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Trimethylsilyl cellulose (TMSC) was employed as the coating matrix for the application of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO) onto paper surfaces and the protections of ZnO/TMSC coating against UV-induced damages and fungal spoilage were evaluated. Filter papers were immersed in 2% w/v TMSC solution loaded with ZnO and air-dried. Three ZnO/TMSC suspensions were prepared with 0.1, 0.5, and 1% w/v ZnO NPs. The presences of ZnO/TMSC protective layers were confirmed with ATR-IR spectroscopy. The coated papers exhibited high surface hydrophobicities. After the coated papers were subject to 365-nm UV irradiation at 400 W for 3 h, the contact angles dramatically dropped. The trimethylsilyl (TMS) groups exposed on the surface formed a moisture barrier and were partially removed on UV exposure. ATR-IR revealed that more TMS groups were removed in the protective layer with no ZnO. UV-irradiated papers turned yellow and papers protected with 1% ZnO/TMSC exhibited significantly lower color changes than that of the uncoated one. Compared to the TMSC-coated paper, the addition of ZnO resulted in a significant reduction in tensile strength at maximum. However, after UV irradiation, significant increases in both the strain at break and strength at maximum were only observed in 1% ZnO/TMSC-protected papers. Regarding their anti-fungal properties, the 1% ZnO/TMSC films were effective in growth inhibitions of Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. on the nonirradiated papers. Despite being hydrophilic after UV-irradiation, growths of the molds were severely suppressed on the UV-irradiated paper., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Since the delivery kinetics of different cell types are different, the signal from the target cell is greatly affected by the noise signal of the diagnostic system. This is a major obstacle hindering the practical application of intracellular diagnostic systems, such as tumor heterogeneity. To address these issues, here we present a microRNA detection platform using fluorescence-encoded nanostructured DNA-based probes. The nanostructured DNA was designed to include molecular beacons for detecting cytosolic microRNA as well as additional fluorophores. When the intracellular diagnostic system is delivered, fluorescence signals are generated by the molecular beacons, depending on the concentration of the target microRNA. The fluorescence signals are then normalized to the intensity of the additional fluorophore. Through this simple calculation, the concentration of intracellular microRNA can be determined without interference from the diagnosis system itself. And also it enabled discrimination of microRNA expression heterogeneity in five different breast cancer cell lines.