70 results on '"Zhugen Yang"'
Search Results
2. Microbial electrochemical enhanced composting of sludge and kitchen waste: Electricity generation, composting efficiency and health risk assessment for land use
- Author
-
Tengteng Hu, Yunhan Lin, Yingyu Liu, Qingliang Zhao, Hang Yu, Zhugen Yang, and Fanyu Meng
- Subjects
Microbial electrochemical enhanced compost ,Dewatered sludge ,Kitchen waste ,Land use ,Health risk assessment ,Science (General) ,Q1-390 ,Social sciences (General) ,H1-99 - Abstract
To realize the energy and resource utilization from organic solid waste, a two-phase microbial desalination cell (TPMDC) was constructed using dewatered sludge and kitchen waste as the anode substrate. The performance of electricity generation and composting efficacy was investigated, along with a comprehensive assessment of the potential health risks associated with the land use of the resulting mixed compost products. Experimental outcomes revealed a maximum open-circuit voltage of 0.893 ± 0.005 V and a maximum volumetric power density of 0.797 ± 0.009 W/m³. After 90 days of composting enhanced by microbial electrochemistry, a significant organic matter removal rate of 31.13 ± 0.44 % was obtained, and the anode substrate electric conductivity was reduced by 30.02 ± 0.04 % based on the anode desalination. Simultaneously, there was an increase in the content of available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as an improvement in the seed germination index. The forms of heavy metals shifted from bioavailable to stable residual states. The non-carcinogenic hazard index (HI) values for heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during the land use of compost products were less than 1, and the total carcinogenic risk (TCR) values for heavy metals and PAHs were below the acceptable threshold of 10−4. The occupational population risk of infection from five pathogens was higher than that of the general public, with all risk values ranging from 8.67 × 10−8 to 1, where the highest risk was attributed to occupational exposure to Legionella. These outcomes demonstrated that the mixture of dewatered sludge and kitchen waste was an appropriate anode substrate to enhance TPMDC stability for electricity generation, and its compost products have promising land use suitability and acceptable land use risk, which will provide important guidance for the safe treatment and disposal of organic solid waste.
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Can wastewater monitoring protect public health in schools?
- Author
-
Francis Hassard, Suniti Singh, Frédéric Coulon, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Reprogrammed tracrRNAs enable repurposing of RNAs as crRNAs and sequence-specific RNA biosensors
- Author
-
Yang Liu, Filipe Pinto, Xinyi Wan, Zhugen Yang, Shuguang Peng, Mengxi Li, Jonathan M. Cooper, Zhen Xie, Christopher E. French, and Baojun Wang
- Subjects
Science - Abstract
In type II CRISPR systems, the guide RNA (gRNA) comprises a CRISPR RNA (crRNA) and a hybridized trans-acting CRISPR RNA (tracrRNA), both being essential in guided DNA targeting functions. Here the authors investigate the programmability of crRNA-tracrRNA hybridization for Cas9 and apply this to biosensing.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Paper microfluidic implementation of loop mediated isothermal amplification for early diagnosis of hepatitis C virus
- Author
-
Weronika Witkowska McConnell, Chris Davis, Suleman R. Sabir, Alice Garrett, Amanda Bradley-Stewart, Pawel Jajesniak, Julien Reboud, Gaolian Xu, Zhugen Yang, Rory Gunson, Emma C. Thomson, and Jonathan M. Cooper
- Subjects
Science - Abstract
Current HCV nucleic acid-based diagnosis is largely performed in centralised laboratories. Here, the authors present a pan-genotypic RNA assay, based on reverse transcriptase loop mediated isothermal amplification and develop a low-cost prototype paper-based lateral flow device for point-of-care use, providing a visually read result within 40 min.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Biosensors for rapid detection of bacterial pathogens in water, food and environment
- Author
-
Raphael Chukwuka Nnachi, Ning Sui, Bowen Ke, Zhenhua Luo, Nikhil Bhalla, Daping He, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
Biosensors ,Pathogens ,Molecular method ,Paper microfluidics ,Water quality ,Environmental sciences ,GE1-350 - Abstract
Conventional techniques (e.g., culture-based method) for bacterial detection typically require a central laboratory and well-trained technicians, which may take several hours or days. However, recent developments within various disciplines of science and engineering have led to a major paradigm shift in how microorganisms can be detected. The analytical sensors which are widely used for medical applications in the literature are being extended for rapid and on-site monitoring of the bacterial pathogens in food, water and the environment. Especially, within the low-resource settings such as low and middle-income countries, due to the advantages of low cost, rapidness and potential for field-testing, their use is indispensable for sustainable development of the regions. Within this context, this paper discusses analytical methods and biosensors which can be used to ensure food safety, water quality and environmental monitoring. In brief, most of our discussion is focused on various rapid sensors including biosensors and microfluidic chips. The analytical performances such as the sensitivity, specificity and usability of these sensors, as well as a brief comparison with the conventional techniques for bacteria detection, form the core part of the discussion. Furthermore, we provide a holistic viewpoint on how future research should focus on exploring the synergy of different sensing technologies by developing an integrated multiplexed, sensitive and accurate sensors that will enable rapid detection for food safety, water and environmental monitoring.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Micro/nano biomedical devices for point-of-care diagnosis of infectious respiratory diseases
- Author
-
Yang Wang, Huiren Xu, Zaizai Dong, Zhiying Wang, Zhugen Yang, Xinge Yu, and Lingqian Chang
- Subjects
COVID-19 ,Point-of-care testing ,Micro/nano devices ,Medical technology ,R855-855.5 - Abstract
Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has developed into a global pandemic in the last two years, causing significant impacts on our daily life in many countries. Rapid and accurate detection of COVID-19 is of great importance to both treatments and pandemic management. Till now, a variety of point-of-care testing (POCT) approaches devices, including nucleic acid-based test and immunological detection, have been developed and some of them has been rapidly ruled out for clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 due to the requirement of mass testing. In this review, we provide a summary and commentary on the methods and biomedical devices innovated or renovated for the quick and early diagnosis of COVID-19. In particular, some of micro and nano devices with miniaturized structures, showing outstanding analytical performances such as ultra-sensitivity, rapidness, accuracy and low cost, are discussed in this paper. We also provide our insights on the further implementation of biomedical devices using advanced micro and nano technologies to meet the demand of point-of-care diagnosis and home testing to facilitate pandemic management. In general, our paper provides a comprehensive overview of the latest advances on the POCT device for diagnosis of COVID-19, which may provide insightful knowledge for researcher to further develop novel diagnostic technologies for rapid and on-site detection of pathogens including SARS-CoV-2.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. Soil Microbial Fuel Cell Based Self-Powered Cathodic Biosensor for Sensitive Detection of Heavy Metals
- Author
-
Shi-Hang Wang, Jian-Wei Wang, Li-Ting Zhao, Syed Zaghum Abbas, Zhugen Yang, and Yang-Chun Yong
- Subjects
soil microbial fuel cells ,heavy metals ,biosensors ,soil pollution ,Biotechnology ,TP248.13-248.65 - Abstract
Soil microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) are an innovative device for soil-powered biosensors. However, the traditional SMFC sensors relied on anodic biosensing which might be unstable for long-term and continuous monitoring of toxic pollutants. Here, a carbon-felt-based cathodic SMFC biosensor was developed and applied for soil-powered long-term sensing of heavy metal ions. The SMFC-based biosensor generated output voltage about 400 mV with the external load of 1000 Ω. Upon the injection of metal ions, the voltage of the SMFC was increased sharply and quickly reached a stable output within 2~5 min. The metal ions of Cd2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, or Hg2+ ranging from 0.5 to 30 mg/L could be quantified by using this SMFC biosensor. As the anode was immersed in the deep soil, this SMFC-based biosensor was able to monitor efficiently for four months under repeated metal ions detection without significant decrease on the output voltage. This finding demonstrated the clear potential of the cathodic SMFC biosensor, which can be further implemented as a low-cost self-powered biosensor.
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. Paper-based devices for rapid diagnostics and testing sewage for early warning of COVID-19 outbreak
- Author
-
Qingxin Hui, Yuwei Pan, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
Paper-based devices ,Rapid diagnosis ,Wastewater-based epidemiology ,COVID-19 ,Early warning system ,Environmental engineering ,TA170-171 ,Chemical engineering ,TP155-156 - Abstract
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, evolved into a global pandemic in 2020, and the outbreak has taken an enormous toll on individuals, families, communities and societies around the world. One practical and effective strategy is to implement rapid case identification based on a rapid testing to respond to this public health crisis. Currently, the available technologies used for rapid diagnostics include RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, ELISA and NGS. Still, due to their different limitations, they are not well suited for rapid diagnosis in a variety of locations. Paper-based devices are alternative approaches to achieve rapid diagnosis, which are cost-effective, highly selective, sensitive, portable, and easy-to-use. In addition to individual virus screening, wastewater-based epidemiology has been emerged to be an effective way for early warning of outbreak within the population, which tests viral genome sequence to reflect information on the spread and distribution of the virus because SARS-CoV-2 can be shed into wastewater through the feces and urine from infected population. In this paper, we describe paper-based device as a low-cost and rapid sensor for both diagnosis and testing of sewage for early warning of outbreak. More importantly, the device has great potential for real-time detection in the field, without any advanced facilities or well-trained and skilled personnel, and provides early warning or timely intervention of an outbreak of pandemic.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Rolling Circle Amplification as an Efficient Analytical Tool for Rapid Detection of Contaminants in Aqueous Environments
- Author
-
Kuankuan Zhang, Hua Zhang, Haorui Cao, Yu Jiang, Kang Mao, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
rolling circle amplification ,environmental monitoring ,heavy metals ,organic molecules ,microorganisms ,Biotechnology ,TP248.13-248.65 - Abstract
Environmental contaminants are a global concern, and an effective strategy for remediation is to develop a rapid, on-site, and affordable monitoring method. However, this remains challenging, especially with regard to the detection of various contaminants in complex water environments. The application of molecular methods has recently attracted increasing attention; for example, rolling circle amplification (RCA) is an isothermal enzymatic process in which a short nucleic acid primer is amplified to form a long single-stranded nucleic acid using a circular template and special nucleic acid polymerases. Furthermore, this approach can be further engineered into a device for point-of-need monitoring of environmental pollutants. In this paper, we describe the fundamental principles of RCA and the advantages and disadvantages of RCA assays. Then, we discuss the recently developed RCA-based tools for environmental analysis to determine various targets, including heavy metals, organic small molecules, nucleic acids, peptides, proteins, and even microorganisms in aqueous environments. Finally, we summarize the challenges and outline strategies for the advancement of this technique for application in contaminant monitoring.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. Entropy-Driven Three-Dimensional DNA Nanofireworks for Simultaneous Real-Time Imaging of Telomerase and MicroRNA in Living Cells
- Author
-
Jin Wang, Kaixuan Wang, Hanyong Peng, Zhen Zhang, Zhugen Yang, Maoyong Song, and Guibin Jiang
- Subjects
Tetrahedral DNA nanostructure ,MicroRNA ,Real-time monitoring ,Signal amplification ,Telomerase ,Biosensor ,Analytical Chemistry - Abstract
Real-time monitoring of different types of intracellular tumor-related biomarkers is of key importance for the identification of tumor cells. However, it is hampered by the low abundance of biomarkers, inefficient free diffusion of reactants, and complex cytoplasmic milieu. Herein, we present a stable and general method for in situ imaging of microRNA-21 and telomerase utilizing simple highly integrated dual tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs) that can naturally enter cells, which could initiate to form the three-dimensional (3D) higher-order DNA superstructures (DNA nanofireworks, DNFs) through a reliable target-triggered entropy-driven strand displacement reaction in living cells for remarkable signal amplification. Importantly, the excellent biostability, biocompatibility, and sensitivity of this approach benefited from (i) the precise multidirectional arrangement of probes with a pure DNA structure and (ii) the local target concentration enhanced by the spatially confined microdomain inside the DNFs. This strategy provides a pivotal molecular toolbox for broad applications such as biomedical imaging and early precise cancer diagnosis.
- Published
- 2023
12. Low-cost and rapid sensors for wastewater surveillance at low-resource settings
- Author
-
Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
Environmental sciences ,Biomarkers - Abstract
Wastewater surveillance enables tracking infectious disease dynamics and community prevalence quantification for public health. However, the testing requirement of centralized laboratories and well-trained staff challenges underserved areas and low-resource settings. The development of new rapid and low-cost sensors enables in-field testing of wastewater from the community to the individual building levels for early warning of pandemics.
- Published
- 2023
13. Well-structured 3D channels within GO-based membranes enable ultrafast wastewater treatment
- Author
-
Huaqiang Fu, Zhe Wang, Peng Li, Wei Qian, Zixin Zhang, Xin Zhao, Hao Feng, Zhugen Yang, Zongkui Kou, and Daping He
- Subjects
wastewater treatment ,water channels ,membranes ,graphene oxide ,General Materials Science ,charge-selectivity ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics - Abstract
Graphene oxide (GO)-based membranes have been widely studied for realizing efficient wastewater treatment, due to their easily functionalizeable surfaces and tunable interlayer structures. However, the irregular structure of water channels within GO-based membrane has largely confined water permeance and prevented the simultaneously improvement of purification performance. Herein, we purposely construct the well-structured three-dimensional (3D) water channels featuring regular and negatively-charged properties in the GO/SiO2 composite membrane via in situ close-packing assembly of SiO2 nanoparticles onto GO nanosheets. Such regular 3D channels can improve the water permeance to a record-high value of 33,431.5 ± 559.9 L·m−2·h−1 (LMH) bar−1, which is several-fold higher than those of current state-of-the-art GO-based membranes. We further demonstrate that benefiting from negative charges on both GO and SiO2, these negatively-charged 3D channels enable the charge selectivity well toward dye in wastewater where the rejection for positive-charged and negative-charged dye molecules is 99.6% vs. 7.2%, respectively. The 3D channels can also accelerate oil/water (O/W) separation process, in which the O/W permeance and oil rejection can reach 19,589.2 ± 1,189.7 LMH bar−1 and 98.2%, respectively. The present work unveils the positive role of well-structured 3D channels on synchronizing the remarkable improvement of both water permeance and purification performance for highly efficient wastewater treatment.
- Published
- 2022
14. Paper Device Combining CRISPR/Cas12a and Reverse-Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for SARS-CoV-2 Detection in Wastewater
- Author
-
Haorui Cao, Kang Mao, Fang Ran, Pengqi Xu, Yirong Zhao, Xiangyan Zhang, Hourong Zhou, Zhugen Yang, Hua Zhang, and Guibin Jiang
- Subjects
SARS-CoV-2 ,Biotin ,CRISPR/Cas12a ,General Chemistry ,Wastewater ,Fluoresceins ,Sensitivity and Specificity ,RNA, Viral ,Environmental Chemistry ,CRISPR-Cas Systems ,Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ,Pandemics ,wastewater ,RT-LAMP ,paper device - Abstract
Wastewater-based surveillance of the COVID-19 pandemic holds great promise; however, a point-of-use detection method for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is lacking. Here, a portable paper device based on CRISPR/Cas12a and reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) with excellent sensitivity and specificity was developed for SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater. Three primer sets of RT-LAMP and guide RNAs (gRNAs) that could lead Cas12a to recognize target genes via base pairing were used to perform the high-fidelity RT-LAMP to detect the N, E, and S genes of SARS-CoV-2. Due to the trans-cleavage activity of CRISPR/Cas12a after high-fidelity amplicon recognition, carboxyfluorescein-ssDNA-Black Hole Quencher-1 and carboxyfluorescein-ssDNA-biotin probes were adopted to realize different visualization pathways via a fluorescence or lateral flow analysis, respectively. The reactions were integrated into a paper device for simultaneously detecting the N, E, and S genes with limits of detection (LODs) of 25, 310, and 10 copies/mL, respectively. The device achieved a semiquantitative analysis from 0 to 310 copies/mL due to the different LODs of the three genes. Blind experiments demonstrated that the device was suitable for wastewater analysis with 97.7% sensitivity and 82% semiquantitative accuracy. This is the first semiquantitative endpoint detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater via different LODs, demonstrating a promising point-of-use method for wastewater-based surveillance.
- Published
- 2022
15. Biosensors and new analytical methods for wastewater-based epidemiology
- Author
-
Zhugen Yang and Damià Barceló
- Subjects
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all ,WBE ,Wastewater-based epidemiology ,Wastewater ,Spectroscopy ,Biomarkers ,Analytical Chemistry - Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology WBE has shown to be an innovative and promising tool for the estimation of community-wide health such as drugs, alcohol, and tobacco use in the past couple of decades since it was proposed in the beginning of 21 centuries. Since the first report from the Netherland in March 2020 on the presence of viral RNA fragment of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, WBE, also namely, wastewater surveillance, has been rapidly emerged as a new public health tool for the monitoring of pathogens to establish the early warning for the pandemic, which can provide the complementary data sets for the clinical testing. For example, viral RNA of SARS-CoV-2 can be monitored in the community at the early stage, effective measures can be taken as early as possible to minimize the pathogen spread.
- Published
- 2023
16. Microfluidics for Rapid Detection of Live Pathogens
- Author
-
Carla Spatola Rossi, Frederic Coulon, Shaohua Ma, Yu Shrike Zhang, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
Biomaterials ,Microfluidics ,Electrochemistry ,sensors ,Condensed Matter Physics ,pathogen detection ,cell viability ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials - Abstract
Rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of live pathogens remains a key priority for quality control and risk assessment. While conventional methods often require complicated workflows, costly reagents, lab equipment, and are time-consuming, rendering them inadequate for field testing and low-resource settings. Increased attention has been drawn to developing alternative low-cost and rapid methods to detect on-site live pathogens in different environmental matrices. Among them, microfluidic devices that integrate various laboratory functions in a miniaturized manner have proven to be a promising tool for the rapid and sensitive detection of pathogens. Herein, the development of microfluidic devices specifically designed for the detection of live pathogens is discussed along a concise summary of novel microfluidics systems recently developed, contrasted to conventional methods regarding assay time, the limit of detection, and target organisms. These include a variety of micro total analysis systems (µTAS) and microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPADs) in combination with molecular methods and traditional live cell detection techniques, such as cell culture, DNA intercalating dyes, resazurin, and immobilized bioreceptors (e.g., aptamers and capture antibodies). Furthermore, insights on the future perspectives of microfluidics for live pathogen detection with a highlight on the rapid and low-cost method development for field testing are provided.
- Published
- 2023
17. Scalable fabrication of graphene-assembled multifunctional electrode with efficient electrochemical detection of dopamine and glucose
- Author
-
Xiaodong Ji, Xin Zhao, Zixin Zhang, Yunfa Si, Wei Qian, Huaqiang Fu, Zibo Chen, Zhe Wang, Huihui Jin, Zhugen Yang, and Daping He
- Subjects
point-of-care diagnosis ,ultra-high conductivity ,graphene film ,multifunctional electrode ,General Materials Science ,wearable medical devices ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics - Abstract
Conventional glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) cannot meet the requirements of future electrodes for wider use due to low conductivity, high cost, non-portability, and lack of flexibility. Therefore, cost-effective and wearable electrode enabling rapid and versatile molecule detection is becoming important, especially with the ever-increasing demand for health monitoring and point-of-care diagnosis. Graphene is considered as an ideal electrode due to its excellent physicochemical properties. Here, we prepare graphene film with ultra-high conductivity and customize the 3-electrode system via a facile and highly controllable laser engraving approach. Benefiting from the ultra-high conductivity (5.65 × 105 Sm−1), the 3-electrode system can be used as multifunctional electrode for direct detection of dopamine (DA) and enzyme-based detection of glucose without further metal deposition. The dynamic ranges from 1–200 µM to 0.5–8.0 mM were observed for DA and glucose, respectively, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.6 µM and 0.41 mM. Overall, the excellent target detection capability caused by the ultra-high conductivity and ease modification of graphene films, together with their superb mechanical properties and ease of mass-produced, provides clear potential not only for replacing GCE for various electrochemical studies but also for the development of portable and highperformance electrochemical wearable medical devices.
- Published
- 2023
18. Self-assembled microfiber-like biohydrogel for ultrasensitive whole-cell electrochemical biosensing in microdroplets
- Author
-
Xiao-Meng Ma, Jian-Wei Wang, Li-Ting Zhao, Yafei Zhang, Jun-Ying Liu, Songmei Wang, Daochen Zhu, Zhugen Yang, and Yang-Chun Yong
- Subjects
Analytical Chemistry - Abstract
A novel microfiber-like biohydrogel was fabricated by a facile approach relying on electroactive bacteria-induced graphene oxide reduction and confined self-assembly in a capillary tube. The microfiber-like biohydrogel (d = ∼1 mm) embedded high-density living cells and activated efficient electron exchange between cells and the conductive graphene network. Further, a miniature whole-cell electrochemical biosensing system was developed and applied for fumarate detection under −0.6 V (vs Ag/AgCl) applied potential. Taking advantage of its small size, high local cell density, and excellent electron exchange, this microfiber-like biohydrogel-based sensing system reached a linear calibration curve (R2 = 0.999) ranging from 1 nM to 10 mM. The limit of detection obtained was 0.60 nM, which was over 1300 times lower than a traditional biosensor for fumarate detection in 0.2 μL microdroplets. This work opened a new dimension for miniature whole-cell electrochemical sensing system design, which provided the possibility for bioelectrochemical detection in small volumes or three-dimensional local detection at high spatial resolutions.
- Published
- 2023
19. Large-Area and Clean Graphene Transfer on Gold-Nanopyramid-Structured Substrates: Implications for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Detection
- Author
-
Heping Wu, Gang Niu, Wei Ren, Zhugen Yang, Qihang Xu, Liyan Dai, Luyue Jiang, Shijie Zhai, Jinyan Zhao, Nan Zhang, Libo Zhao, Zhuangde Jiang, and Gang Zhao
- Subjects
PMMA/paraffin ,Raman spectroscopy ,tensile strain ,graphene transfer ,General Materials Science ,gold nanopyramid ,polarization-dependent - Abstract
The transfer of large-area and clean graphene to arbitrary substrates, especially to those with raised nanostructures, represents a great challenge. Polymer-based supporting layers generally lead to organic residues, while graphene transfer using alternative supporting materials like paraffin suffers from breaking and thus limits the transfer area. We demonstrated an improved poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/paraffin double layer, enabling the large-area transfer of graphene with high cleanliness and high coverage (81%) onto gold nanopyramid (AuNP)-structured substrates. The impact of supporting layers including single PMMA or paraffin and mixed PMMA/paraffin was clarified. The properties of graphene on AuNPs were theoretically and experimentally examined in detail. Raman spectra show a polarization-dependent D peak due to the folding of large-curvature graphene. The graphene on AuNPs shows a slightly tensile strain and provides extra surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with an enhancement factor of ∼20 times. These findings open a pathway to extend the applications of transferred graphene on raised nanostructures in many fields, such as SERS detection, catalysis, biosensors, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, and advanced transparent conductors.
- Published
- 2022
20. Paper microfluidic device enables rapid and on-site wastewater surveillance in community settings
- Author
-
Yuwei Pan, Baojun Wang, Jonathan Cooper, and Zhugen Yang
- Abstract
Tracking genomic sequences as microbial biomarkers in wastewater has been used to determine community prevalence of infectious diseases, contributing to public health surveillance programs. Here we report upon a low-cost, rapid, and user-friendly paper microfluidic platform for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza detection, using a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), with the signal read simply using a mobile phone camera. Sample-to-answer results were collected in -1. The device was subsequently used for on-site testing of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples from four quarantine hotels at London Heathrow Airport, showing comparable results to those obtained using a gold-standard polymerase chain reaction assay, as reference. Our sensing platform, which enables rapid and localized wastewater surveillance and does not require the sample to be sent to a centralized laboratory, is potentially an important public health tool for a wide variety of future applications, in community settings.
- Published
- 2022
21. Ultrathin graphdiyne/graphene heterostructure as a robust electrochemical sensing platform
- Author
-
Xiuchao Sun, Menglu Duan, Rongteng Li, Yuan Meng, Qiang Bai, Lina Wang, Manhong Liu, Zhugen Yang, Zhiling Zhu, and Ning Sui
- Subjects
Ions ,Lead ,Alkynes ,Hemin ,Reproducibility of Results ,Environmental Pollutants ,Graphite ,Ascorbic Acid ,Nitrobenzenes ,Cadmium ,Uric Acid ,Analytical Chemistry - Abstract
Graphdiyne (GDY) has been considered as an appealing electrode material for electrochemical sensing because of its alkyne-rich structure and high degrees of π-conjugation, which shows great affinity to heavy metal ions and pollutant molecules via d−π and π–π interactions. However, the low surface area and poor conductivity of bulk GDY limit its electrochemical performance. Herein, a two-dimensional ultrathin GDY/graphene (GDY/G) nanostructure was synthesized and used as an electrode material for electrochemical sensing. Graphene plays the role of an epitaxy template for few-layered GDY growth and conductive layers. The formed few-layered GDY with a high surface area possesses abundant affinity sites toward heavy metal ions (Cd2+, Pb2+) and toxic molecules, for example, nitrobenzene and 4-nitrophenol, via d−π and π–π interactions, respectively. Moreover, hemin as a key part of the enzyme catalytic motif was immobilized on GDY/G via π–π interactions. The artificial enzyme mimic hemin/GDY/G-modified electrode exhibited promising ascorbic acid and uric acid detection performance with excellent sensitivity and selectivity, a good linear range, and reproducibility. More importantly, real sample detection and the feasibility of this electrochemical sensor as a wearable biosensor were demonstrated.
- Published
- 2022
22. AuAg nanocages/graphdiyne for rapid elimination and detection of trace pathogenic bacteria
- Author
-
Qiang Bai, Hongyang Luo, Shugao Shi, Shen Liu, Lina Wang, Fanglin Du, Zhugen Yang, Zhiling Zhu, and Ning Sui
- Subjects
Biomaterials ,Immunoassay ,Antibacterial ,Colloid and Surface Chemistry ,Bacteria ,Limit of Detection ,Gold-silver nanocages ,Graphite ,Gold ,Graphdiyne ,Photothermal effect ,Surfaces, Coatings and Films ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials - Abstract
We prepared a biocompatible AuAg nanocages/graphdiyne @ polyethylene glycol (AuAg/GDY@PEG) composite. The combination of AuAg and GDY to obtain a synergistically enhanced photothermal effect, and the antibacterial effect of GDY and AuAg are used in combined anti-infective therapy. The in vitro antibacterial activity of AuAg/GDY@PEG was investigated, showing an impressive broad-spectrum antibacterial activity with the killing rate > 99.999%. Based on the photothermal conversion ability of AuAg/GDY@PEG, a simple photothermal immunoassay for pathogenic bacteria was successfully established. Sandwich immune response was performed on a microporous plate, the microplate containing the antibody binds specifically to the bacterium being tested, which then binds to the material with the antibody on its surface, and the signal was a change in temperature under 808 nm near-infrared light. The limit of detection (LOD) for S. typhimurium detection is 103 CFU mL−1, with a range of 103–107 CFU mL−1. This method is accurate, rapid and low-cost, which can be used for on-site detection of pathogenic bacteria in food.
- Published
- 2022
23. Opportunities and Challenges for Biosensors and Nanoscale Analytical Tools for Pandemics: COVID-19
- Author
-
Nikhil Bhalla, Amir Farokh Payam, Zhugen Yang, and Yuwei Pan
- Subjects
sewage sensors ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Process (engineering) ,Computer science ,Pneumonia, Viral ,microfluidics ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Context (language use) ,Biosensing Techniques ,Review ,02 engineering and technology ,pandemics ,010402 general chemistry ,01 natural sciences ,Betacoronavirus ,Pandemic ,Humans ,Nanotechnology ,General Materials Science ,afm ,atomic force microscopy ,poct-devices ,sewage-sensors ,electron microscopy ,Ethical issues ,Warning system ,xrd ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Mechanism (biology) ,General Engineering ,COVID-19 ,nanoplasmonics ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Data science ,X-ray diffraction ,point-of-care-technologies ,0104 chemical sciences ,Identification (information) ,covid-19 ,Contact Tracing ,Coronavirus Infections ,0210 nano-technology ,electron-microscopy ,nanosensors - Abstract
Biosensors and nanoscale analytical tools have shown huge growth in literature in the past 20 years, with a large number of reports on the topic of ‘ultrasensitive’, ‘cost-effective’, and ‘early detection’ tools with a potential of ‘mass-production’ cited on the web of science. Yet none of these tools are commercially available in the market or practically viable for mass production and use in pandemic diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this context, we review the technological challenges and opportunities of current bio/chemical sensors and analytical tools by critically analyzing the bottlenecks which have hindered the implementation of advanced sensing technologies in pandemic diseases. We also describe in brief COVID-19 by comparing it with other pandemic strains such as that of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) for the identification of features that enable biosensing. Moreover, we discuss visualization and characterization tools that can potentially be used not only for sensing applications but also to assist in speeding up the drug discovery and vaccine development process. Furthermore, we discuss the emerging monitoring mechanism, namely wastewater-based epidemiology, for early warning of the outbreak, focusing on sensors for rapid and on-site analysis of SARS-CoV2 in sewage. To conclude, we provide holistic insights into challenges associated with the quick translation of sensing technologies, policies, ethical issues, technology adoption, and an overall outlook of the role of the sensing technologies in pandemics.
- Published
- 2020
24. Paper-based microfluidics for rapid diagnostics and drug delivery
- Author
-
Zhugen Yang, Kang Mao, Xiaocui Min, Hua Zhang, Kuankuan Zhang, Haorui Cao, and Yongkun Guo
- Subjects
0303 health sciences ,Medical diagnostic ,Foodborne pathogen ,Computer science ,Microfluidics ,Loop-mediated isothermal amplification ,diagnostic ,Pharmaceutical Science ,02 engineering and technology ,Paper based ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Paper-based microfluidics ,Molecular Diagnostic Techniques ,Pharmaceutical Preparations ,Infectious disease diagnosis ,LAMP ,Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ,drug delivery ,Drug delivery ,Systems engineering ,0210 nano-technology ,Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ,030304 developmental biology - Abstract
Paper is a common material that is promising for constructing microfluidic chips (lab-on-a-paper) for diagnostics and drug delivery for biomedical applications. In the past decade, extensive research on paper-based microfluidics has accumulated a large number of scientific publications in the fields of biomedical diagnosis, food safety, environmental health, drug screening and delivery. This review focuses on the recent progress on paper-based microfluidic technology with an emphasis on the design, optimization and application of the technology platform, in particular for medical diagnostics and drug delivery. Novel advances have concentrated on engineering paper devices for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics, which could be integrated with nucleic acid-based tests and isothermal amplification experiments, enabling rapid sample-to-answer assays for field testing. Among the isothermal amplification experiments, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), an extremely sensitive nucleic acid test, specifically identifies ultralow concentrations of DNA/RNA from practical samples for diagnosing diseases. We thus mainly focus on the paper device-based LAMP assay for the rapid infectious disease diagnosis, foodborne pathogen analysis, veterinary diagnosis, plant diagnosis, and environmental public health evaluation. We also outlined progress on paper microfluidic devices for drug delivery. The paper concludes with a discussion on the challenges of this technology and our insights into how to advance science and technology towards the development of fully functional paper devices in diagnostics and drug delivery.
- Published
- 2020
25. Bioaccumulation of Hg in Rice Leaf Facilitates Selenium Bioaccumulation in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Leaf in the Wanshan Mercury Mine
- Author
-
Hua Zhang, Runsheng Yin, Chongying Chen, Kang Mao, Zhugen Yang, Chuanyu Chang, Xinbin Feng, and Yuan Shen
- Subjects
Oryza sativa ,biology ,food and beverages ,chemistry.chemical_element ,General Chemistry ,010501 environmental sciences ,Oryza ,biology.organism_classification ,01 natural sciences ,Bioavailability ,Mercury (element) ,chemistry ,Environmental chemistry ,Bioaccumulation ,Environmental Chemistry ,Paddy field ,Selenium ,Sw china ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Mercury (Hg) bioaccumulation in rice poses a health issue for rice consumers. In rice paddies, selenium (Se) can decrease the bioavailability of Hg through forming the less bioavailable Hg selenides (HgSe) in soil. Rice leaves can directly uptake a substantial amount of elemental Hg from the atmosphere, however, whether the bioaccumulation of Hg in rice leaves can affect the bioaccumulation of Se in rice plants is not known. Here, we conducted field and controlled studies to investigate the bioaccumulation of Hg and Se in the rice-soil system. In the field study, we observed a significantly positive correlation between Hg concentrations and BAFs of Se in rice leaves (r2 = 0.60, p < 0.01) collected from the Wanshan Mercury Mine, SW China, suggesting that the bioaccumulation of atmospheric Hg in rice leaves can facilitate the uptake of soil Se, perhaps through the formation of Hg-Se complex in rice leaves. This conclusion was supported by the controlled study, which observed significantly higher concentrations and BAFs of Se in rice leaf at a high atmospheric Hg site at WMM, compared to a low atmospheric Hg site in Guiyang, SW China.
- Published
- 2020
26. Rapid duplexed detection of illicit drugs in wastewater using gold nanoparticle conjugated aptamer sensors
- Author
-
Xiqing Li, Jun Ma, Kang Mao, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
Environmental Engineering ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Substance-Related Disorders ,Aptamer ,Metal Nanoparticles ,Wastewater-based epidemiology ,Nanoparticle ,Wastewater ,010501 environmental sciences ,DNA Aptamers ,Conjugated system ,01 natural sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Limit of Detection ,Illicit drug of abuse ,Environmental Chemistry ,Waste Management and Disposal ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Community level ,Illicit Drugs ,Meth ,Pollution ,Combinatorial chemistry ,Substance Abuse Detection ,chemistry ,Colloidal gold ,Colorimetric biosensor ,Gold ,Biosensor ,Water Pollutants, Chemical ,Environmental Monitoring - Abstract
The abuse of illicit drug addiction is a worldwide public health and social problem. In this paper, we reported on a simple and rapid colorimetric biosensor for duplexed detection of methamphetamine (METH) and cocaine in a single assay. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and Au@Ag NPs were synthesized and functionalized with DNA reporter probes (RPs) for METH and cocaine, respectively. The magnetic beads (MBs) were conjugated with two capture probes (CPs) respective to METH and cocaine. The respective RPs and CPs were designed to hybridize with each illicit drug-binding DNA aptamers through DNA-DNA hybridization, forming a sandwich structure. This MBs-based sandwich structure could be removed with an external magnetic field. However, due to the higher affinity of DNA aptamers with illicit drugs, the sandwich structure was disassembled when illicit drugs are introduced into the solution, leading to the colour changes of the supernatant. Utilizing a non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) algorithm to process the data, we demonstrated the ability of our biosensor for the simultaneous quantification of two illicit drugs. Under the optimal condition, our sensors were able to detect both METH and cocaine at the nM level with a wide dynamic range. This sensing platform provides a huge potential on drug consumption evaluation at the community level for wastewater-based epidemiology.
- Published
- 2019
27. Paper microfluidic implementation of loop mediated isothermal amplification for early diagnosis of hepatitis C virus
- Author
-
Jonathan M. Cooper, Pawel Jajesniak, Alice Garrett, Suleman R. Sabir, Amanda Bradley-Stewart, Julien Reboud, Rory Gunson, Gaolian Xu, Chris Davis, E. Thomson, Weronika Witkowska McConnell, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Genotype ,Point-of-Care Systems ,Science ,Hepatitis C virus ,Microfluidics ,Biomedical Engineering ,Loop-mediated isothermal amplification ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Hepacivirus ,World Health Organization ,medicine.disease_cause ,Article ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Virus ,World health ,Patient care ,Blood Urea Nitrogen ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,Intensive care medicine ,Active hepatitis ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,Multidisciplinary ,Diagnostic Tests, Routine ,business.industry ,Infectious-disease diagnostics ,Diagnostic test ,General Chemistry ,Viral Load ,Hepatitis C ,3. Good health ,Early Diagnosis ,Molecular Diagnostic Techniques ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,Laboratories ,business ,Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ,Nucleic acid detection - Abstract
The early diagnosis of active hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a significant barrier to the treatment of the disease and to preventing the associated significant morbidity and mortality seen, worldwide. Current testing is delayed due to the high cost, long turnaround times and high expertise needed in centralised diagnostic laboratories. Here we demonstrate a user-friendly, low-cost pan-genotypic assay, based upon reverse transcriptase loop mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). We developed a prototype device for point-of-care use, comprising a LAMP amplification chamber and lateral flow nucleic acid detection strips, giving a visually-read, user-friendly result in, Current HCV nucleic acid-based diagnosis is largely performed in centralised laboratories. Here, the authors present a pan-genotypic RNA assay, based on reverse transcriptase loop mediated isothermal amplification and develop a low-cost prototype paper-based lateral flow device for point-of-care use, providing a visually read result within 40 min.
- Published
- 2021
28. Paper-based devices as a new tool for rapid and on-site monitoring of 'superbugs'
- Author
-
Yong-Guan Zhu, Wenliang Li, Zhugen Yang, Frederic Coulon, and Andrew C. Singer
- Subjects
Bacteria ,General Chemistry ,Paper based ,Antimicrobial agents ,Site monitoring ,Antimicrobial ,Colorimetry (chemical method) ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,Antibiotic resistance ,Health ,Genetics ,Diagnostic imaging ,Environmental Chemistry ,Colorimetry ,Business ,Biochemical engineering - Abstract
Infectious diseases are currently a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, with approximately 700 000 deaths each year worldwide.(1) Viruses, bacteria, and fungi have become increasingly resistant to antimicrobial agents, making antimicrobial resistance (AMR) one of the biggest global health challenges humanity has had to face. Recent reports have highlighted the role pandemics may play in exacerbating AMR through the increased use of disinfectants, alcohol-based hand sanitizers, and antiseptic hand wash.(2) Evidence of antibiotic mis-prescribing in hospitalised COVID-19 patients has also been reported, asking a pandemic-induced spike in AMR. Ultimately, the fate of antimicrobial agents and resulting resistant microorganisms is they are discarded into wastewater, entering the environment as sewage, sludge, and treated wastewater. This results in opportunities for further mutation and horizontal gene transfer (HGT).
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
29. Rolling Circle Amplification as an Efficient Analytical Tool for Rapid Detection of Contaminants in Aqueous Environments
- Author
-
Zhugen Yang, Hua Zhang, Yu Jiang, Haorui Cao, Kang Mao, and Kuankuan Zhang
- Subjects
organic molecules ,Environmental analysis ,Computer science ,Clinical Biochemistry ,Heavy metals ,General Medicine ,Review ,Biosensing Techniques ,Contamination ,Rapid detection ,Rolling circle replication ,Nucleic Acids ,Environmental monitoring ,Nucleic acid ,Biochemical engineering ,Monitoring methods ,heavy metals ,microorganisms ,Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ,Water Pollutants, Chemical ,rolling circle amplification ,TP248.13-248.65 ,environmental monitoring ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Environmental contaminants are a global concern, and an effective strategy for remediation is to develop a rapid, on-site, and affordable monitoring method. However, this remains challenging, especially with regard to the detection of various contaminants in complex water environments. The application of molecular methods has recently attracted increasing attention; for example, rolling circle amplification (RCA) is an isothermal enzymatic process in which a short nucleic acid primer is amplified to form a long single-stranded nucleic acid using a circular template and special nucleic acid polymerases. Furthermore, this approach can be further engineered into a device for point-of-need monitoring of environmental pollutants. In this paper, we describe the fundamental principles of RCA and the advantages and disadvantages of RCA assays. Then, we discuss the recently developed RCA-based tools for environmental analysis to determine various targets, including heavy metals, organic small molecules, nucleic acids, peptides, proteins, and even microorganisms in aqueous environments. Finally, we summarize the challenges and outline strategies for the advancement of this technique for application in contaminant monitoring.
- Published
- 2021
30. Nitrogen-Doped Graphdiyne Quantum-dots as an Optical-Electrochemical sensor for sensitive detection of dopamine
- Author
-
Qiang Bai, Hongyang Luo, Xuetao Yi, Shugao Shi, Lina Wang, Manhong Liu, Fanglin Du, Zhugen Yang, and Ning Sui
- Subjects
Dopamine ,Nitrogen-doped ,Electrochemical ,Graphdiyne dots ,Fluorescence ,Spectroscopy ,Analytical Chemistry - Abstract
Graphdiyne quantum dots (GDQDs) have attracted increasing attentions due to its unique electronic, optical, and electrochemical properties. However, the low conductivity and quantum yield of GDQDs limit their application. Here, nitrogen-doped graphdiyne dots (N-GDQDs) are firstly synthesized by a simple, friendly and one-step hydrothermal method. The N-GDQDs show a maximum emission at 410 nm under the excitation wavelength of 319 nm. The doping N modifies the surface defect of N-GDQDs and further greatly improves their quantum yield (from 14.6% to 48.6%). In addition, the doping N induces a strong electron transport ability and good conductivity of N-GDQDs. Subsequently, the prepared N-GDQDs are used for constructing an optical-electrochemical nanosensor for sensitive and selective detection of dopamine (DA). DA can quench the fluorescence of N-GDQDs by forming a ground-state non-fluorescent complex between phenoxy anions (in PBS solution) in DA and pyridinic N sites of N-GDQDs, which leads to a highly sensitive and selective detection of DA with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.14 μM and a linear range of 0.32–500 μM. In the electrochemical detection, DA can be oxidized to DA-quinone under the electric field through N-GDQDs/GCE, which shows a big affinity to N-GDQDs. The LOD for DA is 0.02 μM with a linear range of 0.05–240 μM. Finally, the spiked application for DA detection in human serum samples is investigated, the results show that the method has high accuracy. Our work provides a new carbon quantum dots based sensing platform, which shows great potential in practical application.
- Published
- 2022
31. Paper-based microfluidics for DNA diagnostics of malaria in low resource underserved rural communities
- Author
-
Edridah M. Tukahebwa, Julien Reboud, Zhugen Yang, Jonathan M. Cooper, Alice Garrett, Candia Rowell, Gaolian Xu, and Moses Adriko
- Subjects
Paper ,Rural Population ,Adolescent ,Low resource ,Computer science ,low-resource settings ,Point-of-care testing ,Microfluidics ,Loop-mediated isothermal amplification ,malaria ,Medically Underserved Area ,02 engineering and technology ,Computational biology ,01 natural sciences ,Biochemistry ,Polymerase Chain Reaction ,law.invention ,Engineering ,nucleic acid-based tests ,law ,medicine ,Humans ,Medical diagnosis ,Malaria, Falciparum ,Child ,Polymerase chain reaction ,Multidisciplinary ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Reproducibility of Results ,Biological Sciences ,DNA, Protozoan ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,medicine.disease ,3. Good health ,0104 chemical sciences ,Diagnosis of malaria ,PNAS Plus ,Molecular Diagnostic Techniques ,Physical Sciences ,Health Resources ,paper microfluidics ,0210 nano-technology ,point-of-care diagnostics ,Malaria - Abstract
Significance Populations living in remote rural communities would benefit from rapid, highly sensitive molecular, DNA-based diagnostics to inform the correct and timely treatment of infectious diseases. Such information is also becoming increasingly relevant in global efforts for disease elimination, where the testing of asymptomatic patients is now seen as being important for the identification of disease reservoirs. However, healthcare workers face practical and logistical problems in the implementation of such tests, which often involve complex instrumentation and centralized laboratories. Here we describe innovations in paper microfluidics that enable low-cost, multiplexed DNA-based diagnostics for malaria, delivered, in a first-in-human study, in schools in rural Uganda., Rapid, low-cost, species-specific diagnosis, based upon DNA testing, is becoming important in the treatment of patients with infectious diseases. Here, we demonstrate an innovation that uses origami to enable multiplexed, sensitive assays that rival polymerase chain reactions (PCR) laboratory assays and provide high-quality, fast precision diagnostics for malaria. The paper-based microfluidic technology proposed here combines vertical flow sample-processing steps, including paper folding for whole-blood sample preparation, with an isothermal amplification and a lateral flow detection, incorporating a simple visualization system. Studies were performed in village schools in Uganda with individual diagnoses being completed in
- Published
- 2019
32. A novel biosensor based on Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles for sensitive detection of methylamphetamine with surface enhanced Raman scattering
- Author
-
Sheng Han, Zhugen Yang, Xiaodong Zhou, Kang Mao, Zilei Zhou, Xiqing Li, and Jiming Hu
- Subjects
Detection limit ,Chemistry ,Aptamer ,Analytical chemistry ,Substrate (chemistry) ,Nanoparticle ,02 engineering and technology ,010402 general chemistry ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Mass spectrometry ,01 natural sciences ,0104 chemical sciences ,Analytical Chemistry ,symbols.namesake ,symbols ,0210 nano-technology ,Selectivity ,Biosensor ,Raman scattering - Abstract
We describe a novel biosensing strategy for sensitive detection of methylamphetamine (MAMP) based on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) by the mediation of spacing between 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) labeled Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles (Au@Ag). To achieve a favorable SERS substrate, Au@Ag shell-core nanoparticle was synthesized with seeds growth method and well characterized by SEM, TEM and UV–vis spectrometer. The uniform Au@Ag shows an excellent dispersion ability for SERS detection. Under the optimized conditions, the novel biosensor shows a good logarithm linear correlation with the concentration of MAMP ranging from 0.5 ppb to 40 ppb (R2 = 0.986), with a limit of detection at 0.16 ppb of MAMP (3σ). Furthermore, our biosensors hold an excellent selectivity, demonstrated by the negligible interference from the detection of other illicit drugs and metabolites. The concentrations determined with our biosensor from spiked MAMP in human urine sample fell within the same range with the results from mass spectrometry. This indicates that our sensor has a clear potential for the rapid detection of illicit drug in real samples.
- Published
- 2018
33. Rapid methods for antimicrobial resistance diagnosis in contaminated soils for effective remediation strategy
- Author
-
Shifu Ge, Frederic Coulon, Cailing Zhou, Yuwei Pan, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
Contaminated soils ,Environmental remediation ,Sensors ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Soil amendment ,Heavy metals ,Antimicrobial resistance ,01 natural sciences ,complex mixtures ,0104 chemical sciences ,Analytical Chemistry ,Bioremediation ,Antibiotic resistance ,Research community ,Environmental science ,Soil Pollutants ,Environmental planning ,Petroleum hydrocarbons ,Spectroscopy ,Risk assessment - Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment is a global concern for public health and recent studies have shown that various soil pollutants (e.g. heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons) can cause the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistance genes in the soil. This emergence of AMR in soil is therefore prompting the research community for the development of rapid and real-time monitoring tools to better understand the source, fate and transfer pathway of AMR in contaminated soils. In this respect, the recent development of rapid sensors-based methods has been critically reviewed. The analytical performance of each sensing technique along with their advantages and limitations is further discussed to inform future development needs for the next generation sensors that would allow rapid and multiplexed detection of AMR in contaminated soils. By doing so, it would assist the decision making during remediation project and provide crucial insights into the risk assessment for contaminated sites.
- Published
- 2021
34. Biosensors for wastewater-based epidemiology for monitoring public health
- Author
-
Yuwei Pan, Kang Mao, Zhugen Yang, and Hua Zhang
- Subjects
Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Environmental Engineering ,Computer science ,0208 environmental biotechnology ,Sewage ,Wastewater-based epidemiology ,Biosensing Techniques ,02 engineering and technology ,Wastewater ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Rapid detection ,medicine ,Illicit drug ,Waste Management and Disposal ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Water Science and Technology ,Civil and Structural Engineering ,Public health ,Warning system ,business.industry ,Ecological Modeling ,Wastewater based epidemiology ,Pollution ,020801 environmental engineering ,Highly sensitive ,Ecological Modelling ,Biosensors ,Risk analysis (engineering) ,Potential biomarkers ,Infectious diseases ,Public Health ,business ,Biomarkers - Abstract
Public health is attracting increasing attention due to the current global pandemic, and wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a powerful tool for monitoring of public health by analysis of a variety of biomarkers (e.g., chemicals and pathogens) in wastewater. Rapid development of WBE requires rapid and on-site analytical tools for monitoring of sewage biomarkers to provide immediate decision and intervention. Biosensors have been demonstrated to be highly sensitive and selective tools for the analysis of sewage biomarkers due to their fast response, ease-to-use, low cost and the potential for field-testing. This paper presents biosensors as effective tools for wastewater analysis of potential biomarkers and monitoring of public health via WBE. In particular, we discuss the use of sewage sensors for rapid detection of a range of targets, including rapid monitoring of community-wide illicit drug consumption and pathogens for early warning of infectious diseases outbreaks. Finally, we provide a perspective on the future use of the biosensor technology for WBE to enable rapid on-site monitoring of sewage, which will provide nearly real-time data for public health assessment and effective intervention.
- Published
- 2020
35. Paper-based nanosensors to evaluate community-wide illicit drug use for wastewater-based epidemiology
- Author
-
Jonathan M. Cooper, Zhugen Yang, Kang Mao, Xiqing Li, and Hua Zhang
- Subjects
Drugs of abuse ,Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring ,Environmental Engineering ,0208 environmental biotechnology ,Illicit drugs ,Sewage ,Wastewater-based epidemiology ,02 engineering and technology ,010501 environmental sciences ,Wastewater ,01 natural sciences ,Nanosensor ,Illicit drug ,Waste Management and Disposal ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Water Science and Technology ,Civil and Structural Engineering ,business.industry ,SERS ,Illicit Drugs ,Ecological Modeling ,Environmental engineering ,Paper based ,Wastewater based epidemiology ,Pollution ,020801 environmental engineering ,Nanosensors ,Beijing ,Environmental science ,Sewage treatment ,business ,Water Pollutants, Chemical - Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a powerful technique for monitoring illicit drugs of abuse in the community. Here, we report upon a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensor for the sensitive and selective detection of methamphetamine based upon the assembly of noble metal core-shell nanoparticles on a bespoke glassy nanofibrous electrospun paper matrix. The hierarchical structure of the fibrous paper, modified with the synthesized Au@Ag core-shells (Au@Ag) gave strong SERS signalling, enabling us to evaluate the community-wide prevalence of methamphetamine in wastewater treatment plants within Beijing. We show that, when normalized for the daily flow of the wastewater treatment plants and for population density, higher mass loads of drugs are generally found in sewage influent from urban areas, implying greater local methamphetamine usage than that in less populated areas. The user-friendly and disposable paper sensors demonstrate the applicability of rapid on-site illicit drug detection, illustrating the application to wastewater-based epidemiology, which has the potential to inform government agencies regarding societal interventions.
- Published
- 2020
36. Paper-based microfluidic aptasensors
- Author
-
Yu Xing, Jinping Luo, Yan Cheng, Yu Deng, Shuai Sun, Hao Wang, Tao Ming, Xinxia Cai, Hongyan Jin, Zhugen Yang, Guihua Xiao, and Juntao Liu
- Subjects
Computer science ,Microfluidics ,Paper-based device ,Biomedical Engineering ,Biophysics ,02 engineering and technology ,Biosensing Techniques ,01 natural sciences ,Software portability ,Electrochemistry ,Disease markers ,Point-of-care Diagnosis ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Aptasensor ,General Medicine ,Paper based ,Electrochemical Techniques ,Aptamers, Nucleotide ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Nanomaterial ,0104 chemical sciences ,Nanostructures ,Microfluidic chip ,Risk analysis (engineering) ,0210 nano-technology ,Biotechnology ,Portable equipment - Abstract
For in-situ disease markers detection, point-of-care (POC) diagnosis has great advantages in speed and cost compared with traditional techniques. The rapid diagnosis, prognosis, and surveillance of diseases can significantly reduce disease-related mortality and trauma. Therefore, increasing attention has been paid to the POC diagnosis devices due to their excellent diagnosis speed and portability. Over the past ten years, paper-based microfluidic aptasensors have emerged as a class of critical POC diagnosis devices and various aptasensors have been proposed to detect various disease markers. However, most aptasensors need further improvement before they can actually enter the market and be widely used. There is thus an urgent need to sort out the key points of preparing the aptasensors and the direction that needs to be invested in. This review summarizes the representative articles in the development of paper-based microfluidic aptasensors. These works can be divided into paper-based optical aptasensors and paper-based electrochemical aptasensors according to their output signals. Significant focus is applied to these works according to the following three parts: (1) The ingenious design of device structure; (2) Application and synthesis of nanomaterial; (3) The detection principle of the proposed aptasensor. This is a detailed and comprehensive review of paper-based microfluidic aptasensors. The accomplishments and shortcomings of the current aptasensors are outlined, the development direction and the future prospective are given. It is hoped that the research in this review can provide a reference for further development of more advanced, more effective paper-based microfluidic aptasensors for POC disease markers diagnosis.
- Published
- 2020
37. Efficient removal of Cd(II) from aqueous solution by pinecone biochar: Sorption performance and governing mechanisms
- Author
-
Jing Sun, Zhugen Yang, Zhang Bingbing, Jianxu Wang, Dongye Teng, Hua Zhang, Xu Guomin, Xinbin Feng, Kang Mao, and Bing Wang
- Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Coprecipitation ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,chemistry.chemical_element ,010501 environmental sciences ,Toxicology ,01 natural sciences ,Water Purification ,symbols.namesake ,Adsorption ,Biochar ,Water treatment ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Cadmium ,Aqueous solution ,Chemistry ,Langmuir adsorption model ,Sorption ,General Medicine ,Pollution ,Kinetics ,Chemical engineering ,Heavy metals ,Chemisorption ,Charcoal ,symbols ,Water Pollutants, Chemical - Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most harmful and widespread environmental pollutants. Despite decades-long research efforts, the remediation of water contaminated by Cd has remained a significant challenge. A novel carbon material, pinecone biochar, was previously hypothesized to be a promising adsorbent for Cd, while so far, it has received little attention. This study evaluated the sorption capacity of pinecone biochar through isotherm experiments. Based on Langmuir model, the adsorption maximum for Cd(II) was up to 92.7 mg g−1. The mechanism of Cd(II) adsorption on pinecone biochar was also explored through both thermodynamic and kinetics adsorption experiments, as well as both solution and solid-phase microstructure characterization. The solid-solution partitioning behaviour of Cd(II) fitted best with the Tόth model while the adsorption process followed a pseudo-second-order rate, suggesting that the Cd(II) adsorption on the pinecone biochar was mainly a chemisorption process. Microstructure characteristics and mechanism analysis further suggested that coprecipitation and surface complexation were the main mechanisms of Cd adsorption by biochar. Coprecipitation occurred mainly through the forms of Cd(OH)2 and CdCO3. Our results demonstrated that pinecone biochar was an efficient adsorbent which holds a huge potential for Cd(II) removal from aqueous solution.
- Published
- 2020
38. Nanomaterial-based aptamer sensors for analysis of illicit drugs and evaluation of drugs consumption for wastewater-based epidemiology
- Author
-
Xiqing Li, Zhugen Yang, Hua Zhang, Yuwei Pan, Haorui Cao, Kuankuan Zhang, and Kang Mao
- Subjects
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak ,Drugs of abuse ,Community level ,Computer science ,Aptamer ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Illicit drugs ,Context (language use) ,Wastewater based epidemiology ,DNA ,01 natural sciences ,Article ,0104 chemical sciences ,Analytical Chemistry ,wastewater-based epidemiology ,Risk analysis (engineering) ,Illicit drug ,nanomaterial ,aptasensor ,device integration ,Spectroscopy - Abstract
The abuse of illicit drugs usually associated with dramatic crimes may cause significant problems for the whole society. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been demonstrated to be a novel and cost-effective way to evaluate the abuse of illicit drugs at the community level, and has been used as a routine method for monitoring and played a significant role for combating the crimes in some countries, e.g. China. The method can also provide temporal and spatial variation of drugs of abuse. The detection methods mainly remain on the conventional liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, which is extremely sensitive and selective, however needs advanced facility and well-trained personals, thus limit it in the lab. As an alternative, sensors have emerged to be a powerful analytical tool for a wide spectrum of analytes, in particular aptamer sensors (aptasensors) have attracted increasing attention and could act as an efficient tool in this field due to the excellent characteristics of selectivity, sensitivity, low cost, miniaturization, easy-to-use, and automation. In this review, we will briefly introduce the context, specific assessment process and applications of WBE and the recent progress of illicit drug aptasensors, in particular focusing on optical and electrochemical sensors. We then highlight several recent aptasensors for illicit drugs in new technology integration and discuss the feasibility of these aptasensor for WBE. We will summarize the challenges and propose our insights and opportunity on aptasensor for WBE to evaluate community-wide drug use trends and public health., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • The concept of wastewater-based drug epidemiology (WBE) was outlined. • The recent advances of nanomaterial-based aptasensors for illicit drugs detection are described, focusing on optical and electrochemical strategies. • The emerging DNA technology are discussed for drug detection as well as engineering of aptasensors for portable assay. • The feasibility of illicit drug aptasensors for WBE are discussed. • The future trends and our insights on aptasensors for illicit drug are provided.
- Published
- 2020
39. Low sample volume origami-paper-based graphene-modified aptasensors for label-free electrochemical detection of cancer biomarker-EGFR
- Author
-
Xinxia Cai, Juntao Liu, Jinping Luo, Shuai Sun, Yuanyuan Ma, Jonathan M. Cooper, Yue Yang, Huabing Yin, Ying Xiong, Yang Wang, Tao Ming, Julien Reboud, Shi Yan, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
Detection limit ,Working electrode ,lcsh:T ,Materials Science (miscellaneous) ,Aptamer ,Microfluidics ,Nanotechnology ,Condensed Matter Physics ,lcsh:Technology ,Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,Thionine ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Biosensors ,Linear range ,chemistry ,lcsh:TA1-2040 ,Electrode ,Screen printing ,Nanoparticles ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,lcsh:Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) ,Biosensor - Abstract
In this work, an electrochemical paper-based aptasensor was fabricated for label-free and ultrasensitive detection of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) by employing anti-EGFR aptamers as the bio-recognition element. The device used the concept of paper-folding, or origami, to serve as a valve between sample introduction and detection, so reducing sampling volumes and improving operation convenience. Amino-functionalized graphene (NH2-GO)/thionine (THI)/gold particle (AuNP) nanocomposites were used to modify the working electrode not only to generate the electrochemical signals, but also to provide an environment conducive to aptamer immobilization. Electrochemical characterization revealed that the formation of an insulating aptamer–antigen immunocomplex would hinder electron transfer from the sample medium to the working electrode, thus resulting in a lower signal. The experimental results showed that the proposed aptasensor exhibited a linear range from 0.05 to 200 ngmL−1 (R2 = 0.989) and a detection limit of 5 pgmL−1 for EGFR. The analytical reliability of the proposed paper-based aptasensor was further investigated by analyzing serum samples, showing good agreement with the gold-standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A low-cost electrochemical paper-based sensor has been developed for the highly sensitive detection of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFR normally activates relevant genes, resulting in cell division and proliferation, although its overexpression has been observed in some forms of cancer. There is thus a growing interest in determining EGFR levels as a biomarker for early-stage disease diagnosis. A team headed by Xinxia Cai at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing succeeded in developing a biosensor for EGFR by combining the screen printing of a graphene-modified nanocomposite electrode onto an origami paper-folding for enabling microfluidic reagent and sample processing. The device gave a low detection limit and linear responses across a wide range of EGFR concentrations in human serum (electronic input values). The authors believe that their device can be easily adapted to other soluble biomarkers and that it has potential for use as a handheld instrument as point-of-care testing in early diagnosis and efficacy evaluation of cancer.
- Published
- 2020
40. Can a Paper-Based Device Trace COVID-19 Sources with Wastewater-Based Epidemiology?
- Author
-
Kang Mao, Zhugen Yang, and Hua Zhang
- Subjects
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak ,Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,Immunology ,Pneumonia, Viral ,02 engineering and technology ,Electrochemical detection ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Fluorescence detection ,Betacoronavirus ,Environmental Chemistry ,Humans ,Process engineering ,Pandemics ,Letter to the Editor ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,TRACE (psycholinguistics) ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,COVID-19 ,General Chemistry ,Wastewater based epidemiology ,Paper based ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,United States ,3. Good health ,Coronavirus ,Infectious diseases ,Environmental science ,0210 nano-technology ,business ,Coronavirus Infections - Abstract
A recent outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection has spread rapidly around the globe, with cases now confirmed in 130 countries worldwide. Although public health authorities are racing to contain the spread of COVID-19 around the world, the situation is still grim. About 158 111 confirmed cases and 5946 cumulative deaths (81 059 confirmed cases and 3204 cumulative deaths from China) have been reported around the globe as of March 15, 2020. Some clinical cases have found that some carriers of the virus may be asymptomatic, with no fever, and no, or only slight symptoms of infection. Without the ability to screen these asymptomatic patients quickly and effectively, these unsuspecting carriers have the potential to increase the risk of disease transmission if no early effective quarantine measures are implemented. Therefore, to trace unknown COVID-19 sources, fast and accurate screening of potential virus carriers and diagnosis of asymptomatic patients is a crucial step for intervention and prevention at the early stage.
- Published
- 2020
41. Insights into the mechanisms of arsenic-selenium interactions and the associated toxicity in plants, animals, and humans: a critical review
- Author
-
Atta Rasool, Muhammad Wajahat Aslam, Chuanyu Chang, Jamshed Ali, Muhammad Junaid, Kang Mao, Zhugen Yang, Waqar Ali, Nan Xu, and Hua Zhang
- Subjects
inorganic chemicals ,Environmental Engineering ,fungi ,0208 environmental biotechnology ,food and beverages ,chemistry.chemical_element ,toxicity ,02 engineering and technology ,010501 environmental sciences ,Arsenic-selenium ,complex mixtures ,01 natural sciences ,Pollution ,020801 environmental engineering ,complex-interactions ,chemistry ,Environmental chemistry ,Toxicity ,Waste Management and Disposal ,Selenium ,Arsenic ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Water Science and Technology - Abstract
This review highlights arsenic (As) and selenium (Se) sources in the environment, their uptake in the soil-plant system, interactions between these metals and the associated toxicity in major biological compartments, which may assist in addressing the hazardous impacts associated with As and Se contamination. The interaction between As and Se is a critical factor for a detailed systematic understanding of the transportation, environmental fate, and associated toxicological effects of these metalloids in plants, animals, and humans. Arsenic and Se induce cytotoxicity and genotoxicity through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Compared to arsenite (AsIII), methylated arsenicals, including methylarsonous acid (MAsIII) and dimethylarsinous acids (DMAsIII), exhibit more cytotoxic and genotoxic potential to inhibit more potent enzymes and activate the protein AP˗1, which is a critical marker of genetic stability. Methylated AsIII and its associated metabolites are well-known potential carcinogens that induce toxicity by blocking Se metabolism pathway. The imbalance of Se compounds can lead to the generation of ROS, which can inhibit or decrease genomic stability. The As and Se nexus also affect cellular signaling through activation of transcription factors such as NFκB and AP-1.
- Published
- 2020
42. Customizable fabrication for auxetic graphene assembled macrofilms with high conductivity and flexibility
- Author
-
Pin Wen, Rongguo Song, Peng Li, Wei Qian, Zhe Wang, Daping He, and Zhugen Yang
- Subjects
Materials science ,Fabrication ,Auxetics ,Oxide ,02 engineering and technology ,010402 general chemistry ,Poisson distribution ,01 natural sciences ,Prediction of tunable Poisson's ratio ,law.invention ,symbols.namesake ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Electrical resistivity and conductivity ,law ,Ultimate tensile strength ,General Materials Science ,Auxetic materials ,Composite material ,Porous graphene film ,High conductivity ,Graphene ,General Chemistry ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,0104 chemical sciences ,chemistry ,symbols ,Negetive Poisson's ratio ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
Auxetic materials with negative Poisson’s ratios unusually exhibit intuitive mechanical behaviors, such as cross-section expansion instead of contraction during tension. Such behaviors are interesting because they may enhance unusual mechanical properties. However, controllable preparation of materials with negative Poisson’s ratio is still a major challenge. In this study, we report the synthesis of a flexible auxetic graphene assembled macrofilm (GAMF) from graphene oxide nanosheets by a thermal annealing and press assistant method. The obtained materials exhibit good flexibility and significantly wide tunable negative Poisson’s ratios ranging from −0.11 to −0.53. We also develop a reconstruction model for characterization the uniaxial tension of GAMF based on X-ray tomographic images. The tensile simulation result predicts the function relationship between Poisson’s ratio and critical thickness of pore channels, which is in good agreement with the experimental data. As a result, an effective tunable way is proposed for customizable fabrication of GAMF with tunable negative Poisson’s ratios, and the GAMF materials with good flexibility, high electrical conductivity and superior auxetic behavior looks promising for future development of wearable electronics.
- Published
- 2020
43. Enantiomeric profiling of quinolones and quinolones resistance gene qnrS in European wastewaters
- Author
-
Ettore Zuccato, Erika Castrignanò, Yeonsuk Ryu, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Sara Castiglioni, Richard Bade, Zhugen Yang, Pim de Voogt, Emma Gracia-Lor, Félix Hernández, Edward J. Feil, Benedek G. Plósz, Pedram Ramin, Ana Causanilles, Kevin V. Thomas, Nikolaos I. Rousis, Freshwater and Marine Ecology (IBED, FNWI), Castrignanò, Erika, Yang, Zhugen, Feil, Edward J, Bade, Richard, Castiglioni, Sara, Causanilles, Ana, Gracia-Lor, Emma, Hernandez, Felix, Plósz, Benedek G, Ramin, Pedram, Rousis, Nikolaos I, Ryu, Yeonsuk, Thomas, Kevin V, de Voogt, Pim, Zuccato, Ettore, and Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara
- Subjects
Veterinary medicine ,Environmental Engineering ,Nalidixic acid ,medicine.drug_class ,Antibiotic resistance ,0208 environmental biotechnology ,Wastewater-based epidemiology ,02 engineering and technology ,Quinolones ,Wastewater ,010501 environmental sciences ,Biology ,01 natural sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Enantioselective analysis ,Drug Resistance, Bacterial ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,(fluoro) quinolones ,Waste Water ,Cities ,Waste Management and Disposal ,Norfloxacin ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Water Science and Technology ,Civil and Structural Engineering ,Chiral antibiotics ,Ecological Modeling ,Quinolone ,Pollution ,SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,020801 environmental engineering ,Europe ,chemistry ,Flumequine ,Prulifloxacin ,Lomefloxacin ,Ofloxacin ,(fluoro)quinolones ,Biomarkers ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) was applied for the first time in seven cities across Europe with the aim of estimating quinolones consumption via the analysis of human urinary metabolites in wastewater. This report is also the first pan-European study focussed on the enantiomeric profiling of chiral quinolones in wastewater. By considering loads of (fluoro)quinolones in wastewater within the context of human stereoselective metabolism, we identified cities in Southern Europe characterised by both high usage and direct disposal of unused ofloxacin. In Northern European cities, S-(-)-ofloxacin loads were predominant with respect to R-(+)-ofloxacin. Much more potent, enantiomerically pure S-(-)-ofloxacin was detected in wastewaters from Southern European cities, reflecting consumption of the enantiomerically pure antibiotic. Nalidixic acid, norfloxacin and lomefloxacin were detected in wastewater even though they were not prescribed according to official prescription data. S,S-(-)-moxifloxacin and S,S-(-)-moxifloxacin-N-sulphate were detected in wastewater due to metabolism of moxifloxacin. For the first time, average population-normalised ulifloxacin loads of 22.3 and 1.5 mg day−1 1000 people−1 were reported for Milan and Castellón as a result of prulifloxacin metabolism. Enrichment of flumequine with first-eluting enantiomer in all the samples indicated animal metabolism rather than its direct disposal. Fluoroquinolone loads were compared with qnrS gene encoding quinolone resistance to correlate usage of fluoroquinolone and prevalence of resistance. The highest daily loads of the qnrS gene in Milan corresponded with the highest total quinolone load in Milan proving the hypothesis that higher usage of quinolones is linked with higher prevalence of quinolone resistance genes. Utrecht, with the lowest quinolones usage (low daily loads) had also one of the lowest daily loads of the qnrS gene. However, a similar trend was not observed in Oslo nor Bristol where higher qnrS gene loads were observed despite low quinolone usage.
- Published
- 2020
44. Nanomaterial-based aptamer sensors for arsenic detection
- Author
-
Zhenglu Wang, Zhugen Yang, Kang Mao, Haorui Cao, Kuankuan Zhang, Xiqing Li, and Hua Zhang
- Subjects
Arsenic pollution ,inorganic chemicals ,Aptamer ,Biomedical Engineering ,Biophysics ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Nanotechnology ,Biosensing Techniques ,Spectrum Analysis, Raman ,Rapid detection ,Arsenic ,Human health ,Aptasensors ,Electrochemistry ,Animals ,Humans ,Signal amplification ,Nanomaterials ,integumentary system ,General Medicine ,Electrochemical Techniques ,Equipment Design ,Aptamers, Nucleotide ,Human being ,Nanostructures ,Signal enhancement ,chemistry ,Luminescent Measurements ,Environmental science ,Colorimetry ,Environmental Pollutants ,Optical and electrochemical sensors ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Arsenic (As) is a highly toxic contaminant in the environment and a serious carcinogen for the human being. The toxicity of arsenic significantly threatens environmental and human health. The effective removing technology for arsenic remains challenging, and one of the reasons is due to the lack of powerful detection method in the complex environmental matrix. There is thus an urgent need to develop novel analytical methods for arsenic, preferably with the potential for the field-testing. To combat arsenic pollution and maintain a healthy environment and eco-system, many advanced analytical methods have been developed for arsenic detection in various samples. Among these strategies, biosensors hold great promise for rapid detection of arsenic, in particular, nanomaterials-based aptamer sensors have attracted significant attention due to their simplicity, high sensitivity and rapidness. In this paper, we reviewed the recent development and promising applications of aptamer sensors (aptasensors) based-on nanomaterial for arsenic detection, in particular with emphasis on the works using optical and electrochemical technologies. We also discussed the recent novel technology in aptasensors development for arsenic detection, including nucleic acid amplification for signal enhancement and device integration for the portability of arsenic sensors. We are hoping this review could inspire further researches in developing novel nanotechnologies based aptasensors for possible on-site detection of arsenic.
- Published
- 2019
45. Rapid Veterinary Diagnosis of Bovine Reproductive Infectious Diseases from Semen Using Paper-Origami DNA Microfluidics
- Author
-
Jonathan M. Cooper, Syed Atif Ali, Zhugen Yang, Gaolian Xu, John McGiven, Praveen K. Gupta, Gurpreet Kaur, Julien Reboud, Pallab Chaudhuri, and Nongthombam Boby
- Subjects
DNA, Bacterial ,Paper ,Veterinary medicine ,Microfluidics ,Loop-mediated isothermal amplification ,Brucella abortus ,Cattle Diseases ,Bioengineering ,Semen ,02 engineering and technology ,Brucella ,01 natural sciences ,Brucellosis, Bovine ,Limit of Detection ,Leptospira ,Animals ,Leptospirosis ,Instrumentation ,Pathogen ,Herpesvirus 1, Bovine ,Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes ,biology ,Process Chemistry and Technology ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Herpesviridae Infections ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,biology.organism_classification ,0104 chemical sciences ,3. Good health ,genomic DNA ,Molecular Diagnostic Techniques ,Infectious disease (medical specialty) ,DNA, Viral ,Cattle ,0210 nano-technology ,Bacteria - Abstract
The health and well-being of cattle is a significant concern for global agricultural output. In dairy production within low and middle income countries (LMICs), there is a significant biosensing challenge in detecting sexually transmitted infection (STI) pathogens during animal husbandry, due in part to difficulties associated with the limited infrastructure for veterinary medicine. Here we demonstrate low-cost, multiplexed and sample-to-answer paper-origami tests for the detection of three bovine infectious reproductive diseases in semen samples, collected at a test site in rural India. Pathogen DNA from one viral pathogen, Bovine Herpes virus-1 (BoHV-1) and two bacteria (Brucella and Leptospira) was extracted, amplified (using loop-mediated isothermal amplification, LAMP) and detected fluorescently, enabling
- Published
- 2018
46. A novel colorimetric biosensor based on non-aggregated Au@Ag core–shell nanoparticles for methamphetamine and cocaine detection
- Author
-
Kang Mao, Junrong Li, Xiaodong Zhou, Zhugen Yang, Xiqing Li, and Jiming Hu
- Subjects
Silver ,Scanning electron microscope ,Aptamer ,Metal Nanoparticles ,Nanoparticle ,Nanotechnology ,Biosensing Techniques ,macromolecular substances ,02 engineering and technology ,Conjugated system ,01 natural sciences ,Methamphetamine ,Analytical Chemistry ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Cocaine ,Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors ,Limit of Detection ,Humans ,Colorimetry ,Detection limit ,Chromatography ,Chemistry ,010401 analytical chemistry ,technology, industry, and agriculture ,Meth ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,0104 chemical sciences ,Substance Abuse Detection ,Central Nervous System Stimulants ,Gold ,0210 nano-technology ,Biosensor - Abstract
We report a novel colorimetric biosensor based on non-aggregation Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles to detect methamphetamine and cocaine. The biosensor consisted of a reporter probe (RP) that is a specific single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) sequence coated on Au@Ag nanoparticles, a capture probe (CP) conjugated with magnetic beads, and an illicit drug-binding DNA aptamer (Apt). Au@Ag nanoparticles were synthesized by seed growth and characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and UV–vis spectra. Methamphetamine (METH) was used as an example to evaluate the feasibility of the biosensor and to optimize the detection conditions. We demonstrated that this sensing platform was able to detect as low as 0.1 nM (14.9 ng L−1) METH with a negligible interference from other common illicit drugs. Various concentrations of METH were spiked into urines, and the biosensor yielded recoveries more than 83.1%. In addition, the biosensor also showed a high sensitivity to detect cocaine. These results demonstrated that our colorimetric sensor holds promise to be implemented as a visual sensing platform to detect multiple illicit drugs in biological samples and environmental matrices.
- Published
- 2017
47. Recent advances in biochar engineering for soil contaminated with complex chemical mixtures: Remediation strategies and future perspectives
- Author
-
Chao Cai, Nafees Ahmad, Xiao Jin Yang, Jerry Anae, Vijay Kumar Thakur, Vinod Kumar, Zhugen Yang, Frederic Coulon, and Tony Gutierrez
- Subjects
Bioaugmentation ,Environmental Engineering ,Biochar (Bio)engineering ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Environmental remediation ,Digestate ,Biomass ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Soil ,Bioremediation ,Biochar ,Humans ,Soil Pollutants ,Environmental Chemistry ,Contaminated soil ,Waste Management and Disposal ,Environmental Restoration and Remediation ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Pollution ,Soil contamination ,Hydrogel ,Charcoal ,Environmental chemistry ,Environmental science ,Pyrolysis - Abstract
Heavy metal/metalloids (HMs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil have caused serious environmental problems, compromised agriculture quality, and have detrimental effects on all forms of life including humans. There is a need to develop appropriate and effective remediation methods to resolve combined contaminated problems. Although conventional technologies exist to tackle contaminated soils, application of biochar as an effective renewable adsorbent for enhanced bioremediation is considered by many scientific researchers as a promising strategy to mitigate HM/PAH co-contaminated soils. This review aims to: (i) provide an overview of biochar preparation and its application, and (ii) critically discuss and examine the prospects of (bio)engineered biochar for enhancing HMs/PAHs co-remediation efficacy by reducing their mobility and bioavailability. The adsorption effectiveness of a biochar largely depends on the type of biomass material, carbonisation method and pyrolysis conditions. Biochar induced soil immobilise and remove metal ions via various mechanisms including electrostatic attractions, ion exchange, complexation and precipitation. PAHs remediation mechanisms are achieved via pore filling, hydrophobic effect, electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bond and partitioning. During last decade, biochar engineering (modification) via biological and chemical approaches to enhance contaminant removal efficiency has garnered greater interests. Hence, the development and application of (bio)engineered biochars in risk management, contaminant management associated with HM/PAH co-contaminated soil. In terms of (bio)engineered biochar, we review the prospects of amalgamating biochar with hydrogel, digestate and bioaugmentation to produce biochar composites.
- Published
- 2021
48. Droplet microfluidics on analysis of pathogenic microbes for wastewater-based epidemiology
- Author
-
Jing Zhang, Ziyi Yu, Weiliang Dong, Zhugen Yang, Shixiang Cao, Yangteng Ou, Ou, Yangteng [0000-0001-8479-276X], Yu, Ziyi [0000-0003-4420-5836], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
- Subjects
Droplet microfluidics ,endocrine system ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,010401 analytical chemistry ,technology, industry, and agriculture ,Wastewater-based epidemiology ,Wastewater based epidemiology ,Living cell ,01 natural sciences ,complex mixtures ,Microbiology ,eye diseases ,Article ,0104 chemical sciences ,Analytical Chemistry ,FOS: Biological sciences ,Environmental science ,Biochemical engineering ,Spectroscopy - Abstract
Infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microbes have posed a major health issue for the public, such as the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. In recent years, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is emerging as an effective and unbiased method for monitoring public health. Despite its increasing importance, the advancement of WBE requires more competent and streamlined analytical platforms. Herein we discuss the interactions between WBE and droplet microfluidics, focusing on the analysis of pathogens in droplets, which is hard to be tackled by traditional analytical tools. We highlight research works from three aspects, namely, quantitation of pathogen biomarkers in droplets, single-cell analysis in droplets, and living cell biosensors in droplets, as well as providing future perspectives on the synergy between WBE and droplet microfluidics.
- Published
- 2021
49. Wastewater-based epidemiology to assess pan-European pesticide exposure
- Author
-
Adrian Covaci, Ana Causanilles, Félix Hernández, Ettore Zuccato, Nikolaos I. Rousis, Pim de Voogt, Emma Gracia-Lor, Alexander L.N. van Nuijs, Sara Castiglioni, Richard Bade, Pedram Ramin, Juliet Kinyua, Kevin V. Thomas, Jose Antonio Baz-Lomba, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Yeonsuk Ryu, Ann Kathrin McCall, Zhugen Yang, Benedek G. Plósz, Erika Castrignanò, Rousis, Nikolaos I, Gracia-Lor, Emma, Zuccato, Ettore, Bade, Richard, Baz-Lomba, Jose Antonio, Castrignanò, Erika, Causanilles, Ana, Covaci, Adrian, de Voogt, Pim, Hernàndez , Félix, Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara, Kinyua, Juliet, McCall, Ann-Kathrin, Plósz, Benedek Gy, Ramin, Pedram, Ryu, Yeonsuk, Thomas, Kevin V, van Nuijs, Alexander, Yang, Zhugen, Castiglioni, Sara, and Freshwater and Marine Ecology (IBED, FNWI)
- Subjects
Environmental Engineering ,Acceptable daily intake ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Population ,Wastewater ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Toxicology ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Human intake ,Biomonitoring ,Humans ,Cities ,Pesticides ,education ,Biology ,Waste Management and Disposal ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Civil and Structural Engineering ,Water Science and Technology ,Human urinary metabolites ,education.field_of_study ,Mass spectrometry ,Ecological Modeling ,Urban wastewater ,Environmental Exposure ,Wastewater based epidemiology ,Pesticide ,Pollution ,6. Clean water ,SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities ,3. Good health ,Europe ,Chemistry ,Ecological Modelling ,chemistry ,Spain ,13. Climate action ,Environmental science ,Sewage treatment ,Xenobiotic ,Environmental Monitoring - Abstract
Human biomonitoring, i.e. the determination of chemicals and/or their metabolites in human specimens, is the most common and potent tool for assessing human exposure to pesticides, but it suffers from limitations such as high costs and biases in sampling. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is an innovative approach based on the chemical analysis of specific human metabolic excretion products (biomarkers) in wastewater, and provides objective and real-time information on xenobiotics directly or indirectly ingested by a population. This study applied the WBE approach for the first time to evaluate human exposure to pesticides in eight cities across Europe. 24 h-composite wastewater samples were collected from the main wastewater treatment plants and analyzed for urinary metabolites of three classes of pesticides, namely triazines, organophosphates and pyrethroids, by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The mass loads (mg/day/1000 inhabitants) were highest for organophosphates and lowest for triazines. Different patterns were observed among the cities and for the various classes of pesticides. Population weighted loads of specific biomarkers indicated higher exposure in Castellon, Milan, Copenhagen and Bristol for pyrethroids, and in Castellon, Bristol and Zurich for organophosphates. The lowest mass loads (mg/day/1000 inhabitants) were found in Utrecht and Oslo. These results were in agreement with several national statistics related to pesticides exposure such as pesticides sales. The daily intake of pyrethroids was estimated in each city and it was found to exceed the acceptable daily intake (ADI) only in one city (Castellon, Spain). This was the first large-scale application of WBE to monitor population exposure to pesticides. The results indicated that WBE can give new information about the "average exposure" of the population to pesticides, and is a useful complementary biomonitoring tool to study population-wide exposure to pesticides. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Published
- 2017
50. Measuring biomarkers in wastewater as a new source of epidemiological information: Current state and future perspectives
- Author
-
Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Yeonsuk Ryu, Emma Gracia-Lor, Markus R. Meyer, Zhugen Yang, Nikolaos I. Rousis, Frederic Been, Iria González-Mariño, Foon Yin Lai, Ivan Senta, Adrian Covaci, Erika Castrignanò, Thomas Letzel, Nikolaos S. Thomaidis, Evroula Hapeshi, Richard Bade, Juliet Kinyua, Ettore Zuccato, Miguel M. Santos, Axel Rydevik, Lubertus Bijlsma, Pedram Ramin, Sofia Veloutsou, Jake W. O'Brien, Sara Castiglioni, Luigi Lopardo, Gracia-Lor, Emma, Castiglioni, Sara, Bade, Richard, Been, Frederic, and Bijlsma, Lubertus
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Consumption ,Epidemiology ,Population ,Wastewater ,Biomarker ,Exposure ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being ,Environmental health ,Humans ,Medicine ,education ,Life Style ,Biology ,lcsh:Environmental sciences ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,General Environmental Science ,Population Density ,lcsh:GE1-350 ,education.field_of_study ,business.industry ,Public health ,010401 analytical chemistry ,6. Clean water ,0104 chemical sciences ,Biotechnology ,Chemistry ,Lifestyle factors ,Pharmaceutical Preparations ,Biomarker (medicine) ,Environmental Pollutants ,Public Health ,Substance use ,business ,Lifestyle habits ,Environmental Sciences ,Biomarkers - Abstract
The information obtained from the chemical analysis of specific human excretion products (biomarkers) in urban wastewater can be used to estimate the exposure or consumption of the population under investigation to a defined substance. A proper biomarker can provide relevant information about lifestyle habits, health and wellbeing, but its selection is not an easy task as it should fulfil several specific requirements in order to be successfully employed. This paper aims to summarize the current knowledge related to the most relevant biomarkers used so far. In addition, some potential wastewater biomarkers that could be used for future applications were evaluated. For this purpose, representative chemical classes have been chosen and grouped in four main categories: (i) those that provide estimates of lifestyle factors and substance use, (ii) those used to estimate the exposure to toxicants present in the environment and food, (iii) those that have the potential to provide information about public health and illness and (iv) those used to estimate the population size. To facilitate the evaluation of the eligibility of a compound as a biomarker, information, when available, on stability in urine and wastewater and pharmacokinetic data (i.e. metabolism and urinary excretion profile) has been reviewed. Finally, several needs and recommendations for future research are proposed. This work was supported by the COST Action ES1307 “SCORE – Sewage biomarker analysis for community health assessment”. Emma Gracia-Lor is very grateful to Generalitat Valenciana, Conselleria d'Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport (APOSTD/2015, Programa VALi + d) for her post-doctoral contract. Lubertus Bijlsma acknowledges NPS-Euronet (HOME/2014/JDRUG/AG/DRUG/7086), co-funded by the European Union, for his post-doctoral fellowship. Erika Castrignanò, Richard Bade, Juliet Kinyua, Pedram Ramin, Nikolaos I. Rousis, Yeonsuk Ryu would like to thank the SEWPROF MC ITN project, ‘A new paradigm in drug use and human health risk assessment: Sewage profiling at the community level’ [grant agreement 317205] supported by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration for the financial support. Iria González-Mariño extends her gratitude to the Galician Council of Culture, Education and Universities for her postdoctoral contract (Plan Galego de Investigación, Innovación e Crecemento 2011–2015). Foon Yin Lai acknowledges her postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Antwerp. Luigi Lopardo, Axel Rydevik and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern would like to acknowledge Leverhulme Trust for funding ‘TOX-EDC, Wastewater profiling for community-wide human exposure assessment from environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals in personal care and consumer products’ (Project No: RPG-2013-297). Frederic Been would like to thank the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF, P2LAP2_164892) for his post-doctoral grant. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
- Published
- 2017
Catalog
Discovery Service for Jio Institute Digital Library
For full access to our library's resources, please sign in.