milk powder and bovine muscle samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]