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Near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) have significant potential in diagnostic and therapeutic applications owing to their unique persistent luminescence (PersL). However, obtaining high-performance NIR PLNPs remains challenging because of the limitations of current synthesis methods. Herein, we introduce a spatial confinement growth strategy for synthesizing high-performance NIR PLNPs using hollow mesoporous silica (hmSiO 2 ). By calcining precursor ions in the hollow cavity, the yolk size of NIR PLNPs was regulated, yielding well-dispersed Zn 1.3 Ga 1.4 Sn 0.3 O 4 : Cr 0.005 , Y 0.003 @hmSiO 2 (ZS) with a yolk-shell structure. Compared to the conventional template method, ZS synthesized via the spatial confinement growth strategy exhibited a 7.7-fold increase in PersL intensity and a threefold increase in specific surface area. As a proof of concept, ZS@PpIX@CaP-AMD (ZPSC-AMD) nanoparticles, with potential for sonodynamic therapy (SDT), were synthesized by loading the sonosensitizer protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) into ZS, coating it with a calcium phosphate (CaP) shell, and modifying it with a tumor-targeting molecule plerixafor (AMD-3100). The tumor enrichment behavior of ZPSC-AMD was monitored by sensitive NIR PersL to guide SDT. Simultaneously, ZPSC-AMD enabled the precise monitoring of tumor accumulation, thereby guiding effective SDT. In addition, Ca 2+ released from CaP degradation increased the level of reactive oxygen species during SDT, promoting tumor cell apoptosis. This study outlines a reliable design and synthesis approach for high-performance NIR PLNPs and promotes their development in biomedical applications. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The potential of near infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) in bio applications is hindered by limitations in the synthesis method. In this article, we proposed a spatial confinement growth strategy of high-performance NIR PLNPs. The obtained PLNPs with yolk-shell structure showed a 7.7-fold increase in PersL intensity and a threefold increase in specific surface area, compared with the commonly used template method. Due to the advantages, sonodynamic therapeutic nanoparticles were constructed based on the above PLNPs, where persistent luminescence was used for ultrasensitive imaging to determine the optimal timing in sonodynamic therapy. In addition, the multifunctional calcium phosphate shell elevated the intracellular reactive oxygen species level to promote tumor cell apoptosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hybrid plants are found extensively in the wild, and they often demonstrate superior performance of complex traits over their parents and other selfing plants. This phenomenon, known as heterosis, has been extensively applied in plant breeding for decades. However, the process of decoding hybrid plant genomes has seriously lagged due to the challenges associated with genome assembly and the lack of appropriate methodologies for their subsequent representation and analysis. Here, we present the assembly and analysis of 2 hybrids, an intraspecific hybrid between 2 maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) inbred lines and an interspecific hybrid between maize and its wild relative teosinte (Z. mays ssp. parviglumis), utilizing a combination of PacBio High Fidelity sequencing and chromatin conformation capture sequencing data. The haplotypic assemblies are well phased at chromosomal scale, successfully resolving the complex loci with extensive parental structural variations (SVs). By integrating into a biparental genome graph, the haplotypic assemblies can facilitate downstream short-read-based SV calling and allele-specific gene expression analysis, demonstrating outstanding advantages over a single linear genome. Our work offers a comprehensive workflow that aims to facilitate the decoding of numerous hybrid plant genomes, particularly those with unknown or inaccessible parentage, thereby enhancing our understanding of genome evolution and heterosis., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement. None declared., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists.)

Pyroptosis possesses potent antitumor immune activity, making pyroptosis inducer development a promising direction for tumor immunotherapy. Persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) are highly sensitive optical probes extensively employed in tumor diagnosis and therapy. However, a pyroptosis inducer based on PLNPs has not been reported yet. Herein, polyethylene glycol-poly lactic acid-co-glycolic acid (PEG-PLGA: PP) modified biodegradable CaS:Eu 2+ (CSE@PP) PLNPs are synthesized as a pyroptosis inducer for tumor immunotherapy for the first time. The synthesized CSE@PP possesses biowindow persistent luminescence (PersL) and pH-responsive degradation properties, allowing it to remain stable under neutral pH but degrade when exposed to weak acid (pH < 6.5). During degradation within the tumor, CSE@PP constantly releases H 2 S and Ca 2+ while its PersL gradually fades away. Thus, the PersL signal can self-monitor H 2 S and Ca 2+ release. Furthermore, the released H 2 S and Ca 2+ result in mitochondrial dysfunction and the inactivation of reactive oxygen species scavenging enzymes, synergistic facilitating intracellular oxidative stress, which induces caspase-1/GSDM-D dependent pyroptosis and subsequent antitumor immune responses. In a word, it is confirmed that CSE@PP can self-monitor H 2 S and Ca 2+ release and pyroptosis-mediated tumor Immunotherapy. This work will facilitate biomedical applications of PLNPs and inspire pyroptosis-induced tumor immunotherapy., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

As promising luminescence nanoparticles, near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) have received extensive attention in the field of high-sensitivity bioimaging in recent years. However, NIR PLNPs face problems such as short excitation wavelengths and single imaging modes, which limit their applications in in vivo reactivated imaging and multimodal imaging. Here, we report for the first time novel Gd 2 GaTaO 7 :Cr 3+ ,Yb 3+ (GGTO) NIR PLNPs that integrate X-ray activated NIR persistent luminescence (PersL), high X-ray attenuation and excellent magnetic properties into a single nanoparticle (NP). In this case, Cr 3+ is used as the luminescence center. The co-doped Yb 3+ and coating effectively enhance the X-ray activated NIR PersL. At the same time, the presence of the high-Z element Ta also makes the GGTO NPs exhibit high X-ray attenuation performance, which can be used as a CT contrast agent to achieve in vivo CT imaging. In addition, since the matrix contains a large amount of Gd, the GGTO NPs show remarkable magnetic properties, which can realize in vivo MR imaging. GGTO NPs combine the trimodal benefits of X-ray reactivated PersL, CT and MR imaging and are suitable for single or combined applications that require high sensitivity and spatial resolution imaging.

Immunochromatography is a commonly used immediate detection technique, using signal labels to generate detection signals for rapid medical diagnosis. However, its detection sensitivity is affected by background fluorescence caused by the excitation light source. We have developed an immunochromatographic test strip using Zn 2 GeO 4 :Mn 2+ (ZGM) persistent luminescent nanoparticles (PLNPs) for immediate fluorescence detection and highly sensitive persistent luminescence (PersL) detection without background fluorescence interference. ZGM emits a strong green light when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) excitation, and its green PersL can persist for over 30 min after the excitation light is turned off. We modified the surface of ZGM with heparin-binding protein (HBP) antibodies to create immunochromatographic test strips for the detection of HBP as the target analyte. Under UV excitation, the chromatography test paper can be visually observed at concentrations as low as 25 ng/mL. After the excitation light source is switched off, PersL can achieve a detection limit of 4.7 ng/mL without background interference. This dual-mode immunochromatographic detection, based on ZGM, shows great potential for in vitro diagnostic applications.

This study reports an online database and analysis platform HEMU, which integrates 75 genome assemblies from 20 unique species, large amounts of multi-omics data, and six sophisticated analysis toolkits. HEMU will facilitate comparative genomics analysis within the tribe Andropogoneae., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a crucial contributor to various cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which seriously threaten human life and health. Early and accurate recognition of AS plaques is essential for the prevention and treatment of CVD. Herein, we introduce an AS-targeting nanoprobe based on near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs), developing a highly sensitive NIR persistent luminescence (PersL) AS plaque imaging technique and successfully realizing early AS plaque detection. The nanoprobe exhibits good monodispersity and regular spherical morphology and also owns exceptional NIR PersL performance upon repetitive irradiation by biological window light. The surface-conjugated antibody (anti-osteopontin) endowed nanoprobe excellent targeting ability to foam cells within plaques. After intravenously injected nanoprobe into AS model mice, the highly sensitive PersL imaging technique can accurately detect AS plaques prior to ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Specifically, the NIR PersL imaging reveals AS plaques at the earliest within 2 weeks, with higher signal-to-background ratio (SBR) up to 5.72. Based on this technique, the nanoprobe has great potential for applications in the prevention and treatment of CVD, the study of AS pathogenesis, and the screening of anti-AS drugs.

Pyroptosis is an effective strategy for inducing inflammatory responses in 'cold' tumors, boosting the efficacy of immunotherapy. Although biodegradable inorganic nanoparticles (BINPs) show great potential in pyroptosis by releasing ions to break intracellular homeostasis, the limited intracellular ion release efficiency restricts pyroptosis level and subsequent immune activation. Herein, by heterovalent substitution strategy, a series of Na 3 ZrF 7 :x%Yb 3+ (NZF:x%Yb, x = 0, 9, and 18) BINPs with tunable intracellular ion release efficiency are synthesized for enhanced pyroptosis and tumor immunotherapy. Specifically, the size of NZF:x%Yb 3+ gradually decrease with increasing Yb 3+ -doped and smaller NZF:x%Yb presents a higher degradation rate and cellular uptake ability, enabling improved intracellular ion release efficiency. This leads to drastic intracellular homeostasis stress and abundant ROS generation, thereby provoking enhanced caspase-1-related pyroptosis. Antitumor experiments in triple-negative breast cancer model confirm that the ultra-small NZF:x%Yb (NZF:18%Yb) with the highest intracellular ion release efficiency shown the most effective antitumor ability, and significant inhibition of distal tumor. This study reveals precise control over the size of NZF:x%Yb is especially vital to achieving pyroptosis-induced immunotherapy, which offers a new perspective for the design of BINPs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Grid theory is rather commonly-used through out the research of integer ambiguity. In order to promote the efficiency of computation, it is of great necessity to reduce the correlations of the grid basis through the reduction. The classical reduction algorithm is known as the LLL (Lenstra-Lenstra-Lovász) algorithm. So as to further enhance the reduction effect, the deep-insertion LLL algorithm can be utilized as an alternative to the basis vector exchange algorithm. In practice, the deep-insertion LLL algorithm can achieve a better reduction effect, but it requires more time for reduction. The PotLLL algorithm replaces the basis vector exchange condition of deep-insertion LLL with an improving in the basis quality, and it can run in polynomial time, but with certain limitations. Therefore, this article proposes a global deep-insertion PLLL algorithm (GS-PLLL) to address the issue of integer ambiguity. GS-PLLL adopts a global strategy for deep-insertion processing, and introduces a rotation sorting method for preconditioning the grid basis. Comparative evaluations were conducted using simulation experiments and real-world measurements on the LLL, DeepLLL, PotLLL, and GS-PLLL algorithms. The experimental results indicate that the GS-PLLL algorithm achieves a better reduction effect than the PotLLL algorithm while improving the efficiency of reduction., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

A complete telomere-to-telomere (T2T) finished genome has been the long pursuit of genomic research. Through generating deep coverage ultralong Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) and PacBio HiFi reads, we report here a complete genome assembly of maize with each chromosome entirely traversed in a single contig. The 2,178.6 Mb T2T Mo17 genome with a base accuracy of over 99.99% unveiled the structural features of all repetitive regions of the genome. There were several super-long simple-sequence-repeat arrays having consecutive thymine-adenine-guanine (TAG) tri-nucleotide repeats up to 235 kb. The assembly of the entire nucleolar organizer region of the 26.8 Mb array with 2,974 45S rDNA copies revealed the enormously complex patterns of rDNA duplications and transposon insertions. Additionally, complete assemblies of all ten centromeres enabled us to precisely dissect the repeat compositions of both CentC-rich and CentC-poor centromeres. The complete Mo17 genome represents a major step forward in understanding the complexity of the highly recalcitrant repetitive regions of higher plant genomes., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Setaria italica (foxtail millet), a founder crop of East Asian agriculture, is a model plant for C4 photosynthesis and developing approaches to adaptive breeding across multiple climates. Here we established the Setaria pan-genome by assembling 110 representative genomes from a worldwide collection. The pan-genome is composed of 73,528 gene families, of which 23.8%, 42.9%, 29.4% and 3.9% are core, soft core, dispensable and private genes, respectively; 202,884 nonredundant structural variants were also detected. The characterization of pan-genomic variants suggests their importance during foxtail millet domestication and improvement, as exemplified by the identification of the yield gene SiGW3, where a 366-bp presence/absence promoter variant accompanies gene expression variation. We developed a graph-based genome and performed large-scale genetic studies for 68 traits across 13 environments, identifying potential genes for millet improvement at different geographic sites. These can be used in marker-assisted breeding, genomic selection and genome editing to accelerate crop improvement under different climatic conditions., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Nanotoxicology on plants has raised great concerns about the prevalence of nanoparticles (NPs) in ecosystems, and the most fundamental aspect is to assess the fate of NPs in plants. Nonetheless, the lack of high-sensitivity tracking techniques in vivo constraints intensive research on NP distribution in plants. Herein, we have overcome this limitation by first introducing persistent luminescent nanoparticles (PLNPs) as an imaging probe, which can detect the distribution of NPs in whole plants with high sensitivity by completely eliminating interference from autofluorescence. We synthesized two differently surface-charged PLNPs with excellent biosafety and then exposed these NPs to plants in the hydroponic medium. Persistent luminescence (PersL) images visually showed the disparate accumulation of PLNPs in plants. PersL signals of positively charged PLNPs were observed in the whole exposed portion of the plant roots, while negatively charged PLNPs were mainly in the root collars instead of the exposed portion. With prolonged exposure, the presence of PersL signals in leaves indicated the long-distance translocation of differently charged PLNPs from roots to leaves via hypocotyls. For further confirmation of imaging results, the distribution of NPs in plants was investigated using electron microscopy. Based on their unique optical properties, PLNPs provide a promising strategy for tracking NP's fate in plants.

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging poses significant superiority over traditional medical imaging for tumor resection, thus having attracted widely attention. However, for tiny tumor residues, it requires relative high sensitivity to determine. Here, based on persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs), an ultrasensitive nanoprobe with extraordinary tumor imaging result is developed to guide surgical removal. Persistent luminescence (PersL) is quenched in normal tissue by the outer layer of MnO 2 , and is recovered due to the degradation of MnO 2 in tumor microenvironment, significantly improving the sensitivity of tumor imaging. Combined with the absence of background fluorescence in imaging of PLNPs, ultrahigh sensitivity is achieved. In orthotopic breast cancer model, the intraoperative tumor-to-normal tissue (T/NT) signal ratio of the nanoprobe is 58.8, about 9 times that of downconversion nanoparticles. The T/NT ratio of residual tumor (<2 mm) remains 12.4, considerably high to distinguish tumor tissue from normal tissue. Besides, multiple-microtumor, 4T1 liver-implanted tumor and lung metastasis models are built to prove that this ultrasensitive nanoprobe is feasible to recognize tumor residues. Notably, PersL imaging takes only 1.5 min, appropriate to be applied for intraoperative imaging. Overall, an ultrasensitive and convenient imaging for recognizing residual tumor tissue is introduced, holding promise for complete surgical removal., (© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common, chronic, and highly disabling autoimmune disease characterized by difficult treatment, long disease duration, and easy recurrence. The development and application of high-sensitivity theranostic probes for RA that will facilitate precise monitoring of disease progression and enable effective treatment are currently hotspots in the field of RA theranostics. In this study, mZMI@HA, a dual-triggered theranostics nanoprobe, is constructed based on near-infrared persistent luminescence nanoparticles (NIR-PLNPs) for precise RA treatment and therapeutic evaluation. This is the first reported use of high-sensitivity autofluorescence-free imaging based on NIR-PLNPs for precise RA treatment and therapeutic evaluation. Compared with the NIR fluorescence imaging probe-indocyanine green, the signal-to-background ratio of persistent luminescence (PersL) imaging is improved nearly 14-fold. Using PersL imaging to guide photothermal therapy and controllable drug release through NIR/pH-responsiveness, the progress of collagen-induced RA is relieved. Additionally, the therapeutic evaluation of RA by PersL imaging is consistent with clinical micro-computed tomography and histological analyses. This study demonstrates the potential of NIR-PLNPs for high-sensitivity imaging-guided RA treatment, providing a new strategy for RA precise theranostics., (© 2022 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Hybrid maize displays superior heterosis and contributes over 30% of total worldwide cereal production. However, the molecular mechanisms of heterosis remain obscure. Here we show that structural variants (SVs) between the parental lines have a predominant role underpinning maize heterosis. De novo assembly and analyses of 12 maize founder inbred lines (FILs) reveal abundant genetic variations among these FILs and, through expression quantitative trait loci and association analyses, we identify several SVs contributing to genomic and phenotypic differentiations of various heterotic groups. Using a set of 91 diallel-cross F 1 hybrids, we found strong positive correlations between better-parent heterosis of the F 1 hybrids and the numbers of SVs between the parental lines, providing concrete genomic support for a prevalent role of genetic complementation underlying heterosis. Further, we document evidence that SVs in both ZAR1 and ZmACO2 contribute to yield heterosis in an overdominance fashion. Our results should promote genomics-based breeding of hybrid maize., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Plant genomes are so highly diverse that a substantial proportion of genomic sequences are not shared among individuals. The variable DNA sequences, along with the conserved core sequences, compose the more sophisticated pan-genome that represents the collection of all non-redundant DNA in a species. With rapid progress in genome sequencing technologies, pan-genome research in plants is now accelerating. Here we review recent advances in plant pan-genomics, including major driving forces of structural variations that constitute the variable sequences, methodological innovations for representing the pan-genome, and major successes in constructing plant pan-genomes. We also summarize recent efforts toward decoding the remaining dark matter in telomere-to-telomere or gapless plant genomes. These new genome resources, which have remarkable advantages over numerous previously assembled less-than-perfect genomes, are expected to become new references for genetic studies and plant breeding., (Copyright © 2022 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Manipulation of autophagic processes has emerged as a promising strategy for synergizing nanoagent-mediated photothermal therapy (PTT). Most of the current studies focus on improving PTT efficacy by inhibiting pro-survival autophagy induced by the heat generated from the photothermal process. However, autophagy induced by the nanoagents is usually ignored, which may weaken the effect of autophagy-mediated efficacy improvement in PTT if induced autophagy is pro-death. Therefore, this work aims at developing a nanoagent that is able to induce heat-synergetic pro-survival autophagy to optimize the efficacy of PTT. An approach is developed to coat carbon layer, polyethylenimine (PEI), and folic acid (FA) on NaYF 4 :Er,Yb,Nd@NaNdF 4 (DCNPs@C@PEI@FA, DCPF) nanoparticles successively, giving access to the nanoagent to induce pro-survival autophagy. The synthetic imaging-guided photothermal nanoagent displays outstanding targeting ability and biocompatibility based on the surface modification of PEI and FA. By using an autophagy inhibitor chloroquine, a conspicuously synergistic effect on DCPF-mediated PTT in vitro and in vivo tumor models (HeLa) is achieved. A promising strategy is presented here to enhance the efficacy of imaging-guided PTT by modulating the autophagy induced by the nanoagent., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) possess advantages for high-sensitivity bioimaging and continuous photodynamic therapy (PDT) because they can emit persistent luminescence (PerL) after excitation ceases. However, PLNPs are limited to single-wavelength emission, which can only efficiently realize one of the functions of bioimaging or PDT. In addition, most PLNPs are excited by shallow tissue penetrating excitation light, which makes it difficult to achieve repeatable in vivo applications with high efficiency. Herein, X-ray-excited PLNPs (Zn 3 Ga 2 Ge 2 O 10 :Cr 3+ ,Mn 2+ , ZGGCM) with dual emission for in vivo X-rays repeatedly activated PerL imaging and tumor PDT are reported for the first time. ZGGCM exhibits dual-emission peaks after X-ray excitation/re-excitation, located at 698 nm and 532 nm, respectively. Additionally, ZGGCM is modified with the photosensitizer rose bengal (RB) to construct a dual-functional nanoplatform based on PerL imaging and PDT. The results indicate that the PerL emission peak (698 nm) of Cr 3+ ions in ZGGCM possesses excellent near-infrared (NIR) PerL imaging performance, and the green PerL emission peak (532 nm) of Mn 2+ ions can activate RB effectively and generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby causing a significant antitumor effect. This unique dual-functional nanoplatform is expected to further promote the application of PLNPs in the integration of efficient tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Virtual reality, driverless cars, and robotics all make extensive use of 3D shape classification. One of the most popular ways to represent 3D data is with polygonal meshes. In particular, triangular mesh is frequently employed. A triangular mesh has more features than 3D data formats such as voxels, multi-views, and point clouds. The current challenge is to fully utilize and extract useful information from mesh data. In this paper, a 3D shape classification network based on triangular mesh and graph convolutional neural networks was suggested. The triangular face of this model was viewed as a unit. By obtaining an adjacency matrix from mesh data, graph convolutional neural networks can be utilized to process mesh data. The studies were performed on the ModelNet40 dataset with an accuracy of 91.0%, demonstrating that the classification network in this research may produce effective results.

Persistent luminescent materials (PLMs) are promising candidates for the anti-counterfeiting and information encryption field. However, ultraviolet (UV) excitation and visible emission are partially responsible for enabling information that has been encrypted to combat counterfeiting to be accessed by trial and error, resulting in imitation and information leakage. Here, we propose the possibility of controlling the persistent luminescent (PersL) emission spectra and its excitation light source with the use of band gap engineering, while obtaining X-ray exciting, not UV exciting UV PLM for advanced anti-counterfeiting and encryption application. Cationic substitution was used to adjust the width of the band gap of Lu(X)O 4 (X = V, Nb, Ta, and P) from ∼4 to 9 eV. In addition, Bi 3+ was introduced into the host as an emitter, which enabled the PersL emission spectra to be modulated from ∼550 to 230 nm. Among these PLMs, LuPO 4 :Bi 3+ has unique optical properties. Under UV excitation, LuPO 4 :Bi 3+ exhibits weak, inconspicuous visible down-conversion luminescence (DCL), without PersL ceasing once excitation is discontinued. Interestingly, LuPO 4 :Bi 3+ displays UV PersL after X-ray excitation, and human eyes are insensitive to UV PersL, which requires specialized optical equipment to detect. A proof-of-concept assessment of LuPO 4 :Bi 3+ for anti-counterfeiting and information encryption applications demonstrated its suitability in this regard.

Direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation is the preliminary stage of communication, localization, and sensing. Hence, it is a canonical task for next-generation wireless communications, namely beyond 5G (B5G) or 6G communication networks. Both massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and millimeter wave (mmW) bands are emerging technologies that can be implemented to increase the spectral efficiency of an area, and a number of expectations have been placed on them for future-generation wireless communications. Meanwhile, they also create new challenges for DOA estimation, for instance, through extremely large-scale array data, the coexistence of far-field and near-field sources, mutual coupling effects, and complicated spatial-temporal signal sampling. This article discusses various open issues related to DOA estimation for B5G/6G communication networks. Moreover, some insights on current advances, including arrays, models, sampling, and algorithms, are provided. Finally, directions for future work on the development of DOA estimation are addressed.

DNA sequencing is vital for many aspects of biological research and diagnostics. Despite the development of second and third generation sequencing technologies, Sanger sequencing has long been the only choice when required to precisely track each sequenced plasmids or DNA fragments. Here, we report a complete set of novel barcoding and assembling system, Highly-parallel Indexed Tagmentation-reads Assembled Consensus sequencing (HITAC-seq), that could massively sequence and track the identities of each individual sequencing sample. With the cost of much less than that of single read of Sanger sequencing, HITAC-seq can generate high-quality contiguous sequences of up to 10 kilobases or longer. The capability of HITAC-seq was confirmed through large-scale sequencing of thousands of plasmid clones and hundreds of amplicon fragments using approximately 100 pg of input DNAs. Due to its long synthetic length, HITAC-seq was effective in detecting relatively large structural variations, as demonstrated by the identification of a ∼1.3 kb Copia retrotransposon insertion in the upstream of a likely maize domestication gene. Besides being a practical alternative to traditional Sanger sequencing, HITAC-seq is suitable for many high-throughput sequencing and genotyping applications., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest A patent application has been filed through China Agricultural University., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based gene therapy has been widely studied as a promising treatment for malignant triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), but efficient delivery of siRNA still remains a challenge. In this study, a smart manganese dioxide (MnO 2 )-based lanthanide nanoprobe therapeutic nanoplatform (ErNPs@MnO 2 -siS100A4-RGD) was developed for tumor imaging and precise stimuli-responsive S100A4 siRNA (siS100A4)-mediated gene therapy in synergism with chemodynamic therapy (CDT) of TNBC. ErNPs@MnO 2 -siS100A4-RGD has a tumor microenvironment-responsive capability attributed to the presence of MnO 2 , which can be degraded by glutathione (GSH) in the tumor region while releasing siRNA and generating Mn 2+ to achieve precise gene therapy and a Fenton-like reaction-mediated CDT effect on TNBC. Subsequently, the lanthanide nanoprobes (ErNPs) are exposed to the second near-infrared region (NIR-II) fluorescence emission to realize the precise tumor location. Both the in vitro and in vivo results demonstrated that the smart nanoplatform possessed high siRNA delivery efficiency and GSH-responsive precise siRNA releasing ability, and compared with individual gene therapy, the GSH-depletion-enhanced CDT effect further reinforced TNBC inhibition, demonstrating excellent GSH-responsive-enhanced NIR-II precise tumor imaging therapy. These results indicate that the nanoplatform provides a crucial foundation for further research on theranostic systems of TNBC.

Persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) are unique optical materials that emit afterglow luminescence after ceasing excitation. They exhibit unexpected advantages for in vivo optical imaging of tumors, such as autofluorescence-free, high sensitivity, high penetration depth, and multiple excitation sources (UV light, LED, NIR laser, X-ray, and radiopharmaceuticals). Besides, by incorporating other functional molecules, such as photosensitizers, photothermal agents, or therapeutic drugs, PLNPs are also widely used in persistent luminescence (PersL) imaging-guided tumor therapy. In this review, we first summarize the recent developments in the synthesis and surface functionalization of PLNPs, as well as their toxicity studies. We then discuss the in vivo PersL imaging and multimodal imaging from different excitation sources. Furthermore, we highlight PLNPs-based cancer theranostics applications, such as fluorescence-guided surgery, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, drug/gene delivery and combined therapy. Finally, future prospects and challenges of PLNPs in the research of translational medicine are also discussed.

Radionuclide with Cerenkov radiation (CR) can serve as an internal excitation source to activate photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT) in deep tumor. However, the low efficiency of CR limits its therapeutic efficacy. A 131 I labeled zinc tetra(4-carboxyphenoxy) phthalocyaninate (ZnPcC4) conjugated Cr 3+ -doped zinc gallate (ZnGa 2 O 4 :Cr 3+ , ZGCs) nanoplatform ( 131 I-ZGCs-ZnPcC4) is developed for radiotherapy (RT) and radiation-induced PDT. 131 I can not only activate ZGCs for long-lasting luminescence via both Cerenkov luminescence (CL) and ionizing radiation, which further continuously activate photosensitizer ZnPcC4 for PDT, but also can directly kill cancerous cells. This 131 I-ZGCs-ZnPcC4 exhibits excellent tumor inhibition both in vitro and in vivo. Combining self-activated PDT and RT, it is believed that the 131 I-ZGCs-ZnPcC4 can greatly benefit the deep tumor therapy., (© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a promising antitumor therapy technique is greatly hampered by the low tissue penetration of light and the photothermal effect of prolonged irradiation. Near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence nanoparticles (NPLNPs) possess the potential for application in next-generation PDT. However, owing to the low re-excitation efficiency of NPLNPs in deep tissue, the current PDT nanoplatform based on NPLNPs is faced with the disadvantage of decreased PDT efficiency induced by persistent luminescence (PersL) decay at the lesion site. Herein, NPLNPs, Zn 1.3 Ga 1.4 Sn 0.3 O 4 :Cr 3+ (ZGS), with small particle sizes and excellent optical properties are synthesized via a simple acetylacetonate combustion method. The ZGS can be repeatedly excited by the biological window (659 nm) light to produce a strong NIR (700 nm) PersL. The response efficiency of ZGS to the wavelength in the biological window has been greatly improved by doping Sn 4+ into the ZnGa 2 O 4 matrix, which is 55 times higher than that of traditional ZnGa 2 O 4 :Cr 3+ . We further develop a PDT nanoplatform by modifying a photosensitizer on its surface. The PDT experiments show that the developed nanoplatform can achieve continuous and efficient tumor PDT with a depth of up to 3 cm by repeated excitation using a 659 nm LED. The NPLNPs largely solve the problem of the low re-excitation efficiency after NIR PersL decay of traditional NPLNPs in deep tissue applications and will further promote the application of NIR PLNPs in the biomedical field.

In this paper, we have designed long afterglow luminescent MgGeO 3 :Mn 2+ ,Yb 3+ ,Li + (MGO) nanoparticles in the first (NIR-I) and second (NIR-II) biological windows. Yb 3+ ions served not only as the trap center to enhance the NIR-I long afterglow emission of Mn 2+ at 680 nm, but also as an emitting center to produce a NIR-II long afterglow emission at ∼1000 nm. Furthermore, we have found the addition of Li + can greatly increase the NIR-II afterglow emission of Yb 3+ and the optimal amount of Mn 2+ , Yb 3+ and Li + was found to be 0.1, 0.5 and 0.5 mol%, respectively. The MGO nanoparticles synthesized using sol-gel methods showed a uniform morphology with a diameter of 50-100 nm, which were suitable for applications in bioimaging. More importantly, we have found MGO nanoparticles can be effectively excited to produce long persistent NIR-I and II luminescence using soft X-rays, suggesting that low dosage soft X-rays can also serve as a more powerful and deep tissue excitation source to recharge MGO nanoparticles. Furthermore, the MGO nanoparticles can also be re-excited to produce photo-stimulated emission under the irradiation of 650 and 808 nm NIR lasers. The in vivo imaging results have shown that MGO nanoparticles modified with folic acid (FA) can effectively realize super long-term targeted in vivo imaging of inflammation with a high sensitivity via recharging using soft X-rays and NIR lasers, which can provide not only an accurate diagnosis of inflammation, but also long-term monitoring of possible changes in the focus of inflammation in real time.

Persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) with rechargeable near-infrared afterglow properties attract much attention for tumor diagnosis in living animals since they can avoid tissue autofluorescence and greatly improve the signal-to-background ratio. Using UV, visible light, or X-ray as excitation sources to power up persistent luminescence (PL) faces the challenges such as limited tissue penetration, inefficient charging capability, or tissue damage caused by irradiation. Here, it is proved that radiopharmaceuticals can efficiently excite ZnGa 2 O 4 :Cr 3+ nanoparticles (ZGCs) for both fluorescence and afterglow luminescence via Cerenkov resonance energy transfer as well as ionizing radiation. 18 F-FDG, a clinically approved tumor-imaging radiopharmaceutical with a short decay half-life around 110 min, is successfully used as the internal light source to in vivo excite intravenously injected ZGCs for tumor luminescence imaging over 3 h. The luminescence with similar decay time can be re-obtained for multiple times upon injection of 18 F-FDG at any time needed with no health concern. It is believed this strategy can not only provide tumor luminescence imaging with high sensitivity, high contrast, and long decay time at desired time, but also guarantee the patients much less radiation exposure, greatly benefiting image-guided surgery in the future., (© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Coix lacryma-jobi, a plant species closely related to Zea and Sorghum, is an important food and medicinal crop in Asia. However, no reference genome of this species has been reported, and its exact phylogeny within the Andropogoneae remains unresolved. Here, we generated a high-quality genome assembly of coix comprising ∼1.73 Gb with 44 485 predicted protein-coding genes. We found coix to be a typical diploid plant with an overall 1-to-1 syntenic relationship with the Sorghum genome, despite its drastic genome expansion (∼2.3-fold) due mainly to the activity of transposable elements. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that coix diverged with sorghum ∼10.41 million years ago, which was ∼1.49 million years later than the divergence between sorghum and maize. Resequencing of 27 additional coix accessions revealed that they could be unambiguously separated into wild relatives and cultivars, and suggested that coix experienced a strong genetic bottleneck, resulting in the loss of about half of the genetic diversity during domestication, even though many traits have remained undomesticated. Our data not only provide novel comparative genomic and evolutionary insights into the Andropogoneae lineage, but also an important resource that will greatly benefit molecular breeding of this important crop., (Copyright © 2019 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in many consumer products, whereas their environmental behaviors in natural aquatic systems remain unknown, especially in natural brackish media. Therefore, it is urgent to investigate the environmental fate of AgNPs in natural brackish waters. Here, we investigated the stability of citrate-coated AgNPs in natural brackish water collected from 6 different sites with distinct salinities in the Xinglinwan Reservoir, located in Xiamen City, southeast China. The obtained results showed that AgNP colloids remained stable in low-salinity waters, which was mainly determined by the effects of dissolved organic matter (DOM) promoting the stability of the nanoparticles. However, the environmental fate of AgNPs in high-salinity waters was dominated by the salinity or ionic strength, especially the free ion concentrations of Cl - , SO 4 2- , or S 2- , resulting in rapid sedimentation and dissolution. In addition, both DOM and salinity contributed to the environmental behavior of AgNPs in moderate-salinity waters, ultimately resulting in either colloidal stability or sedimentation. Overall, these results may reveal that AgNPs remain relatively stable for a long period in low-salinity natural waters, and that the stability might gradually decrease as AgNPs are transferred from freshwaters through brackish waters and eventually end up in seawater along the bay. Our findings also further indicate that the toxicity and potential risks of AgNPs may present more serious threats to the environment and organisms in natural freshwaters than in natural estuarine systems or seawater., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Heterosis, or hybrid vigour, is a predominant phenomenon in plant genetics, serving as the basis of crop hybrid breeding, but the causative loci and genes underlying heterosis remain unclear in many crops. Here, we present a large-scale genetic analysis using 5360 offsprings from three elite maize hybrids, which identifies 628 loci underlying 19 yield-related traits with relatively high mapping resolutions. Heterotic pattern investigations of the 628 loci show that numerous loci, mostly with complete-incomplete dominance (the major one) or overdominance effects (the secondary one) for heterozygous genotypes and nearly equal proportion of advantageous alleles from both parental lines, are the major causes of strong heterosis in these hybrids. Follow-up studies for 17 heterotic loci in an independent experiment using 2225 F 2 individuals suggest most heterotic effects are roughly stable between environments with a small variation. Candidate gene analysis for one major heterotic locus (ub3) in maize implies that there may exist some common genes contributing to crop heterosis. These results provide a community resource for genetics studies in maize and new implications for heterosis in plants., (© 2019 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Joint angle and frequency estimation is an important branch in array signal processing with numerous applications in radar, sonar, wireless communications, etc. Extensive attention has been paid and numerous algorithms have been developed. However, existing algorithms rely on accurately quantified measurements. In this paper, we stress the problem of angle and frequency estimation for sensor arrays using one-bit measurements. The relationship between the covariance matrices of one-bit measurement and that of the accurately quantified measurement is extended to the tensor domain. Moreover, a one-bit parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) estimator is proposed. The simulation results show that the angle and frequency estimation can be quickly achieved and correctly paired.

Excessive sodium ion (Na + ) concentrations in cultivated land alter crop yield and quality worldwide. Previous studies have shown that shoot Na + exclusion is essential in most crops for salt tolerance. Here, we show by a genome-wide association study that Zea may L. Na + content 2 (ZmNC2), encoding the HAK family ion transporter ZmHAK4, confers the natural variation of shoot Na + exclusion and salt tolerance in maize. The ZmHAK4 locus accounts for ~11% of the shoot Na + variation, and a natural ZmHAK4-deficient allele displays a decreased ZmHAK4 expression level and an increased shoot Na + content. ZmHAK4 is preferentially expressed in the root stele and encodes a novel membrane-localized Na + -selective transporter that mediates shoot Na + exclusion, probably by retrieving Na + from xylem sap. ZmHAK4 orthologues were identified in other plant species, and the orthologues of ZmHAK4 in rice and wheat show identical expression patterns and ion transport properties, suggesting that ZmHAK4 orthologues mediate an evolutionarily conserved salt-tolerance mechanism. Finally, we show that ZmHAK4 and ZmHKT1 (a HKT1 family Na + -selective transporter) confer distinct roles in promoting shoot Na + exclusion and salt tolerance, indicating that the combination of the favourable alleles of ZmHKT1 and ZmHAK4 can facilitate the development of salt-tolerant maize varieties.

Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) has strong tolerance to abiotic stresses, and is probably one of the oldest crops, with its earliest cultivation that dated back to ca. ~10,000 years. We report here its genome assembly through a combination of PacBio sequencing, BioNano, and Hi-C (in vivo) mapping. The 18 super scaffolds cover ~95.6% of the estimated genome (~887.8 Mb). There are 63,671 protein-coding genes annotated in this tetraploid genome. About ~86.2% of the syntenic genes in foxtail millet have two homologous copies in broomcorn millet, indicating rare gene loss after tetraploidization in broomcorn millet. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that broomcorn millet and foxtail millet diverged around ~13.1 Million years ago (Mya), while the lineage specific tetraploidization of broomcorn millet may be happened within ~5.91 million years. The genome is not only beneficial for the genome assisted breeding of broomcorn millet, but also an important resource for other Panicum species.

Multifunctional theranostic nanoplatforms greatly improve the accuracy and effectiveness in tumor treatments. Much effort has been made in developing advanced optical imaging-based tumor theranostic nanoplatforms. However, autofluorescence and irradiation damage of the conventional fluorescence imaging technologies as well as unsatisfied curative effects of the nanoplatforms remain great challenges against their wide applications. Herein, we constructed a novel core-shell multifunctional nanoplatform, that is, chromium-doped zinc gallogermanate (ZGGO) near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescent nanoparticles (PLNPs) as a core and zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) as a shell (namely ZGGO@ZIF-8). The ZGGO@ZIF-8 nanoplatform possessed dual functionalities of the autofluorescence-free NIR PersL imaging as well as the pH-responsive drug delivery, thus it has high potential in tumor theranostics. Notably, the loading content of doxorubicin (DOX) in ZGGO@ZIF-8 (LC = 93.2%) was quite high, and the drug release of DOX-loaded ZGGO@ZIF-8 was accelerated in an acidic microenvironment such as tumor cells. The ZGGO@ZIF-8 opens up a new material system in the combination of PLNPs with metal-organic frameworks and may offer new opportunities for the development of advanced multifunctional nanoplatforms for tumor theranostics, chemical sensing, and optical information storage.

Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) frequently causes dramatic losses in maize production as the main pathogen of maize dwarf mosaic disease. It is important to understand the translational responses in maize to SCMV infection since viruses have to recruit host translation apparatus to express their proteins. However, due to technical limitations, research on virus translation lags far behind that on transcription. Here, we studied the relationship between systemic symptom expression and virus accumulation and found that both SCMV RNA and proteins accumulated rapidly during the systemic infection process in which varying degrees of chlorosis to mosaic symptoms developed on non-inoculated leaves. In addition, we applied ribosome profiling, which couples polysomal mRNA isolation with high-throughput sequencing, on the symptomatic leaves infected with SCMV to unravel the translational responses of maize to viral infection on a genome-wide scale. The results showed that only the genomic positive-stranded RNA of SCMV was involved in translation, and SCMV only occupied a small amount of translational resources of host plant at the early stage of infection. Further analyses on a global gene expression and gene ontology (GO) enrichment revealed that photosynthesis and metabolism were dramatically repressed at both transcriptional and translational levels. Altogether, our results laid a foundation for dissecting the molecular mechanism of plant translational responses to viral infection., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Direction finding is a hot research area in radar and sonar systems. In the case of q ≥ 2, the 2 q th-order cumulant based direction of arrival (DOA) estimation algorithm for the 2q -level nested array can achieve high resolution performance. A virtual 2q th-order difference co-array, which contains O ( N 2 q ) virtual sensors in the form of a uniform linear array (ULA), is yielded and the Gaussian noise is eliminated. However, some virtual elements are separated by the holes among the 2q th-order difference co-array and cannot be fully used. Even though the application of the multi-frequency method for minimum frequency separation (MFMFS) can fill the holes with low computation complexity, it requires that the number of frequencies must increase with the number of holes. In addition, the signal spectra have to be proportional for all frequencies, which is hard to satisfy when the number of holes is large. Aiming at this, we further propose a multi-frequency method for a minimum number of frequencies (MFMNF) and discuss the best frequency choice under two specific situations. Simulation results verify that, compared with the MFMFS method, the proposed MFMNF method can use only one frequency to fill all the holes while achieving a longer virtual array and the DOA estimation performance is, therefore, improved.

Maize is an important crop with a high level of genome diversity and heterosis. The genome sequence of a typical female line, B73, was previously released. Here, we report a de novo genome assembly of a corresponding male representative line, Mo17. More than 96.4% of the 2,183 Mb assembled genome can be accounted for by 362 scaffolds in ten pseudochromosomes with 38,620 annotated protein-coding genes. Comparative analysis revealed large gene-order and gene structural variations: approximately 10% of the annotated genes were mutually nonsyntenic, and more than 20% of the predicted genes had either large-effect mutations or large structural variations, which might cause considerable protein divergence between the two inbred lines. Our study provides a high-quality reference-genome sequence of an important maize germplasm, and the intraspecific gene order and gene structural variations identified should have implications for heterosis and genome evolution.

Near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence nanoparticles (NPLNPs) have become one of the most promising candidates for bioimaging. Different from the other fluorescence nanoprobes, the NIR persistent luminescence of NPLNPs can last for a long time after excitation, double exposure that is nanoparticles and light exist during the long-term bioimaging. However, to date, the potential risk of nanoparticles and NIR persistent luminescence of NPLNPs is still unknown. In this study, Cr3 + -doped zinc gallate, Zn 1.1 Ga 1.8 Sn 0.1 O 4 :Cr 3+ (ZGO), the most promising NPLNPs in bioimaging, was chosen as a representative for potential risk assessment. We evaluated the potential risk of nanoparticles and NIR persistent luminescence of ZGO for a long period of time. In vitro study showed that the ZGO possessed a low cytotoxicity. In vivo biodistribution results showed that the ZGO mainly accumulated in the reticuloendothelial system after intravenous injection and could be gradually cleared from the body by digestive system. In addition, the ZGO did not exhibit appreciable toxicity in mice over a period of 60 days. It's also worth mentioning that long-term NIR persistent luminescence of ZGO did not exhibit obvious toxicities both in vitro and in vivo. Our results provide important information with regards to the risk of NPLNPs in long-term bioimaging.

Soil salinity is one of several major abiotic stresses that constrain maize productivity worldwide. An improved understanding of salt-tolerance mechanisms will thus enhance the breeding of salt-tolerant maize and boost productivity. Previous studies have indicated that the maintenance of leaf Na + concentration is essential for maize salt tolerance, and the difference in leaf Na + exclusion has previously been associated with variation in salt tolerance between maize varieties. Here, we report the identification and functional characterization of a maize salt-tolerance quantitative trait locus (QTL), Zea mays Na + Content1 (ZmNC1), which encodes an HKT-type transporter (designated as ZmHKT1). We show that a natural ZmHKT1 loss-of-function allele containing a retrotransposon insertion confers increased accumulation of Na + in leaves, and salt hypersensitivity. We next show that ZmHKT1 encodes a plasma membrane-localized Na + -selective transporter, and is preferentially expressed in root stele (including the parenchyma cells surrounding the xylem vessels). We also show that loss of ZmHKT1 function increases xylem sap Na + concentration and causes increased root-to-shoot Na + delivery, indicating that ZmHKT1 promotes leaf Na + exclusion and salt tolerance by withdrawing Na + from the xylem sap. We conclude that ZmHKT1 is a major salt-tolerance QTL and identifies an important new gene target in breeding for improved maize salt tolerance., (© 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.)

A dual-cell device has been designed as an oxidase-like mimic with the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine as a model reaction. This dual-cell device could be also used to study oxidase-like nanozymes. It was found that only the catalytic sites for oxygen reduction are essential and necessary for oxidase-like nanozymes.

Multifunctional nanoplatforms with multimodal imaging and cancer therapy capabilities have attracted attention in biomedical applications. Near-infrared persistent luminescence nanoparticles (NPLNPs) were considered one of the most promising candidates for constructing multifunctional nanoplatforms due to the absence of in situ excitation and high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Here, we report a novel NPLNP mSiO 2 @Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 :Cr 3+ , Nd 3+ (mSiO 2 @GGO) as multifunctional nanoplatforms for multimodal imaging and cancer therapy. These NPs exhibited a persistent luminescence (745 nm) of more than 3 h in the first near-infrared window (NIR-I) after UV excitation, which can realize high SNRs and long-term in vivo imaging. Moreover, these NPs showed excellent NIR luminescence (1067 nm) in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II) under 808 nm excitation, which is more suitable for deep tissue imaging due to the lower photon scattering and deeper tissue penetration of NIR-II luminescence. Furthermore, the host Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 with high Gd 3+ concentration showed a high r 1 value (10.70 mM -1  s -1 ) and was suitable for T 1 MR imaging. The mesoporous silica nanoparticles (mSiO 2 ) served as a framework to control the mSiO 2 @GGO particle morphology and provide low toxicity and drug loading capacity for cancer therapy., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

It has been widely reported that silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) induce oxidative stress in various cell lines. However, the mechanism for this effect and its consequences for cellular signaling are poorly understood. In this study, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used to assess the toxicity and investigate the associated molecular mechanisms caused by exposure to AgNPs. We demonstrated that AgNP exposure significantly and dose-dependently decreased the cell viability, induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and led to early apoptosis in HUVECs. Our findings showed that AgNPs induced excess ROS production that affected the signaling pathways by a mechanism that depended on activation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activity through upregulation of NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) protein expressions. Moreover, AgNPs could disrupt the inactivation of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-mediated antioxidant response, which is considered another important element for oxidative stress caused by AgNPs in HUVECs. The redox imbalance between NOX4 and Nrf2 was an important cause for the ROS overproduction that led to cell injury in HUVECs. The results provided insight into the mechanisms of oxidative stress induced by AgNPs in vascular endothelial cells., (Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

This paper proposes an improved spatial differencing (ISD) scheme for two-dimensional direction of arrival (2-D DOA) estimation of coherent signals with uniform rectangular arrays (URAs). We first divide the URA into a number of row rectangular subarrays. Then, by extracting all the data information of each subarray, we only perform difference-operation on the auto-correlations, while the cross-correlations are kept unchanged. Using the reconstructed submatrices, both the forward only ISD (FO-ISD) and forward backward ISD (FB-ISD) methods are developed under the proposed scheme. Compared with the existing spatial smoothing techniques, the proposed scheme can use more data information of the sample covariance matrix and also suppress the effect of additive noise more effectively. Simulation results show that both FO-ISD and FB-ISD can improve the estimation performance largely as compared to the others, in white or colored noise conditions.

In this paper, we propose a computationally efficient spatial differencing matrix set (SDMS) method for two-dimensional direction of arrival (2D DOA) estimation with uniform rectangular arrays (URAs) in a low-grazing angle (LGA) condition. By rearranging the auto-correlation and cross-correlation matrices in turn among different subarrays, the SDMS method can estimate the two parameters independently with one-dimensional (1D) subspace-based estimation techniques, where we only perform difference for auto-correlation matrices and the cross-correlation matrices are kept completely. Then, the pair-matching of two parameters is achieved by extracting the diagonal elements of URA. Thus, the proposed method can decrease the computational complexity, suppress the effect of additive noise and also have little information loss. Simulation results show that, in LGA, compared to other methods, the proposed methods can achieve performance improvement in the white or colored noise conditions.

The design and fabrication of trackable drug carriers is of great importance for tracking the route of drug delivery in vivo. Here, we report novel stick-shell structure, near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence hollow mesoporous (ZnGa 2 O 4 :Cr 3+ @HMS) nanospheres. Due to the hollow mesoporous SiO 2 skeleton structure, the prepared nanospheres possess a high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 514 m 2 g -1 and a pore volume of 1.16 cm 3 g -1 , which make these nanospheres ideal drug carriers for drug loading and sustained release. In addition, these nanospheres exhibit strong NIR emission at 696 nm, and their NIR persistent luminescence can persist for more than three hours after excitation. Thus, we can realize autofluorescence-free and long-term tracking of the transport routes of drug carriers by using the exceptional properties of NIR persistent luminescence of nanospheres. More importantly, we found that the NIR persistent luminescence of ZnGa 2 O 4 :Cr 3+ @HMS nanospheres can be repeatedly excited by a 655 nm LED lamp. Thus, the drug transport route can be tracked for an extended time with high sensitivity in deep tissue via the method of in situ repeatable excitation. Our results indicate that the ZnGa 2 O 4 :Cr 3+ @HMS nanospheres combine the advantages of high drug storage capacity and excellent NIR persistent luminescence, and they show potential for application as trackable drug carriers.

The toxicological risks of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have attracted widespread attention, and many studies have been published that have contributed to understanding AgNPs-induced toxicity. However, little attention has been paid to the low-dose effects of AgNPs and the related toxicological mechanism is still unclear. Here, we show that short-term exposure to AgNPs at low doses induces a substantial increase in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) monolayer permeability, whereas Ag ions at low doses do not induce an observable increase in monolayer permeability. This effect is independent of oxidative stress and apoptosis. Scanning electron microscopy confirms that AgNPs adhere to the cell membrane after 1h exposure. Furthermore, adhesion of AgNPs to the cell membrane can trigger vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin phosphorylation at Y658 followed by VE-cadherin internalization, which lead to the increase in endothelial monolayer permeability. Our data show that surface interactions of AgNPs with the cell membrane, in other words, the particle effect, is a major factor leading to endothelial dysfunction following low-dose and short-term exposure. Our findings will contribute to understanding the health effects and the toxicological mechanisms of AgNPs., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)