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Significance: In photoacoustic tomography (PAT), numerous reconstruction algorithms have been utilized to recover initial pressure rise distribution from the acquired pressure waves. In practice, most of these reconstructions are carried out on a desktop/workstation and the mobile-based reconstructions are far-flung. In recent years, mobile phones are becoming so ubiquitous, and most of them encompass a higher computing ability. Hence, realizing PAT image reconstruction on a mobile platform is intrinsic, and it will enhance the adaptability of PAT systems with point-of-care applications. Aim: To implement PAT image reconstruction in Android-based mobile platforms. Approach: For implementing PAT image reconstruction in Android-based mobile platforms, we proposed an Android-based application using Python to perform beamforming process in Android phones. Results: The performance of the developed application was analyzed on different mobile platforms using both simulated and experimental datasets. The results demonstrate that the developed algorithm can accomplish the image reconstruction of in vivo small animal brain dataset in 2.4 s. Furthermore, the developed application reconstructs PAT images with comparable speed and no loss of image quality compared to that on a laptop. Employing a two-fold downsampling procedure could serve as a viable solution for reducing the time needed for beamforming while preserving image quality with minimal degradation. Conclusions: We proposed an Android-based application that achieves image reconstruction on cheap, small, and universally available phones instead of relatively bulky expensive desktop computers/laptops/workstations. A beamforming speed of 2.4 s is achieved without hampering the quality of the reconstructed image. Ministry of Education (MOE) Published version The authors would like to acknowledge the support by the Tier 1 Grant funded by the Ministry of Education in Singapore (Grant No. RG30/21).

BACKGROUND: Potato virus Y (PVY) was first discovered by Smith in 1931 and is currently ranked as the fifth most significant plant virus. It can cause severe damage to plants from the family Solanaceae, which results in billions of dollars of economic loss worldwide every year. To discover new antiviral drugs, a class of multifunctional urazole derivatives bearing a stereogenic C-N axis were synthesized with excellent optical purities for antiviral evaluations against PVY. RESULTS: The absolute configurations of the axially chiral compounds exhibited obvious distinctions in antiviral bioactivities, with several of these enantio-enriched axially chiral molecules showing excellent anti-PVY activities. In particular, compound (R)-9f exhibited remarkable curative activities against PVY with a 50% maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 224.9 μg mL−1, which was better than that of ningnanmycin (NNM), which had an EC50 of 234.0 μg mL−1. And the EC50 value of the protective activities of compound (R)-9f was 462.2 μg mL−1, which was comparable to that of NNM (442.0 μg mL−1). The mechanisms of two enantiomer of the axially chiral compounds 9f were studied by both molecule docking and defensive enzyme activity tests. CONCLUSION: Mechanistic studies demonstrated that the axially chiral configurations of the compounds played significant roles in the molecule PVY-CP (PVY Coat Protein) interactions and could enhance the activities of the defense enzymes. The (S)-9f showed only one carbon–hydrogen bond and one π–cation interaction between the chiral molecule and the PVY-CP amino acid sites. In contrast, the (R)-enantiomer of 9f exhibited three hydrogen bonding interactions between the carbonyl groups and the PVY-CP active sites of ARG157 and GLN158. The current study provides significant information on the roles that axial chiralities play in plant protection against viruses, which will facilitate the development of novel green pesticides bearing axial chiralities with excellent optical purities. Ministry of Education (MOE) National Research Foundation (NRF) We acknowledge funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32172459, 21961006, 22071036), the Frontiers Science Center for Asymmetric Synthesis and Medicinal Molecules, Department of Education, Guizhou Province [Qianjiaohe KY number (2020)004], the 10 Talent Plan (Shicengci) of Guizhou Province ([2016]5649), the Science and Technology Department of Guizhou Province ([2018]2802, [2019]1020,Qiankehejichu-ZK[2021]Key033), the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities of China (111 Program, D20023)at Guizhou University, the Singapore National Research Foundation under its NRF Investigatorship (NRF-NRFI2016-06) and the Competitive Research Program (NRF-CRP22-2019-0002), and the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under its MOE AcRF Tier 1 Award(RG7/20, RG5/19), MOE AcRF Tier 2 (MOE2019-T2-2-117), and MOE AcRF Tier 3 Award (MOE2018-T3-1-003).

While hydrogels enable a variety of applications in wearable sensors and electronic skins, they are susceptible to fatigue fracture during cyclic deformations owing to their inefficient fatigue resistance. Herein, acrylated β-cyclodextrin with bile acid is self-assembled into a polymerizable pseudorotaxane via precise host-guest recognition, which is photopolymerized with acrylamide to obtain conductive polymerizable rotaxane hydrogels (PR-Gel). The topological networks of PR-Gel enable all desirable properties in this system due to the large conformational freedom of the mobile junctions, including the excellent stretchability along with superior fatigue resistance. PR-Gel based strain sensor can sensitively detect and distinguish large body motions and subtle muscle movements. The three-dimensional printing fabricated sensors of PR-Gel exhibit high resolution and altitude complexity, and real-time human electrocardiogram signals are detected with high repeating stability. PR-Gel can self-heal in air, and has highly repeatable adhesion to human skin, demonstrating its great potential in wearable sensors. Published version This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22075087 (Y.G.J.), 22072047 (Y.C.), 32022041 (X.S.), U22A20157 (X.S.), and U1801252 (L.W.)), the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou City China (202007020002 (X.S.)), and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province China (2019A1515011129 (Y.G.J.)).

The emergence of multi-drug resistant bacteria strains has been an uphill battle in modern healthcare worldwide, due to the increasing difficulty of killing them. The evolving pathogenicity of bacteria has led to researchers searching for more effective antimicrobial therapeutics to successfully eliminate them without undesirable consequences to the human body. In recent years, antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (APDT), an obsolete technique for cancer treatments, has been reported to eradicate bacteria and biofilm-related infections. The principle of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy solely relies on the photosensitizers (PSs) generating reactive oxygen species, in the presence of oxygen and light, to destroy pathogens. Thus, it can target a broad spectrum of microorganisms, owing to the indirect interaction between PSs and the bacteria, resulting in the less likelihood for the development of drug resistant bacteria strains. This review will focus on the recent progress of APDT in the last five years and some future perspectives of APDT. The mechanism of APDT against bacteria and biofilms, various PSs used for APDT, and some common multidrug-resistant bacteria strains will be briefly introduced. The reported in vivo applications of APDT in the several types of bacterial infections that includes periodontitis, wound infections, keratitis, endophthalmitis and tuberculosis in the last five years will be summarized in detail. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Ministry of Education (MOE) Submitted/Accepted version This work is supported by MOE Tier 1 RG4/22, RG6/20, RG69/21, MoE AcRF Tier 1 Theme RT7/22, A*Star SERC A1983c0028, A20E5c0090, awarded at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No.51929201,22007083).

Fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window holds great promise for in vivo visualization of amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology, which can facilitate characterization and deep understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, it has been rarely exploited. Herein, we report the development of NIR-II fluorescent reporters with a donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) architecture for specific detection of Aβ plaques in AD-model mice. Among all the designed probes, DMP2 exhibits the highest affinity to Aβ fibrils and can specifically activate its NIR-II fluorescence after binding to Aβ fibrils via suppressed twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) effect. With suitable lipophilicity for ideal blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetrability and deep-tissue penetration of NIR-II fluorescence, DMP2 possesses specific detection of Aβ plaques in in vivo AD-model mice. Thus, this study presents a potential agent for non-invasive imaging of Aβ plaques and deep deciphering of AD progression. Ministry of Education (MOE) National Research Foundation (NRF) The authors thank the financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (22106115, 81901803, and 22274107), Jiangsu Specially Appointed Professorship, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20190830and BK20190811), Leading Talents of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Gusu (ZXL2021457),and Soochow Technological Project(SYS2020082).K.P. thanks Singapore National Research Foundation(NRF)(NRF-NRFI07-2021-0005), and Singapore Ministry of Education, Academic Research Fund Tier 1 (2019-T1-002-045, RG125/19, RT05/20), Academic Research Fund Tier 2 (MOE-T2EP30220-0010; MOE-T2EP30221-0004), for the financial support.

New antimicrobials are urgently needed to combat Gram-negative bacteria, particularly multi-drug resistant (MDR) and phenotypically resistant biofilm species. At present, only sequence-defined alpha-peptides (e.g. polymyxin B) can selectively target Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharides. We show that a copolymer, without a defined sequence, shows good potency against MDR Gram-negative bacteria including its biofilm form. The tapered blocky co-beta-peptide with controlled N-terminal hydrophobicity (#4) has strong interaction with the Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharides via its backbone through electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions but not the Gram-positive bacterial and mammalian cell membranes so that this copolymer is non-toxic to these two latter cell types. The new #4 co-beta-peptide selectively kills Gram-negative bacteria with low cytotoxicity both in vitro and in a mouse biofilm wound infection model. This strategy provides a new concept for the design of Gram-negative selective antimicrobial peptidomimetics against MDR and biofilm species. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Ministry of Education (MOE) Submitted/Accepted version This research is supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under its MOE AcRF Tier 3 Awards of MOE2018-T3-1-003 and MOE2013-T3-1-002. Zhangyong Si acknowledges the support of an NTU Ph.D. scholarship. The authors thank the NSCC and ASTAR ACRC for providing the computational resources to perform simulations and A*STAR for support (grant IDs H17/01/a0/010, IAF111213C). We also thank the A*STAR Wound Care Innovation for the Tropics IAF-PP (HBMS Domain) with grant number H17/01/a0/0M9, the A*STAR RIE2020 Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) IAP-PP Specialty Chemicals Programme (Grant No. A1786a0032) and A*STAR Career Development Award (CDA, Grant No. 202D8155), the Major Project of 2025 Sci &Tech Innovation of Ningbo, China (2018B10052) and NTU for funding support.

The treatment of bacterial infections is becoming increasingly challenging with the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Thus, the development of antimicrobials with novel mechanisms of action is much needed. Previously, we designed several cationic main-chain imidazolium compounds and identified the polyimidazolium PIM1 as a potent antibacterial against a wide panel of multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogens, and it had relatively low toxicity against mammalian epithelial cells. However, little is known about the mechanism of action of PIM1. Using an oligomeric version of PIM1 with precisely six repeating units (OIM1-6) to control for consistency, we showed that OIM1-6 relies on an intact membrane potential for entry into the bacterial cytoplasm, as resistant mutants to OIM1-6 have mutations in their electron transport chains. These mutants demonstrate reduced uptake of the compound, which can be circumvented through the addition of a sub-MIC dose of colistin. Once taken up intracellularly, OIM1-6 exerts double-stranded DNA breaks. Its potency and ability to kill represents a promising class of drugs that can be combined with membrane-penetrating drugs to potentiate activity and hedge against the rise of resistant mutants. In summary, we discovered that cationic antimicrobial OIM1-6 exhibits an antimicrobial property that is dissimilar to the conventional cationic antimicrobial compounds. Its killing mechanism does not involve membrane disruption but instead depends on the membrane potential for uptake into bacterial cells so that it can exert its antibacterial effect intracellularly. Ministry of Education (MOE) Nanyang Technological University National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore Published version This study was supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under its MOE AcRF Tier 3 Award of MOE2018-T3-1-003. M.Y. acknowledges the support of the MOE Ph.D. scholarship under the MOE AcRF Tier 3 Award (MOE2018-T3-1-003). C.H.K. acknowledges the support of an NTU Ph.D. scholarship. Y.M. acknowledges the support of the Singapore MOE Tier 1 Grant RG27/21 and the Singapore National Supercomputing Center (NSCC).

The increase in global temperature calls for ambitious action to reduce the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The transportation sector contributes up to 25% of the total emissions released, mainly from the burning of vehicle fuel. Therefore, scientists from all around the world are focusing on finding a sustainable alternative to conventional vehicle fuel. Biofuel has attracted much attention, as it shows great potential for the replacement of traditional fossil fuels. However, the main bottlenecks of biofuel are the ongoing controversial conflict between food security with biofuel production. Therefore, this study focuses on a sustainable extraction of lipids from microalgae for the production of biofuel using a liquid biphasic flotation system coupled with sugaring-out method. This is the first study to combine the methods of liquid biphasic flotation system with the sugaring-out technique. It represents a holistic study of optimum and effective conditions needed to extract lipids from the system and to understand the reliability of sugar solution as the agent of cell disruption. At the 15-min flotation time, 150 g/L of fructose solution with a 1:2 mass separating agent-acetonitrile ratio successfully extracted up to 74% of lipid from Chlorella sorokiniana CY-1. Two types of fatty acid methyl esters were recovered from the study, with C5:0 being the main component extracted. Published version This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, Malaysia [FRGS/1/ 2019/STG05/UNIM/02/2] and MyPAIR-PHC-Hibiscus Grant [MyPAIR/1/2020/STG05/UNIM/1].

Cilia broadly exist in a wide range of living systems. The metachronal waves generated by arrays of beating cilia are essential for realizing complex biological functions, such as locomotion and transportation, which have inspired the design in advanced engineering systems, e.g., programmable cilia-inspired soft robots. However, due to lack of efficient dynamic modeling and numerical explorations on such complex active systems, design and control of cilia-inspired soft robots usually involve empirical approaches or highly time-consuming numerical simulations. Here, we report a numerical framework based on the discrete differential geometry (DDG) for the dynamic analysis of bio-inspired cilia carpet robots powered by external magnetic field. The active cilia is modeled as discrete magneto-elastic rods (DMER) and the carpet by discrete elastic plate (DEP) method, which are geometrically rigorous frameworks for the nonlinear mechanics of flexible structures. The clamped-type connection between slender cilia and thin carpet is achieved by introducing a special coupling element between rod segments and triangular carpet surfaces. The intersection-free contact and frictional interaction between soft robots and rigid ground is captured based on incremental potential energy theory and lagged dissipative principle, respectively, and, therefore, the constrained elastodynamic system equations can be solved implicitly through a variational approach. Two types of typical dynamic locomotion – crawling and rolling – are considered to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our numerical method. The results show that the locomotion efficiency of the robot depends on the structural design. We also demonstrate that the crawling pathways (e.g., turning) can be programmed via selective actuation. This computationally efficient dynamic framework can not only provide insights on fundamental understanding of the biophysics of microorganisms, but also provide guidelines on the optimal design of cilia-inspired soft robots for biomedical applications. Ministry of Education (MOE) Nanyang Technological University W.H. acknowledges research funding from the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (BK20220794). M.L. acknowledges the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. K.J.H. acknowledges the financial supports from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Grant M4082428) and Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Fund Tier 2 (T2EP50122-0005).

Production and extraction systems of algal protein and handling process of functional food ingredients need to control several parameters such as temperature, pH, intensity, and turbidity. Many researchers have investigated the Internet of Things (IoT) approach for enhancing the yield of microalgae biomass and machine learning for identifying and classifying microalgae. However, there have been few specific studies on using IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) for production and extraction of algal protein as well as functional food ingredients processing. In order to improve the production of algal protein and functional food ingredients, the implementation of smart system is a must to have real-time monitoring, remote control system, quick response to sudden events, prediction and characterisation. Techniques of IoT and AI are expected to help functional food industries to have a big breakthrough in the future. Manufacturing and implementation of beneficial smart systems are important to provide convenience and to increase the efficiency of work by using the interconnectivity of IoT devices to have good capturing, processing, archiving, analyzing, and automation. This review investigates the possibilities of implementation of IoT and AI in production and extraction of algal protein and processing of functional food ingredients.

Injury to the central nervous system (CNS) provokes an inflammatory reaction and secondary damage that result in further tissue damage and destruction of neurons away from the injury site. Upon injury, expression of connexin 43 (Cx43), a gap junction protein, upregulates and is responsible for the spread and amplification of cell death signals through these gap junctions. In this study, we hypothesise that the downregulation of Cx43 by scaffold-mediated controlled delivery of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (asODN), would minimise secondary injuries and cell death, and thereby support tissue regeneration after nerve injuries. Specifically, using spinal cord injury (SCI) as a proof-of-principle, we utilised a fibre-hydrogel scaffold for sustained delivery of Cx43asODN, while providing synergistic topographical cues to guide axonal ingrowth. Correspondingly, scaffolds loaded with Cx43asODN, in the presence of NT-3, suppressed Cx43 up-regulation after complete transection SCI in rats. These scaffolds facilitated the sustained release of Cx43asODN for up to 25 days. Importantly, asODN treatment preserved neurons around the injury site, promoted axonal extension, decreased glial scarring, and reduced microglial activation after SCI. Our results suggest that implantation of such scaffold-mediated asODN delivery platform could serve as an effective alternative SCI therapeutic approach. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Ministry of Education (MOE) Nanyang Technological University National Research Foundation (NRF) Skin Research Institute of Singapore (SRIS) Published version The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The experiments in this work were supported by the Ministry of Education Tier 1 (RG38/19, RG37/20) and the National Research Foundation, Singapore, under its Intra-CREATE Thematic Grant (Award number: NRF2019-THE002-0001). We acknowledge the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) under its Industry Alignment Fund – Pre-Positioning Programme (IAF-PP) (Grant number H17/01/a0/0C9 and H1701a0004). We thank the Skin Research Institute of Singapore, Phase 2: SRIS@Novena for providing this work with the floor infrastructure and core equipment. JS Chin was also supported by IGS’s studentship.

Photosynthetic microorganisms, especially microalgae and cyanobacteria, have been well-developed as attractive biomaterials with their eigen oxygen production capability, high-value metabolites, and diverse biofunctionalities. Moreover, recent advances in nanotechnology and materials sciences also witnessed promising prospects by integrating unique properties of distinctive functional materials with photosynthetic microorganisms to construct material-decorated photosynthetic microorganisms (MPMs) that can foster diversified biomedical functions. These integrated MPM hybrids can serve as smart cargoes for targeting therapeutic delivery, mainly due to their modifiable surface morphology, actuated propulsion, good biocompatibility, and spacious encapsulating effect. Moreover, attributing to the intrinsic oxygenation and autofluorescence, the MPMs can also act as the oxygen supplier to conduct various oxygen-related modulation and image-guided therapies. This review systematically outlines the recent advances of MPMs as unique platforms to achieve their targeted drug delivery. In addition, promising applications of these micro-sized biohybrids for in situ oxygen modulation and oxygen-related therapeutic manipulation are also summarized. Some relevant applications regarding their synergistic theranostics and the feasibility as the macro-sized scaffold for tissue engineering and wound healing are also carefully covered. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives of these multifunctional material-microbe hybridized conjugations are also discussed. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Ministry of Education (MOE) Submitted/Accepted version This work was supported by MOE Tier 1 RG4/22, RG6/20, RG69/21, MoE AcRF Tier 1 Theme RT7/22, A*Star SERC A1983c0028, A20E5c0090, awarded at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 51929201 and 22007083).

Cancer immunotherapy is revolutionizing oncology. The marriage of nanotechnology and immunotherapy offers a great opportunity to amplify antitumor immune response in a safe and effective manner. Here, electrochemically active Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 can be applied to produce FDA-approved Prussian blue nanoparticles on a large-scale. We present a mitochondria-targeting nanoplatform, MiBaMc, which consists of Prussian blue decorated bacteria membrane fragments having further modifications with chlorin e6 and triphenylphosphine. We find that MiBaMc specifically targets mitochondria and induces amplified photo-damages and immunogenic cell death of tumor cells under light irradiation. The released tumor antigens subsequently promote the maturation of dendritic cells in tumor-draining lymph nodes, eliciting T cell-mediated immune response. In two tumor-bearing mouse models using female mice, MiBaMc triggered phototherapy synergizes with anti-PDL1 blocking antibody for enhanced tumor inhibition. Collectively, the present study demonstrates biological precipitation synthetic strategy of targeted nanoparticles holds great potential for the preparation of microbial membrane-based nanoplatforms to boost antitumor immunity. National Research Foundation (NRF) Published version This work was financially supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation under its Investigatorship (NRF-NRFI2018-03, Y.Z.) and Competitive Research Program (NRF-CRP26-2021-0002, Y.Z.). This work was also supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (YD9990002021, D.W.).

Multivalency is prevalent in various biological systems and applications due to the superselectivity that arises from the cooperativity of multivalent binding. Traditionally, it was thought that weaker individual binding would improve the selectivity in multivalent targeting. Here using analytical mean field theory and Monte Carlo simulations, we discover that for receptors that are highly uniformly distributed, the highest selectivity occurs at an intermediate binding energy and can be significantly greater than the weak binding limit. This is caused by an exponential relationship between the bound fraction and receptor concentration, which is influenced by both the strength and combinatorial entropy of binding. Our findings not only provide new guidelines for the rational design of biosensors using multivalent nano-particles but also introduce a new perspective in understanding biological processes involving multivalency., Comment: Accepted in JACS Au

Bacterial infection is one of the leading causes of death globally, although modern medicine has made considerable strides in the past century. As traditional antibiotics are suffering from the emergence of drug resistance, new antibacterial strategies are of great interest. Responsive materials are appealing alternatives that have shown great potential in combating resistant bacteria and avoiding the side effects of traditional antibiotics. In this review, the responsive antibacterial materials are introduced in terms of stimulus signals including intrinsic (pH, enzyme, ROS, etc.) and extrinsic (light, temperature, magnetic fields, etc.) stimuli. Their biomedical applications in therapeutics and medical devices are then discussed. Finally, the author's perspective of the challenge and the future of such a system is provided. Ministry of Education (MOE) Submitted/Accepted version This work was supported by Ministry of Education-Singapore (MOE2018-T3-1-003 and MOE2018-T2-2-128).

Significance: Deep tissue noninvasive high-resolution imaging with light is challenging due to the high degree of light absorption and scattering in biological tissue. Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) can overcome some of the challenges of pure optical or ultrasound imaging to provide high-resolution deep tissue imaging. However, label-free PAI signals from light absorbing chromophores within the tissue are nonspecific. The use of exogeneous contrast agents (probes) not only enhances the imaging contrast (and imaging depth) but also increases the specificity of PAI by binding only to targeted molecules and often providing signals distinct from the background. Aim: We aim to review the current development and future progression of photoacoustic molecular probes/contrast agents. Approach: First, PAI and the need for using contrast agents are briefly introduced. Then, the recent development of contrast agents in terms of materials used to construct them is discussed. Then, various probes are discussed based on targeting mechanisms, in vivo molecular imaging applications, multimodal uses, and use in theranostic applications. Results: Material combinations are being used to develop highly specific contrast agents. In addition to passive accumulation, probes utilizing activation mechanisms show promise for greater controllability. Several probes also enable concurrent multimodal use with fluorescence, ultrasound, Raman, magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography. Finally, targeted probes are also shown to aid localized and molecularly specific photo-induced therapy. Conclusions: The development of contrast agents provides a promising prospect for increased contrast, higher imaging depth, and molecularly specific information. Of note are agents that allow for controlled activation, explore other optical windows, and enable multimodal use to overcome some of the shortcomings of label-free PAI. Ministry of Education (MOE) Published version The author would like to acknowledge the support by the Tier 1 Grant funded by the Ministry of Education in Singapore (RG30/21, RG127/19, RT16/19).

Glioma is considered the primary brain tumor to cause brain illnesses, and it is difficult to treat and shows resistance to various routine therapeutics. The most common treatments to cure glioma are the surgical removal of tumors followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The latest biocompatible interfaces have been incorporated into therapeutic modalities such as the targeted delivery of drugs using hydrogels to treat and manage brain glioma. This review illustrates the applications of the multimodal hydrogel as the carrier of therapeutics, gene therapy, therapeutic tactics, and glioma devices. The scientific articles were retrieved from 2019 to 2022 on Google Scholar and the Scopus database and screened to determine whether they were suitable for review. The 20 articles that fit the study are summarized in this review. These studies indicated that the sizes of the hydrogel range from 28 nm to 500 nm. There are 16 out of 20 articles that also explain the post-surgical application of hydrogels, and 13 out of 20 articles are employed in 3D culture and other structural manifestations of hydrogels. The pros of the hydrogel include the quick formulation for a sufficient filling of irregular damage sites, solubilizing hydrophobic drugs, continuously slowing drug release, provision of a 3D cell growth environment, improving efficacy, targetability of soluble biomolecules, increasing patient compliance, and decreased side effects. The cons of the hydrogel include difficult real-time monitoring, genetic manipulations, the cumbersome synchronized release of components, and lack of safety data. The prospects of the hydrogel may include the development of electronic hydrogel sensors that can be used to enhance guidance for the precise targeting patterns using patient-specific pathological idiosyncrasies. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the precision medicine approaches that would aid in the early detection and management of solid brain tumors. Published version This research was funded by TU Dublin Postgraduate Research Scholarship Program and Enterprise Ireland for financial support.

Green luminescent water-soluble citric acid-carbon dots composite were synthesized from empty fruit bunches (EFB) biochar. The hydrothermal method solves the weakness of the difficult size to control and the large energy. The hydrothermal method has the advantages of being easy, environmentally friendly, not requiring large energy, and the particle size is easy to control. The average size of the composites was 4 nm. The resulting belongs to the n-π* transition of carbonyl groups and C–N bonds. Maximum emission peak was observed at 450 nm excitation wavelength with a gradual decrease in intensity from 350 nm to 310 nm. Purple-blue to the blue region when the excitation wavelength is increased from 300 nm to 350 nm due to the presence of citrazinic acid. The addition of carbon dots with citric acid is effective as an antibacterial. The growth rate of any bacteria co-cultured with citric acid derived carbon dots (CDs-CA) dropped significantly as the concentration of CDs-CA increased, meaning that as the concentration increases, there are more chances for CDs-CA to stick to bacterial cell walls and have an effect on them. It can effectively stop bacteria from growing. The %antimicrobial up to 100% and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is the lowest antibacterial agent concentration that shows the value for E. coli and S. aureus is 60 μg/mL. Published version

The advent of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) has provided a promising solution to the replacement of damaged neurons, especially in spinal cord injuries. Despite its merits, differentiation of iPSCs is a highly variable process, prompting the need to reliably assess the degree of differentiation across batches, and validate their quality. iPSC phenotypes are detected through labelling cells with fluorescent markers or immunofluorescence staining based methods, which perturb or destroy cells, preventing their further use. In this study, human iPSCs derived from Cord Lining Endothelial cells were differentiated into Spinal-cord Progenitor Cells (SCPCs) through a 10-day process. Label-free measurement of these cells were performed at different timepoints using Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry (MRR), a rapid and label-free technique to obtain critical cellular iron (Fe3+) content. MRR only requires

The control and monitoring of the environmental conditions in mushroom cultivation has been a challenge in the mushroom industry. Currently, research has been conducted to implement successful remote environmental monitoring, or, in some cases, remote environmental control, yet there is not yet a combination of both these systems providing live stream images or video. As a result, this research aimed to design and develop an Internet of things (IoT)-based environmental control and monitoring system for mushroom cultivation, whereby the growth conditions of the mushrooms, such as temperature, humidity, light intensity, and soil moisture level, are remotely monitored and controlled through a mobile and web application. Users would be able to visualize the growth of the mushroom remotely by video and images through the Internet. The respective sensors are implemented into the mushroom cultivation process and connected to the NodeMCU microcontroller, which collects and transfers the data to the cloud server, enabling remote access at any time through the end device with internet connection. The control algorithm regulates the equipment within the cultivational chamber autonomously, based on feedback from the sensors, in order to retain the optimum environment for the cultivation of mushrooms. The sensors were tested and compared with manual readings to ensure their accuracy. The implementation of IoT toward mushroom cultivation would greatly contribute to the advancement of the current mushroom industry which still applies the traditional cultivation approach. Published version This research was funded by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, Malaysia [FRGS/1/ 2019/STG05/UNIM/02/2] and MyPAIR-PHC-Hibiscus Grant, Malaysia [MyPAIR/1/2020/STG05/ UNIM/1].