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While thrombosis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, an understanding of its triggers, progression, and response to anticoagulant therapy is lacking. Intravital fluorescence microscopy has advanced the study of thrombus formation by providing targeted, multi-color contrast. However, photodegradation of fluorophores limits the application in longitudinal studies (e.g., clot progression and/or dissolution). Fluorescent nanodiamond (FND) is a fluorophore which utilizes intrinsic fluorescence of chromogenic centers within and protected by the diamond crystalline lattice. Recent developments in diamond processing have allowed for the controlled production of nanodiamonds emitting in green or red. Here, the use of FND to label blood clots and/or clot lysis is demonstrated and compared to commonly used organic fluorophores. Model ex vivo clots were formed with incorporated labeled fibrinogen to allow imaging. FND was shown to match the morphology of organic fluorophore labels absent of photobleaching over time. The addition of tissue plasminogen activator (tPa) allowed visualization of the clot lysis stage, which is vital to studies of both DVT and pulmonary embolism resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Broom Creek Formation is a promising reservoir for CO 2 storage. • North Dakota has a favorable CO 2 management regulatory framework. • Project partners are supportive of carbon capture and storage in central North Dakota. The Energy & Environmental Research Center is investigating the feasibility of safely, permanently, and economically storing 50 million tonnes of CO 2 in central North Dakota, United States, over a 25-year operational period, should a business case for CO 2 storage emerge. The study is part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory CarbonSAFE initiative and addresses the technical and nontechnical challenges of commercially deploying a CO 2 storage project. Evaluation of cores from two stratigraphic test wells demonstrate that the Broom Creek Formation (sandstone) is an excellent candidate for the geologic storage of CO 2 and the overlying Opeche Formation a competent cap rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) cost $0.4–0.5 billion a year in the US and is the second most common disease affecting millions of people. As resistance to antibiotics becomes more common, a greater need for alternative treatments is needed. Nanodiamond particles (NDPs) are actively researched as drug delivery platforms due to their biocompatibility, particle size, and stable inert core. This research is aimed at developing NDPs as antibiotic drug delivery platforms for treating UTIs. To this end, 100 nm, 75 nm, 25 nm and 6 nm size NDPs are purified with acid and heat treatment techniques. Raman spectra of the NDPs showed that the acid treatment method resulted in higher diamond yield. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies showed that both purification techniques result in oxygen terminated surface groups. Efficiency of loading amoxicillin on 25 nm NDPs based on electrostatic interaction of NDPs, functionalizing surfaces of NDPs with hydrogen, and polyethylenimine (PEI) are investigated. It is found that the electrostatic and surface hydrogenation approaches are not efficient in loading amoxicillin on the NDPs. On the other hand, PEI functionalized NDPs produced successful loading with amoxicillin as indicated by the presence of the β-lactam peak at 1770 cm − 1 , amide peak at 1680 cm − 1 , and bond between PEI NH stretching and amoxicillin –COOH group at 3650 cm − 1 by the FTIR spectra. These results are expected to lay the foundation for developing NDP based targeted drug delivery treatment techniques for treating UTIs and other infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the study conducted on the importance of diamond nanowires to semiconductor industry in the U.S. Researchers found that such material is advantageous in sensing applications because of its advantages which include stability, capacity for facile tailoring of electronic properties. Based on the data evaluated, they concluded that the reduction-oxidation (redox) potentials and peak currents of the [Fe(CN)6]3-/[Fe(CN)6]4- couple, as measured by cyclic voltammetry, are highly sensitive to DNA hybridization in the environment and can reveal single-base mismatches in the incoming strands being detected, with a 2-pM sensitivity limit.