Major depressive disorder is a prevalent recurrent medical syndrome associated with inter-episodic dysfunction. The metabolic syndrome is comprised of several established risk factors for cardiovascular disease (i.e. abdominal obesity, dyslipidaemia, dysglycaemia and hypertension). The criterion items of the metabolic syndrome collectively represent a multi-dimensional risk factor for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Extant evidence indicates that both major depressive disorder and the metabolic syndrome, albeit distinct, often co-occur and are possibly subserved by overlapping pathophysiology and causative mechanisms. Conventional antidepressants exert variable effects on constituent elements of the metabolic syndrome, inviting the need for careful consideration prior to treatment selection and sequencing. Initiating and maintaining antidepressant therapy should include routine surveillance for clinical and/or biochemical evidence suggestive of the metabolic syndrome.

In this study, a novel resorufin thionocarbonate-based Hg 2+ -selective signaling probe ( RT ) for microfluidic paper-based analytical device ( μ PAD) applications is reported. The designed probe, RT , was readily synthesized by the one-step reaction of resorufin with phenyl thionochloroformate. The RT probe displayed a prominent color change from yellow to pink and a marked turn-on fluorescence signaling behavior exclusively toward the Hg 2+ ion. The signaling of RT was due to Hg 2+ -induced hydrolysis of the phenyl thionocarbonate moiety to form the parent resorufin dye, which restored its spectroscopic properties. In addition, RT exhibited the Hg 2+ -selective signaling behavior without interference by coexisting environmentally relevant metal ions. The detection limit for Hg 2+ in simulated wastewater samples was estimated to be 5.8 × 10 −8 M. In particular, an RT -equipped μ PAD prepared using a wax printing technique enabled simple and convenient determination of Hg 2+ ions in simulated wastewater samples, with a detection limit of 5.9 × 10 −6 M.

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To design durable and reliable solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for commercialization, we investigate the degradation behavior of yttria-stabilized zirconia-based anode-supported cells under two electrical load conditions -load trip (0.2-0 A • cm −2 ) and load cycle (0.20-0.12 A • cm −2 ) modes for 60 times (about 1,450 h). During the load trip condition, the operating voltage of the cell decreases by 86 mV through the 1,443 h operation (60 load trips) with the degradation ratio of 9.1% (59.5 μV • h −1 at 0.2 A • cm −2 ), while the cell voltage decreases with the different degradation ratios of 7.1% and 4.2% at 0.2 and 0.12 A • cm −2 , respectively, during the 60 load cycles (49.4 μV • h −1 at 0.2 A • cm −2 ). A combination of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and distribution function of relaxation times, thermochemical (Gibbs equilibrium calculations), and post-mortem analysis (field emission-scanning electron microscopy and electron probe micro-analysis with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) demonstrates the main degradation mechanism of SOFCs under dynamic electrical load conditions. Furthermore, an operation strategy to mitigate the performance degradation under dynamic electrical loads is proposed through the identification of weak points of SOFC components.