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Herein, we focus on the design, synthesis, and characterization of thienothiadiazole (TTD)-based near-infrared II (NIR-II) theranostic fluorophores and their nanoparticles. 

Abstract - Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed Deer) are social animals that thrive in rural and urban settings. Scraping behavior is an olfactory reproductive communication used by White-tailed Deer to establish breeding networks. Male scraping is a complex scent-marking behavior which advertises sociosexual status and location to potential females as well as to competing males. Female scraping behavior is thought to be an estrus signal alerting males during times of optimal fertility. This study describes a new method to examine White-tailed Deer mating systems using social network analyses of scraping behavior using an urban population of White-tailed Deer as a model. First, we validated the scraping behavior at our study site in Tougaloo, MS, during the 2019–2020 breeding season. Using remote monitoring, we continuously documented scraping behaviors over 8 different scrape-site locations and found similar behavioral, temporal, and spatial patterns in our urban breeding network as reported in rural and captive deer studies. Next, we describe methods detailing how social network analyses can reveal sociality, dominance, importance, and social structure within male scraping networks. Using centrality measures, we were able to rank dominant male influencers, anticipate social conflict among rivals, and made predictions regarding the spread of communicable diseases through a male scraping network. We also detail network analyses combining both male and female scraping behavior to reveal a glimpse into the complexity of breeding networks. Using network measures, we were able to rank males based on competitiveness and female preference. Lastly, we generated a theoretical breeding network to explore female sociability, competitiveness, preference, and mate choice. Taken together, this work describes a new method using scraping network analysis to investigate the complexity of White-tailed Deer breeding networks. This work also demonstrates the future applications of this method for predicting the spread of communicable diseases and for predicting mate selection within White-tailed Deer mating systems. 

Abstract Ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as promising biomaterials for enhancing drug delivery by functionalizing polymeric nanoparticles (NPs). Despite the biocompatibility and biofunctionalization they confer upon the NPs, little is understood regarding the degree in which non‐covalent interactions, particularly hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, govern IL‐NP supramolecular assembly. Herein, we use salt (0‐1 M sodium sulfate) and acid (0.25 M hydrochloric acid at pH 4.8) titrations to disrupt IL‐functionalized nanoassembly for four different polymeric platforms during synthesis. Through quantitative¹H‐nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering, we demonstrate that the driving force of choline trans‐2‐hexenoate (CA2HA 1:1) IL assembly varies with either hydrogen bonding or electrostatics dominating, depending on the structure of the polymeric platform. In particular, the covalently bound or branched 50:50 block co‐polymer systems (diblock PEG‐PLGA [DPP] and polycaprolactone [PCl]‐poly[amidoamine] amine‐based linear‐dendritic block co‐polymer) are predominantly affected by hydrogen bonding disruption. In contrast, a purely linear block co‐polymer system (carboxylic acid terminated poly[lactic‐co‐glycolic acid]) necessitates both electrostatics and hydrogen bonding to assemble with IL and a two‐component electrostatically bound system (electrostatic PEG‐PLGA [EPP]) favors hydrogen‐bonding with electrostatics serving as a secondary role.