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Recently, moderate-resolution remote sensing images have been widely used in extracting coastal aquaculture areas that are usually used to obtain marine fishery resources. However, in moderate-reso...

Hyperspectral image anomaly detection is an increasingly important research topic in remote sensing images understanding and interpretation. Recently, low-rank representation-based methods have attracted extensive attention and achieved promising performances in hyperspectral anomaly detection. These methods assume that the hyperspectral data can be decomposed into two parts: the low-rank component representing the background and the residual part indicating the anomaly. In order to improve the separability of the background and anomaly, we propose a novel hyperspectral anomaly detection based on low-rank representation with dictionary construction and data-driven projection. To construct a robust dictionary that contains all categories of the background objects whilst excluding the anomaly's influence, we adopt a superpixel-based tensor low-rank decomposition method to generate a comprehensive and pure background dictionary. Considering the spectral redundancy in the hyperspectral data, data-driven projection is introduced to the low-rank representation to project the original data to a low-dimensional feature space to better separate the anomaly and the background. Experimental results on four real hyperspectral datasets show that the proposed anomaly detection method outperforms the other anomaly detectors.

The metal ion-catalyzed (Ru+, Ir+) reactions of ethanol converting to butanol have been studied via ICP-MS/MS. The detection of organic small molecule intermediates (acetaldehyde and butyraldehyde) was achieved in both Ru+/C2H5OH and Ir+/C2H5OH systems. Several metal-adduct intermediates were observed in these reactions, improving the understanding of the reaction mechanism of ethanol transformation. The possible formation pathways of intermediates have been discussed.

Objective. To assess the clinical efficacy of thoracoscopic lobectomy and segmentectomy in the treatment of patients with early-stage lung cancer. Methods. A total of 70 patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer who were treated in our hospital from April 2018 to May 2020 were recruited and assigned at a ratio of 1 : 1 to receive either segmentectomy (observation group) or lobectomy (control group). Outcome measures included clinical efficacy, surgery-related indicators, pulmonary function indicators (forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)), postoperative complications, and recurrence and metastasis. Results. There was no significant difference in the clinical efficacy between the two groups ( P > 0.05 ). Segmentectomy was associated with a longer operation time and shorter hospital stay compared to lobectomy ( P < 0.05 ). There was no statistical significance in the amount of intraoperative blood loss and the number of lymph nodes dissected ( P > 0.05 ). Segmentectomy resulted in significantly higher FVC and FEV1 levels in patients compared to lobectomy ( P < 0.05 ). There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups ( P > 0.05 ). The two groups of patients were followed up for 12 months after the operation, and there was no recurrence or metastasis in either group. Conclusion. The two surgical methods have similar efficacy and safety profiles, but for the treatment of patients with early-stage lung cancer, thoracoscopic segmentectomy is associated with a shorter hospital stay and better protection of the lung function of patients compared to lobectomy.

Roots are essential for plant growth, and studies on root-related genes, exemplified by WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX5 (WOX5), have mainly concentrated on model organisms with less emphasis on the function of these genes in woody plants. Here, we report that overexpression of the WOX5 gene from Liriodendron hybrid (LhWOX5) in Arabidopsis leads to significant morphological changes in both the aerial and subterranean organs. In the Arabidopsis aerial parts, overexpression of LhWOX5 results in the production of ectopic floral meristems and leaves, possibly via the ectopic activation of CLV3 and LFY. In addition, in the Arabidopsis root, overexpression of LhWOX5 alters root apical meristem morphology, leading to a curled and shortened primary root. Importantly, these abnormal phenotypes in the aerial and subterranean organs caused by constitutive ectopic expression of LhWOX5 mimic the observed phenotypes when overexpressing AtWUS and AtWOX5 in Arabidopsis, respectively. Taken together, we propose that the LhWOX5 gene, originating from the Magnoliaceae plant Liriodendron, is a functional homolog of the AtWUS gene from Arabidopsis, while showing the highest degree of sequence similarity with its ortholog, AtWOX5. Our study provides insight into the potential role of LhWOX5 in the development of both the shoot and root.

Fasciolosis is a neglected zoonotic parasitic disease caused by liver flukes, Fasciola hepatica. F. hepatica is harmful to livestock and human health. However, changes in host metabolism caused by F. hepatica infection are unclear. An artificial sheep model was established as follows. The sheep in the infection group were fed with 220 metacercariae obtained by incubating F. hepatica miracidia with the intermediate host snail (Galba pervia). Thereafter, serum and blood were collected from these sheep periodically. Changes in 31 biochemical parameters were systematically tested over different periods of infection. Metabolomic analysis was performed based on liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technology using a UHPLC system. Differentially expressed metabolites were analyzed for biomarkers, and changes in the metabolic pathways of the host were evaluated. Ten biochemical parameters (TP, ALB, GLB, DBIL, IBIL, GGT, LDH, CHOL, HDL-C, and BUN) showed significant dynamic changes during the study period. For metabolomic analysis: 13, 27, and 82 differential metabolites (ESI+ mode) and 0, 37, and 83 differential metabolites (ESI- mode) were found on 7, 56, and 98 dpi, respectively. The number of different metabolic pathways increased with disease development. Five metabolites had the highest area under the curve (AUC) value as joint diagnostic factors, indicating their potential use as biomarkers for diagnosing F. hepatica infection. This study establishes the F. hepatica life cycle in an artificial model of sheep infected with F. hepatica to identify changes in metabolic pathways in the host due to infection. Biochemical parameters and metabolomic analysis revealed that not only the biomarkers screened by differentially expressed metabolites have the potential to diagnose F. hepatica infection in sheep, but the differential pathways and biochemical parameters also explain the metabolic pathway changes in the sheep infected with F. hepatica. F. hepatica absorbs the nutrients of the host and destroys the essential metabolic pathways of the host. This result suggests that animal metabolism can be altered in the host as a response to parasitic infections such as F. hepatica. In addition, this finding will provide the basis for studying the pathogenic mechanisms and biomarkers for F. hepatica infection.

Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (RAC1) overexpressiosn and hyperactivation are correlated with aggressive growth and other malignant characteristics in a wide variety of cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the regulatory mechanism of RAC1 expression and activation in HCC is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrated that E3 ubiquitin ligase MG53 (also known as tripartite motif 72, TRIM72) acted as a direct inhibitor of RAC1, and it catalyzed the ubiquitination of RAC1 and further inhibited RAC1 activity in HCC cells. Mechanistically, MG53 directly bound with RAC1 through its coiled-coil domain and suppressed RAC1 activity by catalyzing the Lys48 (K48)-linked polyubiquitination of RAC1 at Lys5 residue in HCC cells. We further demonstrated that MG53 significantly suppressed the malignant behaviors of HCC cells and enhanced the chemosensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib treatment by inhibiting RAC1-MAPK signaling axis. In summary, we identified MG53 as a novel RAC1 inhibitor and tumor suppressor in HCC, and it suppressed HCC progression by inducing K48-linked polyubiquitination of RAC1 and further inhibiting the RAC1-MAPK signaling. Altogether, our investigation provided a new therapeutic strategy for RAC1 overactivated tumors by modulating MG53.

Disulfide bonds are a class of important post-translational modifications that play important roles in modulating the structures and functions of proteins. Therefore, the mapping of disulfide linkages in peptides and proteins is indispensable for complete structure characterization and functional studies. As disulfide bonds in protonated ions do not dissociate readily under low-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID), they are usually chemically cleaved or activated prior to mass spectrometry (MS) or tandem MS (MS/MS) analysis. In this study, we report a new method that allows the mapping of disulfide linkages in peptides and proteins through

Counting wheat heads is a time-consuming process in agricultural production, which is currently primarily carried out by humans. Manually identifying wheat heads and statistically analyzing the findings has a rigorous requirement for the workforce and is prone to error. With the advancement of machine vision technology, computer vision detection algorithms have made wheat head detection and counting feasible. To accomplish this traditional labor-intensive task and tackle various tricky matters in wheat images, a high-precision wheat head detection model with strong generalizability was presented based on a one-stage network structure. The model's structure was referred to as that of the YOLO network; meanwhile, several modules were added and adjusted in the backbone network. The one-stage backbone network received an attention module and a feature fusion module, and the Loss function was improved. When compared to various other mainstream object detection networks, our model outperforms them, with a mAP of 0.688. In addition, an iOS-based intelligent wheat head counting mobile app was created, which could calculate the number of wheat heads in images shot in an agricultural environment in less than a second.

ConspectusLipids have pivotal roles in many biological processes, including energy storage, signal transduction, and plasma membrane formation. A disruption of lipid homeostasis is found to be associated with a range of diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Fundamental lipid biology and disease diagnostics can benefit from monitoring lipid changes in cells, tissues, organs, or the whole biological system. Therefore, it is important to develop lipid analysis tools to achieve comprehensive lipid characterization and quantitation. Over the past two decades, mass spectrometry (MS) has become the method of choice for qualitative and quantitative analyses of lipids, owing to its high sensitivity, multiplexed analysis, and soft ionization features. With the rapid development and adoption of ultrahigh-resolution MS, isobaric lipids can now be routinely resolved. By contrast, the structural characterization and quantitation of isomeric lipids remain an analytical challenge. Although some lipid C═C location or sn-isomers can be resolved by chromatography, ion mobility, or selective ionization approaches, a detailed structural characterization on the lipidome-wide level needs to be achieved.Over the past six years, we have successfully combined the Paterno-Buchi (PB) reaction, which is a UV-promoted photocycloaddition reaction specific to the C═C, with tandem MS (MS/MS) to locate the C═C in lipids and quantify lipid C═C location isomers. The PB reactions have analytical advantages such as a simple experimental setup, rapid lipid C═C derivatization, and highly specific C═C cleavage during PB-MS/MS to produce abundant diagnostic ions. More importantly, without a need of isomer separation or a comparison to authentic standards, PB-MS/MS can be directly applied to identify and quantify a mixture of lipid C═C location isomers, often coexisting with molar ratios sensitive to the biological state of the system. The PB-MS/MS method is compatible with conventional shotgun lipidomics employing a nanoelectrospray ionization or a large-sale lipid structural analysis via liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to any mass spectrometer with tandem MS capability. The PB-MS/MS method is highly versatile, as a variety of PB reagents can be tailored to a broad range of applications. Besides UV-promoted PB reactions, visible-light PB reactions have also been developed to offer more flexibility for a lipid analysis. By using selected PB reagents, the sn-positions of fatty acyls can be resolved together with C═C locations in phospholipids. This method has been used in lipidomic analyses of tissue, blood, and plasma from animal models and clinical samples, demonstrating the potential of using lipid C═C or sn-location isomer ratios for phenotyping and disease diagnostics. Lipid isomer-resolving MS imagings of tissues and single-cell lipid analysis have also been demonstrated by a proper implementation of PB-MS/MS.

Background Existing evidence suggests that visual field defect in eyes with glaucoma significantly varies between individuals. The following study compared the central visual field defects with the peripheral visual field defects in patients with suspect glaucoma and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and investigated whether using the central visual field test alone could result in loss of clinically valuable information. Methods In this prospective observational study, 167 eyes from 89 patients with suspect glaucoma or POAG were first examined with static automated perimetry (SAP), followed by a peripheral visual field test on Octopus 900 perimeter (Haag-Streit, Koeniz, Switzerland). The peripheral visual field test was performed by “Auto Kinetic Perimetry” program, in which Goldmann III4e stimuli randomly moved along 16 vectors at a constant angular velocity of 5 deg/s. Results Glaucomatous peripheral visual field defects were seen in 18% of the eyes with a normal central visual field. In addition, 86% of glaucoma patients with moderate-to-severe central visual field defects had corresponding peripheral visual field defects in the form of localized or diffuse depression of the isopters. Furthermore, a moderate correlation was found between the central and peripheral visual fields. The median test duration was 71 s for the peripheral test and 803 s for the central test (p Conclusions Our study demonstrated the diversity of glaucomatous visual field defects, as well as the possibility of losing the clinically valuable information due to focusing on the central visual field test alone. The peripheral kinetic perimetry is clinically feasible to complement the central static perimetry for a comprehensive assessment of visual function in glaucoma patients.

Hair loss caused by various factors such as trauma, stress, and diseases hurts patient psychology and seriously affects patients' quality of life, but there is no effective method to control it. In situ bioprinting is a method for printing bioinks directly into defective sites according to the shape and characteristics of the defective tissue or organ to promote tissue or organ repair. In this study, we applied a 3D bioprinting machine in situ bioprinting of epidermal stem cells (Epi-SCs), skin-derived precursors (SKPs), and Matrigel into the wounds of nude mice to promote hair follicle regeneration based on their native microenvironment. The results showed successful regeneration of hair follicles and other skin appendages at 4 weeks after in situ bioprinting. Moreover, we confirmed that bioprinting only slightly decreased stem cell viability and maintained the stemness of the stem cells. These findings demonstrated a mechanical engineering method for hair follicle regeneration by in situ bioprinting which has potential in the clinic.

For the advantages of the faster computation speed and lower energy consumption, all-optical computation has attracted great attention compared with the traditional electric computation method. Optical switches are the critical elementary units of optical computation devices. However, the traditional optical switches have two shortcomings, expending the outside energy to keep the switch state and the weak multi-level adjustable ability, which greatly restrict the realization of the large-scale photonic integrated circuits and optical spiking neural networks. In this paper, we use a subwavelength grating slot-ridge (SWGSR) waveguides on the silicon platform to design a nonvolatile multi-level adjustable optical switch based on the phase change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST). Changing the phase state of GST can modulate the transmission of the optical switch, and the change of the optical transmittance of the optical switch is about 70%, which is much higher than that of previous optical switches. As no static power is required to maintain the phase state, it can find promising applications in optical switch matrices and reconfigurable optical spiking neural networks.

Under the dual guidance of realistic needs and educational policies, multimedia teaching has entered the classrooms of colleges and universities as a new teaching method and has been widely used in colleges and universities. This article mainly studies the analysis of higher vocational mathematical modeling based on the computer multimedia classroom. In the experiment, we use the multimedia classroom to carry out mathematical modeling. First of all, we must clarify the nature and meaning of the problem, analyze the main characteristics of the problem based on relevant information, try to use mathematical language to express the problem, and then find the relevant model. According to the information in the question, the mathematical relationship between each variable is established, and the actual question is translated into mathematical language. Finally, it is judged whether the model conforms to the actual problem and whether it is practical. If it does not meet the actual situation, you should re-hypothesize or modify the model and continue to improve it until the test results reach a certain degree of satisfaction. Experimental data shows that up to 81.4% of students agree that multimedia-assisted teaching can encourage students to actively participate in classroom teaching activities. The results show that the computer multimedia classroom has a certain improvement in the mathematical modeling ability of vocational students.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient-related attitudinal barriers and identify associated factors in Chinese cancer inpatients receiving opioids and to explore relationships between patient-related attitudinal barriers, analgesic adherence and pain relief. A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 146 participants completed face-to-face surveys, including information about demographics, the Barriers Questionnaire-Chinese (BQ-C), analgesic adherence, average pain and breakthrough pain in the past 24 h. The Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were performed to test the differences in the attitudinal barrier scores between the adherence and nonadherence groups, the complete and incomplete pain relief groups and the groups based on demographics. The majority of participants in this study were men (67.8%), over half of all participants were less than 60 years old, gastrointestinal cancer (47.3%) was the most common diagnosis and 59 (40.4%) acquired comprehensive pain education from the last discharge guidance procedure. The total BQ-C mean (SD) score was 1.61 ± 0.94. A total of 87 (59.6%) patients with cancer pain were completely relieved. Most of the patients (73.3%) completely took analgesics by orders. There was no significant difference in the total BQ-C score between the adherence group and the nonadherence group (P > 0.05), but the difference was significant between the complete pain relief group and the incomplete pain relief group (P < 0.05). The findings of this study support unsatisfactory pain management and moderate analgesic adherence for Chinese inpatients. It is suggested that patient-related attitudinal barriers do not play an undermining role in pain management by negatively affecting patients’ analgesic adherence. Conversely, patients’ beliefs are more likely to be shaped by under treatment rather than as a cause.

Lipids exert substantial influences on vertebrate embryogenesis, but their metabolic dynamics at detailed structural levels remains elusive, primarily owing to the lack of a tool capable of resolving their huge structural diversity. Herein, we present the first large-scale and spatiotemporal monitoring of unsaturated lipids with C=C specificity in single developing zebrafish embryos enabled by photochemical derivatization and tandem mass spectrometry (MS). The lipid isomer composition was found extremely stable in yolk throughout embryogenesis, while notable differences in ratios of C=C location (e.g., PC 16:0_16:1 (7) vs. 16:0_16:1 (9)) and fatty acyl composition isomers (e.g., PC 16:1_18:1 vs. 16:0_18:2) were unveiled between blastomeres and yolk from zygote to 4 h post fertilization (hpf). From 24 hpf onwards, lipid isomer compositions in embryo head and tail evolved distinctively with development, suggesting a meticulously regulated lipid remodeling essential for cell division and differentiation. This work has laid the foundation for functional studies of structurally defined lipids in vertebrate embryology.

Nanoporous carbon/MnO2 (C–MnO2) composites with foam-like structure based on modified nitrile butadiene rubber were achieved by thermal treatment, followed by alkaline solution etching and dipping method. The XRD, nitrogen adsorption and desorption, and SEM and TEM were used to characterize the microstructure of the obtained C–SiO2, C and C–MnO2. Finally, all the obtained samples have been used in three-electrode system to study the electrochemical properties including cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and AC impedance for supercapacitor. The study found that the specific capacity of C–MnO2 electrode material for supercapacitor could reach as high as 109 F/g under the current density of 0.5 A/g, which is much higher than those of the other two. These superior electrochemical properties are attributed to the synergistic effect MnO2 particles with the C matrix which functions as a conductive support.

This study analyzes the bulk and molecular geochemical data of 56 core samples of the Eocene Qianjiang Formation, a confined source rock unit embedded with salt intervals formed in a hypersaline lacustrine setting in central China. These source rocks within a single evaporative cycle collected from a recent shale oil exploration well are highly laminated, consisting of both intra- and inter-salt shales. Both organic pores and matrix pores serve as storage for hydrocarbon generated from kerogen within the source rock. Because the contrast in density between kerogen and oil, conversion of kerogen to oil inevitably leads to the increase in pore pressure and oil expulsion from kerogen within the same source rock unit. Impregnation of source rocks by expelled oils from nearby mature source rocks or from the organic-rich laminae within the same source rock units leads to anomalous Rock-Eval pyrolysis data, characterized by an abnormally high S1 peak, a high Production Index (PI), a suppressed Tmax and other anomalies. It is contradictory that both Rock-Eval pyrolysis data and sterane isomerization ratios of the studied inter-salt shale samples indicate strong impact of allochthonous hydrocarbons in the source rocks, whereas most aliphatic biomarker parameters obtained from the solvent extracts of these shales still provide useful information on the vertical variation in organic source input and depositional environment of the host rocks. This study provides insights into the bulk and molecular geochemical data interpretation, particularly in the inter-salt shale oil system evaluation in inferring the prevailing directions and pathways of diagenetic fluid movement and hydrocarbon migration.

Herein we disclose a silver-catalyzed [3 + 3] 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of trifluorodiazoethane with glycine imines. This reaction exhibits manifold remarkable features, such as easily ava...

Changes of metabolite concentrations in single cells are significant for exploring the dynamic regulation of important biological processes, such as cell development and differentiation. Accurate quantitation of metabolites is essential for single cell analysis. In this work, we proposed a quantitative method for single-cell metabolites by combining microwell array with droplet microextraction-mass spectrometry. The microwell can confine both single cells and extraction solvent in defined space, avoiding the irregular spread of trace internal standard solution during microextraction, which was the key to improve the precision and accuracy of quantification in extremely small-volume single-cell samples. Glucose-phosphate as a crucial metabolite in glycolysis was detected and quantified in single cells at this work. The calibration curve of glucose-phosphate was obtained with a linear range from amol (10–18 mol) to fmol (10–15 mol), providing the foundation of metabolite quantitation of single cells. We app...

Oil mobility in liquid-rich shale is crucial for economic success of resource development. The characteristics of the host rock and the properties of oil fluids are two primary factors controlling fluid mobility. Organic geochemistry data allows examination of both resource potential and oil mobility. We propose data-driven empirical models in this paper to describe hydrocarbon resource potential with respect to oil mobility. The proposed methods were applied to a dataset collected from the Eocene-Oligocene Es3 and Es4 source rock units in four recent shale oil exploration wells in the Jiyang Super-Depression of the Bohai Bay Basin. The dataset, results from standard programmed pyrolysis of whole rock samples as well as solvent extracted replicates of 139 core samples, was studied to examine the source rock characteristics and shale oil resource potential. Bulk geochemical characteristics and thermal decomposition trends allow for sub-division of the samples into two groups; a) samples with high initial hydrogen index (>800 mg HC/g TOC) and average present day TOC of 4.07% from LY1 and NY1 wells in a distal facies; and b) samples with slightly lower initial hydrogen index (about 700 mg HC/g TOC) and average TOC of 3.11% from FY1 and L69 wells in a transitional facies. Three different categories of oil resource with respect to oil mobility can be defined: adsorbed, restricted and movable based on organic geochemical characteristics and their variations in the stratigraphic intervals represented by the samples in the four wells. We show that expulsion efficiency is a good indicator of hydrocarbon retention in source rock reservoir and that the two wells in the distal facies have higher total resource potentials with abundant movable oil resource than the two wells in the transitional facies. The total oil potential is separated into three types of oil resource to show oil mobility, thus providing more information for business decision.

The analysis of lipid droplets (LDs) by mass spectrometry at the single LD level is still an analytical challenge. In this work, we developed a novel technique termed in-tip solvent microextraction mass spectrometry for the separation and profiling of phosphatidylcholines and triglycerides within a single LD. This method has been successfully used to analyze LDs in mammalian cells and to compare the profiles of triglycerides and phosphatidylcholines in LDs induced at different conditions. Our method has the potential to be applied to such fields as fundamental lipid biology to further our understanding on the mechanisms of lipid production, lipid packaging, and their pathophysiological roles.

The Mn-catalyzed C-H functionalization of indoles with allenes developed by Rueping and co-workers provides an efficient access to various alkenylated indoles and substituted pyrroloindolones. Herein, we present a systematic computational study to understand the mechanism and origins of substrate-controlled chemoselectivity of the C-H functionalization reactions (hydroarylation vs cascade cyclization). For the disubstituted allene system, the computed mechanism consists of three main phases: C-H activation, allene migratory insertion, and protonation giving the hydroarylation product. All of these steps are feasible, in agreement with the good yield under the mild experimental conditions. On the other hand, for the trisubstituted allene system, hydroarylation is suppressed due to the higher energy barrier for the protonation step arising from the disfavored ligand-substrate steric repulsions between the carboxide ligand and the substituent group in the allene substrate; our computational results demonstrate that, after the allene insertion leading to a seven-membered cyclometalated intermediate, it undergoes a reaction pathway involving sequential "ketone to enol" isomerization, a 1,4-heteroaryl shift, and β-methoxyl elimination giving the pyrroloindolone product. In contrast, this isomerization → heteroaryl shift → β-methoxyl elimination process is unworkable in the disubstituted allene system, because the protonation step takes place more favorably owing to the lack of ligand-substrate steric interactions. The findings taken together give an insight into the role of the ligand-substrate interactions in directing the competitive pathways and differentiating the energies of key transition states by steric repulsions.

Ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) with tunable mesophase were prepared by a novel cosolvent method using low molecular resin as carbon precursor, and P123(Poly(ethyleneoxide)-poly(propyleneoxide)-poly(ethyleneoxide)triblock copolymers, EO20PO70EO20) as a template via an Evaporation-induced Self-assembly Process (EISA). The results show that the pore structure of OMCs could be oriented from 2D hexagonal (p6mm) to 2D centered rectangular (C2mm) structure. Two key descriptors of mesophase were identified. One is the ratio of PEO/PPO of triblock copolymer, and the other one is cosolvent, both of which would have effects on the interface of mesophase during the EISA process. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the ordered mesophase could be obtained in a very short time during the EISA process even accompanied by the microemulsion phenomenon.

Since the invention of soft ionization methods, in particular electrospray ionization (ESI), mass spectrometry (MS) has become the method of choice for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of lipids from complex samples. A large number of lipids can be readily detected from a single mass spectrum free from molecular fragmentation that may complicate spectral interpretation. This has been the driving force for MS to play a predominant role in lipidomics. However, elucidation of the detailed lipid structures, especially the location of carbon-carbon double bond (C=C), remains challenging for MS-based lipid analysis workflows. Here we describe the coupling of photochemical derivatization of C=C via Paternò-Büchi (PB) reaction with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to identify C=C locations in unsaturated lipids and quantify lipid C=C location isomers. The PB reaction can be conducted online in ~30 s, which transforms a C=C into the oxetane ring structure. Subjecting PB products of lipids to MS/MS leads to the formation of abundant C=C-specific fragment ions upon low energy collision-induced dissociation.

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has improved outcomes for patients with advanced cancer, but the determinants of response remain poorly understood. Here we report differential effects of mutations in the homologous recombination genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 on response to ICB in mouse and human tumors, and further show that truncating mutations in BRCA2 are associated with superior response compared to those in BRCA1. Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 result in distinct mutational landscapes and differentially modulate the tumor-immune microenvironment, with gene expression programs related to both adaptive and innate immunity enriched in BRCA2-deficient tumors. Single-cell RNA sequencing further revealed distinct T cell, natural killer, macrophage, and dendritic cell populations enriched in BRCA2-deficient tumors. Taken together, our findings reveal the divergent effects of BRCA1 and BRCA2-deficiency on ICB outcome, and have significant implications for elucidating the genetic and microenvironmental determinants of response to immunotherapy.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of whole process management model interventions based on information system benefits reported by patients with cancer pain.We performed a quantitative, prospective nonrandomized controlled design from June to October 2020. A total of 124 cancer patients with pain were enrolled. Patients in the experimental group received a whole process management model intervention based on an information system compared to the control group who received routine cancer pain management. Data were collected at baseline and after a four-week follow-up, acting as a test-retest control. The primary outcome was pain management quality, which was measured using the American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire-Chinese version (APS-POQ-C). Secondary outcomes were patient-related attitudinal barriers and analgesic adherence. The Barrier Questionnaire (BQ) and a single-item questionnaire were used. Chi-square tests were used to compare the pain intensity and analgesic adherence, independent sampleBaseline characteristics and outcomes of the participants did not differ significantly (The whole process management of patients with cancer pain effectively improves patient-reported quality of pain management, reduces patient-perceived barriers, enhances patient adherence to analgesic drugs and is worthy of clinical application.

Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) is one of the most effective and durable therapies for morbid obesity and its related complications. Although bile acids (BAs) have been implicated as downstream mediators of VSG, the specific mechanisms through which BA changes contribute to the metabolic effects of VSG remain poorly understood. Here, we confirm that high fat diet-fed global farnesoid X receptor (Fxr) knockout mice are resistant to the beneficial metabolic effects of VSG. However, the beneficial effects of VSG were retained in high fat diet-fed intestine- or liver-specific Fxr knockouts, and VSG did not result in Fxr activation in the liver or intestine of control mice. Instead, VSG decreased expression of positive hepatic Fxr target genes, including the bile salt export pump (Bsep) that delivers BAs to the biliary pathway. This reduced small intestine BA levels in mice, leading to lower intestinal fat absorption. These findings were verified in sterol 27-hydroxylase (Cyp27a1) knockout mice, which exhibited low intestinal BAs and fat absorption and did not show metabolic improvements following VSG. In addition, restoring small intestinal BA levels by dietary supplementation with taurocholic acid (TCA) partially blocked the beneficial effects of VSG. Altogether, these findings suggest that reductions in intestinal BAs and lipid absorption contribute to the metabolic benefits of VSG.

Lipid imaging plays an important role in the research of some diseases, such as cancers. Unsaturated lipids are often present as isomers that can have different functions; however, traditional tandem mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) cannot differentiate between different isomers, which presents difficulties for the pathological study of lipids. Herein, we propose a method for the MSI of the C═C double-bond isomers of unsaturated lipids based on oxidative reactions coupled with air flow-assisted desorption electrospray ionization, which can conveniently achieve rapid MSI of unsaturated lipids at an isomeric level. Using this method, tissue sections can be scanned directly with MSI after only 10 min of accelerated oxidation. This method was used for the imaging of mouse lung cancer tissues, revealing a distributional difference in the unsaturated lipid isomers of normal and pathological regions. Through the MSI of unsaturated lipids at an isomeric level in tissues infected with cancer cells, the regions where the isomers were enriched were exhibited, indicating that these regions were the most concentrated regions of cancer cells. This method provides a convenient platform for studying the functional effects of the isomers of unsaturated lipids in pathological tissues.

Electrostatic spinning technology has already been proved to be a passable and effective method for manufacturing one-dimensional nanomaterials, which has received special interest of researchers. Electrospinning is currently the only technique that allows the fabrication of continuous fibers with diameters down to a few nanometers. In this chapter, nanofiber materials and electrospinning are summarized, especially the nanofiber prepared from natural polymer was emphasized. The basic process and forming mechanism of electrospinning nanofibers were theoretically explained, and the factors and device types affecting the morphology and state of the fibers were analyzed. Finally, the application of electrospinning nanofibers, especially the naturally derived nanofibers, in many aspects were summarized.

Since the invention of soft ionization methods, in particular electrospray ionization (ESI), mass spectrometry (MS) has become the method of choice for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of lipids from complex samples. A large number of lipids can be readily detected from a single mass spectrum free from molecular fragmentation that may complicate spectral interpretation. This has been the driving force for MS to play a predominant role in lipidomics. However, elucidation of the detailed lipid structures, especially the location of carbon-carbon double bond (C=C), remains challenging for MS-based lipid analysis workflows. Here we describe the coupling of photochemical derivatization of C=C via Paterno-Buchi (PB) reaction with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to identify C=C locations in unsaturated lipids and quantify lipid C=C location isomers. The PB reaction can be conducted online in ~30 s, which transforms a C=C into the oxetane ring structure. Subjecting PB products of lipids to MS/MS leads to the formation of abundant C=C-specific fragment ions upon low energy collision-induced dissociation.

Single-cell analysis is critical to revealing cell-to-cell heterogeneity that would otherwise be lost in ensemble analysis. Detailed lipidome characterization for single cells is still far from mature, especially when considering the highly complex structural diversity of lipids and the limited sample amounts available from a single cell. We report the development of a general strategy enabling single-cell lipidomic analysis with high structural specificity. Cell fixation is applied to retain lipids in the cell during batch treatments prior to single-cell analysis. In addition to tandem mass spectrometry analysis revealing the class and fatty acyl-chain for lipids, batch photochemical derivatization and single-cell droplet treatment are performed to identify the C=C locations and sn-positions of lipids, respectively. Electro-migration combined with droplet-assisted electrospray ionization enables single-cell mass spectrometry analysis with easy operation but high efficiency in sample usage. Four subtypes of human breast cancer cells are correctly classified through quantitative analysis of lipid C=C location or sn-position isomers in ~160 cells. Most importantly, the single-cell deep lipidomics strategy successfully discriminates gefitinib-resistant cells from a population of wild-type human lung cancer cells (HCC827), highlighting its unique capability to promote precision medicine., Analyzing the lipidomes of single cells remains a challenge. Here, the authors present a strategy to identify class, fatty acyl-chain, C=C locations and sn-positions of lipids in single cells, and use their method to identify individual gefitinib-resistant cells in a wild-type lung cancer cell population.

Inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress reduces blood-brain barrier (BBB) injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), with indistinct mechanisms. Salvinorin A (SA) relieves I/R-induced BBB leakage; however, whether it is related to the suppression of ER stress is yet unclear. To address this question, we have used both a rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs) with oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). SA was injected by tail vein at the terminal of ischemia; Norbinaltorphimine (NB), a kappa opioid antagonist, was administered 30 min prior to SA; 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA), an ER stress inhibitor, was injected intraperitoneally after the onset of ischemia; adenylate-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-specific small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were transfected to HBMECs before OGD. The assessment was as follows: infarct volume, brain water gain, Evans blue leakage, and modified neurological severity score (mNSS) after MCAO; HBMECs apoptosis rate and permeability, ER stress-related protein, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and calcium levels after OGD. The results showed that SA significantly reduced the BBB leakage in vivo; SA relieved the apoptotic rates and ER stress in HBMECs, protected the permeability of HBMECs, and reduced ROS and calcium ion level after OGD. Moreover, the SA function was blocked by NB in vivo and AMPK- siRNAs in vitro. We conclude that SA mitigated BBB damage and HBMEC injury after I/R and alleviated ER stress in endothelial cells via AMPK pathway.

Fiber bundle coupler is a key part in a probe-based endomicroscope used to couple laser in each core of the fiber bundles precisely when the laser scan unit is performing a high speed confocal scanning. Common fiber connector is usually used in communication application with single fiber core. But for image transmitting, common connector such as SMA must be manually adjusted in 5 axes to locate all fiber cores of the bundle. A micron precision fiber bundle coupler is introduced in this article. This coupler is special designed for an endomicroscope. This coupler can locate the position of the fiber cores of a bundle in micro precision in all 3 dimensions with the help of the mechanical structure and focusing mechanism. The coupler has a plug and a socket component. A polished fiber bundle is installed in the center of the plug. A connection core is located in the center of the socket component to make sure the plug and the coupling objective can stay in a same axis, so that the fiber bundle can also located in the same axis. A number of arms distributed symmetrically can be pushed by the operating cover to apply a constant pressure on the plug through a spring to lock the plug. The coupling objective can move along the axis inside the connection core by a linear actuator. An image evaluation algorithm can help the actuator to find a proper location to achieve auto focus. The coupler can work smoothly and automatically. It is very easy for clinical use.

Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) is a highly popular model-free reinforcement learning (RL) approach. However, we observe that in a continuous action space, PPO can prematurely shrink the exploration variance, which leads to slow progress and may make the algorithm prone to getting stuck in local optima. Drawing inspiration from CMA-ES, a black-box evolutionary optimization method designed for robustness in similar situations, we propose PPO-CMA, a proximal policy optimization approach that adaptively expands the exploration variance to speed up progress. With only minor changes to PPO, our algorithm considerably improves performance in Roboschool continuous control benchmarks. Our results also show that PPO-CMA, as opposed to PPO, is significantly less sensitive to the choice of hyperparameters, allowing one to use it in complex movement optimization tasks without requiring tedious tuning., Comment: This paper has been accepted to IEEE International Workshop on Machine Learning for Signal Processing (MLSP 2020). The arxiv version also includes an appendix that covers more results

Self-healing materials have received increased attention because of their automatic detecting and repairing damage function. In this paper, a novel self-assembly and self-healing bionanocomposite was developed as a coating material for controlled release fertilizers. This nanotechnology-enabled coating is environmentally friendly and highly efficient and possesses a tunable nutrient-releasing characteristic. In the synthesis process, bio-based polyurethane coated urea (BPCU) was prepared by the reaction of bio-polyols with isocyanate. The BPCU was then modified by the layer-by-layer technology to prepare self-assembling modified BPCU (SBPCU). Last, hollow nano-silica (HNS) particles loaded with the sodium alginate (SA) were used to modify SBPCU to fabricate of self-assembling and self-healing BPCU (SSBPCU). The results show that the self-assembled materials were synthesized through electrostatic adsorption. The self-healing was observed through scanning electron microscopy and 3D-X-ray computed tomography, revealing the mechanism was that the repair agent released from HNS reacted with the curing agent to block the pore channels and cracks of the coating. As a result, the SSBPCU exhibited the highest hydrophobicity and surface roughness and thus the slowest release rate. For the first time, this work has designed a novel strategy to solve the bottleneck problem that restricts the development of a controlled-release fertilizer.

PARP inhibitor as a foundation of multimodality treatments is highly effective for IDH-mutant glioma and cholangiocarcinoma., Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes occur in multiple cancer types, lead to global changes in the epigenome, and drive tumorigenesis. Yet, effective strategies targeting solid tumors harboring IDH mutations remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that IDH-mutant gliomas and cholangiocarcinomas display elevated DNA damage. Using multiple in vitro and preclinical animal models of glioma and cholangiocarcinoma, we developed treatment strategies that use a synthetic lethality approach targeting the reduced DNA damage repair conferred by mutant IDH using poly(adenosine 5′-diphosphate) ribose polymerase inhibitors (PARPis). The therapeutic effects are markedly enhanced by cotreatment with concurrent, localized radiation therapy. PARPi-buttressed multimodality therapies may represent a readily applicable approach that is selective for IDH-mutant tumor cells and has potential to improve outcomes in multiple cancers.

To measure the knowledge and attitudes of Chinese oncology nurses regarding cancer pain management and explore related factors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. A convenience sample of 505 Chinese oncology nurses from 20 provinces, 4 municipalities, and 4 autonomous regions was recruited between April and October 2018. A Chinese version of the Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (KASRP) was used. Socio-demographic characteristics were also measured by a multi-item questionnaire. The mean accuracy of KASRP in all participants was 56.11% ± 11.05%. According to univariate analysis, oncology nurses’ cancer pain knowledge and attitudes were positively correlated with age, region, education level, years of oncology nursing, clinical practice of cancer pain management, average monthly number of patients with cancer pain, and the experience of cancer pain–related training. The results of multiple linear regression revealed that nurses’ age, education level, experience of cancer pain–related training and clinical practice of cancer pain management were independent influencing factors (all p

Lipid desaturation plays important roles in biological processes and the disease states. Here, we report a simple but efficient method for mapping unsaturated phospholipids including the spatial distribution of lipid C=C location isomers in animal organs by coupling the C=C specific derivatization with direct analysis mass spectrometry (MS). Lipids are sampled directly by a stainless-steel wire from rat brain or kidney, extracted, and derivatized via the Paterno-Buchi reaction in a glass emitter of the nanoelectrospray ionization (nanoESI) source. Subsequent analysis by nanoESI-tandem mass spectrometry reveals C=C locations and relative quantities of lipid C=C location isomers. Unsaturated lipids, such as phospholipids and free fatty acids, have been identified with ion intensities spanning two orders of magnitude in rat brain. Typical sample consumption is less than 10 μg/measurement and the time for each analysis is about 3 min. This method should serve as a complementary method to high spatial resolution mass spectrometry imaging techniques, because it offers a streamlined experimental workflow for rapid profiling of lipids with C=C specificity to enable such applications as point-of-care disease diagnostics.