In this work, a multilayer-modified paper-based colorimetric sensing platform with improved color uniformity and intensity was developed for the sensitive and selective determination of uric acid and glucose with smartphone as signal readout. In detail, chitosan, different kinds of chromogenic reagents, and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) combined with a specific oxidase, e.g., uricase or glucose oxidase (GOD), were immoblized onto the paper substrate to form a multilayer-modified test paper. Hydrogen peroxide produced by the oxidases (uricase or GOD) reacts with the substrates (uric acid or glucose), and could oxidize the co-immoblized chromogenic reagents to form colored products with HRP as catalyst. A simple strategy by placing the test paper on top of a light-emitting diode lamp was adopted to efficiently prevent influence from the external light. The color images were recorded by the smartphone camera, and then the gray values of the color images were calculated for quantitative analysis. The developed method provided a wide linear response from 0.01 to 1.0 mM for uric acid detection and from 0.02 to 4.0 mM for glucose detection, with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 0.003 and 0.014 mM, respectively, which was much lower than for previously reported paper-based colorimetric assays. The proposed assays were successfully applied to uric acid and glucose detection in real serum samples. Furthermore, the enhanced analytical performance of the proposed method allowed the non-invasive detection of glucose levels in tear samples, which holds great potential for point-of-care analysis. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

This paper reports the qualitative analysis and quantitative detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules with per-6-deoxy-(6-thio)-β-cyclodextrin (CD-SH) modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. For the selective sensing of PAHs, which are environmental pollutants with very low affinity to metallic surfaces, by SERS, a stable substrate with AuNPs and CD-SH was utilized by supramolecular interaction. Quantitative detection of each PAH was carried out by SERS on inclusion complexes with different concentrations. From the SERS spectra of a mixture of five different PAHs, we could easily distinguish each PAH by its discriminant peaks. In addition, quantitative analysis of one component in a mixture of five PAHs was also investigated. This sensing platform revealed matching relationship between the host and the guest and the host-guest interaction mechanism. The proposed approach for the selective detection of PAHs holds great potential in the detection of environmental organic pollutants.

Microbial-derived nitrogen (N) is now recognized as an important source of soil organic N. However, the mechanisms that govern the production of microbial necromass N, its turnover, and stabilization in soil remain poorly understood. To assess the effects of elevated temperature on bacterial and fungal necromass N production, turnover, and stabilization, we incubated 15 N-labeled bacterial and fungal necromass under optimum moisture conditions at 10°C, 15°C, and 25°C. We developed a new 15 N tracing model to calculate the production and mineralization rates of necromass N. Our results showed that bacterial and fungal necromass N had similar mineralization rates, despite their contrasting chemistry. Most bacterial and fungal necromass 15 N was recovered in the mineral-associated organic matter fraction through microbial anabolism, suggesting that mineral association plays an important role in stabilizing necromass N in soil, independently of necromass chemistry. Elevated temperature significantly increased the accumulation of necromass N in soil, due to the relatively higher microbial turnover and production of necromass N with increasing temperature than the increases in microbial necromass N mineralization. In conclusion, we found elevated temperature may increase the contribution of microbial necromass N to mineral-stabilized soil organic N.

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