ACS Publications最新文献

Herein, we report a fast (10 min) and simple surface treatment of pure carbon cloth (CC) only by an air plasma. The structural characterizations indicate that the air plasma process brings out higher rugosity, more defects, and increased oxygen-related groups on CC surfaces than Ar- or N₂-plasma, which can offer abundant capture sites, large electroactive area, and superhydrophilic interface for analytes. As a result, the air-treated CC (CC-P_Air) electrode achieves a pronounced improvement of electrocatalytic activity for the [Fe(CN)₆]^3-/[Fe(CN)₆]^4- probe evidenced by increased peak currents, decreased peak-to-peak separation, and the lowered resistance of charge transfer. It is also demonstrated that the self-supported CC-P_Air electrode possesses excellent sensing performance toward dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA). The feasibility of the simultaneous electrochemical detection of DA and UA can be verified by their large peak potential gap (∼112 mV) for differential pulse voltammetry. The chronoamperometric sensor yields wide linear ranges of 0.05-100 μM for DA and 0.5-300 μM for UA. The corresponding detection limits are estimated to be 2.6 and 20.4 nM for DA and UA, respectively. The sensor also displays satisfactory selectivity, stability, and reproducibility. Due to good flexibility, the CC-P_Air electrode presents great potential for manufacturing wearable and soft electronics for human health monitoring.

Ligustri Lucidi Fructus (LLF) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat hepatopathy and osteopathy. Wine-processed LLF (WLLF) was much more widely used than raw LLF (RLLF) in clinical practice, however, there is no consensus on processing time. To investigate the processing status of WLLF and transformation rules during processing, a UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS method combined with data-independent acquisition (DIA) mode was firstly established and 227 compounds were identified or tentatively identified. Subsequently, a novel strategy using integration weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) with LC-MS data was proposed. A total of 73 differential metabolites were screened out between RLLF and WLLF (wine steaming for 18 h). Meanwhile, the concentration of 11 differential compounds for WLLF was quantified. Finally, correlations between compounds were analyzed by WGCNA and the top five compounds negatively correlated with salidroside were validated, revealing that G13, specnuezhenide, oleuropein, acteoside, and neonuzhenide could be transformed into salidroside and its analogues during processing, respectively. The results indicated that our proposed strategy could be effectively employed to evaluate the processing status of TCMs.

Lipids contribute to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease but their roles are not fully understood. Spatial lipid composition of atherosclerotic plaques was compared between species focusing on aortic plaques from New Zealand White rabbits and carotid plaques from humans (n = 3), using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging. Histologically discriminant lipids within plaque features (neointima and media in rabbits, and lipid-necrotic core and fibrous cap/tissue in humans) included sphingomyelins, phosphatidylcholines, and cholesteryl esters. There were 67 differential lipids between rabbit plaque features and 199 differential lipids in human, each with variable importance in projection score ≥1.0 and p < 0.05. The lipid profile of plaques in the rabbit model closely mimicked that of human plaques and two key pathways (impact value ≥ 0.1), sphingolipid and glycerophospholipid metabolism, were disrupted by atherosclerosis in both species. Thus, mass spectrometry imaging of spatial biomarkers offers valuable insights into atherosclerosis.

In this work, a novel deep eutectic solvent (DES) composed of thymol and 1-(o Tolyl)thiourea 9/1 (mol) is presented for the first time. This DES has not been described in the literature. This DES was first used as a stationary phase in an extraction column integrated into a flow injection analysis system for the simultaneous determination of mercury and copper in edible oils. The automated approach involves passing an aqueous sample solution obtained after microwave mineralization through a microcolumn of DES retained on polytetrafluoroethylene. This leading to the extraction and concentration of the analytes. The metals are then eluted with an aqueous thiourea solution for subsequent analysis by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. The limits of detection (LODs) for mercury and copper were 3 μg L⁻¹ and 2.5 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The approach demonstrated high accuracy. Relative standard deviations (RSD) for repeatability and inter-day reproducibility ranged from 3 % to 11 %. Extraction recovery of both metals exceeded 95 %, indicating the high efficiency of the DES-based extraction process. Environmental assessment using the AGREEprep method yielded a favorable environmental index of 0.54, highlighting the robustness of the approach. This novel use of DES as a stationary phase in flow injection analysis system provides a robust, efficient and environmentally friendly approach to the determination of trace metals in edible oils. This method can also be applied to the analysis of other samples.

Illicit drugs are a global burden, not only for society, but also for the various control authorities for which its rapid on-site detection remains a challenge. In this context, the potential of a voltammetric electronic tongue (ET) for the analysis of different drugs is evaluated herein. Concretely, the discrimination and identification of cocaine, heroin, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methamphetamine and ketamine in self-prepared and real samples were attempted. For its analysis, an array of three carbon-based screen-printed electrodes (SPE) was prepared, and their responses towards the different drugs and some of the more common cutting agents and adulterants were assessed by means of square wave voltammetry (SWV). To this aim, a tiny amount (ca. 3 mg) of the drug powder was added to the electrochemical cell containing phosphate buffer (pH 12), shaken, and measured directly without any other pre-treatment than its dilution. Next, to identify their characteristic fingerprint, obtained voltammograms were submitted to linear discriminant analysis (LDA), which allowed to correctly identify the different drugs regardless of the presence of the different cutting agents and other possible interfering compounds, or their concentration. Satisfactory results were obtained both for the synthetic and the "street" seized samples, with a classification rate of 100 % for the external test subset of the latter (n = 10).

Objectives: Involuntary exit from the labor force can lead to poor health and well-being outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to better understand the factors that contribute to perceived retirement voluntariness. Methods: We conducted descriptive and multivariable logistic regression analyses using a sample of recent retirees (n = 2080) from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Results: More than one-quarter (28%) of older workers perceived their retirement to be involuntary. Among 37 possible predictors, 14 directly predicted retirement voluntariness and many more indirectly predicted retirement voluntariness. Only four direct predictors were common to both women and men, retiring because of organizational restructuring/job elimination; disability, health, or stress; financial possibility; and having wanted to stop working. Discussion: Findings suggest the need for employment support, health promotion, work disability prevention, financial education, and support that is sensitive to the differences between women and men to prevent involuntary retirement.

Objective: Apathy, a motivational disorder, is common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and often misdiagnosed as depression. Use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has been associated with increased apathy in adolescents and adults with depression. Based on observations that serotonin may downregulate dopaminergic systems, we examined the relationship between apathy and SSRI use in individuals with PD.

Methods: Medications, mood/motivation scales, and clinical data were collected from a convenience sample of 400 individuals with PD. Depression and apathy were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-Il) and the Apathy Scale (AS). Antidepressant medications were grouped by mechanism type.

Results: Of the 400 PD patients, 26% were on SSRIs. On standard mood/motivation scales, 38% of the sample exceeded clinical cut-offs for apathy and 28% for depression. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that SSRIs were the only antidepressant that were significantly associated with higher apathy scores (β = .1, P = .02). Less education (β = -.1, P = .01) worse cognition (β = -.1, P = .01), and greater depressive symptoms (β = .5, P < .001) were also significant predictors of apathy.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that use of SSRIs, but not other antidepressants, is associated with greater apathy in PD. Given the interactive relationship between serotonin and dopamine, the current findings highlight the importance of considering apathy when determining which antidepressants to prescribe to individuals with PD. Similarly, switching a SSRI for an alternative antidepressant in individuals with PD who are apathetic may be a potential treatment for apathy that needs further study.

Past research has shown the effectiveness of contingent acoustic feedback (CAF) in various human performance settings, but its impact on staff performance in clinical settings remains unclear. The current study replicated and extended Herron et al. (2018) by using vocal instructions and CAF to teach staff to use behavior-specific praise (BSP) to reinforce designated client behavior in a clinical setting. Results from a multiple-baseline-across-staff design revealed that this intervention increased the rate at which staff used BSP to reinforce designated client behavior. Paired sample t-tests showed a significant increase in the rate of BSP for each participant from baseline to the intervention phase, and participants maintained increased rates of BSP during probes conducted 1 to 3 weeks after the intervention was complete. Additionally, paired sample t-tests showed statistically significant increases in the rates of designated behavior for each client. Participants also rated the instructions and CAF procedure as more worthwhile, helpful, relevant, pleasant, and less disruptive than feedback methods typically used in their agency.