Browse Articles

Mechanically Robust Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Supramolecular Hydrogels Reinforced by Synergistic Chain Entanglement, Hydrogen Bonding, and Nanoparticle Incorporation

ABSTRACT Tuning the mechanical properties of ultrahigh molecular weight (UHMW) physically crosslinked hydrogels remains a significant challenge. We address this by utilizing Fenton‐initiated reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to synthesize poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) with molecular weights of up to 1700 kg mol −1 under mild aqueous conditions. These UHMW polymers leverage extensive chain entanglement and hydrogen bonding to form strong and tough supramolecular hydrogels, exhibiting a tensile strength of up to 0.16 MPa, a fracture strain of 2000%, and a toughness of 2.93 MJ m −3 . Furthermore, the incorporation of PMAA‐stabilized nanoparticles (spheres or worms) as secondary physical crosslinks significantly enhances energy dissipation and overall mechanical properties, resulting in a 2.5‐fold increase in toughness relative to the neat UHMW PMAA hydrogel. This approach offers a versatile framework for designing high‐performance soft materials through hierarchical molecular and nanoscale engineering.

Acetylated, phosphorylated and sulfonated nanocellulose for the modification of urea-formaldehyde adhesive in particleboard production

Abstract The functionalization of nanocellulose (NC) to enhance its effect on UF resin properties and wood-based materials still remains insufficiently explored. NC was modified via acetylation, phosphorylation, and sulfonation. ATR-FTIR analysis combined with quantitative methods, including acid-base titration, potentiometric titration, and elemental analysis, confirmed successful NC functionalization. Both unmodified and modified NC affected the properties of urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesive mixtures. Gel time decreased in adhesives containing acetylated NC, while viscosity increased most in mixtures with phosphorylated and sulfonated NC. Thermogravimetric analysis of UF adhesives containing NC showed improved stability, with phosphorylated NC providing the highest thermal resistance and acetylated NC enhancing stability only at lower temperatures up to 250 °C. Mechanical testing indicated that the incorporation of NC enhanced the strength of the particleboards. Variant containing acetylated NC achieved the highest internal bond and was the only one among functionalized variants to significantly improve bending strength and modulus of elasticity. Dimensional stability was enhanced, with acetylated NC reducing thickness swelling after both short- and long-term water exposure and limiting water absorption after short-term exposure. Phosphorylated and sulfonated NC also reduced thickness swelling, but only during short-term exposure. Overall, acetylation was the most effective modification, enhancing UF adhesive performance and particleboard quality in the most significant way.

A Nanoconfinement Strategy for Regulating Cluster Size to Enable Color Tuning in Clustering‐Triggered Phosphorescence

ABSTRACT In clustering‐triggered emission systems, molecules generally form clusters of various sizes, making it difficult to rationally design materials that emit a desired phosphorescence color. We achieved rational tuning of ultralong room‐temperature phosphorescence (URTP) color by hybridizing polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS), which is a URTP material, with a silica network at varying mixing ratios. The results demonstrate that nanoscale confinement reduces the PSS domain size and thereby controls its phosphorescence color.

A randomised trial of a psychoeducational intervention to improve home care safety for informal caregivers

Decoupling Hydrogen Evolution From Continuous Irradiation via CO ₂ ‐Mediated Proton‐Coupled Electron Storage

ABSTRACT The intermittent nature of solar energy and the safety concerns of high‐pressure hydrogen storage/transportation pose critical challenges to the widespread adoption of solar‐driven hydrogen production. To address these challenges, we explored a metal‐organic framework/polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) heterostructure with atomically dispersed Cu sites (Cu@MOF/PCN‐n, n = 1–5, representing the initial mass percent of Cu@MOF‐303 as 1%–5%). The optimized Cu@MOF/PCN‐3 enables solar energy storage and decouples H 2 evolution from continuous irradiation through CO 2 ‐mediated proton‐coupled electron storage. Under CO 2 atmosphere, Cu@MOF/PCN‐3 demonstrates exceptional photoelectron storage capabilities under illumination and achieves a remarkable H 2 production rate of 2.88 mmol g −1 in the dark, 3.2‐fold enhancement compared to Ar‐controlled systems. Experimental and theoretical investigations demonstrate that CO 2 serves as a bifunctional electron‐proton mediator, stabilizing photoelectrons via reversible carboxylation while facilitating proton transfer through *COOH intermediates, thereby decoupling H 2 evolution from continuous irradiation. The single Cu site plays a pivotal role in regulating electron extraction and proton coupling, effectively overcoming the thermodynamic competition between CO 2 reduction and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This work establishes a new paradigm for CO 2 ‐mediated dark photocatalysis, offering a dual solution to overcome the critical challenges of solar intermittency and safe H 2 storage.

A memory-driven pneumonia dynamics model validated against Ethiopian mortality data: a fractional-order differential equation framework

Inside Front Cover: Proximity‐Induced Transfer of a Mass Tag Enables Direct Profiling of Active Matrix Metalloproteases (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 24/2026)

SSDLabeler: realistic semi-synthetic data generation for multi-label artifact classification in EEG

Delphi consensus validation of an integrated climate sensitive diabetes management model for climate vulnerable health systems in Iran

Abstract Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is rising rapidly in Iran, where climate-related hazards such as heatwaves, sand and dust storms, and disruptions to food and medicine supply chains challenge continuity and quality of care. We sought to validate a climate-sensitive, health system-oriented management model for T2DM using a Delphi consensus process. Eighteen experts in diabetes, noncommunicable diseases and health systems rated 51 statements derived from the preliminary Integrated Iranian Climate-Sensitive Diabetes Management Model (ICDMM), mapped onto six domains aligned with WHO health system building blocks. Items were scored on a binary agree/disagree scale, with a ≥ 70% agreement threshold for consensus. In round 1, agreement ranged from 61.1% to 100.0%; 46 statements met the threshold and five were revised. In round 2 all revised items achieved ≥ 80% agreement, and ultimately all 51 statements reached consensus. The validated ICDMM comprises six domains and 51 components spanning climate-informed governance, resilient and equitable service delivery, workforce preparedness, digital and early-warning information systems, climate-resilient supply chains, and equity-oriented climate-sensitive financing. The ICDMM offers a disease-specific framework for operationalising climate-resilient health system principles for T2DM in a climate-vulnerable middle-income setting and now requires implementation and evaluation in real-world practice.

Transforming Interfacial Reactivity Into Stability for Durable High‐Current Solid‐State Sodium Batteries

ABSTRACT Interfacial instability remains the key obstacle to reliable oxide‐based solid‐state batteries (SSBs). Here we demonstrate a monolithic, self‐regulating mixed ionic‐electronic conducting (MIEC) interface that transforms interfacial reactivity into long‐term stability in SSBs. Introducing cobalt into NASICON‐type Na 3 Zr 2 Si 2 PO 12 (NZSP) yields a dual‐phase NaCoPO 4 /NZSP composite electrolyte, which evolves during cycling into a nanoporous interphase containing Co nanoparticles embedded in NASICON matrix. This reaction‑derived interphase enlarges the active area, homogenizes ion flux, and guides uniform sodium deposition. Extending this concept to a tri‐layer electrolyte architecture with Co‐modified outer layers and pristine NZSP core enables a self‐limiting reaction stabilizing both interfaces. Optimized cells achieve a critical current density of 7.3 mA cm −2 at 60°C and sustain symmetric‐cell cycling over 3000 h at 1 mA cm −2 . Full cells deliver >99% capacity retention over 1200 cycles at 2 C. This work establishes interfacial chemistry as a tunable design principle for durable, high‐current solid‐state metal batteries.

Thirty-year nationwide research on epidemiology, treatment, and outcomes of congenital lung malformations

From [NHC─H] ^• to Persistent <i>σ</i> ‐Complex Radicals: Photoinduced Radical Chemistry of Imidazolium Salts

ABSTRACT Imidazolium salts are ubiquitous precursors to N ‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), yet their radical chemistry remains largely unexplored, and structurally well‐defined imidazolium‐derived radicals are rare. Here, we show that visible‐light excitation of charge‐transfer (CT) bands of electron donor–acceptor (EDA) complexes between imidazolium cations and a triarylamine donor induces a single‐electron transfer. Variable‐temperature EPR spectroscopy reveals that irradiation at 100 K affords neutral [NHC─H] • radicals, which undergo protonation upon warming to room temperature to give the persistent σ ‐complex cations [IDippH 2 ] •+ and [IXylH 2 ] •+ . Analysis of hyperfine couplings, in combination with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, establishes a close electronic analogy between [NHC─H 2 ] •+ and the classical cyclohexadienyl radical [C 6 H 7 ] • , highlighting σ – π hyperconjugation as the dominant stabilization motif. These findings identify imidazolium‐derived σ ‐complex radicals as a unique class of carbene‐based open‐shell species and showcase imidazolium cations as noninnocent, redox‐active platforms for controlled radical generation under mild photochemical conditions.

Federated ConvNeXt-swin temporal fusion network for malware and botnet detection in IoT systems

Programmable Morphing DNA Nanodevice Enables Triple Signal Amplification for Long‐Term Early Tumor Metastasis Imaging

ABSTRACT Accurate early detection of tumor metastasis remains a formidable clinical challenge owing to the lack of imaging tools that can simultaneously respond sensitively to early metastatic signals and maintain enduring intracellular functionality. Here, we report a programmable morphing DNA nanodevice (PMDN) that integrates catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) with a hybrid network amplification mechanism to achieve dual‐stage intracellular assembly and ultrasensitive detection of metastatic biomarkers. The acidic lysosomal milieu induces i‐motif‐mediated conformational folding into a compact and nuclease‐resistant structure. Following lysosomal escape, cytoplasmic miR‐221 triggers a secondary‐stage CHA cascade, driving large‐scale crosslinking of DNA monomers into a stable nanonetwork. This dynamic bottom‐up assembly ensures prolonged intracellular structural integrity of PMDN and concomitantly enables triple‐stage signal amplification. Compared with conventional CHA systems, PMDN achieves more than a 200‐fold improvement in detection sensitivity, exhibits remarkably persistent fluorescence in MDA‐MB‐231 cells, and maintains durable tumor localization in vivo for over 10 days. In a metastatic mouse model, PMDN enables early visualization of pulmonary micrometastases through miR‐221‐activated signal amplification. These results establish environment‐adaptive morphing DNA architectures as a powerful platform for real‐time monitoring of early metastasis and long‐term molecular imaging in complex biological environments.

Automation of N-glycan purification using amine-functionalized NiFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles

Abstract Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are increasingly utilized in biomedical applications, including nucleic acid isolation, protein purification and glycan enrichment, owing to their high surface-to-volume ratio, tuneable surface chemistry and compatibility with automation. Here, we report the development, systematic optimization and automated implementation of an amine-functionalized NiFe 2 O 4 -based MNP protocol for N -glycan purification. Critical workflow steps, including particle drying and dispersion, binding efficiency, and elution buffer selection, were comprehensively evaluated. The optimized protocol, employing 0.5 mg/mL NiFe 2 O 4 -NH 2 particles and 150 mM ammonium-formate (pH 4.4) as elution buffer enabled the reproducible identification of the major N -glycan peaks from human serum and immunoglobulin G (IgG). Importantly, the method was successfully translated to a Hamilton Microlab Prep robotic liquid handling platform in a 96-well format, ensuring scalability and reduced manual variability. Overall, this study advances a previously established MNP-based glycan purification approach into a robust, scalable, and automation-compatible workflow through synthesis redesign, systematic optimization, and successful robotic implementation.

Broadband solar energy harvesting and near-perfect thermal emission on a unified stepped-high concentric dual-ring metamaterial

A Negatively Curved Pyrene‐Fused Azaacene

ABSTRACT Non‐planar aromatic hydrocarbons display distorted π‐frameworks that give rise to unique optoelectronic properties. Among the different strategies for generating non‐planar aromatic hydrocarbons, steric overcrowding has afforded numerous twisted structures displaying helical or alternate twists, whereas bent structures remain rare. Herein, we report a pyrene‐fused azaacene derivative in which eight strategically positioned phenyl substituents enforce bending of the aromatic core rather than twisting, generating a negatively curved, saddle‐shaped structure. Single‐crystal x‐ray diffraction reveals large deviations from planarity with bend angles of 41° and 34°, stabilised by intramolecular π‐π stacking between facing phenyl rings.

Screening of putative inhibitors for cytotoxin VacA from Helicobacter pylori

Headwinds in Breast Cancer Research: The Case for Pragmatic Radiotherapy De-escalation Studies

Knowledge distillation for named entity recognition in traditional chinese medicine

Abstract Named entity recognition (NER) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) text is central to the structuring and intelligent application of TCM knowledge. TCM case texts are characterized by sparse entity distributions and limited domain-specific data. Existing methods often struggle to recognize low-frequency entities and show limited capacity for effective knowledge transfer. This paper proposes a TCM NER framework incorporating structured knowledge distillation. First, multi-source TCM corpora are constructed using natural language processing techniques. A teacher model is trained on high-density structured data, and its semantic knowledge is transferred to the student model through soft labels. The student model uses BERT for encoding, BiLSTM for sequential feature extraction, Transformer for global context modeling, and CRF for structured sequence decoding. Experimental results on the constructed StudentDataset show that the distilled TBTC model improved Precision by 8.01 percentage points, Recall by 5.31 percentage points, and F1-score by 6.67 percentage points over its non-distilled counterpart, achieving an overall F1-score of 77.01.