Synthesis of a Tetrahedral Metal–Organic Supramolecular Cage with Dendritic Carbazole Arms

In recent years, incredible endeavors have been devoted to the design and self-assembly of discrete metal–organic cages (MOCs) with expanding intricacy and functionality. The controlled synthesis of metal–organic supramolecular cages with large branched chains remains an interesting and challenging work in supramolecular chemistry. Herein, a tetrahedral metal–organic supramolecular cage (ZnII4L4) containing 12 dendritic carbazole arms is unprecedentedly constructed through coordination-driven subcomponent self-assembly and characterized in different ways. Interestingly, tetrahedral supramolecular Cage-1 exhibited the potential for aggregation-induced emission (AIE) performance and stimulus-responsive luminescence features, and it achieved color-tunable photoluminescence due to the introduction of dendritic carbazole arms. Crucially, owing to the great photophysical properties of Cage-1 in solution, Cage-1 was enabled to act as a fluorescent ink for the vapor-responsive recording and wiping of information

Plasma methylated GNB4 and Riplet as a novel dual-marker panel for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma

ABSTRACTEarly detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can greatly improve the survival rate of patients. We aimed to develop a novel marker panel based on cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation for the detection of HCC. The differentially methylated CpG sites (DMCs) specific for HCC blood diagnosis were selected from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, then validated by the whole genome bisulphite sequencing (WGBS) of 12 paired HCC and paracancerous tissues. The clinical performance of the panel was evaluated using tissue samples [32 HCC, chronic liver disease (CLD), and healthy individuals] and plasma cohorts (173 HCC, 199 CLD, and 98 healthy individuals). The combination of G protein subunit beta 4 (GNB4) and Riplet had the optimal area under the curve (AUC) in seven candidates through TCGA, GEO, and WGBS analyses. In tissue validation, the GNB4 and Riplet showed an AUC of 100% with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% for detecting any-stage HCC. In plasma, it demonstrated a high sensitivity of 84.39% at 91.92% specificity, with an AUC of 92.51% for detecting any-stage HCC. The dual-marker panel had a higher sensitivity of 78.26% for stage I HCC than alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) of 47.83%, and a high sensitivity of 70.27% for detecting a single tumour (size ≤3 cm). In conclusion, we developed a novel dual-marker panel that demonstrates high accuracy in detecting HCC, surpassing the performance of AFP testing

Understanding Anisotropy and Its Relations with Sintering Conditions on Thermoelectric Transport Properties of n‑Type Mg₃Sb₂‑Based Materials

In the realm of bulk materials powder processing, the spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique stands out as a pivotal method for rapidly attaining higher densification. This study delves into understanding the grain size and texture resulting from unidirectional pressing during SPS in high-performance n-type Mg3Sb2-based materials. Our finding reveals that a larger grain size and a relatively robust (001)-plane texture, developed during SPS pressing, synergistically enhance the electrical conductivity and figure of merit ZT in the direction perpendicular to SPS pressing (⊥P) compared to the parallel direction (∥P). Additionally, the texturing effect was evaluated and correlated to transport properties