Yong-Ill Lee

Pharmaceutical Technical University

Dipicolinic acid (DPA) is a key biomarker of bacterial spores. In this study, we present a novel distance-based paper analytical device (d-PAD) for the fluorescence sensing of DPA. The detection mechanism relies on the complexation of ofloxacin (OFL) with Cu2+ ions, where Cu2+ quenches the fluorescence of OFL via static quenching. Upon the introduc...

Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (ATRTs) are highly aggressive pediatric brain tumors with sensitivity to proteasome inhibitors in preclinical models. We evaluated the feasibility of combining the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib with chemotherapy. Patients aged 0-20 years with newly diagnosed ATRT were enrolled from January 2022 through December 2...

The World Health Organization (WHO) classification system for central nervous system (CNS) tumors provides a distinct framework for differentiating these tumors from other types. Notably, gliomas are the most common and clinically significant primary brain tumors. The 2021 update of the WHO classification system (WHO CNS5), building upon the 2016 e...

We report an innovative and facile approach to fabricating an ultrasensitive plasmonic paper substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The approach exploits the self-assembling capability of poly(styrene-b-2-vinyl pyridine) block copolymers to form a thin film at the air-liquid interface within the single microdroplet scale for the...

A new method utilizing fluorescent ratiometry is proposed for detecting putrescine and spermidine. The method involves the use of a fluorescent probe comprising a 2D halide perovskite synthesized from octadecylamine-iodine...

Tannic acid (TA)-a natural product-is a polyphenol derivative that occurs in certain kinds of beverages. A large amount of TA could give rise to an unpleasant flavour and could negatively affect the human body by causing stomach irritation, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and even death. Thus, the need exists for a simple TA detection procedure t...

Meningiomas are the most frequently diagnosed primary intracranial tumors in adults. Surgical resection is preferred if the meningioma is accessible; for those that are not suitable for surgical resection, radiotherapy should be considered to improve local tumor control. However, recurrent meningiomas are challenging to treat, as the recurrent tumo...

Purpose Pediatric diffuse malignant glioma located in the brainstem was officially named “diffuse midline glioma” (DMG) by the World Health Organization in 2016. For this disease, radical surgery is not beneficial, and the only major treatment strategy is radiotherapy. However, the dose limitations to brainstem tissue mean that treatment by radioth...

The microbial corrosion caused by microorganisms is a critical issue in the petroleum industry that could have dire environmental and economic consequences. Therefore, the development of innovative nonionic porous antimicrobial materials with diverse hydrophobic conjugated motifs is highly desired. Herein, the preparation, characterization, and bio...

This work involved the development of a smartphone-assisted ratiometric-sensing platform for the convenient detection of copper ions (Cu²⁺). The ratiometric fluorescence sensor was fabricated by the formation of a complex between 2-aminoterephthalic acid (PTA-NH2) and glutathione-stabilized gold nanoclusters (GSH-AuNCs). Within 30 s after adding di...

Poly(ionic liquids) (PILs) have been widely used for CO2 capture because their characteristics resemble those of an ionic liquid, yet they have properties typically associated with polymers. We studied the application of the amine-functionalized poly(vinylimidazole)-based PIL (PVIm-NH2) as a chemosensor. The PVIm-NH2 was successfully prepared by a...

In recent decades, upconversion nanomaterials (UCNMs) have attracted considerable research interest because of their unique optical properties, such as large anti-Stokes shifts, sharp emissions, non-photobleaching, and long lifetime. These unique properties make them ideal candidates for unified applications in biomedical fields, including drug del...

Despite growing interest in research on visible-light-driven photocatalysts, reusable photocatalysts have not been extensively developed for the treatment of natural organic matter (NOM), because such development requires an understanding of the complex NOM structures. In this study, we combined the individual benefits of CuFe2O4, Bi2WO6, and mesop...

Purpose Non-germinomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCTs) are rare pediatric conditions. This multicenter study using Asian multinational patient data investigated treatment outcomes and prognostic factors for NGGCTs. Methods Medical records of 251 patients with NGGCTs treated from 1995 to 2015 were retrospectively analyzed from participating centers in...

Photocatalytic degradation of pollutants is considered to be an effective green method to remove organic dyes from contaminated water. This research work presents the synthesis of a magnetically recoverable ruthenium-magnetite (Ru/Fe3O4) nanocomposite for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution under UV and sunl...

Brainstem tumors are heterogenous and cancerous glioma tumors arising from the midbrain, pons, and the medulla that are relatively common in children, accounting for 10% to 20% of all pediatric brain tumors. However, the prognosis of aggressive brainstem gliomas remains extremely poor despite aggressive treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy....

As emerging luminescent carbon nanolights, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have gained wide attention due to their outstanding electrical, mechanical, and other physicochemical properties even though their intricate synthetic procedures curb their use in far-reaching applications. The unique properties of GQDs such as low cytotoxic reactivity, excepti...

Fluorescence materials have received much attention in scientific studies because of their potential uses in cell imaging, photonic devices, and sensors. Sensors based on the combination of fluorescence techniques with various luminescent nanomaterials have recently been developed for the selective and sensitive sensing of biochemical molecules wit...

Intracranial germinoma (IG) rarely occurs in adults. Its optimal treatment strategy is unclear. We evaluated the outcomes of radiotherapy in adults with intracranial germinoma. Data of 29 adult patients (age, 18–52 years; median age, 24.3 years) with IG treated with radiotherapy at Taipei Veterans General Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The...

Magnetic ZnFe2O4/BiVO4/g-C3N4 (ZBC) composites were prepared via a facile hydrothermal and calcination method for the degradation of a representative antibiotics lomefloxacin (LFX) under visible light irradiation. The optimal photocatalyst ZBC-10 with a ZnFe2O4:BiVO4:g-C3N4 mass ratio of 1:8:10 performed 96.1% removal of LFX after 105 min of illumi...

Luminescent inorganic lead halide perovskite nanoparticles lack stability in aqueous solutions, limiting their application to optical sensors. Here, hybrid CsPbBr 3 -loaded MIP nanogels were developed with enhanced stability in aqueous media. Multifunctional MIP nanogels with antioxidant function and hydrophobic cavities were synthesized from HEMA...

Degradation of dye pollutants by the photocatalytic process has been regarded as the most efficient green method for removal organic dyes from contaminated water. The current research work describes the synthesis of Fe3O4@SiO2@Ru hybrid magnetic composites (HMCs) and their photocatalytic degradation of two azo dye pollutants, methyl orange (MO) and...

Abstract Medulloblastoma is the most common embryonic brain tumor in children. We investigated a cohort of 52 Asian medulloblastoma patients aged between 0 and 19 years old, who received surgical resections and post-resection treatments in the Taipei Medical University Hospital and the Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Genome-wide RNA sequencing wa...

The optical properties and applications of lanthanide-doped upconversion materials have been emerged due to their advantages such as high penetrated length, low ratios of signal and noise, and low toxicity. In this study, we present the preparation of Sr2YF7 (SYF) doped with Yb³⁺, Er³⁺, and Eu³⁺ ions and its application as a component of the workin...

Based on the quenching effect of fluorescence intensity of CdTe nanoparticles coated β-cyclodextrin, a novel aspartic chiral assay is suggested. The CdTe nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitate and then modified with β-cyclodextrin through a sonication technique to get [email protected]βCD nanoparticles. To characterize [email protected]βC...

Background Spinal metastasis from malignant primary brain tumor (MPBT) in pediatric is rare, often appearing as enhancing lesions on MRI. However, some indolent enhancing spinal lesions (IESL) resulting from previous treatment mimic metastasis on MRI, leading to unnecessary investigation and treatment. Methods In 2005-2020, we retrospectively enrol...

The overuse of antibiotics increases resistant bacteria, and their accumulation in the human body resulting in a pernicious influence or allergic effect on human health. As antibiotics have been used in livestock, their residue in food products is a serious problem. Therefore, the determination of tetracycline (TC) – an antibiotic in food samples b...

Luminescent inorganic lead halide perovskite nanoparticles lack stability in aqueous solutions, which limits their application to optical sensors. Here, hybrid CsPbBr 3 -loaded MIP nanogels were developed with enhanced stability in aqueous media. Multifunctional MIP nanogels with antioxidant function and hydrophobic cavities were synthesized from H...

A new highly efficient rGO/ZnBi 2 O 4 hybrid catalyst has been successfully synthesized through oxidation-reduction and co-precipitation methods, followed by heating at 450°C. The obtained rGO/ZnBi 2 O 4 catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-...

Photocatalytic degradation of pollutants is considered to be an effective green method to remove organic dyes from contaminated water. This research work presents the synthesis of a magnetically recoverable ruthenium-magnetite (Ru/ Fe 3 O 4) nanocomposite for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution under UV and...

One of the issues that are currently emerging is the occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds including carbamazepine (CBZ) in environmental wastewater. We have developed upconversion particles ([email protected]) coated with new molecular imprinted polymer (thicknesses of 2.2 and 3 nm) through in situ photopolymerization by the internal green light...

The ability to detect pathogenic microbes in water and food samples is of prominent interest, but it remains a great challenge. Herein, we report a simple fluorescence sensor based on amphiphilic conjugated polythiophene (ACPT) for the detection of gram-negative pathogenic bacteria, Escherichia coli, in pH 7.0. The ACPT sensor was synthesized by th...

We developed a facile detection method of spermine based on the fluorescence (FL) quenching of the ciprofloxacin-Tb³⁺ complex, which shows astrong green emission. Ciprofloxacin (CP) makes efficient bondings to Tb³⁺ ion as a linker molecule through carboxylic and ketone groups to form a kind of lanthanide coordination polymer. The addition of spermi...

Novel photocatalysts polyaniline/tungsten trioxide (P/W), polyaniline/tungsten trioxide @zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, (P/[email protected]) and polyaniline/tungsten [email protected] Zr(IV) aminoterephthalate metal–organic frameworks (P/[email protected]2 MOFs) were successfully synthesized via the in-situ growth of polyaniline, ZIF-8, and UiO-...

The reactive ink composed of a silver-organic complex has shown potential for developing conductive patterns on various substrates such as glass and PET. However, the incompatibility with Whatman No. 1 and conventional office paper, on which it transduces to silver oxides, has limited its application in developing flexible paper-based electronic de...

Although boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a promising treatment option for malignant brain tumors, the optimal BNCT parameters for patients with immediately life-threatening, end-stage brain tumors remain unclear. We performed BNCT on 34 patients with life-threatening, end-stage brain tumors and analyzed the relationship between survival out...

Two-dimensional functional metal-organic frameworks and coordination polymers have attracted much attention and have been successfully prepared in solutions and at interfaces through the coordination of ligands to metal ions. However, the preparation of large-area ultrathin ordered films is still a challenge. Here, a modified liquid/liquid interfac...

The design of multifunctional sensors based on biocompatible hybrid materials consisting of conjugated polythiophene-quantum dots for multiple environmental pollutants is a promising strategy for the development of new monitoring technologies. Herein, we present a new approach for the "on-off-on" sensing of Hg2+ and triacetone triperoxide (TATP) ba...

A bioinspired nanoflower structure was fabricated on microneedle (MN) to utilize as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor for intradermal sensing applications. On the surface of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) MN, polydopamine (PD) was coated as an interlayer, and the hydroxyapatite (HA) which is a flower-like-structured bone mine...

Changes in glycan levels could directly affect the biochemical properties of glycoproteins and thus influence their physiological functions. In order to decode the correlation of glycan prevalence with their physiological contribution, many mass spectrometry (MS) and stable isotope labeling-based methods have been developed for the relative quantif...

Immunotherapy, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines, and dendritic cell therapy, has been incorporated as a fifth modality of modern cancer care, along with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and target therapy. Among them, CAR T-cell therapy emerges as one of the most promising trea...

The diminishing availability of clean water resources has led to a high demand for advanced, effective wastewater effluent reclamation techniques. In this study, a new microsphere composite of nitrogen-doped graphene oxide quantum dots, nanosheet C3N4, and Bi2WO6 was synthesized and characterized to examine its feasibility as a visible light-activa...

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are exclusive photoluminescent (PL) materials with the ability to convert low-energy excitation into high-energy emission via multiphoton absorption processes. In this research, a novel amphiphilic conjugated polythiophene was prepared to act as a functionalizing agent for NaLuF4:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ UCNPs. The UCNPs, which...

Nanoparticles of tungsten oxide (WO3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) enriched polyethylene seba-cate (PES) nanocomposites were prepared through the coprecipitation process and condensation polymerization reaction. The obtained nano-sized particles of WO3 and ZnO, PES, and nanocompo-sites (WO3-PES NC and ZnO-PES NC) were investigated. The average molecular we...

Novel polyepinephrine-modified NaYF4:Yb,Tm upconversion luminescent nanoparticles (UCNP@PEP) were prepared via the self-polymerization of epinephrine on the surfaces of the UCNPs for selective sensing of Fe3+ inside a cell and for intracellular imaging. The proposed UCNP@PEP probe is a strong blue light emitter (λmax = 474 nm) upon exposure to an e...

The efficient and selective delivery of therapeutic drugs to the target site remains the main obstacle in the development of new drugs and therapeutic interventions. Up until today, nanomicelles have shown their prospective as nanocarriers for drug delivery owing to their small size, good biocompatibility, and capacity to effectively entrap lipophi...

Upconversion fluorescence is the process of converting optical energy from low absorption energies to high emission energies. The upconversion (UC) materials exhibit significant advantages such as high penetration depth, low unwanted autofluorescence and light scattering from biological species at near-infrared excitation. Nowadays, UC materials ar...

Upconversion fluorescence is the process of converting optical energy from low absorption energies to high emission energies. The upconversion (UC) materials exhibit significant advantages such as high penetration depth, low unwanted autofluorescence and light scattering from biological species at near-infrared excitation. Nowadays, UC materials ar...

Trace determination of radioactive waste, especially Ce 3+ , by electrochemical methods has rarely been attempted. Ce 3+ is (i) a fluorescence quencher, (ii) an antiferromagnet, and (iii) a superconductor, and it has been incorporated into fast scintillators, LED phosphors, and fluorescent lamps. Although Ce 3+ has been utilized in many industries...

Here we report a synthesis approach that is simple, surfactant free, and green, and which is additionally cost effective in terms of its material requirements. The approach entails the use of an inkjet microreactor for the deposition of silver nanoparticles on the surface of office paper decorated with chitosan nano‐wrinkles for the preparation of...

We developed a highly efficient and low‐cost organic solvents resistant microfluidic paper‐based analytical device (μPAD) coupled with paper‐spray mass spectrometry (PS‐MS) for quantitative determination of C18‐ceramide as a prognostic biomarker for several diseases. Several models of μPAD patterns have been examined to select the most resistant an...

In this study, a nano-sheet C3N4-WO3 composite (nsCW21) was applied as a visible-light active photocatalyst to degrade natural organic matter (NOM). The nsCW21 photocatalyst exhibited a higher removal efficiency for NOM than the bare host and other composite counterparts due to the effective separation of the charge carriers in the Z-scheme pathway...

A novel colorimetric assay for tetracycline (TC) using a paper-based analytical device (PAD) coupled with fluorescent carbon nitride nanoparticles (CNNPs) is proposed. The fluorescent intensity of CNNPs which were prepared from Ginkgo leaves using a one-step hydrothermal approach without any surfactant was quenched in the presence of TC. The color...

An increasing number of patients are living with Alzheimer's disease (AD); thus, the need for a method to detect AD early and sensitively has become urgent, and the demand for an intelligent analytical platform is growing year by year. Abnormal levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) are known to be indicative of AD....

A new highly efficient rGO/ZnBi2O4 hybrid catalyst has been successfully synthesized through oxidation-reduction and co-precipitation methods, followed by heating at 450 °C. The obtained rGO/ZnBi2O4 catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-trans...

Enzyme-based assays have been extensively used for the early diagnosis of disease-related biomarkers. However, these assays are time-consuming, resource-intensive, and infrastructure-dependent, which renders them unsuitable and impractical for use in resource-constrained areas. Thus, there is a strong demand for a biocompatible and potentially gene...

A simple and fast method was developed for the determination of quercetin. The concentration of quercetin depends on the fluorescent emission resulting from the coordinative interaction between quercetin and the yttrium ion (Y3+). Notably, a portable platform to quantitatively analyze quercetin was constructed. The platform incorporates our custom-...

BACKGROUND Photodegradation through an advanced oxidation process gives promising prospects for environmental protection. Although titanium dioxide (TiO2) is considered as an excellent photonic material candidate, however, the band gap of TiO2 is 3.2 eV which limits its effective applications. Various approaches have been developed for enhancing th...

In order to make long-lived photoexcited charges for efficient catalytic photodegradation, rare earth elements are often incorporated into semiconductors. We studied the doping effect on photodegradation efficiency of Bi2WO6 samples with europium ions which were successfully synthesized by a simple one-step. The prepared catalyst was characterized...

Self-assembly behavior of amphiphilic block copolymers has attracted much attention recently. In this paper, a novel liquid/liquid interface-mediated self-assembly behavior of block copolymer is reported. An aqueous solution of HAuCl4 and a chloroform solution of poly(2-vinylpyridine)-block-polycaprolactone (P2VP199-b-PCL22) are employed as the upp...

A simple colorimetric method was proposed for the determination of folic acid (FA) using a paper-based substrate. The mechanism of the folic acid probe is based on the improvement of electron transfer from the rhodamine B derivative to Cu2+ in the presence of folic acid. Upon the addition of folic acid, the structural conversion of the rhodamine B...

Amine compounds are considered highly important in environmental pollution, industrial, and medicinal fields. The objective of this work was to develop a disposable, highly accurate, highly selective, and low-cost paper-based probe through the combination of color change of seven pH indicators for the detection of amine compounds in the gaseous sta...