14 research outputs found
Concentration-Dependent Enrichment Identifies Primary Protein Targets of Multitarget Bioactive Molecules
Multitarget bioactive molecules (MBMs) are of increasing
importance
in drug discovery as they could produce high efficacy and a low chance
of resistance. Several advanced approaches of quantitative proteomics
were developed to accurately identify the protein targets of MBMs,
but little study has been carried out in a sequential manner to identify
primary protein targets (PPTs) of MBMs. This set of proteins will
first interact with MBMs in the temporal order and play an important
role in the mode of action of MBMs, especially when MBMs are at low
concentrations. Herein, we describe a valuable observation that the
result of the enrichment process is highly dependent on concentrations
of the probe and the proteome. Interestingly, high concentrations
of probe and low concentrations of incubated proteome will readily
miss the hyper-reactive protein targets and thereby increase the probability
of rendering PPTs with false-negative results, while low concentrations
of probe and high concentrations of incubated proteome more than likely
will capture the PPTs. Based on this enlightening observation, we
developed a proof-of-concept approach to identify the PPTs of iodoacetamide,
a thiol-reactive MBM. This study will deepen our understanding of
the enrichment process and improve the accuracy of pull-down-guided
target identification
Concentration-Dependent Enrichment Identifies Primary Protein Targets of Multitarget Bioactive Molecules
Multitarget bioactive molecules (MBMs) are of increasing
importance
in drug discovery as they could produce high efficacy and a low chance
of resistance. Several advanced approaches of quantitative proteomics
were developed to accurately identify the protein targets of MBMs,
but little study has been carried out in a sequential manner to identify
primary protein targets (PPTs) of MBMs. This set of proteins will
first interact with MBMs in the temporal order and play an important
role in the mode of action of MBMs, especially when MBMs are at low
concentrations. Herein, we describe a valuable observation that the
result of the enrichment process is highly dependent on concentrations
of the probe and the proteome. Interestingly, high concentrations
of probe and low concentrations of incubated proteome will readily
miss the hyper-reactive protein targets and thereby increase the probability
of rendering PPTs with false-negative results, while low concentrations
of probe and high concentrations of incubated proteome more than likely
will capture the PPTs. Based on this enlightening observation, we
developed a proof-of-concept approach to identify the PPTs of iodoacetamide,
a thiol-reactive MBM. This study will deepen our understanding of
the enrichment process and improve the accuracy of pull-down-guided
target identification
Reduced Graphene Oxide/O-MWCNT Hybrids Functionalized with p‑Phenylenediamine as High-Performance MoS<sub>2</sub> Electrocatalyst Support for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Efficient hydrogen evolution through
water splitting at low overpotentials
is crucial to develop renewable energy technology, which depends on
the design of efficient and durable electrocatalysts composed of earth-abundant
elements. Herein, a highly and stable electrocatalyst for hydrogen
evolution reaction (HER) has been developed on the basis of MoS<sub>2</sub> on p-phenylenediamine (PPD)-functionalized reduced graphene
oxide/O-containing carbon nanotubes (rGO/O-MWCNT) hybrids via facile
and green hydrothermal process. Among the prepared catalysts, the
optimized MoS<sub>2</sub>/rGO/PPD/O-MWCNT with nanosized and highly
dispersed MoS<sub>2</sub> sheets provides a large amount of available
edge sites and the improved electron transfer in 3D conductive networks.
It exhibits excellent HER activity with a low overpotential of 90
mV and large current density of 47.6 mA·cm<sup>–2</sup> at 200 mV, as well as excellent stability in an acidic medium. The
Tafel slope of 48 mV·dec<sup>–1</sup> reveals the Volmer–Heyrovsky
mechanism for HER. Thus, this work paves a potential pathway for designing
efficient MoS<sub>2</sub>-based electrocatalysts for HER by functionalized
conductive substrates
Improving the Resolution of Flexible Large-Area Tactile Sensors through Machine-Learning Perception
Industrial
robots are the main piece of equipment of
intelligent
manufacturing, and array-type tactile sensors are considered to be
the core devices for their active sensing and understanding of the
production environment. A great challenge for existing array-type
tactile sensors is the wiring of sensing units in a limited area,
the contradiction between a small number of sensing units and high
resolution, and the deviation of the overall output pattern due to
the difference in the performance of each sensing unit itself. Inspired
by the human somatosensory processing hierarchy, we combine tactile
sensors with artificial intelligence algorithms to simplify the sensor
architecture while achieving tactile resolution capabilities far greater
than the number of signal channels. The prepared 8-electrode carbon-based
conductive network achieves high-precision identification of 32 regions
with 97% classification accuracy assisted by a quadratic discriminant
analysis algorithm. Notably, the output of the sensor remains unchanged
after 13,000 cycles at 60 kPa, indicating its excellent durability
performance. Moreover, the large-area skin-like continuous conductive
network is simple to fabricate, cost-effective, and can be easily
scaled up/down depending on the application. This work may address
the increasing need for simple fabrication, rapid integration, and
adaptable geometry tactile sensors for use in industrial robots
Different Performances of BF<sub>3</sub>, BCl<sub>3</sub>, and BBr<sub>3</sub> in Hypervalent Iodine-Catalyzed Halogenations
Herein, hypervalent iodine-catalyzed halogenation of
aryl-activated
alkenes using BX3 (X = Cl, Br) as the halogen source and
activating reagents was reported. Various halogenated 1,3-oxazine/2-oxazoline
derivatives were obtained in good-to-high yields. Using BF3 resulted in different substitute sites from BBr3 and
BCl3 of the products, indicating different reactive intermediates
and reaction pathways. The reaction underwent a “ligand coupling/oxidative
addition/intermolecular nucleophilic attack/1,2-aryl migration/reductive
elimination/intramolecular nucleophilic attack” cascade when
BF3 was applied as the halogen source, while 1,2-aryl migration
has “disappeared” when the halogen source was BBr3 or BCl3. Possible catalytic cycles were proposed,
and DFT calculations were conducted to demonstrate the differences
among BX3 (X = F, Cl, Br) in the hypervalent iodine-catalyzed
halogenations
Improving the Resolution of Flexible Large-Area Tactile Sensors through Machine-Learning Perception
Industrial
robots are the main piece of equipment of
intelligent
manufacturing, and array-type tactile sensors are considered to be
the core devices for their active sensing and understanding of the
production environment. A great challenge for existing array-type
tactile sensors is the wiring of sensing units in a limited area,
the contradiction between a small number of sensing units and high
resolution, and the deviation of the overall output pattern due to
the difference in the performance of each sensing unit itself. Inspired
by the human somatosensory processing hierarchy, we combine tactile
sensors with artificial intelligence algorithms to simplify the sensor
architecture while achieving tactile resolution capabilities far greater
than the number of signal channels. The prepared 8-electrode carbon-based
conductive network achieves high-precision identification of 32 regions
with 97% classification accuracy assisted by a quadratic discriminant
analysis algorithm. Notably, the output of the sensor remains unchanged
after 13,000 cycles at 60 kPa, indicating its excellent durability
performance. Moreover, the large-area skin-like continuous conductive
network is simple to fabricate, cost-effective, and can be easily
scaled up/down depending on the application. This work may address
the increasing need for simple fabrication, rapid integration, and
adaptable geometry tactile sensors for use in industrial robots
Improving the Resolution of Flexible Large-Area Tactile Sensors through Machine-Learning Perception
Industrial
robots are the main piece of equipment of
intelligent
manufacturing, and array-type tactile sensors are considered to be
the core devices for their active sensing and understanding of the
production environment. A great challenge for existing array-type
tactile sensors is the wiring of sensing units in a limited area,
the contradiction between a small number of sensing units and high
resolution, and the deviation of the overall output pattern due to
the difference in the performance of each sensing unit itself. Inspired
by the human somatosensory processing hierarchy, we combine tactile
sensors with artificial intelligence algorithms to simplify the sensor
architecture while achieving tactile resolution capabilities far greater
than the number of signal channels. The prepared 8-electrode carbon-based
conductive network achieves high-precision identification of 32 regions
with 97% classification accuracy assisted by a quadratic discriminant
analysis algorithm. Notably, the output of the sensor remains unchanged
after 13,000 cycles at 60 kPa, indicating its excellent durability
performance. Moreover, the large-area skin-like continuous conductive
network is simple to fabricate, cost-effective, and can be easily
scaled up/down depending on the application. This work may address
the increasing need for simple fabrication, rapid integration, and
adaptable geometry tactile sensors for use in industrial robots
Morphology Design of IRMOF‑3 Crystal by Coordination Modulation
A one-pot synthesis design on shape-controlled
growth of Zn-based
isoreticular metal–organic framework (i.e., IRMOF-3) was carried
out in this work with the controllable crystal morphological evolution
from simple cubes to several complex shapes. A new synthetic protocol
was devised where polyÂ(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), noble metal source
(AgNO<sub>3</sub>), mixed solvents (<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-dimethylformamide (DMF)–ethanol mixture) and tetramethylammonium
bromide (TMAB) were mutually introduced to the reaction medium as
surfactant, adjuvant, accelerator, and structure-directing agent (SDA),
respectively. Meanwhile, the crystallization process was investigated
by a series of time-dependent experiments. Indeed, the added modulators
and crystallization time were able to regulate the growth and thus
the morphology of the final products. The resulting homogeneous IRMOF-3-Ag-<i><b>n</b></i> materials with unique and novel crystal morphologies
were characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder
diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses
(TG-DTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectrum
(IR), and optical microscope characterizations. Various shapes of
IRMOF-3-Ag-<i><b>n</b></i> crystals as sorbents for
capturing dibenzothiophene (DBT) were evaluated. Among all the morphology-controlled
samples, IRMOF-3-Ag-<b>5</b> with hollow sphere morphology was
demonstrated to show the highest DBT capture capacity due to its unique
morphology
Energy-Transfer-Powered Sultine Synthesis
Molecules with precise sultine structures are particularly
sought
after since the function of a molecule depends on this interesting
structure. Despite the positive pivotal significance of the sultines
in synthesis, medicine, and materials science, the sultines’
chemistry long remains unexplored due to their inaccessibility; only
very limited protocols have been developed. Here, we report an energy-transfer-powered
intramolecular radical–radical cross-coupling cyclization for
the practical and atom-economical assembly of otherwise challenging-to-access
sultines under mild and operationally simple conditions using an inexpensive
organic photocatalyst. Importantly, this work presents a practical
method of trifluoromethyl radical generation from alkyl trifluoromethanesulfinate,
and the obtained sultines were confirmed as promising electrolyte
additives for high-voltage lithium batteries employing LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathodes and carbonate electrolytes.
Sultines were applied to build highly valuable sultones, mercaptoalkanols,
and disulfides. Mechanistic studies and density functional theory
calculations supported that the reaction likely proceeds through an
energy-transfer-powered radical–radical cross-coupling cyclization
process
CO-PARENTING IN HOMOSEXUAL AND HETEROSEXUAL COUPLES: SELF-EFFICACY AND EDUCATIONAL MODELS
Structural and relationships changes involving the parental and conjugal axes represent alterations that have challenged the traditional families’ model of a married heterosexual couples and biological children. This article shows the data collected during a fact-finding survey realized between 30 partners of same-sex couples with children and 30 partners of heterosexual couples with children recruited in Sicily. Participants were offered a protocol of instruments for the measurements of perceived conjugal and familiar self-efficacy, the parenting style, and the self-perception of the dynamics in the same-sex parenting in relationship with school institution (ad hoc questionnaire). The aim of this study was to obtain relevant information for a better understanding of same-sex co-parenting within intimate relationships and in the self-perception of itself in the broader social relations. These data reflects the trend of the partners - heterosexual and homosexual- to couples’ flexibility and adaptation, a positive attitude of homosexual parents in social relations that also involves heterosexuals, but it is not minimized the possibility of social aggressive behaviors that may be addressed to the offspring. Homosexual couples detect, in particular, poor preparation of the school to open didactic paths toward the new family scenarios, the differences (gender, ethnic ...), as well as on the education for the respect of human rights. In Italy, in fact, there is still a negative attitude towards homosexuality, and educational programs can deconstruct stereotypes and prejudices regarding homosexual parenting couples with important psychological and social implications