Narrow Results

We present a facile green biomimetic synthesis of FePt nanoparticles (NPs) on the sidewalls of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). A core-shell globular protein, ferritin (Fr), was bound onto Z-glycine N-succinimidyl ester (Z-Gly-OSu) modified CNTs and served as precursor to create FePt NPs at the core part of Fr. Biomimetic synthesis of FePt NPs was carried out by chemical reducing of Fe²⁺ and ions that transferred into the core part of Fr molecules. The created one-dimensional CNT-FePt nanohybrids were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The synthesized CNT-FePt nanohybrids show multi-properties of high water-solubility, ferromagnetism, and electrocatalytic activity.

We demonstrated a biomimetic green synthesis of bimetallic Au–Ag nanoparticles (NPs) on graphene nanosheets (GNs). The spherical protein, ferritin (Fr), was bound onto GNs and served as the template for the synthesis of GN/Au–Ag nanohybrids. The created GN/Au–Ag nanohybrids were further utilized to fabricate a non-enzymatic amperometric biosensor for the sensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and this biosensor displayed high performances to determine H₂O₂ with a detection limit of 20.0 × 10^-6 M and a linear detection range from 2.0 μM to 7.0 mM.

To investigate the relationships between helminth infections and iron status among school-aged children, 1,115 Tanzanian children in grades 2 through 5 were randomly assigned to treatment or control groups. The children in the treatment group were screened for infection with Schistosoma haematobium and hookworm at baseline, 3 months, and 15 months; infected children were given albendazole against hookworm and praziquantel against schistosomiasis. The control group received a placebo and did not undergo parasitological screening until 15 months after the baseline. Hematological variables were compared between the treatment and control groups. The main results were, first, that the hemoglobin concentration significantly improved after treatment for hookworm (p < .001) by 9.3 g/L in children treated for hookworm only and by 8.8 g/L in children treated for hookworm and schistosomiasis. The ferritin concentration also improved in children treated for schistosomiasis (p = .001) or hookworm (p = .019). Second, a longitudinal analysis of the data from the children in the control group showed that hookworm and schistosomiasis loads were negatively associated with hemoglobin and ferritin concentrations. Moreover, ferritin concentrations increased as C-reactive protein levels increased. Overall, the results showed that anthelmintic treatment is a useful tool for reducing anemia in areas with high hookworm and schistosomiasis endemicity. The empirical relationship between ferritin and C-reactive protein indicated that simple procedures for adjusting cutoff points for the use of ferritin as an indicator of low iron stores were unlikely to be useful in this population.