Graphical abstract  In this work, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes bearing Brönsted acid sites and Lewis acid sites were successfully synthesized and applied for “one-pot” synthesis of 2,5-diformylfuran from glucose.     Nguyen T.H.; Nguyen D.A.L.; Mai D.Q.; Le M.N.T.; Le D.D.; Phan H.B.; Tran P.H., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jechem.2024.11.074

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal cancer. Paclitaxel (PTX), typically administered intravenously (IV) as chemotherapy, shows promise for triggering immunogenic cell death (ICD) and may serve as a potential immunotherapy. This study introduces an oral PTX delivery method using an enteric-coated gelatin capsule containing capric acid oil and an effervescent agent, optionally with decylamine-conjugated β-glucans (DA-βGlus). Upon dissolving in the small intestine, the capsule undergoes an effervescence reaction that produces emulsified oil droplets (ODs) by bile salts, forming either Bared/ODs/PTX or DA-βGlus/ODs/PTX, with the latter featuring surface-attached DA-βGlus. The study evaluates the oral absorption, pharmacokinetics, and therapeutic efficacy of these formulations, comparing them to IV administration....

Abstract The rapid advancement in healthcare data collection technologies and the importance of using multimodal data for accurate diagnosis leads to a surge in multimodal data characterized by different types, structures, and missing values. Machine learning algorithms for predicting or analyzing usually demand the completeness of data. As a result, handling missing data has become a critical concern in the healthcare sector. This survey paper comprehensively reviews recent works on handling multimodal missing data in healthcare. We emphasize methods for synthesizing data from various modalities or multiple sources in imputing missing data, including early fusion, late fusion, and intermediate fusion methods for missing data imputation. The main objective of...

Abstract Automatic analysis of colonoscopy images has been an active field of research motivated by the importance of early detection of precancerous polyps. However, detecting polyps during the live examination can be challenging due to various factors such as variation of skills and experience among the endoscopists, lack of attentiveness, and fatigue leading to a high polyp miss-rate. Therefore, there is a need for an automated system that can flag missed polyps during the examination and improve patient care. Deep learning has emerged as a promising solution to this challenge as it can assist endoscopists in detecting and classifying overlooked polyps and abnormalities...

Abstract The resulting cycle performances from our previous studies are compared for operation in 50% depth-of-discharge (DoD) and 17.5% DoD at 50% state-of-charge (SoC) cycling profiles, representing two working modes: high load and partial state-of-charge, respectively. This comparative analysis examines test cells configured with negative electrode as the capacity-limiting component. This comparative analysis, based on prior independent studies, highlights the distinct degradation mechanisms influencing negative electrode sulfation, morphology, and electrochemical behavior between the two cycling regimes. While the 50% DoD profile creates more overall sulfation due to frequent discharge to half of rated capacity, it produces greater evenness in PbSO4 distribution across the electrode cross-sectional area. In contrast, the...

Abstract Urchin-like MnO2 polymorphs (α-, β-, and γ-) were successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method with precise parameter optimization using a factorial design. This study provides the first comprehensive exploration of how tunnel-phase structures influence desalination performance in hybrid capacitive deionization. Among these polymorphs, α-MnO2 exhibited the most uniform urchin-like morphology with larger [2 × 2] tunnel structures, facilitating optimal ion transport and enhanced electrochemical properties. Electrochemical evaluations revealed that α-MnO2 achieved the highest specific capacitance of 148 F/g at 5 mV/s, significantly outperforming β-MnO2 and γ-MnO2. For desalination applications, α-MnO2 demonstrated a record-high NaCl adsorption capacity of 24.4 mg/g at 1.4 V, surpassing the performance of γ-MnO2 (14.5 mg/g) and β- MnO2 (5.5 mg/g). These findings underscore the transformative potential of...

Abstract ω-Hydroxydodecanoic acid (HDA) is a precursor for producing Nylon 12 but its chemical synthesis is environmentally unfriendly and bacterial production titers are only in the range of mg L−1. Here we developed a novel HDA production platform by engineering the yeast Candida viswanathii that converts dodecane into dodecanedioic acid (DDA), with HDA as a metabolic intermediate. We established the RNA-guided Cas13d system for programmable knockdown of various genes involved in HDA conversion to DDA and proved that repressing these genes enhanced HDA production. Fine-tuning the repression module achieved multiplexed inhibition and increased the HDA titer. Genomic integration of the gene repression...

Abstract This research investigates the enhancement of photocatalytic efficiency for nitric oxide (NO) oxidation under solar irradiation by exploiting the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs). The SPR effect of Pd NPs extended the light absorption range from 357 nm to 432 nm, facilitated charge separation, and reduced electron-hole recombination, directly enhancing photocatalytic efficiency. Pd NPs were successfully deposited onto ZnSn(OH)6 (ZHS) cubic structures, narrowing the band gap from 3.54 eV to 2.83 eV and significantly boosting photocatalytic activity. The Pd-ZHS composite achieved an NO oxidation efficiency of 59 % under visible light and 77.9 % under solar light, with minimal NO2 production and excellent stability even after five cycles. Notably, the kinetic...

Abstract This study investigated a combination of PbS quantum dots (QDs) and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) layers in photodiodes for photodetection. Oxygen vacancies in ZnO NPs have been known to be recombination trap sites, hindering carrier transportation. We used various amines to passivate the oxygen vacancy of ZnO NPs. It is found that ethanolamine (EA) is the most effective in reducing the surface oxygen vacancies of ZnO, exhibiting a five-fold increase in electron mobility, enhancing PbS QD photodiode responsivity to 278.8 A/W and achieving an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 36,700% under bias, and increasing the detectivity ∼ 15.5 folds to 8.14 × 10¹² Jones compared with the pure ZnO device. This demonstrates the...

Abstract When fly ash is used in construction materials, it can increase exposure to gamma radiation and radon. This study aimed to evaluate the radioactive concentrations and exposure doses in concrete samples of grades M300 and M400 with added fly ash. We utilized an HPGe spectrometer and the RESRAD-BUILD simulation program for this purpose. The results indicated that the average activities of 226Ra and 232Th were below the reference values, while the average activity of 40K exceeded the UNSCEAR limit. The findings for M300 and M400 were 1.5 and 1.6 times higher, respectively, than the global average for indoor absorbed gamma dose. However, the annual...