Polydopamine-based molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for the highly selective determination of ecstasy components.

3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) are the main components of illicit stimulant drugs, also known as "ecstasy", which belong to psychoactive medicine and tend to be increasingly abused among drug addicts worldwide. Herein, an electrochemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted polydopamine (MIP@PDA) was developed to detect MDA and MDMA using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). An MIP film on a Au electrode was synthesized via electrochemical polymerization with the safe chemical DA as the polymerization monomer and the uncontrolled pharmaceutical intermediate 3,4-methylenedioxyphenethylamine (MDPEA) as the template molecule, which can provide a great quantity of specific binding sites and expand the practical application of the sensor. Due to the superior affinity of MIP@PDA to the target, the proposed sensor displayed excellent analytical performance, with LODs of 37 nM and 54 nM for the determination of MDA and MDMA, respectively. Additionally, this sensor presented suitable selectivity, stability, reproducibility and detection ability in practical urine samples, which suggested that it is a promising candidate as a rapid diagnostic method in drug investigations.

Inhibition mechanism of melanin formation based on antioxidant scavenging of reactive oxygen species.

The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to the generation of oxidative stress, which will result in the excessive production and accumulation of melanin in the body and even the occurrence of some skin diseases. The intervention of antioxidants can slow down the rate of melanin formation to some extent. In order to explore the relationship between ROS, melanin and antioxidants, this work investigated the effects of antioxidants on melanin formation by the scavenging of ROS in vitro, where zebrafish were used as the model organism in in vivo experiments. The results showed that the inhibition order of natural antioxidants on melanin formation was GSH > AA > GA and PG > BHT > BHA for synthetic antioxidants. Between natural antioxidants and synthetic antioxidants, the former mainly have a strong scavenging ability on ˙OH and 1O2, while the latter have a strong scavenging ability on O2˙-. At the same time, the results in vivo showed that GSH and PG within a certain concentration not only did not affect the hatchability, survival rate and teratogenic rate of zebrafish embryos, but also can significantly inhibit melanin formation in zebrafish embryos. The results of this study have an important guiding significance for the dosage of antioxidants used in the cosmetics and food industries.

Effects of different N-acyl-serine lactone signaling molecules on the performance of anaerobic granular sludge.

Exogenous addition of acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) signaling molecules can improve or inhibit the methane production performance of anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS) by quorum sensing (QS). To explore the specific effect of AHLs on AnGS, 2 µM of signal molecules were added to the reactor and we analyzed their effects on AnGS biodiversity, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), specific methanogenic activity (SMA) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate of AnGS. The results indicated that the four types of AHLs improve the COD removal rate, SMA and organic composition of AnGS. The addition of N-(ß-ketocaproyl)-dl-homoserine lactone (3O-C6-HSL) yielded the greatest increase in methanogenic activity, reaching a maximum of 30.83%. The four types of AHLs stimulate the secretion of EPS in AnGS by group sensing regulation. The addition of N-hexanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C6-HSL), N-octanoyl-dl-lactone (C8-HSL) and 3O-C6-HSL induced the enrichment of Actinobacteria. Thus, the process of hydrolysis and acidification of AnGS is accelerated. The addition of N-butyryl-dl-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL), C6-HSL and 3O-C6-HSL promote the potential methanogenic metabolic pathway of AnGS. The addition of all AHLs directly or indirectly enhanced the methane metabolism pathway of sludge and improved the specific methane generation activity of AnGS. These results are expected to provide preliminary research data for enhancing the methane production efficiency of reactors and enriching the biological activity of AnGS.

Sludge Derived Carbon Modified Anode in Microbial Fuel Cell for Performance Improvement and Microbial Community Dynamics.

The conversion of activated sludge into high value-added materials, such as sludge carbon (SC), has attracted increasing attention because of its potential for various applications. In this study, the effect of SC carbonized at temperatures of 600, 800, 1000, and 1200 °C on the anode performance of microbial fuel cells and its mechanism are discussed. A pyrolysis temperature of 1000 °C for the loaded electrode (SC1000/CC) generated a maximum areal power density of 2.165 ± 0.021 W·m-2 and a current density of 5.985 ± 0.015 A·m-2, which is 3.017- and 2.992-fold that of the CC anode. The addition of SC improves microbial activity, optimizes microbial community structure, promotes the expression of c-type cytochromes, and is conducive to the formation of electroactive biofilms. This study not only describes a technique for the preparation of high-performance and low-cost anodes, but also sheds some light on the rational utilization of waste resources such as aerobic activated sludge.

Study on the mechanism of inhibiting the calcification of anaerobic granular sludge induced by the addition of trace signal molecule (3O-C6-HSL).

Microbiota quorum sensing (QS) induced by 3O-C6-HSL (N-(ß-ketocaproyl)-DL-homoserine lactone) inhibited the calcification of anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS), and the mechanism of promoting the activity recovery of calcified AnGS was studied in this paper. Through research, it was speculated that 3O-C6-HSL acted on calcified AnGS residual microorganisms to trigger QS. It enriched many functional microorganisms. For example, it promoted the growth of Methanospirillum. The CO2 could be consumed quickly by Methanospirillum and reduced the calcium carbonate formation. The increase of microbial biomass would promote the activity of sludge. What's more, the pore size and porosity of sludge would increase, so the mass transfer channel will be broadened at same time. All those, could help the calcified AnGS quickly restore the activity and anaerobic system recover normal, which provided a new idea for the emergency rescue of anaerobic system in the future.

Novel strategy of natural antioxidant nutrition quality evaluation in food: Oxidation resistance mechanism and synergistic effects investigation.

Effective evaluation methods for assessing the nutritional quality of foods that eliminate free radicals (i.e., foods that are classified as antioxidants) have long attracted the attention of scientists and the populace. In this case, constructing a corresponding photoelectrochemical sensor that has the advantages of being intuitive, rapid, and capable of accurate assessment for global antioxidant capacity is of profound significance. In this study, a novel g-C3N4/NiS/TiO2 photoelectric sensitive platform was constructed and afforded the possibility of a synergistic/antagonistic effect for estimating intrinsic antioxidant ingredients in food. Further investigation revealed that the internal influences of the compound structure, such as the redox potential and type of groups on the molecular benzene ring should be the main internal reasons for antioxidant synergistic behaviors. The photochemical strategy of concern is expected to provide benefits for on-site foods nutrition assays that should become a guide for health care diets.

Improvement in calcified anaerobic granular sludge performance by exogenous acyl-homoserine lactones.

Given the high content of Ca2+ in waste paper recycling wastewater, the anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS) undergoes calcification during wastewater treatment and affects the treatment efficiency. To restore the activity of calcified AnGS and improve the performance of AnGS, four types of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) were added to the AnGS system while papermaking wastewater treatment. The addition of N-butyryl-DL-homoserine lactone(C4-HSL) and N-octanoyl-DL-homoserine lactone (C8-HSL) had an inhibitory affect the COD removal efficiency and SMA of sludge at the inception. The addition of N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C6-HSL) has no obvious effect on the COD removal efficiency, but can improve the SMA of sludge more obviously. The addition of N-(ß-ketocaproyl)-DL-homoserine lactone (3O-C6-HSL) can increased COD removal efficiency and promoted SMA together obviously. The addition of C6-HSL and 3O-C6-HSL can increase volatile suspended solid (VSS)/total suspended solid (TSS), and regulate extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) secretion in AnGS. Analysis of microbial sequencing revealed changes in the microbial community structure following AHL addition, which enhanced the methane metabolism pathway in sludge. The addition of C6-HSL, C8-HSL, and 3O-C6-HSL increased Methanosaeta population, thus increasing the aceticlastic pathway in sludge. Thus, exogenous AHLs can play an important role in regulating microbial community structure, and in improving the performance of AnGS.

Molecularly imprinted photo-electrochemical sensor for hemoglobin detection based on titanium dioxide nanotube arrays loaded with CdS quantum dots.

A novel molecularly imprinted photo-electrochemical sensor based on CdS/TiO2 nanocomposites was constructed for precisely detection of hemoglobin under visible light irradiation. CdS quantum dots were decorated on the surface of TiO2 nanorod arrays to form a heterojunction, which could enhance the charge-transfer efficiency for visible light and further increase the photo-generated current of the sensor. The molecularly imprinted polymer film assembled by dopamine monomer had achieved excellent performance for specifically binding with human hemoglobin. The hemoglobin bound on the sensor could catalyze the oxidation reaction of 4-chloro-1-naphthol by H2O2, generating insoluble product on the sensor surface and triggering an obviously decrease on photocurrent. The molecularly imprinted photo-electrochemical sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity, selectivity and stability for the detection of human hemoglobin. The sensor had a linear range from 0.01 to 100 ng mL-1 with a detection limit of 0.53 pg/mL (S/N = 3). Furthermore, the sensor was successfully applied on the analysis of human hemoglobin in the urine samples.