High Throughput Blood Analysis Based on Deep Learning Algorithm and Self-Positioning Super-Hydrophobic SERS Platform for Non-Invasive Multi-Disease Screening

Blood analysis is crucial for early cancer screening and improving patient survival rates. However, developing an effective strategy for early cancer detection using high-throughput blood analysis is still challenging. Herein, a novel automatic super-hydrophobic platform is developed together with a deep learning (DL)-based label-free serum and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), along with an automatic high-throughput Raman spectrometer to build an effective point-of-care diagnosis system. A total of 695 high-quality serum SERS spectra are obtained from 203 healthy volunteers, 77 leukemia M5, 94 hepatitis B virus, and 321 breast cancer patients. Serum SERS signals from the normal (n = 183) and patient (n = 443) groups are used to assess the DL model, which classify them with a maximum accuracy of 100%. Furthermore, when SERS is combined with DL, it exhibits excellent diagnostic accuracy (98.6%) for the external held-out test set, indicating that this method can be used to develop a high throughput, rapid, and label-free tool for screening diseases.     

An Alloy Platform of Dual-Fingerprints for High-Performance Stroke Screening

A multi-modal serum profiling platform holds promise for precision diagnosis of diseases. Still, advanced tools are in demand to deliver the multi-modal serum profiling. Herein, a bimodal spectrometric protocol is designed for stoke serum profiling using an alloy  platform, by integrating label-free surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS). The PdAu@Au concave cube with a wide localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) range simultaneously enhances the signals from SERS and LDI-MS, enabling high-throughput co-detection of vibrational and metabolic fingerprints of 0.1 µL serum in 2 min with simple pretreatment. Further, a dual-fingerprints screening model of stroke is constructed, by adaptive machine learning with a programming nonlinear fitting model. The area under the curve are 0.949 (0.917–0.977, 95% confidence interval (CI)) and 0.911 (0.812–0.984, 95% CI), in the discovery and validation cohorts, respectively. Finally, five metabolites are identified that correlated to SERS signals and mapped the relevant pathways. This study features high performance in terms of throughput, speed, sample volume, and accuracy, providing new insight into the construction of multiplexed characterization platforms for precision diagnostic.     

Association between psychosocial well-being and problematic social media use among Finnish young adults: A cross-sectional study

The aim of the study was to identify associations between problematic social media use (PSMU), type of internet activity, various background factors, psychosocial factors (mood, fear of missing out, need to belong, social relationships) and the COVID-19-pandemic’s impacts on social media use among young adults in Finland. Data were collected from 381 young adults aged 18–35 (M = 26.01; SD = 4.55) in Finland through a web-based survey conducted during the autumn of 2020. PSMU was identified using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale. Nine types of social media platform used were considered. Information about health-related factors was assessed using Beck Depression Inventory scale and a further single question. Social factors were measured using the Fear of Missing Out scale, the Single Item Need to Belong scale, and social engagement scale. 9.8 % of participants were found to exhibit PSMU. Younger people and women were more prone to PSMU. Social networking sites were the most used platform and were more strongly related to PSMU. Social media engagement, depression, fear of missing out and the effects of the pandemic on social media use were all positively and significantly associated with PSMU. These results may facilitate the development of guidelines for healthy social media use, and early detection of PSMU.     

Accurately Detecting Trace-Level Infectious Agents by an Electro-Enhanced Graphene Transistor

For epidemic prevention and control, molecular diagnostic techniques such as field-effect transistor (FET) biosensors is developed for rapid screening of infectious agents, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, SARS-CoV-2, rhinovirus, and others. They obtain results within a few minutes but exhibit diminished sensitivity (<75%) in unprocessed biological samples due to insufficient recognition of low-abundance analytes. Here, an electro-enhanced strategy is developed for the precise detection of trace-level infectious agents by liquid-gate graphene field-effect transistors (LG-GFETs). The applied gate bias preconcentrates analytes electrostatically at the sensing interface, contributing to a 10-fold signal enhancement and a limit of detection down to 5 × 10⁻¹⁶ g mL⁻¹ MPT64 protein in serum. Of 402 participants, sensitivity in tuberculosis, COVID-19 and human rhinovirus assays reached 97.3% (181 of 186), and specificity is 98.6% (213 of 216) with a response time of <60 s. This study solves a long-standing dilemma that response speed and result accuracy of molecular diagnostics undergo trade-offs in unprocessed biological samples, holding unique promise in high-quality and population-wide screening of infectious diseases.     

Ultrasensitive Detection of SARS-CoV‑2 by Flexible Metal Oxide Field-Effect Transistors

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reflects the great significance of rapid and accurate detection of pathogens by new sensing technologies. Antibody based biosensors with high sensitivity comparable to golden standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and miniaturized device features allow the detection of pathogens in portable and flexible formats. Herein, flexible metal oxide electrolyte-gated field-effect transistors (EGFETs) are reported to serve as the biosensors for rapid and ultrasensitive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection. The semiconducting layer of the EGFETs associates with hybrid material of PEI doped metal oxides that not only improves the transistor performance, but also regulates microstructure forming higher surface-to-volume ratio, which brings more antibodies immobilization, resulting in higher sensitive, and faster response for detecting SARS-CoV-2. Comprehensive studies of materials and interfacing engineering of the EGFETs not only build the strong foundation for the EGFET sensors to show excellent sensitivity with a limit of detection from 0.14 fg ml⁻¹ for SARS-CoV-2 S1 proteins, and 0.09 copies µl⁻¹ for SARS-CoV-2 viruses, but also offer good mechanical properties to enable thin, soft flexible sensing platforms. This work provides a new strategy from materials to devices as innovative schemes for virus/pathogens detection.     

Protease‐Activatable Hybrid Nanoprobe for Tumor Imaging

Tumor‐associated proteases (TAPs), such as legumain, are actively involved in cancer progression; they have been used as biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and drug targeting. As a result, in‐vivo detection and trafficking of TAPs have attracted a great deal of attention. TAP‐specific probes for in‐vivo imaging, however, remain rare. A TAP‐responsive hybrid nanoprobe system based on quantum dots (QD) and the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) effect is presented for the detection of legumain (asparaginyl endopeptidase), which is overexpressed in many tumors. A novel hybrid construction method is developed for fabricating the nanoprobe, by which the strong heparin–protamine affinity is used for conjugation. The hybrid comprises two components: 1) low‐molecular‐weight heparin (LH)‐modified QD, and 2) low‐molecular‐weight protamine (LMWP)‐conjugated fluorescence quencher QSY21, through a legumain‐cleavable linker. The hybrid nanoprobe (i.e., a FRET system) is self‐assembled via the LH–LMWP affinity. The linker between LMWP and QSY21 is selectively cleaved by legumain, leading to QSY21 detachment and fluorescence recovery in the tumor. In‐vivo imaging is successfully achieved in the colon tumor mouse model. Importantly, such a hybrid nanoprobe system is adaptable for the detection of other TAPs (e.g., matrix metalloproteinase ‐2) by using an established, corresponding substrate–peptide linker, thereby offering a universal platform for TAP detection and tumor imaging.     

Low-Intensity Sensitive and High Stability Flexible Heart Sound Sensor Enabled by Hybrid Near-Field/Far-Field Electrospinning

Low-cost and wearable heart sound sensors can facilitate early detection and monitoring of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Such sensors are currently limited by either the complexity of fabrication processes or low sensitivity and reliability for weak signal detection. Here, a hybrid near-field/far-field electrospinning approach is demonstrated that enables low-cost fabrication and optimization of triboelectric heterostructures for heart sound sensing. Specifically, by combining the far-field produced highly polarized and porous polyvinylidene difluoride network for triboelectric electrification and near-field patterned polyurethane grid spacers for vibration enhancement and charge trapping, the greatly improved sensor output at the heart sound frequency (50–150 Hz) and intensity (<80 dB) range, demonstrating record high sensitivity of 7027 mV Pa⁻¹ and low detection limit of 47 dB. The sensor exhibits excellent stability under both sudden physical disturbance and long-term cycling stress, showing no degradation during 7 h of continuous operation. It is demonstrated that the sensor can be integrated with apparel and capture high-quality heart sound signals at all five diagnostic auscultation points and distinguish characteristic heart sound patterns caused by different cardiovascular diseases.     

Enlarging the Reservoir: High Absorption Coefficient Dyes Enable Synergetic Near Infrared-II Fluorescence Imaging and Near Infrared-I Photothermal Therapy

Although organic materials with near infrared (NIR)-II fluorescence and a photothermal effect have been widely investigated for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of tumors, optimizing the output signals of both remain challenging. Here, a strategy by “enlarging absorption reservoir” to address this issue, since an increase in photon absorption can naturally enhance output signals, is proposed. As a proof-of-concept, a large π-conjugated diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) unit is selected to fabricate strong light-absorbing systems. To enhance solid-state fluorescence, highly twisted alkylthiophene–benzobisthiadiazole–alkylthiophene and triphenylamine rotor are introduced to restrict the strong intermolecular π–π interactions. Moreover, the number of DPP units in molecules is engineered to optimize photophysical properties. Results show that TDADT with two DPP units possesses an exceptionally high molar absorptivity of 2.1 × 10⁵ L mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at 808 nm, an acceptable NIR-II quantum yield of 0.1% (emission peak at 1270 nm), and a sizeable photothermal conversion efficiency of 60.4%. The excellent photophysical properties of the TDADT nanoparticles are particularly suitable for in vivo NIR-II imaging-guided cancer surgery and NIR-I photothermal therapy. The presented strategy provides a new approach of designing highly efficient NIR-II phototheranostic agents.     

Trajectory Controlling and Collision Warning Device Based on Self-Healing and Conductive Castor Oil-Based Waterborne Polyurethane in Automated Guided Vehicles

Sustainable castor oil-based waterborne polyurethanes (WPUs) are widely applied in multiple fields, while the strategies to simultaneously realize reprocessing, self-healing, and novel applications are attractive and highly demanded. Herein, a molecular design strategy is proposed to incorporate dynamic oxime-carbamate bonds into the castor oil-based WPUs. The obtained networks exhibit excellent toughness (>44 MPa), adequate stretchability, and wonderful self-healing efficiency (>95% at 80 °C for 8 h), which stand out among the reported cases. Moreover, the WPU film retained almost 100% of the original mechanical properties after consecutive reprocessing. With the incorporation of carbon nanotubes, the films are endowed with good electric conductivity, providing a general platform for fabricating flexible electronic devices. Specifically, wonderful performance in trajectory control and collision warning is displayed, which is expected to be an alternative to minimize the utilization of expensive and complex obstacle sensors in automated guided vehicles. This study contributes to the development of sustainable and self-healing WPU-based flexible material and opens the gate for novel and identified applications.     

Development of Citrate‐Based Dual‐Imaging Enabled Biodegradable Electroactive Polymers

Increasing occurrences of degenerative diseases, defective tissues, and severe cancers heighten the importance of advanced biomedical treatments, which in turn enhance the need for improved biomaterials with versatile theranostic functionalities yet using minimal design complexity. Leveraging the advantages of citrate chemistry, a multifunctional citrate‐based biomaterial platform is developed with both imaging and therapeutic capabilities utilizing a facile and efficient one‐pot synthesis. The resulting aniline tetramer doped biodegradable photoluminescent polymers (BPLPATs) not only possess programmable degradation profiles (<1 to > 6 months) and mechanical strengths (≈20 MPa to >400 MPa), but also present a combination of intrinsic fluorescence, photoacoustic (PA), and electrical conductivity properties. BPLPAT nanoparticles are able to label cells for fluorescence imaging and perform deep tissue detection with PA imaging. Coupled with significant photothermal performance, BPLPAT nanoparticles demonstrate great potential for thermal treatment and in vivo real‐time detection of cancers. The results on BPLPAT scaffolds demonstrate 3D high‐spatial‐resolution deep tissue PA imaging (23 mm), as well as promote growth and differentiation of PC‐12 nerve cells. It is envisioned that the biodegradable dual‐imaging‐enabled electroactive citrate‐based biomaterial platform will expand the currently available theranostic material systems and open new avenues for diversified biomedical and biological applications via the demonstrated multifunctionality.     

Novel D-σ-A type thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters with C–S σ bond for the orange-red OLEDs

Three D-σ-A type thermally activated delayed fluorescent materials (TADF), AQ-S-Cz, AQ-S-DPA and AQ-S-DMAC, with sulfur atom connect donors and acceptor, were designed and synthesized. All of the emitters exhibit small ΔE_ST (<0.2 eV) and the limited overlap of the molecular frontier orbitals because of the C–S σ bond and the distorted molecular structure. AQ-S-Cz and AQ-S-DMAC with rigid donor obtained higher photoluminescence quantum yields than AQ-S-DPA. The three emitters have excellent TADF performance and short delayed fluorescence lifetimes (0.32 μs for AQ-S-Cz, 0.15 μs for AQ-S-DPA, 0.28 μs for AQ-S-DMAC). The experiment results show that the three emitters have intra-molecular charge transition (intra-CT), especially inter-molecular charge transition (inter-CT) effect. The luminescence of these emitters can be efficiently regulated by intra-CT, especially inter-CT and realize prominent red shift from yellow (556 nm) to red emission (657 nm). Compared with that of AQ-S-Cz and AQ-S-DPA, the device based on AQ-S-DMAC obtained maximum external quantum efficiencies of 7.17% with turn-on voltage of 3.5 V. This work enriches the D-σ-A type orange-red TADF materials and provides a perspective approach of developing long wavelength TADF emitters.     

Engineered Microneedles for Interstitial Fluid Cell‐Free DNA Capture and Sensing Using Iontophoretic Dual‐Extraction Wearable Patch

Interstitial fluid (ISF), as an emerging source of biomarkers, is unmistakably significant for disease diagnosis. Microneedles (MNs) provide a minimally invasive approach for extracting the desired molecules from ISF. However, existing MNs are limited by their capture efficiency and sensitivity, which impedes early disease diagnosis. Herein, an engineered wearable epidermal system is presented with a combination of reverse iontophoresis and MNs for rapid capture and sensing of Epstein‐Barr virus cell‐free DNA (an important biomarker of nasopharyngeal carcinoma). Owing to a dual‐extraction effect demonstrated by reverse iontophoresis and MNs, the engineered wearable platform successfully isolates the cell‐free DNA target from ISF within 10 min, with a threshold of 5 copies per µL and a maximum capture efficiency of 95.4%. The captured cell‐free DNA is also directly used in a recombinase polymerase amplification electrochemical microfluidic biosensor with a detection limit of 1.1 copies per µL (or a single copy). The experimental data from immunodeficient mouse models rationalizes the feasibility and practicality of the wearable system. Collectively, the developed method opens an innovative route for minimally invasive sampling of ISF for cell‐free DNA‐related cancer screening and prognosis.     

A novel hardware/software embedded system based on automatic censored target detection for radar systems

This paper presents a practical design exploration for a new application related to real-time, high-resolution target detection for radar systems. In this paper, an embedded architecture that combines the hardware and software components in a single platform is experienced using a field programmable gate array FPGA-based PC-board. The detection process utilises three techniques: namely, automatic censored ordered statistics detection (ACOSD), cell averaging (CA) and ordered statistics (OS) CFAR techniques, all of which operate in parallel to increase the accuracy of the detection and to reduce the false-alarm rate for both homogeneous and non-homogeneous environments. A prototype of the embedded system detector has been implemented for homogeneous and non-homogeneous environments on Stratix IV FPGA Board. The prototype operates at 200 MHz and performs real-time target detection with an execution delay of 0.27 μs, which is less than the critical time (0.5 μs) for high-resolution detection.     

Graphene Enabled Low-Noise Surface Chemistry for Multiplexed Sepsis Biomarker Detection in Whole Blood

Affinity-based electrochemical (EC) sensors offer a potentially valuable approach for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics applications, and for the detection of diseases, such as sepsis, that require simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers, but their development has been hampered due to biological fouling and EC noise. Here, an EC sensor platform that enables detection of multiple sepsis biomarkers simultaneously by incorporating a nanocomposite coating composed of crosslinked bovine serum albumin containing a network of reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles that prevents biofouling while maintaining electroconductivity is described. Using nanocomposite coated planar gold electrodes, a sensitive procalcitonin (PCT) sensor is constructed and validated in undiluted serum, which produced an excellent correlation with a conventional ELISA (adjusted r²  = 0.95) using clinical samples. A single multiplexed platform containing sensors for three different sepsis biomarkers—PCT, C-reactive protein, and pathogen-associated molecular patterns—is also developed, which exhibits specific responses within the clinically significant range without any cross-reactivity. This platform enables sensitive simultaneous EC detection of multiple analytes in human whole blood, and it can be applied to detect any target analyte with an appropriate antibody pair. Thus, this nanocomposite-enabled EC sensor platform may offer a potentially valuable tool for development of a wide range of clinical POC diagnostics.     

Tailoring Nanonets-Engineered Superflexible Nanofibrous Aerogels with Hierarchical Cage-Like Architecture Enables Renewable Antimicrobial Air Filtration

Purification of pathogenic air has become an essential part of infection prevention and control. Most present air filters can hardly achieve excellent air filtration performance and the effective inactivation of the airborne pathogens at the same time. Herein, a bottom-up approach is reported upon to construct cage-like structured superflexible nanofibrous aerogels (CSAs) with renewable antimicrobial properties by combining electrospun silica nanofibers, bacterial cellulose nanofibers, and the hydrophobic Si O Si elastic binder. The following efficient grafting of N-halamine compounds endows the CSAs with biocidal function. The resultant aerogels exhibit intriguing features of high porosity, hydrophobicity, superelasticity, foldability, renewable chlorination ability (>5400 ppm), high filtration performance toward PM0.3 (>99.97%, 189 Pa), and excellent antibacterial and antiviral activity (6 logs reduction within 5 min contact), enabling the aerogels to intercept and inactivate the pathogenic contaminants in air. The successful synthesis of CSAs provides a new possibility to design high-performance air filtration materials for public health protection.     

A Graphene Nanoprobe for Rapid,Sensitive, and Multicolor Fluorescent DNA Analysis

Coupling nanomaterials with biomolecular recognition events represents a new direction in nanotechnology toward the development of novel molecular diagnostic tools. Here a graphene oxide (GO)‐based multicolor fluorescent DNA nanoprobe that allows rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of DNA targets in homogeneous solution by exploiting interactions between GO and DNA molecules is reported. Because of the extraordinarily high quenching efficiency of GO, the fluorescent ssDNA probe exhibits minimal background fluorescence, while strong emission is observed when it forms a double helix with the specific targets, leading to a high signal‐to‐background ratio. Importantly, the large planar surface of GO allows simultaneous quenching of multiple DNA probes labeled with different dyes, leading to a multicolor sensor for the detection of multiple DNA targets in the same solution. It is also demonstrated that this GO‐based sensing platform is suitable for the detection of a range of analytes when complemented with the use of functional DNA structures.     

Hierarchically Macro–Microporous Covalent Organic Frameworks for Efficient Proton Conduction

Assembling molecular proton carriers into crosslinked networks is widely used to fabricate proton conductors, but they often suffer losses in conduction efficiency and stability accompanied by unclear causes. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), with well-defined crystal frameworks and excellent stability, offer a platform for exploring the proton transfer process. Herein, a strategy to construct proton conductors that induce conductivity and stability by introducing bottom-up hierarchical structure, mass transport interfaces, and host–guest interactions into the COFs is proposed. The proton-transport platforms are designed to possess hierarchically macro–microporous structure for proton storage and mass transport. The protic ionic liquids, with low proton dissociation energies investigated by DFT calculation, are installed at open channel walls for faster proton motion. As expected, the resultant proton conductors based on a covalent organic framework (PIL_0.5@m-TpPa-SO₃H) with hierarchical pores increase conductivity by approximately three orders of magnitude, achieving the value of 1.02 × 10⁻¹ S cm⁻¹ (90 °C, 100% RH), and maintain excellent stability. In addition, molecular dynamics simulations reveal the mechanism of “hydrogen-bond network” for proton conduction. This work offers a fresh perspective on COF-based material manufacturing for high-performance proton conductors via a protocol of macro-micropores.     

Harnessing Selectivity and Sensitivity in Ion Sensing via Supramolecular Recognition: A 3D Hybrid Gold Nanoparticle Network Chemiresistor

The monitoring of K⁺ in saliva, blood, urine, or sweat represents a future powerful alternative diagnostic tool to prevent various diseases. However, several K⁺ sensors are unable to meet the requirements for the development of point-of-care (POC) sensors. To tackle this grand-challenge, the fabrication of chemiresistors (CRs) based on 3D networks of Au nanoparticles covalently bridged by ad-hoc supramolecular receptors for K⁺, namely dithiomethylene dibenzo-18-crown-6 ether is reported here. A multi-technique characterization allows optimizing a new protocol for fabricating high-performing CRs for real-time monitoring of K⁺ in complex aqueous environments. The sensor shows exceptional figures of merit: i) linear sensitivity in the 10^–3 to 10^–6 m concentration range; ii) high selectivity to K⁺ in presence of interfering cations (Na⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺); iii) high shelf-life stability ( > 45 days); iv) reversibility of K⁺ binding and release; v) successful device integration into microfluidic systems for real-time monitoring; vi) fast response and recovery times ( < 18 s), and v) K⁺ detection in artificial saliva. All these characteristics make the supramolecular CRs a potential tool for future applications as POC devices, especially for health monitoring where the determination of K⁺ in saliva is pivotal for the early diagnosis of diseases.     

Blade coating of Tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum as the electron-transport layer for all-solution blue fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with a low driving voltage and efficient blue fluorescence were fabricated through blade coating. Tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq₃) is a relatively stable electron-transporting material commonly used in evaporation. However, depositing Alq₃ through a solution process is difficult because of its extremely low solubility organic solvents, a result of its symmetrical molecular structure. In this study, Alq₃ was successfully deposited through blade coating at a very low concentration below 0.1wt%. The OLEDs contained co-dopants BUBD-1 and p-bis(p-N,N-diphenyl-aminostyryl)benzene (DSA-Ph), and a high-band-gap host 2-methyl-9,10-bis(naphthalen-2-yl)anthracene (MADN) as the emission layer with the following structure: ITO/PEDOT:PSS (40 nm)/VB-FNPD (30 nm)/MADN:2% BUBD-1:1% DSA-Ph (50 nm)/TPBI (30 nm)/LiF (0.8 nm)/Al (100 nm)or ITO/PEDOT:PSS (40 nm)/VB-FNPD (30 nm)/MADN:3% BUBD-1 (50 nm)tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq₃; 10 nm)/LiF (0.8 nm)/Al (100 nm). 2,7-disubstituted fluorene-based triaryldiamine(VB-FNPD)is the cross-linking transporting material. The device exhibited a peak current efficiency of 5.67 cd/A for Alq₃ and 5.76 cd/A for TPBI. The device with Alq₃ has operated lifetime seven times higher than the device with TPBI.