Advances in material design and applications are highly dependent on the development of particle surface engineering strategies. However, few universal methods can functionalize particles of different compositions, sizes, shapes, and structures. The amyloid-like lysozyme assembly-mediated surface functionalization of inorganic, polymeric or metal micro/nanoparticles in a unique amyloid-like phase-transition buffer containing lysozyme are described. The rapid formation of a robust nanoscale phase-transitioned lysozyme (PTL) coating on the particle surfaces presents strong interfacial binding to resist mechanical and chemical peeling under harsh conditions and versatile surface functional groups to support various sequential surface chemical derivatizations, such as radical living graft polymerization, the electroless deposition of metals, biomineralization, and the facile synthesis of Janus particles and metal/protein capsules. Being distinct from other methods, the preparation of this pure protein coating under biocompatible conditions (e.g., neutral pH and nontoxic reagents) provides a reliable opportunity to directly modify living cell surfaces without affecting their biological activity. The PTL coating arms yeasts with a functional shell to protect their adhered body against foreign enzymatic digestion. The PTL coating further supports the surface immobilization of living yeasts for heterogeneous microbial reactions and the sequential surface chemical derivatization of the cell surfaces, e.g., radical living graft polymerization.

Macromolecular crystallization has many implications in biological and materials science. Similar to the crystallization of other molecules, macromolecular crystallization conventionally considers a critical nucleus, followed by crystallographic packing of macromolecules to drive further crystal growth. Herein, we discover a distinctive macromolecular crystallization pathway by developing the concept of a macromolecular mesocrystal. This nonclassical polymer crystallization occurs through the mesoscale self-assembly of (bio)macromolecular nanocrystals. The new concept for macromolecular crystallization presented herein is fundamental and relevant to many fields, including materials science, chemistry, biomimetics, nanoscience, and structural biology.

Shale gas and oil is an increasingly important source of unconventional energy. Shale gas and oil reservoirs differ from their conventional counterparts mainly in the nanoporous structures of the former, which play a critical role not only for the resource estimation but also for the shale gas/oil extraction and development. However, the traditional methods for characterizing rock porosities, such as gas sorption (the Brunauer−Emmett−Teller technique, BET), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cannot satisfactorily and adequately measure and characterize the nanoporous structures. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is known for its sensitivity to local environments at the atomic level and, therefore, can provide an alternative method for the investigation of nanoporous structures in gas shales. This study has refined the low field NMR cryoporometry (NMRC) method and applied it along with other methods such as NMR relaxometry (NMRR) to measure and characterize the nanoporous structures (i.e., the pore size distribution, PSD) of selected shale samples from the Sinian-Cambrian-Ordovician strata at the Low Yangzi Plateau, China. Our NMRC measurements of a controlled porous glass (CPG) and shale samples show that the organic compound octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (OMCTS) is a superior NMR probe liquid in terms of improved spectral resolution and signal/ noise (S/N) ratio. Comparisons of the NMRC shale PSD results with those from NMRR and gas sorption show that NMRC is an independent and effective method for determining the distribution of nanosized pores in gas shales. Moreover, important parameters such as porosity can also be estimated from the low field NMR cryoporometry.

Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. Ghana is a low-middle-income country with annual diagnosed cases of 3,151 and 2,119 deaths. The high prevalence rate of cervical cancer in Ghana is mainly due to ineffective preventive measures and insufficient knowledge about the disease. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate the level of knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer and attitude toward human papillomavirus and its vaccine among Ghanaians. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional survey on the awareness of cervical cancer and attitude toward human papillomavirus and its vaccine was carried out from March 2019 to February 2020. SPSS v. 23.0 was used in the data analysis. The participants' demographic characteristics, knowledge of cervical carcinoma, human papillomavirus vaccine and HPV, and the likelihood to be vaccinated were represented as percentages and frequencies. The difference between males and females was assessed using the chi-square test. The logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship of possible related indicators with the willingness to receive the HPV vaccine. A p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 1,376 participants were involved in the final analysis. Among the 1,376 participants involved in this survey, 1,240 participants (90.1%) representing 456 males (33.1%) and 784 females (57.0%) were aware of the terminology "cervical cancer" with a significant p = 0.001. When stratified by gender, women had significantly greater knowledge, compared to men in terms of "cervical cancer being common in middle age (35-50) females" (75.5 vs. 67.5%, respectively, p ≤ 0.001). When stratified by gender, women had significantly greater knowledge of human papillomavirus (54.5 vs. 43.6%, respectively, p < 0.001) and the human papillomavirus vaccine (39.3 vs. 33.1%, respectively, p = 0.019) compared to men. Drokow et al. Human Papillomavirus and Its Vaccine Conclusion: Majority of the respondents had poor knowledge regarding cervical cancer risk factors, symptoms, HPV, and its vaccine. Hence, this indicates a wakeup call for government to increase the awareness and knowledge level via the media and health professionals.